OKW Lovers Thread. Part 2

[PoohsFan1]

I am so excited to read this board...DH, DD15, DD13, and myself are taking my BF and her 2 kids (DD13 and DS15) to WDW for their first time ever in June. We are planning on staying at OKW in a Grand Villa (crossing fingers that we will get it). This will be my family's first time staying at this resort and we are very excited about it. I have been looking at pictures and youtube videos of the rooms and I can't believe how much room there is in there. Can anyone suggest a room location that would be closest to the main pool? We won't be having a car while we are there, we are solely relying on Disney transportation. I look forward to chatting with all of you wonderful OKW owners .

 

[Macmonster]

Been staying at OKW since 1994 and watched it being built in 1992. Our home resort (also at BCV) and our favorite for so many reasons. The changes over time have been good and not so drastic to change the flavor of the original DVC vision.

 

[Chuck S]

I am so excited to read this board...DH, DD15, DD13, and myself are taking my BF and her 2 kids (DD13 and DS15) to WDW for their first time ever in June. We are planning on staying at OKW in a Grand Villa (crossing fingers that we will get it). This will be my family's first time staying at this resort and we are very excited about it. I have been looking at pictures and youtube videos of the rooms and I can't believe how much room there is in there. Can anyone suggest a room location that would be closest to the main pool? We won't be having a car while we are there, we are solely relying on Disney transportation. I look forward to chatting with all of you wonderful OKW owners .

I think there is only 1 Grand Villa in the Near Hospitality House (main pool) booking category. That would be in building 25. Building 63 has a grand villa, but it is not specifically in the Near HH category, it is sometimes used for overflow and is also often held for those with mobility issues since it is an elevator building. Buildings 15, 16 and 29 would also be good options for GVs that are near HH but not in the booking category. There are only 27 GVs total at OKW. Including the one in Bldg 48, which has a ground floor entrance and is wheelchair modified for the first floor only.

 

[BillPA]

HH area has 2 GVs

 

[Deb & Bill]

HH area has 2 GVs

One building, two GVs.

 

[PoohsFan1]

I think there is only 1 Grand Villa in the Near Hospitality House (main pool) booking category. That would be in building 25. Building 63 has a grand villa, but it is not specifically in the Near HH category, it is sometimes used for overflow and is also often held for those with mobility issues since it is an elevator building. Buildings 15, 16 and 29 would also be good options for GVs that are near HH but not in the booking category. There are only 27 GVs total at OKW. Including the one in Bldg 48, which has a ground floor entrance and is wheelchair modified for the first floor only.

Thank you so much for the information, that will help when I go to make a request .

 

[DizzyStitch]

Hi. We are heading to OKW in May 2017. I am hoping to try as many DVC resorts as possible and this time OKW is on the list because we are driving and we don't have as many points because of a long stay at the Poly. So my question is this, when I made the DVC reservation I asked for a studio near the hospitality house. Is there a general area defined that this will get us? I really don't know this resort. We took a chance on SSR in September and really enjoyed our location. And as far as I'm concerned location is the most important part of the trip.

 

[BobNed]

Hi. We are heading to OKW in May 2017. I am hoping to try as many DVC resorts as possible and this time OKW is on the list because we are driving and we don't have as many points because of a long stay at the Poly. So my question is this, when I made the DVC reservation I asked for a studio near the hospitality house. Is there a general area defined that this will get us? I really don't know this resort. We took a chance on SSR in September and really enjoyed our location. And as far as I'm concerned location is the most important part of the trip.

Here's a map of the resort. You can see the Hospitality House buildings are yellow. 11-14 and 23-26.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Hi. We are heading to OKW in May 2017. I am hoping to try as many DVC resorts as possible and this time OKW is on the list because we are driving and we don't have as many points because of a long stay at the Poly. So my question is this, when I made the DVC reservation I asked for a studio near the hospitality house. Is there a general area defined that this will get us? I really don't know this resort. We took a chance on SSR in September and really enjoyed our location. And as far as I'm concerned location is the most important part of the trip.

