Old Key West!

[Megsmachine]

OKW was built as the first Disney Vacation Club (timeshare). It was meant to be a "home away from home" resort and that members would prepare many of their meals in their units. It was not built as a "hotel", although it does have some traditional hotel amenities.
Denise

Great. Thanks for letting me know. However, with all the other resorts added now, it is disappointing that this one does not offer a good QS service. That's my opinion. I think they should add a better one at Disney's expense.

 

[Denise W]

Great. Thanks for letting me know. However, with all the other resorts added now, it is disappointing that this one does not offer a good QS service. That's my opinion. I think they should add a better one at Disney's expense.

Since there is no hotel attached to the timeshare, I doubt Disney would bother. It is run by DVD.
Denise

 

[Deb & Bill]

Great. Thanks for letting me know. However, with all the other resorts added now, it is disappointing that this one does not offer a good QS service. That's my opinion. I think they should add a better one at Disney's expense.

But that's the problem. OKW is totally DVC, no hotel/cash section to the resort. So all the maintenance, staffing, operations costs are paid for by the owners at that resort.

 

[cruisin5]

OKW isn't the only resort with a limited QS. There are positives and negatives to every resort. I've yet to find the "ideal" resort but I'll keep looking!

 

[HR Mom]

For folks that have stayed here before, wondering what the best options are for grocery stores nearby. We were not planning on renting a car, but thought about Uber/Lyft to take to grocery store to stock up on food.

 

[Deb & Bill]

For folks that have stayed here before, wondering what the best options are for grocery stores nearby. We were not planning on renting a car, but thought about Uber/Lyft to take to grocery store to stock up on food.

There is a very nice Publix located at Regency Village near the Orlando Vineland Premium Outlet Mall. There is also a Winn Dixie on S Apopka Vineland Rd.

 

[Minniekins]

We are staying at OKW starting Aug 5th, and I will have an ECV with us. Stayed here last year and was able to get a room on 2nd floor(DD26 does not want a ground floor), in an elevator building. Forgot the number, maybe 63 or something? It was across the other side of the street and over, from the hospitality house and bus stop. But, we did not put the request in for our location, the DVC owner did it. I'm renting from someone different this year and this is her first time renting. I'm wondering what would be the best way to word a request for an elevator building, second floor or higher. I recall reading at some time to request elevator building due to medical needs, but really looking for suggestions on best wording if anyone has any experience or suggestions for this. Thanks for any help!

Ground floor would, of course, be easiest not having to deal with the elevator but DD26 is afraid that we might be more likely to get critters in the building, lol. Guess I wouldn't like that either, lol. Again, TIA!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Building 62, 63, 64 upper floor.

 

[Minniekins]

Building 62, 63, 64 upper floor.

Oh that's right, thanks for that reminder in the building numbers!

Do I need to say anything about 'need for medical reasons' in the request for best shot at getting in one of these buildings? I would imagine they get a lot of requests for these.

 

[SL6827]

I would really like to try out OKW at some point, but I am not sure how well I would like being extremely far out from the HH. Maybe for one or two nights as a split stay somewhere else.

 

[Minnesota!]

OKW is on my WDW bucket list

 

[Harambe]

For those of us from New England, this resort really gives you that beautiful Florida feel! Love the pastel buildings, and the balconies are some of the best and biggest at WDW. Love watching golfers go by as I have my morning coffee! Just so relaxing.

 

[HR Mom]

Any recent stays by the Turttle Pond and building numbers? Also, any pro/con to staying in this area. Going in December. Are pools good to swim in during the winter (heated)?

 

[amcnj]

Any recent stays by the Turttle Pond and building numbers? Also, any pro/con to staying in this area. Going in December. Are pools good to swim in during the winter (heated)?

Any recent stays by the Turttle Pond and building numbers? Also, any pro/con to staying in this area. Going in December. Are pools good to swim in during the winter (heated)?

We were in the Turtle Pond area last month. The pool there has a snack bar (though it used to be seasonal but am not sure if it still is). The Turtle Pond bus stop is in the middle of the bus route. The pool area but does not have a slide like the main pool and you are not super close to the main pool, store, etc. Not that it is real far either, but if you have children who might enjoy the slide, but too young to go unaccompanied, you might prefer being closer to the front. My advice is to look a the map of the resort, and see if you would rather/need to be be close to the Turtle Pond bus stop, the pool, or far away from the roads (and any bus noise), etc. Last time we were in building 37. But have been in many others over the years.

The pool can be doable, but weather is of course a highly variable thing. We have been there in early November when a cold front reached all the way down into FL and made swimming a no go for most of the week.

 

[sharadoc]

Any recent stays by the Turttle Pond and building numbers? Also, any pro/con to staying in this area. Going in December. Are pools good to swim in during the winter (heated)?

We usually stay at South Pointe, but we were given Turtle Pond for our November trip last year. It turned out to be great. We were in Building 44, in a 1BR. It was a quick walk to the pool and snack area. We swam, ate there and played shuffleboard too. It's a great pool area. Our balcony overlooked a pond and fountain area and we could see the bus stop from there. Once the doors were closed, we couldn't hear the buses like we thought we would.

We had two teenagers with us who were at parks and we could easily see them get off the bus and walk over to our room.

I would stay in that area again in a minute.

We love Old Key West. In my opinion, every hotel at Disney has some sort of "long" commute to the main building/food/bus. Most of the moderates have multiple bus stops, and some Deluxes have separate buildings. Boardwalk is notorious for the long hallways. The shortest walks are at the All-Stars and French Quarter.

OKW is beautiful, has fantastic rooms and landscaping and a boat to Disney Springs. It's a perfect resort IF you're not a sunup to sundown park person. For us, resort time is part of our vacation, so we want all the amenities they have to offer. Activities and Community Hall at the main pool, snack/QS at Goods or Turtle Pond, air hockey and shuffleboard. It's all great.

 

[Simba's Mom]

You may be skeptical because of the limited CS, but I encourage you to give OKW a try. We were very skeptical to stay there, but after one night there (also in a studio), DH declared it his new favorite resort.

 

[spiceycat]

here is a map for OKW.

use to really, really love OKW - but times change now Love BLT.

if you are having more than 2 or 3 in your party and can only afford a studio - then OKW is the one - it is very nice to have 2 queen beds, vs one queen bed and a full (double) sleeping sofa - (exception is PVB - it also has a queen sleeper sofa)

 

[DisneyMim]

Ok time for me to chime in with one of my very rare posts. Lol!! We have been members since 1991, one of the first people to buy. It is our second home. We all love it. We very often stay in other resorts but our kids grew up at okw and truly consider it home. With all that being said I can be objective. We always rent a car and consider riverside our food court. Yes okw does not have a food
court and yes they expected people to cook in their rooms. Well I am here to tell you I have never used the oven, have never cooked a meal in ANY resort. I would not recommend okw to people who want to be close to a food court, buses, etc.

Every resort has its pros and cons. People really need to do thier homework when picking a resort. We don't like being near the hospitality house. Too busy for us. We don't mind being a "long" way from things. We love to walk and again, and I can't stress this enough, we have a car.

We LOVE our home, but it's not for everyone. Good luck with your planning and....

Enjoy The Magic

 

[spiceycat]

not sure why it did work
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/okwmap.htm

 

[ArwenMarie]

The QS at OKW isn't that bad. I like the selections, especially for breakfast. The lunch and dinner had a decent amount of selections as well.

And it's pretty easy to get into Olivia's, which we all liked. And the store has a lot of groceries like all of the DVCs. You can get pizza delivery too