OKW Lovers Thread. Part 2

Near HH is a booking category for points, not available for cash reservations. Best advice would be to request first floor villa in Turtle Pond or South Point.
Stayed at South Point area in May and loved it - the bus stop is the 2nd one so even with a scooter we never had a problem getting on a bus - even first thing in the morning - Turtle Pond got skipped at least once on our trip.
 
How many of you usually get in your room earlier than 4pm ? We are hoping to get in earlier, and just assume it depends on many factors!
Hoping to get to the Publix, and all set up in our room and head to Disney Springs for dinner at the Boathouse at 5pm.
 
About 60% to 70% of the time a room is ready when I arrive. But I never arrive on a Sunday or a Friday. I usually stay 8 nights beginning on a Tuesday or Wednesday, so there is likely a greater chance a room was empty the previous night.
 
I also get the room about 80% of the time by 12-1 pm. We usually arrive on a Wednesday or Thursday. Have also go it early a few times when we come in on a Friday.
 


Hi all!
I'm a BCV owner taking my family for our first OKW vacation. I've done a couple of single nights in a studio at OKW but this time it will be a dedicated 2 bedroom for 6 nights with the kids (19 & 20). I'm excited about it and I hope the kids will like it. I love the idea of all the space and the "community neighborhood" feel. While I'm not overly concerned, I have read some reports of disrepair and less then stellar housekeeping, of course I've also read those of people who have no concerns and love it! I do tend to fall on the side of looking for what's right rather than what's wrong:) Having said all that, I am wondering if they have started the refurbishment yet. I'm there August 19 -25 and wondering if they will have started and if it would be worth it to request a refurbished room? Any thoughts or advice from OKW experts? I really want it all to go well (who doesn't right?) I'm considering OKW as a resale add on for the 11 month booking of lower point 2 bedrooms and availability of GVs.
 
We returned from our 8 day trip to OKW yesterday. We had a lovely time and I really enjoyed the resort pools and the room. My only issue was with the bus service. About half way through the trip we gave up and started driving to the parks. Is the bus service for OKW usually slow/bad? I'm guessing that it is not because many people on multiple bus rides that seemed to be veteran OKWers were also upset. I am very used to having a bus or two that takes a bit longer than usual but we consistently had waits of 30+ minutes. We had a 45+ minute wait one night when leaving MK and they line was so long that it spilled out into the walkway while every other line nearby was super short (it was not during a mass exiting time). Another 30+ minute MK evening the bus driver packed so many people on the bus that it had to be exceeding capacity. People were actually screaming at the bus driver to stop letting people on. It was an awkward experience to say the least. I'm just hoping that it is not the norm and someone can confirm that. If it is normal, it was bad enough that we will likely not stay at the resort again which is upsetting because I did enjoy everything else. I just didn't enjoy being late for ADRs when I went to the bus stop with way more time than was necessary. I was at the Turtle Pond stop at 7:05 for an 8:00 ADR at Paddlefish in Disney Springs and we didn't make it to the restaurant until 8:30. We were very happy that they recognized our issue and still honored our reservation but it was definitely frustrating.
 
While OKW can certainly have an "off" day or two for busses, usually I find the bus service no better and no worse than any other onsite resort...but again, there have been some exceptions.
 


Anyone have a pic of what food there is at The Conch Flats General Store? We are going for only 3 days and we want to buy a few things for breakfast etc. Thanks!
 
..... I just didn't enjoy being late for ADRs when I went to the bus stop with way more time than was necessary. I was at the Turtle Pond stop at 7:05 for an 8:00 ADR at Paddlefish in Disney Springs and we didn't make it to the restaurant until 8:30. We were very happy that they recognized our issue and still honored our reservation but it was definitely frustrating.

As long as the boat is operating (weather permitting) between OKW and Disney Springs, I'd recommend using the boats rather than the bus. There is also a walkway (a little over a mile) from building 55 to the Westside, but it is unlit at night.
 
We are arriving on a Thursday, so here's hoping !!! :-)
We did not specify any particular area, because we like to be surprised ... here's hoping it's a good surprise !!

Sometimes you get something that is better than what you might have asked for , and besides we have never stayed here! So happy to have the additional bathroom/rooms for the young adults in our family !!
 