Did you book Near Hospitality House area or are just hoping to be near the HH? If you booked Near Hospitality House, you'll get a villa in one of the buildings that BobNed showed in the post above. Otherwise, you'll want to try for one of the other villas somewhere close to the HH. Just a heads up, Bldg 62, 63 and 64 are usually kept for medical needs because they are the only buildings with elevators.

 

[ejgonz2]

You might want to bring your own from home. They are now leaving a funky "green" detergent. The box has about three tablespoons of detergent. The washers in the rooms use regular detergent unless they start replacing them with HE washers. The laundry rooms have HE washers. I always bring my jug of Liquid Tide with Bleach Alternative. I have both HE and regular that I bring, so I'm always prepared.

Do the villas have HE washers? Thought they were all standard top loading?

 

[Deb & Bill]

Do the villas have HE washers? Thought they were all standard top loading?

The laundry rooms at OKW have HE. But the villas we have stayed in had standard top loading washers. But they could be changing them out as they renovate. Anyone else know?

 

[evilqueenmindy]

Just booked a 2BR villa for the first week in Feb, I am SO bummed the sandcastle pool will be closed! We will have an 8 year old with us, and apart from the parks, the hotel water slide is his favorite thing.
I'm surprised they aren't offering access to another theme pool, like Saratoga springs.

 

[Chuck S]

Just booked a 2BR villa for the first week in Feb, I am SO bummed the sandcastle pool will be closed! We will have an 8 year old with us, and apart from the parks, the hotel water slide is his favorite thing.
I'm surprised they aren't offering access to another theme pool, like Saratoga springs.

Are you a DVC Member staying on points? You can pool hop to most other locations throughout Walt Disney World.

From the DVC member website:

Complimentary Pool Hopping Information
Location: Walt Disney World Resort in Florida
Benefit Type: Recreation & Relaxation

Enjoy more than one pool. When staying on your Membership at any Disney Vacation Club Resort at Walt Disney World Resort, or Disney's Vero Beach Resort, you and any Guests staying with you are permitted to use most of the other Disney Vacation Club and Walt Disney World Resort hotel pools (in addition to the pool at the resort hotel at which you are staying) if they are not at capacity. If the pool you are visiting reaches capacity, you may be asked to leave in order to accommodate Guests of that Resort hotel. Please check with a host or hostess at the front desk of the resort you wish to visit before you go to find out about pool-access availability.

You must present your Magic Band or current Key to the World card with your "DVC Member" designation on it to use the other select Resort hotel pools.

Resort hotel pools may become unavailable from time to time due to capacity limitations. Due to the high occupancy that is expected, you and any Guests staying with you may not pool hop during the following dates:

• December 19, 2015 to January 3, 2016 (Saturday through Sunday)
• February 14, 2016 to February 20, 2016 (Sunday through Saturday)
• March 19, 2016 to April 3, 2016 (Sunday through Saturday)
• May 27, 2016 to May 30, 2016 (Friday through Monday)
• June 26, 2016 to July 9, 2016 (Sunday through Saturday)
• September 2, 2016 to September 5, 2016 (Friday through Monday)
• November 21, 2016 to November 26 (Monday through Saturday)
• December 23, 2016 to January 2, 2017 (Friday through Monday)

As a reminder, please be mindful of the limited number of pool chairs available, and refrain from leaving towels or personal items on unoccupied pool chairs.

Important Information

• Pool hopping is not available at Bay Cove Pool at Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort, Uzima Pool and Samawati Springs Pool at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, Stormalong Bay at Disney's Yacht & Beach Club Resorts, the leisure pool at Disney's Beach Club Villas, the Lava Pool and leisure pool at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort, the Silver Creek Springs Pool and Hidden Springs Pool at Disney's Wilderness Lodge and the pools at Disney's Art of Animation Resort. There are no exceptions to this policy.

