What is OKW like?

xxpeplyxx

x Disney Mummy x
Joined
Jul 22, 2012
We are booked to stay in a 2 bed villa there next September, never stayed there before or even looked at there until this trip as we have more of us going

We have previously stayed at pop century, AOA and AKL, also stayed off site down Idrive and at hard rock hotel and can honestly say we've never had a bad stay but because I don't know much about OKW im really not sure what to expect.

Please feel free to share your experiences and pictures with me ☺️ X
 
love love love love love love love OKW!!

the 2 bedroom villa is HUGE....bigger than many people's apartments..

it has 1300 square feet of space...that's gigantic...

it's the biggest two bedroom villa on disney property
 
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We are DVC owners at OKW and have been since the early '90's.
We did the tour and we were hooked. Choice was limited in those days.
I love the atmosphere of the resort and @Disneyholic is right the accommodations are huge. 2br villa has a spacious master suite with jacuzzi bath and separate shower, 2nd bedroom has 2 double beds, bath with shower over and depending on the configuration 1 or 2 vanity areas.
Storage is plentiful. Both bedrooms have TV.
The laundry room is almost as big as some other resorts bathrooms!
The lounge/kitchen diner area is huge with double sofa bed and chair bed.
Again plenty of storage.
Balconys are spacious.
There is only one building with a lift but bell services are happy to carry your bags up and down stairs.
The decor is a little dated but a renovation program starts this year - I hope they don't lose too much character.
Multiple pools - a sauna in a lighthouse! Yes a sauna in Florida - why!
Lots of activities both in and out of community hall.
I've always found the bus service to be problem free, you can walk to DS via SS but only in daylight or you can take the boat.
OS is limited and is outside seating, I find it adequate but it is nothing like the food courts at other resorts. One bonus - the soda machines at the QS are available 24 hours a day.
My GS described it as a little town he would like to live in all the time - I could cope with that!
 
i would love to have that laundry room in my house!!!!!!!!!!!
full size washer and full size dryer, sitting side by side (rather than stacked as they are in most resorts - and in my house).

Such a wonderful laundry room. I know i sound weird when i wax poetic about a laundry room, but when you go there for a 3 week stay, it's pretty darn convenient.

alas, this summer we'll be at SSR for the first time. also in a 2 bedroom, but it only has 1,000 square feet. What a difference. OKW has 1300 square feet for a 2 BR, while SSR only has 1,000 square feet.

i hope i like the SSR. It's still disney after all!!
 


i just throw the stuff in every day....no matter how small the amount.
and it's such a big room.
one time i'll try to stick that whole room in my suitcase and take it home with me!!!!
 
This will be our 7th year staying at OKW, although we do split stays now. We love, love, love OKW, the atmosphere, ambience and vastness of it are all reasons we go back. The pool area has a good slide, there's a play area, an outdoor screen for movie nights, a boat to Disney Springs which is invaluable since they moved the bus station at DS. The villas are huge, and so are the balconies. We have a a car but have gotten the bus on occasion to the parks and it didnt take long at all.

It is a home from home, a peaceful retreat from the parks, you will be converted I'm sure of it.
 
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Wow thanks all for the replies, your selling it to me (I mean we are already booked any way but your making us feel much better about our choice) it sure does look beautiful, I'm super excited just to be going back, just get this will have such a different feel that usual for us but I'm actually liking the idea of it as time goes by ☺️ We are at 444 days to go now just wishing time away
 
Wow thanks all for the replies, your selling it to me (I mean we are already booked any way but your making us feel much better about our choice) it sure does look beautiful, I'm super excited just to be going back, just get this will have such a different feel that usual for us but I'm actually liking the idea of it as time goes by ☺️ We are at 444 days to go now just wishing time away

it goes really fast...
we were at that at some point...
now we're 44 days away!!!! (yikes!!! so much to do!!!)
 
Wow getting great reviews! How's it compare to port orleans etc villas? Is transportation close to all accommodation?
 
Is transportation close to all accommodation?

Depends on where you are staying. Some villas are a pretty long way from the Bus stops etc (compared to others)

The DIS map of OKW: http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/okwmap.htm

You should also know that the busses to the parks arrive at the OKW stops in the following order:
Peninsular Road, Turtle Pond, South Point, Miller's Road and lastly the hospitality house before heading out of OKW to the parks.

We like to stay in the Miller's Road area (ideally building 18) as you only have one more stop before you are on your way the the park, and it's close enough to the Peninsular bus stop for us that we can get off at the first stop and walk to Miller's when coming back to our villa.
 
if an elevator is important to you, you should request the building that has an elevator (not sure how many do - i know that ours didn't)..
 
I've never got this thing with buses - you walk to the closest stop or a different stop, the buses come along and you get on.
Fun to play 'beat the bus' sometimes.
OKW has multiple stops as previously described but I wouldn't say any of them was a trek from the villas - but hey I am the looney who has walked to crossroads :rotfl2:
I don't have a problem with walking but I appreciate some have mobility problems.
To compare with POR we stayed in a royal room and I believe we walked further to the main (closest) bus stop than I've ever done at OKW.

I believe elevator buildings are 62/63.
Sure someone can correct that if wrong.
 
It's top notch. Will be even better when the rooms are all renovated which is due to start in weeks and will last 2 years. Will be done in blocks so there will be no disturbance.
 
It's top notch. Will be even better when the rooms are all renovated which is due to start in weeks and will last 2 years. Will be done in blocks so there will be no disturbance.


I had no clue they were renovating, I'd love to get a newly refurbished room!
 
We've stayed in a 1 bedroom twice at OKW; we love the resort too. I like that the villas are so spacious and light, lounge area has windows on two sides. It' a very relaxing resort - just what you need after busy park days. If you're driving you can park right outside your villa. We used the buses too; none of the bus-stops are that far. We even walked to Disney Springs on a couple of occasions; there's a path through the golf course, or you can get a boat, they run on a schedule, think it was every 30 mins. So much easier than driving or getting bus to DS, the bus stops can be a zoo there.

We're stopping at SSR next year as only 2 of us this time & I prefer the look of the studios there & a shorter walk to DS
 
I had no clue they were renovating, I'd love to get a newly refurbished room!
If it's Sept 2018 when you are going you will stand a chance. It's meant to be starting any time now (delayed due to design changes). Assuming it starts in a month or so they'll probably have over half the resort done by 9/2018. Ring and request a refurbed room near the time.
 
I love OKW, and like you I have stayed at Pop, POFQ, CSR, AKL, CBR, and Holiday inns. Howard Johnsons, Villas at Four Corners, Formosa Gardens, Old Lake Wilson...in fact over 20 trips...OKW is great but the villas are no longer big enough for us as we travel as 3 adult couples and we need 3 double bedrooms...with en suite preferred.
 

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