Question About Old Key West

[mjaclyn]

I have a trip coming up in January that I recently modified and now I am staying in a 1 Bedroom at Old Key West. We have never stayed there before and I was wondering if you could give me some tips. I already checked to see if there were any rooms available at HH (there aren't any), so besides requesting that, are there any other room requests that I could make regarding location? I would like to be as close as possible to the main building. I'm also not sure if we will be renting a car or taking the Disney buses. How are the buses at OKW? Would it be better to rent the car?

Also, what are your thoughts on the restaurants there? I also thought I read somewhere that only some of the buildings have elevators. Is this correct?

 

[Brian Noble]

Buildings below 30 do not have a door from the living room to the bath---you have to go through the master. Buildings 30 and higher do have such a door. So, if you anticipate having people on the sleeper, you might want to request a unit with that door.

 

[Spikerdink]

Last time I stayed at OKW I requested a water view room...I think it was Building 28 - but when we sat on the deck for breakfast coffee or evening wine, was a great way to relax. We waved at the boats going by, enjoyed seeing the wildlife walking around and although it was a few minute walk to the HH, the bus was fairly close by if you had trouble walking.

 

[saintstickets]

I have a trip coming up in January that I recently modified and now I am staying in a 1 Bedroom at Old Key West. We have never stayed there before and I was wondering if you could give me some tips. I already checked to see if there were any rooms available at HH (there aren't any), so besides requesting that, are there any other room requests that I could make regarding location? I would like to be as close as possible to the main building. I'm also not sure if we will be renting a car or taking the Disney buses. How are the buses at OKW? Would it be better to rent the car?

Also, what are your thoughts on the restaurants there? I also thought I read somewhere that only some of the buildings have elevators. Is this correct?

Here is a map of OKW. We stayed in building 62 last May, 2010 (TR link below). At that time, it was not considered HH but as you can see, it is right across the road from the HH. We really enjoyed the location.

The buses at OKW are some of the best in WDW. Rarely did we wait for longer than 5-10 minutes and you are not sharing with another resort.

The CS at OKW leaves a bit to be desired but the TS restaurant, Olivia's, is fantastic. It is never crowded, the CM's are some of the friendliest in all of WDW and the food is excellent.

You'll enjoy OKW. The laid back atmosphere truly makes it a resort and not a hotel. Have fun!

 

[DenLo]

Something I think is very important is that there are very few elevators at OKW. From Allears.net

Buildings 62, 63 and 64 are the only resort buildings with elevators. Building 64 does not have a parking lot.

You can request a first floor but it will not be guaranteed. The bus stop on Miller road is located in the middle so you could have a long walk to the bus stop if you are assigned a building at the end of the road.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Last time I stayed at OKW I requested a water view room...I think it was Building 28 - but when we sat on the deck for breakfast coffee or evening wine, was a great way to relax. We waved at the boats going by, enjoyed seeing the wildlife walking around and although it was a few minute walk to the HH, the bus was fairly close by if you had trouble walking.

I doubt you saw any boats from #28 decks. I'm guessing you were either in building 45 or 46.

 

[mjaclyn]

I just called this morning to request a building with an elevator, and the CM told me that all those buildings are considered HH. So, I just added a request for a ground floor room. We are traveling with 2 small kids so we always have a lot of luggage and extra things so I hope we don't have to go up three flights of stairs with all of that! LOL

The other two resorts available for my dates are AKV Kidani Village in a Standard View and Saratoga Springs. I wanted to try OKW because so many people like it, but I'm not sure it's worth the trade off with having to reach our room outdoors and no elevator. Plus, the CS location isn't great... Thoughts?

 

[dianeschlicht]

I just called this morning to request a building with an elevator, and the CM told me that all those buildings are considered HH. So, I just added a request for a ground floor room. We are traveling with 2 small kids so we always have a lot of luggage and extra things so I hope we don't have to go up three flights of stairs with all of that! LOL

The other two resorts available for my dates are AKV Kidani Village in a Standard View and Saratoga Springs. I wanted to try OKW because so many people like it, but I'm not sure it's worth the trade off with having to reach our room outdoors and no elevator. Plus, the CS location isn't great... Thoughts?

What size unit are you staying in? It makes a difference in my opinion. I assume with children you are staying in a 1 bedroom and not a studio, so in that case, OKW wins hands down over the others for ANY reason other than the savanna view at AKV. We own at both OKW and AKV, and our AKV trips always leave us yearning for the convenience of OKW.

I would not necessarily want a ground floor room. They tend to have more noise from upstairs neighbors if you happen to get someone up there who doesn't care about such things. As for carrying...Just have bell services do that for you if you aren't interested in doing it yourself. On the other hand...If you have strollers etc, ground floor is easiest.

Buses are great from OKW, and it's not necessary to be near HH, since you are only as far away as the nearest bus stop. All buses stop at HH before exiting the resort.

For the best views, we like buildings 45, 46, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, and any others where you get a good view of the golf course. I did not include buildings in the HH category, since you said you didn't have that.

One thing that confused me about your statement from MS is that the elevator buildings are part of HH category. That is not supposed to be true. The HH buildings are supposed to be 11-14 and 22-26. The elevator buildings are 62-64 and shouldn't be included in that. They do however, try to reserve those for the physically challenged, and that's as it should be.

 

[mjaclyn]

We are staying in a one bedroom because it's super convenient to have the full kitchen and washer/dryer with the kids. We will have two strollers on this trip plus diaper bags, etc. so I thought a ground floor room would be most convenient.

The CM I spoke to specifically said that buildings 62, 63 and 64 are HH. What floored me is that he suggested that I put in a request for an elevator building for medical reasons. He said that the front desk tries very hard to accommodate folks who have medical problems. I then told him absolutely not... I don't have a medical reason for wanting an elevator and would not want to take that room from someone who actually needs it. I just couldn't believe that the CM would suggest something like that. The only reason I'd like an elevator or a ground floor is because it's hard to carry 2 strollers, bags and kids upstairs.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We are staying in a one bedroom because it's super convenient to have the full kitchen and washer/dryer with the kids. We will have two strollers on this trip plus diaper bags, etc. so I thought a ground floor room would be most convenient.

The CM I spoke to specifically said that buildings 62, 63 and 64 are HH. What floored me is that he suggested that I put in a request for an elevator building for medical reasons. He said that the front desk tries very hard to accommodate folks who have medical problems. I then told him absolutely not... I don't have a medical reason for wanting an elevator and would not want to take that room from someone who actually needs it. I just couldn't believe that the CM would suggest something like that. The only reason I'd like an elevator or a ground floor is because it's hard to carry 2 strollers, bags and kids upstairs.

Yes, in that case, I'd stick with the ground floor request too, but remember that it is only a request. I'm going to have to call MS and get a clarification on HH category, because the published buildings are 11, 12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 25, and 26.