Pathways revealed - Part 1: OKW to DD

[Caskbill]

There is always a lot of discussion on various paths at WDW, including OKW to DD, BWV to MGM, and BWV to Epcot.

So, last week while at WDW, I took the GPS receiver, and walked (and measured) the lengths of these paths.

So, here's the first report: The path from OKW resort to Downtown Disney.

We orginally caught this path by the pool on Turtle Pond Rd. and followed it to the junction with the DD path by bldg 55 at South Point.

From the Turtle Pond pool, it is 0.52 miles along the path to the junction by bldg 55.

From the start at South Point, it is 0.93 miles to the water tower at HoB in DD.

I didn't take any photos from the section between the Turtle Pond pool and the South Point junction, but did take several photos from that point on. Click on the links below as desired.

1. The OKW to DD path begins at the road loop by bldg. 55 at South Point. Click Here (http://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/caskbill1/OKWDD01.jpg)

2. Cross the bridge. The golf cart path goes to the right. Follow the walking path to the left toward DD. Click Here (http://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/caskbill1/OKWDD02.jpg)

3. The path then goes along the small canal. Click Here (http://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/caskbill1/OKWDD03.jpg)

4. OKW can be seen to the left. Click Here (http://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/caskbill1/OKWDD04.jpg)

5. Soon the water canal joins the main canal the OKW boats follow as they go to DD. Click Here (http://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/caskbill1/OKWDD05.jpg)

6. The path improves further on, and has lights for part of it. Click Here (http://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/caskbill1/OKWDD06.jpg)

7. As you get closer, there's a 3rd bridge on the left that goes to the Institute. To continue to DD, veer right, go past any golfers waiting to tee off, and follow the path. Click Here (http://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/caskbill1/OKWDD07.jpg)

8. The final approach to DD. Cirque du Soleil is the large white building. Our destination is the water tower next to House of Blues. Disney Quest is the other large building in the background. Click Here (http://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/caskbill1/OKWDD08.jpg)

9. The GPS screen. 1.45 miles from the pool at Turtle Pond (it's 0.93 miles from the South Point start of the path. Click Here (http://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/caskbill1/OKWDD09.jpg)


<b><font size = 4>LINKS to the other reports</font></b>

Part 2 - MGM park to Boardwalk Villas (http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=40624)

Part 3 - Boardwalk Villas to Epcot International Gateway (http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=40634)

Part 4 - Villas at Wilderness Lodge to Fort Wilderness Campground (http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=125473)

Part 5 - Walk around the Epcort Resorts Area Lake (http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=130187)

Part 6 - Epcot (http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=130188)

Part 7 - Magic Kingdom (http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=130191)

Part 8 - MGM Studios (http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=130193)

<b>If anyone has any other paths or walks of interest, please post back or e-mail and I'll try to include it for our next trip.</b>

[maryisme]

Wow! What great directions. Thank you so much for taking the time to put it together.
Mary

[disneyokw]

Fantastic. I am sure you have just helped many of us. Those photos should make it idiot proof. I need something like that. How long did it take you to complete the walk? I could not make out a time on the photo of the GPS screen. Which by the way where did you get that? I love it.:bounce: :pinkbounc :bounce: :pinkbounc :bounce:

[WebmasterDoc]

Thanks, Bill. I felt like I was there walking it myself! :)

[Nanajo1]

Thanks for the great info. The path looks paved. Could I use my ECV on it? DH loves to walk. We really enjoy the walkways from BWV to EPCOT and MGM.

[Towncrier]

Thanks Bill - I've always wanted to try taking the path and now I have the best possible "map" thanks to your efforts.

[rbuzzotta]

Thanks for the info. Just got surprised that we will be going to OKW this weekend. Last minute deal!!!! YAHOO. Plan to try out the walkway!!

[PamOKW]

Thanks for going the extra mile! Detailed directions and photos.

[Disney Duo]

Thanks, Bill, you did a great job with you directions and also great pictures. Thanks for gettting all this together for all of us who need detailed instructions! Like me!!:smooth: :smooth: :smooth:

[nydizfan]

thanks bill great shots. dave:cool:

[wdwoldtimer]

Very Cool! We haven't stayed at OKW for a while and didn't know there was a walkway. It sounds like it's not lit the entire way...that could make for a creepy (or romantic, depending on your mood) walk back from DD at night!

wdwoldtimer

[Caskbill]

Thanks for your comments everyone. I'll try to get the MGM information posted tomorrow.

DisneyOKW, I have a Garmin GPS III that I purchased on-line about 2-years ago. On the road we connect it to the laptop and using mapping software keep track of our position and where we're going. We like to hike a lot and use it by itself when doing that. (Mostly in the Smoky mtns). It has several screens you can switch through. The one I photographed was the map (see the breadcrumb trail it gave, roughly a horseshoe shaped hike) which has limited data display. The time length of the walk was on a different screen. Although I see I did take the photo (somewhat blurred as my camera didn't focus that close) at 10:38 am as shown on the GPS.

Nanajo1, I believe your ECV would be OK. The first section is a little rougher, but still paved (asphalt). As you get closer, it gets a lot better.

[Bob D194]

Great Directions, Thank You!! We have wanted to do this for several years.

Bob D

[Regina]

It looks like it ties into the same path that you take from the Fairway Villas.

Nanajo, we used a golf cart on this path when we were at the Fairway Villas, so I'm certain that an ECV would work. They had electric outlets at the end of the path for the golf carts where you could recharge them.

There was another path at the DI that brings you alongside the bus depot at the Marketplace.