• Other restricted dates than those listed above may be added based on projected pool capacity.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Just booked a 2BR villa for the first week in Feb, I am SO bummed the sandcastle pool will be closed! We will have an 8 year old with us, and apart from the parks, the hotel water slide is his favorite thing.
I'm surprised they aren't offering access to another theme pool, like Saratoga springs.

I thought I had read that they are offering access to the Saratoga Springs pool during that time.

 

[evilqueenmindy]

I thought I had read that they are offering access to the Saratoga Springs pool during that time.

Oh are they? That would be perfect! I'm not DVC, we booked cash thru Disney, so pool hopping is not an option for us

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Oh are they? That would be perfect! I'm not DVC, we booked cash thru Disney, so pool hopping is not an option for us

I wish I could remember exactly where it was talked about but that was the info from someone who had been notified about the OKW pool closure. Hope it's correct for you!

 

[evilqueenmindy]

I wish I could remember exactly where it was talked about but that was the info from someone who had been notified about the OKW pool closure. Hope it's correct for you!

we could always just change the reservation to a different resort, but I really love the condos at OKW. it might be too cold to swim anyway, haha.

 

[Donald - my hero]

Just booked a 2BR villa for the first week in Feb, I am SO bummed the sandcastle pool will be closed! We will have an 8 year old with us, and apart from the parks, the hotel water slide is his favorite thing.
I'm surprised they aren't offering access to another theme pool, like Saratoga springs.

I thought I had read that they are offering access to the Saratoga Springs pool during that time.

I wish I could remember exactly where it was talked about but that was the info from someone who had been notified about the OKW pool closure. Hope it's correct for you!

That was ME, i received an email detailing the pool closure and the fact that there will be bus transportation to SSR pool. I'm not at home right now so i don't have access to my archived mail but i scanned back and found my post about this

I just got an email from Disney that was signed by the General Manager at OKW letting us know the following:
We are delighted you have chosen to stay with us at Disney's Old Key West Resort.
In an effort to continually enhance the experience here at the Walt Disney World® Resort, we often refresh our offerings. In preparation of your upcoming stay, we would like to make you aware that the Sandcastle Pool area and waterslide are scheduled to be unavailable due to refurbishment.

During the refurbishment of our feature pool area, we invite you to use our leisure pools located at Old Turtle Pond, South Point and Miller's Road. Transportation will also be provided to Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa where you can make a splash at the High Rock Spring Pool featuring cascading waterfalls, a zero-depth entry point and a 128-foot waterslide built into the rocks.

Our arrival date is January 17th -- this won't bother us in the least because neither of us swim (that would mean trying on and then wearing a bathing suit ) it might make the area around the quiet pools a bit noisier i suppose, but we can deal with that too! I thought others might want to know this tidbit!

 

[evilqueenmindy]

That was ME, i received an email detailing the pool closure and the fact that there will be bus transportation to SSR pool. I'm not at home right now so i don't have access to my archived mail but i scanned back and found my post about this

I just got an email from Disney that was signed by the General Manager at OKW letting us know the following:
We are delighted you have chosen to stay with us at Disney's Old Key West Resort.
In an effort to continually enhance the experience here at the Walt Disney World® Resort, we often refresh our offerings. In preparation of your upcoming stay, we would like to make you aware that the Sandcastle Pool area and waterslide are scheduled to be unavailable due to refurbishment.

During the refurbishment of our feature pool area, we invite you to use our leisure pools located at Old Turtle Pond, South Point and Miller's Road. Transportation will also be provided to Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa where you can make a splash at the High Rock Spring Pool featuring cascading waterfalls, a zero-depth entry point and a 128-foot waterslide built into the rocks.

Our arrival date is January 17th -- this won't bother us in the least because neither of us swim (that would mean trying on and then wearing a bathing suit ) it might make the area around the quiet pools a bit noisier i suppose, but we can deal with that too! I thought others might want to know this tidbit!

thank you for sharing this info! Glad I didn't panic and change the reservation.

 

[JessyP]

Hello, is there also a refill station at the hospitality house?