10 days at OKW

[BeeBopp717]

Hi all:
I am new to these threads, but not to Disney. My parents are original members, homebase OKW. We’ve been well over 30 times. We recently went, last 2 weeks of April; we flew, parents are still driving home (they make a trip of the drive back to Philly).
All 10 days in Peninsular building 28 at OKW; room requests were fulfilled (Peninsular, first floor) but room wasn’t ready til well past 4PM. We didn’t mind since day 1 is always a pool & chill day for us.
Party included: my folks, my 30-something brother, my husband & I & our 2 girls (15 months, 4YO).
2 bedroom at OKW was perfect; we end up bringing our own pack and play & put the baby in the extra bathroom for bedtime. That’s been our go-to plan with babies.
Parks were definitely more crowded than I anticipated; masking wasn’t an issue for us, I’m in medicine & have hounded my family about this for a year now so they were prepared. But the crowds again, were kind of shocking to me. I haven’t been anywhere but work for 15 months though, so maybe that’s my own naivety.
OKW Lighthouse Pool: Average crowds. Able to get umbrella tables every time we went. Negative - stepped in shards of glass outside of pool entry on day 2. Thank God it was me & not my kid. But I reported it to the life guard, custodial cleaned it up, first aid helped & it was handled.
OKW Bar: GS is a family favorite; never disappoints.
Mobile Ordering, throughout trip: Worked well for us. Especially at Pecos Bills (MK) during peak times, Olivia’s at OKW for takeout to the room (buttermilk chicken is FIRE). We are snackers so it worked well for us for small meals. Fish & Chips from Yorkshire fills us for the day, so we usually grab that & sit in the garden attached to R&C.
Dining Reservations: Again, we eat 1x a day. Snacks in between. Oga’s was ok but no meals; charcuterie tray was good though. My mom thought it was an actual restaurant so, that’s what happened there. Missed not having Cape May (closed). German Biergarten was just alright; show was great as always. Royal Table was special for my 4YO Princess; honestly, the beet salad was great & the beef was the best I had on property the entire stay. Missed O’Hana (also closed). Hollywood & Vine was quite good. Mama Melrose’s too - the tomato salad is just refreshing after pizza & burger days.
Random Notes: Got on ROTR twice. Miracle. But loved it. My kid is a SW junkie so, this was truly a blessing for us. But we take the parks slow because we know we’ll be back. & this time with 2 kids & Covid limits & the crowds, we went SLOW SLOW. It was my first time a GE & I wasn’t overly impressed. EPCOT on a weekend was a mistake my mom made in planning that will never happen again. We usually hop the hotels on the monorail & have a drink or apps & I quite missed that aspect; just not feasible with 2 little kids this go-round. The buses were not an issue for us being the first stop at OKW but I can see how that can go bad real fast. Between 2 scooters & their families, an entire bus can be filled; frustrating undoubtedly. Something we only experienced once. Missed the shows / characters / fireworks. But we explained to my kid this “is a different kind of trip” over the last year & she was prepared.
Hoping to rent someone’s points & do 10 days next April at BLT or VGF without my folks (they’re saving points for a huge trip). Hoping for some Disney normalcy by then as well.
To be off from work, away from sick patients & in the FL sun was enough for me. Back to reality now.

 

[AliceIn]

Nice review! I was there the week of Spring Break (3/26-4/3) and I knew it would have max crowds, so I was prepared for that. It wasn't as bad as I had envisioned it. I'm with you on going SLOW - we had 1 or 2 things per park that we wanted to do, and anything else was a bonus. We slept in most days and also did only 1 meal per day. That made for an extremely relaxing vacation. When fast pass is available, I think we go a little bonkers trying to fit everything in. My whole family enjoyed this trip more than we have in prior years, even though we did less.

We're going back at the end of this month for another 8 days. The plan is to run it exactly the way we did in March.
I'm looking at OKW for next year. The location you got sounds like it was optimal for the two bedroom.

Thank you for the detailed report!

 

[BeeBopp717]

Nice review! I was there the week of Spring Break (3/26-4/3) and I knew it would have max crowds, so I was prepared for that. It wasn't as bad as I had envisioned it. I'm with you on going SLOW - we had 1 or 2 things per park that we wanted to do, and anything else was a bonus. We slept in most days and also did only 1 meal per day. That made for an extremely relaxing vacation. When fast pass is available, I think we go a little bonkers trying to fit everything in. My whole family enjoyed this trip more than we have in prior years, even though we did less.

We're going back at the end of this month for another 8 days. The plan is to run it exactly the way we did in March.
I'm looking at OKW for next year. The location you got sounds like it was optimal for the two bedroom.

Thank you for the detailed report!

Slow is definitely the key. Especially if you know you’ll be back. 2-3 things per park was our expectation. Enjoy your return. OKW is the best! Look into it for sure.

 

[POOH&PIGLET]

Thanks for the trip report!
How was the German Biergarten (now that its' family style)?

 

[BeeBopp717]

Thanks for the trip report!
How was the German Biergarten (now that its' family style)?

It was “just” okay; nice quantities, but I LOVE their German ranch dressing & there was not offered. The tomato & cucumber salad was refreshing. My kids liked the Mac & Cheese. The hotter (temp) sausages went; the cold stuff didn’t.