[Granny]

This is a nice thread to have brought back every once in a while. Really helps to understand the walking option, plus helps DW and I plot a morning walk!

We'll be at BWV in a couple of weeks and will be making a few of these "walks".

Thanks, Caskbill! :D

[joepoe]

I walked this patch from Old Turtle Pond several times during our stay. In fact, one morning we walked clear to "Motion" at the far end of PI. We also walked from Old Turtle Pond to the fitness center and used the machines and then walked back. Great way to start the day! Thanks, Bill!

[erikthewise]

What a great thread!! Unfortunately the links to parts 6,7, and 8 seem to be dead.

Is there any way we could convince the moderators to put all 8 posts into a permanent FAQ-type thread? It's not entirely clear which forum it belongs in. Theme Parks? Resorts? Transportation?

[madcoco]

We use to take that path alot when at the DI.It used to be part of the fitness trail.They had(or maybe they still do)stops where you would do certain exercises then start walking/jogging to the next stop.Thanks for the pics.:D

[Caskbill]

Originally posted by erikthewise
What a great thread!! Unfortunately the links to parts 6,7, and 8 seem to be dead.

Is there any way we could convince the moderators to put all 8 posts into a permanent FAQ-type thread? It's not entirely clear which forum it belongs in. Theme Parks? Resorts? Transportation?

Thanks Erik.

I fixed the links so they should now work OK. I also had to fix a couple of formatting problems. Don't know what happened but the marquee got messed up, and some of the GPS photos weren't showing. Anyway, all is now fixed.

Doc....

In regards to item #2, what do you think?

[Uncleromulus]

We walked and/or rode bikes along the OKW/DD trail a # of times.
But always during the day.
I'd feel slightly uncomfortable at nite, however--.

[Nanajo1]

We did walk it a couple of times last Nov. My ECV did fine. I don't think I would do it after dark until it is lit. I just showed all the links to DH again and he said we neeed to find a way back to WDW before our 01/03 trip! It's not realistic but we can dream. I'm so glad this post was revived.

[joepoe]

Originally posted by Nanajo1
We did walk it a couple of times last Nov. My ECV did fine. I don't think I would do it after dark until it is lit. I just showed all the links to DH again and he said we neeed to find a way back to WDW before our 01/03 trip! It's not realistic but we can dream. I'm so glad this post was revived.

I was a little creeped out about walking it alone in the morning. I could just see a big old gator scramble out of the bush by the canal and grab my leg. I did walk it with a friend, though. I just made sure I kept the canal between her an myself so that she would get it first! LOL

[PKS44]

yes, remember when running away from any wild animal, alligator, lion cheetah, etc...you do not need to run faster than the animal chasing you...just faster than whomever you are with.;)
Paul

[yesdisneyfool]

This is fabulous. It is another way for everyone to enjoy Disney when going home. Thanks :wave:

[Matt's Nin]

Thanks Bill! I'll be at OKW the end of Sept and can't wait to check it out! :sunny:

[tvwalsh]

I just want to bump this wonderful thread back to life for people headed for WDW, especially OKW.

[MiaSRN62]

Thanks for taking the time to post the report---we'll have to try this one visit.
The only problem is that I can't view any of the linked pics :scratchin
I tried to on my AOL account, as well as my Comcast account and neither worked---even after rebooting my computer.

[PCWizard]

Caskbill - you rock!

The explanations are great, but I cannot get any of the picture links to work. Has something changed or moved?

Is anyone else having a problem viewing the pics?

:(

[Coach Rick]

Great report Caskbill, but I can't get the pictures either. At first I though it might be Mozilla Firefox, but it doesn't work with Internet Explorer either. I will be at OKW in a month..yippeeee!!! :bounce:

[dianeschlicht]

I couldn't see the pics either, but this is a very old thread, so they may not be linked anymore. Any information on how to see the pics, Bill?

[lsutiggeratwk]

Another request for pics please. I'm interested in the VWL pics. Thanks!

[DisneyAngel12]

Bill I have been trying off and on to see if the pics would work still no luck. Any suggestions? I would love to see you pics of the different paths. Hope you can tell me how to open them. Thanks!

[madcoco]

Thanks for taking the time to put that together.pirate:

[ahoff]

Very helpful, thank you! We always walk to MGM and Epcot from BW.
I gouldn't open the pictures, and have a question as to how this relates to the new SSR, which I thought was the old DI. Is this true?

[Caskbill]

Hi everyone:

Just FYI, I originally started creating my Pathways Revealed threads in May, 2001 which was quite some time ago. At that time the DIS boards also had space for personal web pages, and I used that as a placeholder for the photos. Unfortunately about a year or more ago the DIS discontinued the personal web pages and all my pictures were lost. That's why the links don't work anymore.

Someday when I can get some time I plan to reconstruct the information with photos.

The links to the three Theme Park pathways revealed threads are permanently lost. Those posts were on the Theme Parks board and that board gets so much traffic that they truncate (delete) the older posts, so those posts disappeared a long time ago.

The SSR resort does connect to the same path that goes from OKW to DD by House of Blues. To get to it you would go toward the boat dock, then follow the path to the right (watch out for golf carts), over the bridge where it connects to the OKW-DD path. Go left to get to DD, or turn right to go to OKW.

If you just want to go from SS to DD, you can go the other way which is much shorter. That route takes you to DD by the Rainforest Cafe side. Does anyone know if that path is open yet or not?

[lsutigger2]

Thanks for the update and explanation on the disappearance of the photos!

We know you'll take care of updating when time permits!

Thanks again.