Anniversary/Birthday/Flower&Garden/First DVC Stay @ OKW

[FigmentLady]

This is my very first trip report so please, be patient with me as I try to do this right.

DH and I stayed in a studio at OKW from March 23rd-30th during the Flower & Garden Festival at EPCOT.
We were there for our anniversary and for my mom's birthday.
Mom and Dad stayed off property at an amazing resort that I can't remember the name of right now. Mom is battling stage IV melanoma and this trip was a pretty big deal.

DH and I bought into DVC in June, and this was our first trip "home" even though we didn't stay at our home resort.

We flew direct from JFK to MCO via JetBlue.
We used DME.
We are annual passholders and purchased Tables In Wonderland for food.
We stayed in room 3536 in the Turtle Pond section of OKW!

Now that you have the basics, let me show you who we are so you can have visuals while I tell the rest of our story...

This was us at the Grand Floridian Cafe for our dinner on our first night there. The champagne was a "gift" from the cast members to celebrate our anniversary.

Be sure to stay tuned for stories and photos including pixie dust, pin hunting, and sprained ankles.

 

[athenna]

I'm in

 

[mecllap]

Love your screen name -- we're big Figment fans. Hope you include lots of details about OKW, photos of the studio, bus trips, the pool area, etc.
Happy Anniversary! And best wishes to your Mom for her health -- hope she was able to enjoy the trip comfortably.

(Athenna -- you can subscribe also, without commenting by going up to the Thread tools drop-down -- but then, that doesn't add to your post count).

 

[FigmentLady]

Love your screen name -- we're big Figment fans. Hope you include lots of details about OKW, photos of the studio, bus trips, the pool area, etc.
Happy Anniversary! And best wishes to your Mom for her health -- hope she was able to enjoy the trip comfortably.

(Athenna -- you can subscribe also, without commenting by going up to the Thread tools drop-down -- but then, that doesn't add to your post count).

Figment has been my favorite ever since I was a little girl. He and I are both '82 babies and I feel a connection to him lol.

I took pics of almost everything, including the inside of my studio fridge and buses! In fact, I will start with those details...

 

[GGOOFY1]

Along for the wild ride!! lol We love OKW and one of our favorite buildings is 36 on Turtle Pond. Happy Anniversary!!

 

[FigmentLady]

It's been a long few days, and I am a bit exhausted and in a bit of pain from a sprained ankle which I'll discuss later on. So, I'll make this first part of the report quick.

A lot of people ask about the kitchenettes in the studios and the size of the studios in general. I made sure to take photos of everything I could think of.

We got into MCO around 9:50AM which was great considering the fact that our plane was delayed on the runway for quite a while while they de-iced it and then de-iced it again. Darn that NY snow.
We got to the DME just as our bus was going to leave so they stopped it and had us hop on and off we went! We were the first stop which was awesome. I'm used to being the last stop on the DME.

We got to the lobby and were greeted by adorable balloon animals..

One of which caught my eye immediately and the cast member that was giving us our packet (we'd already checked in online) noticed and gave it to me. I was way too excited over it... but come on, isn't it awesome?

Yes, that is a dead fish on a fishing pole. It joined us on several adventures which I will show you later.

Considering it wasn't even 11:00AM yet I was SHOCKED when they told us our room was ready! Even better was the fact that they put us in the Turtle Pond section without me asking even though I meant to due to all the reviews I've seen on here about that section. I was even more excited to see that we were right across from the bus stop. So far this was off to a fabulous start.

We were in room 3536 in the Turtle Pond section. We were right across from a bus stop and not far at all from the Turtle Shack although we only visited the area once.

This is our room...

This is the pool by the Turtle Shack. Notice that my fishy joined us on our adventure. The pool area was quiet, and the few people there looked at me like I had 12 heads.

Fishie wasn't quite as big as the one on the pool rules sign, but I decided he was a keeper anyway.

This is the pond outside of our building... perhaps it's THE turtle pond, but alas, I saw no turtles.
I did however, see a fish...

We made sure to take some photos of the buses for my mother in law to see..
This was our Magical Express bus. Somehow I always happen to get the cruise bus even though I've never taken a cruise...

On our way to Magic Kingdom. Notice how empty the bus is... it was like this every day, to every park, as well as coming home from the parks. I never had to stand on a bus. It was amazing. The buses ran frequently, and were clean, and quick. The fact that it was Spring Break and the parks were crowded with lines of 120 minutes in every park, every day, made the lightly packed buses even more impressive.

Old Key West is a LARGE resort. So it only makes sense to have an internal shuttle. We never used it, but I was still glad it existed.

Coming up next will be pictures of the main pool, the hospitality house area, and a review of the gurgling stair case which I sadly forgot to take photos of.

 

[SusieBea]

I'm along for the "ride." Love the Turtle Pond area. Bring on the fishie pix!

 

[spiceycat]

very cute - love your fish....

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Hi there! I am joining in the fun!! DH and I are thinking of buying in at OKW on a resale. So, we are scouring the Disboards for info. Thanks for writing this TR..I'll be curious to see all your pics and read your opinions!

 

[Goofy442]

Joining in! We have never stayed at OKW, so it's great to see and hear all about it.

 

[ajf1007]

Sign me up! We have never stayed at OKW either so I'm excited to hear all about the resort and your wonderful anniversary celebration too!

 

[tinkgurl]

I'm in! Love OKW! We've only stayed in the one or two bedroom villas, so it was neat to see what the studio looks like.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Also joining in...my sister and I were just at OKW too (March 26-April 2)!

 

[saintstickets]

Looking forward to your opinion of OKW. We stayed in a studio there in 2007 and then bought into DVC in 2009. Our next OKW trip was a 2br in May, 2010 (TR link below). It is so laid back and relaxing. OKW is a resort, not a hotel!

 

[FigmentLady]

Thank you to everyone who is following along. I am sorry I haven't updated but I have been under the weather since we got home. I will post more photos soon!

If anyone has any questions about the resort, room, or parks please ask and I will do my best to answer them. If I don't know, perhaps Fishie does, I took him home with me so I can ask him for his words of wisdom.