Shadeaux
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 19, 1999
- Messages
- 614
Some random thoughts & a trip report of sorts, from our recent trip to OKW.
We were at OKW from 6/1 - 6/13. We arrived about noon; our room wasn't ready. The CM who checked us in said she'd look to see if something was available but since she told me we were assigned to a second floor 1BR in one of the buildings I requested, we decided to wait. We went to lunch, did some shopping and by the time we got back at 2:30 pm, our 1BR, #1723, was ready. Everything in the unit was as it was supposed to be. Great view of the fountain, golf course & water.
Something was wrong with the toaster; it kept burning everything no matter what setting we put it on. I called for housekeeping, but they didn't bring another one that day. I know I should have called again that day, but never got around to it. After 3 days of burnt toast & poptarts, I finally made another call. Within 10 minutes, we had a brand new toaster, still in the box.
Everyone at OKW was very friendly. I don't recall passing one CM in 12 days that didn't wave or say hello. I admit I've never noticed if anyone says welcome home, but I do notice if they're friendly which to me means just as much.
One of the things we enjoy about OKW is sitting on the balcony watching the ducks, bunnies, birds, turtles & golfers. I am almost hesitant to mention this because some on this board seem to think this is boring & for 'old' people. I don't consider myself all that old, and my 14 yr. old daughter most definitely isn't old.
She enjoys these things as much, if not more than my husband & I do. We always have a second floor unit, but this was the first time we had a duck fly up and sit on the railing of our balcony. She was there several times; none of the other ducks ever followed her up so it wasn't a problem. Speaking of the balcony, there was a new table and new chairs out there.
All the DVC logo merchandise was on sale. They had lots of polo shirts, hats, towels, pens & jackets left. I bought a pen, a hat and one of the last etched mugs they had. One of the CMs told me it was because they're getting a new logo. They had a few items with what I assume will be the new logo for OKW; a lighthouse & palm tree with the words Old Key West under it. I bought a magnet with this logo and will try to take a picture of it & post it later. The CM told me they were also going to use the logo with Mickey, Goofy & ???? (I can't remember who else) sitting in a boat.
We ate at Olivia's a couple times and enjoyed it. I love the prime rib sandwich. Don't forget to ask for fruit if you don't want fries. Olivia's hamburgers are MUCH better than those at Beaches & Cream. I never thought I'd say that! We always eat at B & C, but this year we were extremely disappointed. The hamburgers tasted like fast food burgers. Their prices seemed much higher than last year. My daughter loved the hot dogs from Goods; she said they were better than the one she had at B & C.
We went over to look at the BCV models at BWV. As soon as the rep found out we were already owners, they weren't very interested in talking to us. This is the first time we've ever come across anything like this with any DVC reps. Weve visited the new models for all of the resorts since we joined in '94. Again, I'm hesitant to post my opinion about BCV because I don't want to start any fights. I like the way they moved the door from the living room to the second bedroom and I like the color scheme. When we were in the model, which is a 2BR, there were the 3 of us, another couple and the rep. in the living room. Or should I say, we all tried to all fit in the living room. We were on top of each other. I guess we're spoiled by the space at OKW. 
The master bathroom is very confusing....too many doors. A door into the toilet, a door into the jacuzzi area, and a door into the hallway. I don't remember, is this how it is at the other properties?
We also drove past the BCV several times. I was very surprised to see how close to the road part of the building is. We also walked around a bit. The courtyard areas are very pretty. Unfortunately, that was the one day I left my camera in the car, so I didn't take any pictures.
That same afternoon, I missed the picture of a lifetime when we were walking back to the car. Toward Epcot was a rainbow; at the end of the rainbow was Spaceship Earth. The reason I didn't bring my camera was it looked like it was going to storm and I didn't want to get it wet. After missing that picture, I had my camera in my pocket the rest of the trip! I did get a few other rainbow pictures while we were at Summerland mini golf.
We've been at WDW around the same time for the past 6 years. This year was the most crowded we've ever seen. MK & AK were wall to wall people the days we were there. At times, there were even lines waiting to get fastpasses. A lot of the problems seemed to be because a lot of the rides were not running at full capacity. The Great Movie Ride only the ganster side was open both times we rode. In the past, at the Backlot tour, if you were in the covered waiting area, you got into the watertank/preshow part of the tour. Not so this time. After the watertank viewing area was about half full, they stopped letting people in. The first day we waited about 25 minutes for the preshow despite being told when we walked in that it would be a 5 minute wait.
Something that I had read about on here, but hoped it wasn't true, was the lack of cleanliness of the restrooms. I've got to say that the womens restrooms at the MK were absolutely disgusting, even an hour after opening. We've been going to WDW since 1976, and I've never seen anything like this. This seemed to be isolated to the MK; the other parks weren't too bad.
Several times in discussions about which resort is best, people have mentioned that a smaller unit isn't that big a deal because after all, most people are only there to sleep anyway. We are the exception to that. We go for about 12 days and spend quite a bit of time in our unit and as I mentioned, out on the balcony. I would be happy to sit around and relax at OKW for the whole 12 days, but my family won't let me.
I look forward to staying at OKW more than I do going to any of the parks. The crowds this year made staying at OKW even more special because it gave us a place to escape from them.
