Howdy! We joined at SSR last year and unexpectedly were able to take a trip with less than 30 days planning. I was shocked that all 1 bedrooms were booked at SSR, but we were able to get in at OKW.
We used the magical express, and again, we were amazed at how easy and quick it was. We checked in at the counter and then went right on our bus...no wait! We flew southwest, so the trip back to the airport wasn't as easy. I didn't realize that most of the other airlines allowed resort check in, which would have reduced the stress level significantly. I did hear the bus driver call in and say that they couldn't make their stop to SSR because they had no more room. As usual, Southwest was a madhouse at the terminal. A note to remember: we took the bus that was scheduled before our departure time and made it to the gate with about 20 minutes before boarding. If we waited another 25-30 minutes for our scheduled bus, it would have been close.
We were pleasantly surprised with OKW. We were able to get a room by the HH and on the first floor. The people were extremely pleasant and the balloons for the kids was a nice touch. Everything was extremely positive about OKW with minor exceptions, such as: toilet leaked constantly, the couches were anything but comfortable, and the buses in the middle of the day could be a long wait (the afternoon we arrived, we joined people at the stop who said they had been waiting for 40 minutes for a DD bus...I assumed maybe that was because the boats weren't running and they hadn't planned for more buses to DD). Besides that, the wait for the buses in the morning was usually less than 10 minutes, which was outstanding!
One thing that really stuck out was the size of the one bedroom villa. That is like a small apartment! We had plenty of room to spread out and relax at the end of the day.
We did use the DDP, made all reservations in advance, and had several character meals. The dining plan was great...we were not impressed with liberty tree (rushed you through the meal & the characters spent about 1 minute at the tables). We felt that we used a table service watching a parade. The best character interaction was garden grill (food wasn't great) and donald's breakfastaurus. The garden grill characters came by 2-3 times and really tried to interact with the kids.
Although OKW is the only villa that we've stayed in, I'd definitely recommend it as a wonderful place to stay.
Now that we're back from the first trip, we'd like start thinking of our next one. Before we settle into our SSR routine, we'd like to try BCV or BWV and would love to hear your recommendations.
We used the magical express, and again, we were amazed at how easy and quick it was. We checked in at the counter and then went right on our bus...no wait! We flew southwest, so the trip back to the airport wasn't as easy. I didn't realize that most of the other airlines allowed resort check in, which would have reduced the stress level significantly. I did hear the bus driver call in and say that they couldn't make their stop to SSR because they had no more room. As usual, Southwest was a madhouse at the terminal. A note to remember: we took the bus that was scheduled before our departure time and made it to the gate with about 20 minutes before boarding. If we waited another 25-30 minutes for our scheduled bus, it would have been close.
We were pleasantly surprised with OKW. We were able to get a room by the HH and on the first floor. The people were extremely pleasant and the balloons for the kids was a nice touch. Everything was extremely positive about OKW with minor exceptions, such as: toilet leaked constantly, the couches were anything but comfortable, and the buses in the middle of the day could be a long wait (the afternoon we arrived, we joined people at the stop who said they had been waiting for 40 minutes for a DD bus...I assumed maybe that was because the boats weren't running and they hadn't planned for more buses to DD). Besides that, the wait for the buses in the morning was usually less than 10 minutes, which was outstanding!
One thing that really stuck out was the size of the one bedroom villa. That is like a small apartment! We had plenty of room to spread out and relax at the end of the day.
We did use the DDP, made all reservations in advance, and had several character meals. The dining plan was great...we were not impressed with liberty tree (rushed you through the meal & the characters spent about 1 minute at the tables). We felt that we used a table service watching a parade. The best character interaction was garden grill (food wasn't great) and donald's breakfastaurus. The garden grill characters came by 2-3 times and really tried to interact with the kids.
Although OKW is the only villa that we've stayed in, I'd definitely recommend it as a wonderful place to stay.
Now that we're back from the first trip, we'd like start thinking of our next one. Before we settle into our SSR routine, we'd like to try BCV or BWV and would love to hear your recommendations.
Another happy SSR member is great to hear. 