We returned from our 8 day trip to OKW yesterday. We had a lovely time and I really enjoyed the resort pools and the room. My only issue was with the bus service. About half way through the trip we gave up and started driving to the parks. Is the bus service for OKW usually slow/bad? I'm guessing that it is not because many people on multiple bus rides that seemed to be veteran OKWers were also upset. I am very used to having a bus or two that takes a bit longer than usual but we consistently had waits of 30+ minutes. We had a 45+ minute wait one night when leaving MK and they line was so long that it spilled out into the walkway while every other line nearby was super short (it was not during a mass exiting time). Another 30+ minute MK evening the bus driver packed so many people on the bus that it had to be exceeding capacity. People were actually screaming at the bus driver to stop letting people on. It was an awkward experience to say the least. I'm just hoping that it is not the norm and someone can confirm that. If it is normal, it was bad enough that we will likely not stay at the resort again which is upsetting because I did enjoy everything else. I just didn't enjoy being late for ADRs when I went to the bus stop with way more time than was necessary. I was at the Turtle Pond stop at 7:05 for an 8:00 ADR at Paddlefish in Disney Springs and we didn't make it to the restaurant until 8:30. We were very happy that they recognized our issue and still honored our reservation but it was definitely frustrating.

We are going in July and staying quite awhile, and we usually prefer bus service, so I hope you just had some off experience that gets fixed ... I hope others weigh in here!
 
As long as the boat is operating (weather permitting) between OKW and Disney Springs, I'd recommend using the boats rather than the bus. There is also a walkway (a little over a mile) from building 55 to the Westside, but it is unlit at night.

We had planned on doing the boat. We had used it earlier in the day. Unfortunately the bottom had dropped out just as we were leaving and we didn't want to walk to the boat in the pouring rain from the Turtle Pond area and weren't sure that the boat would be running. The rain of course let up after about 15 minutes but by then we were committed to the bus stop.

What's crazy is that we could've just driven there but we had done mini-golf before Disney Springs earlier in the day and just left our car in the parking deck at Disney Springs, rode the boat back for pool time and a break, and then needed to get back to the Springs for dinner and planned to drive the car back at that point. In my head, this was the perfect plan...I was wrong. Lol! :)
 
DW and I just had a quick two night stay in a Studio near Hospitality House, so we did not get to explore too much of the resort. We got food to go from Good's Food one afternoon and went to Gurgling Suitcase one evening. We thoroughly enjoyed all that we saw and did at the resort.

I was reading some of the later posts in this thread about bus service, and have to say we were on the negative side. The second morning was EMH at Epcot, so park opening at 8:00 am. We got to the bus stop at 6:45 am, knowing the buses are supposed to run an hour before park opening. At 7:15 am, there was still no posting of any time for the Epcot bus, even though all other resorts had times posted and buses coming. So we decided to drive. An excellent choice, which prompted us to think we would probably drive to any resort except MK, since you have to deal with the Ferry / Monorail. On our last day, we went to MK via bus, which arrived at the resort in the typical 15-20 minutes after we got there. And it was nice since the bus stop was the last in the resort, so we headed directly to the park after boarding. However, on going back to the resort mid day, the bus took over 30 minutes to arrive. Not the worst, but okay. However, at the resort, with the bus making the loop to all the stops through out the resort, it added another 10-15 minutes to the bus ride. We knew the bus would go through the resort, but it just seemed like it took forever. With that, we would probably drive even to MK and deal with the Ferry / Monorail instead of the extra time on the bus. Now of course, if we are in a different part of the resort, we might change our plans.

But we look forward to visiting the resort again in the future. There is so much to like about the resort, that we can't let the bus service be a deciding factor.
 
However, on going back to the resort mid day, the bus took over 30 minutes to arrive. Not the worst, but okay. However, at the resort, with the bus making the loop to all the stops through out the resort, it added another 10-15 minutes to the bus ride. We knew the bus would go through the resort, but it just seemed like it took forever. With that, we would probably drive even to MK and deal with the Ferry / Monorail instead of the extra time on the bus.

When staying in the hospitality area, you can always get OFF the return bus at the first stop (Peninsular Road) and just walk across the bridge to the Hospitality area. It saves a lot of time.
 
We are long way off for our next visit. OKW is home and enjoy the big rooms and smaller resort. I see my vacation info is still from spring. Ill need to change
 

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