I know there was more I was going to post, but at the moment can't think of what it was. As usual, I took more pictures than I planned to and will post a link when I get them up on the web.
We were at OKW from 6/1 - 6/13. We arrived about noon; our room wasn't ready. The CM who checked us in said she'd look to see if something was available but since she told me we were assigned to a second floor 1BR in one of the buildings I requested, we decided to wait. We went to lunch, did some shopping and by the time we got back at 2:30 pm, our 1BR, #1723, was ready. Everything in the unit was as it was supposed to be. Great view of the fountain, golf course & water.
Something was wrong with the toaster; it kept burning everything no matter what setting we put it on. I called for housekeeping, but they didn't bring another one that day. I know I should have called again that day, but never got around to it. After 3 days of burnt toast & poptarts, I finally made another call. Within 10 minutes, we had a brand new toaster, still in the box.
Everyone at OKW was very friendly. I don't recall passing one CM in 12 days that didn't wave or say hello. I admit I've never noticed if anyone says welcome home, but I do notice if they're friendly which to me means just as much.
One of the things we enjoy about OKW is sitting on the balcony watching the ducks, bunnies, birds, turtles & golfers. I am almost hesitant to mention this because some on this board seem to think this is boring & for 'old' people. I don't consider myself all that old, and my 14 yr. old daughter most definitely isn't old.
She enjoys these things as much, if not more than my husband & I do. We always have a second floor unit, but this was the first time we had a duck fly up and sit on the railing of our balcony. She was there several times; none of the other ducks ever followed her up so it wasn't a problem. Speaking of the balcony, there was a new table and new chairs out there. All the DVC logo merchandise was on sale. They had lots of polo shirts, hats, towels, pens & jackets left. I bought a pen, a hat and one of the last etched mugs they had. One of the CMs told me it was because they're getting a new logo. They had a few items with what I assume will be the new logo for OKW; a lighthouse & palm tree with the words Old Key West under it. I bought a magnet with this logo and will try to take a picture of it & post it later. The CM told me they were also going to use the logo with Mickey, Goofy & ???? (I can't remember who else) sitting in a boat.
We ate at Olivia's a couple times and enjoyed it. I love the prime rib sandwich. Don't forget to ask for fruit if you don't want fries. Olivia's hamburgers are MUCH better than those at Beaches & Cream. I never thought I'd say that! We always eat at B & C, but this year we were extremely disappointed. The hamburgers tasted like fast food burgers. Their prices seemed much higher than last year. My daughter loved the hot dogs from Goods; she said they were better than the one she had at B & C.
We went over to look at the BCV models at BWV. As soon as the rep found out we were already owners, they weren't very interested in talking to us. This is the first time we've ever come across anything like this with any DVC reps. Weve visited the new models for all of the resorts since we joined in '94. Again, I'm hesitant to post my opinion about BCV because I don't want to start any fights.
I like the way they moved the door from the living room to the second bedroom and I like the color scheme. When we were in the model, which is a 2BR, there were the 3 of us, another couple and the rep. in the living room. Or should I say, we all tried to all fit in the living room. We were on top of each other. I guess we're spoiled by the space at OKW. The master bathroom is very confusing....too many doors. A door into the toilet, a door into the jacuzzi area, and a door into the hallway. I don't remember, is this how it is at the other properties? We also drove past the BCV several times. I was very surprised to see how close to the road part of the building is. We also walked around a bit. The courtyard areas are very pretty. Unfortunately, that was the one day I left my camera in the car, so I didn't take any pictures.
That same afternoon, I missed the picture of a lifetime when we were walking back to the car. Toward Epcot was a rainbow; at the end of the rainbow was Spaceship Earth. The reason I didn't bring my camera was it looked like it was going to storm and I didn't want to get it wet. After missing that picture, I had my camera in my pocket the rest of the trip! I did get a few other rainbow pictures while we were at Summerland mini golf.
We've been at WDW around the same time for the past 6 years. This year was the most crowded we've ever seen. MK & AK were wall to wall people the days we were there. At times, there were even lines waiting to get fastpasses. A lot of the problems seemed to be because a lot of the rides were not running at full capacity. The Great Movie Ride only the ganster side was open both times we rode. In the past, at the Backlot tour, if you were in the covered waiting area, you got into the watertank/preshow part of the tour. Not so this time. After the watertank viewing area was about half full, they stopped letting people in. The first day we waited about 25 minutes for the preshow despite being told when we walked in that it would be a 5 minute wait.
Something that I had read about on here, but hoped it wasn't true, was the lack of cleanliness of the restrooms. I've got to say that the womens restrooms at the MK were absolutely disgusting, even an hour after opening. We've been going to WDW since 1976, and I've never seen anything like this. This seemed to be isolated to the MK; the other parks weren't too bad.
Several times in discussions about which resort is best, people have mentioned that a smaller unit isn't that big a deal because after all, most people are only there to sleep anyway. We are the exception to that. We go for about 12 days and spend quite a bit of time in our unit and as I mentioned, out on the balcony. I would be happy to sit around and relax at OKW for the whole 12 days, but my family won't let me.
I look forward to staying at OKW more than I do going to any of the parks. The crowds this year made staying at OKW even more special because it gave us a place to escape from them. I know there was more I was going to post, but at the moment can't think of what it was. As usual, I took more pictures than I planned to and will post a link when I get them up on the web.
