Bldg request at OKW?

[Beka'sMom]

Just got res at OKW for end aug- 1bdrm. what requests should i make??

Any info on this resort?

 

[Richyams]

Make requests such as non-smoking, water or golf view, upper or lower floor. There are no bad buildings. I have been going to OKW every year since the begining. I have stayed in every area of the resort. I have never been unhappy enough or found one area so superior to any other enough to request a location.

 

[Disney Doll]

The only thing I will say is that if you like to walk to the main building a lot, request to be relatively close to it, as it is a fairly spread out resort, and you could be far away from Conch Flats. Not an issue if you don't have a problem walking or don't tend to spend a lot of time at the main area. I like to stop into the gift shop etc fairly frequently, so it's one thing I try to think of.

They have some buildings that have elevators to the upper floors.If that is an issue for you, request one of those buildings.It does make it a little easier to get your luggage to your upper floor room if you have an elevator. Otherwise, you're carrying it up the stairs.

Some of the buildings built very early in the OKW development have 1BRs where the only entrance to the bathroom is through the master BR. I am not even sure if that is still true or not, they may have retro-fitted them with a door through the laundry room like the later phases have, but I always make it a point to request a 1 or 2 BR with a separate bathroom entrance door through the laundry room. If you are in a 1BR and have someone sleeping on your couch, the ir only access to the bathroom is through your bedroom.We learned this the hard way on our first stay!

Hope these are helpful tips!

 

[ncligs]

Here is a map of OKW.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/okwmap.jpg

 

[wdwsos]

Some additional info:

http://wdwig.com/faq_okw.htm

and pictures...

http://wdwig.com/g_okw.htm

 

[msdis]

Beka's mom- Hope you have a great trip, we will be there in 2 weeks also. Let's hope for sunshine and low humidity. Never been to Fla. in Aug. Been twice the 2nd week of Sept. for Disney cruises and it was quite sticky. We have been to OKW for 3 nights, cash, pre-DVC and don't remember much about it. The only requests we made were non-smoking and upper floors. Not sure about all views but our one and only experience included a porch on the first floor that was "in the jungle" with trees and vegetation so overgrown we were "hidden" amongst it all; and to top it all off, the air conditioner units, all 6 of them, were right beside our porch. Quite unsightly and very noisy.


I had a couple questions myself about OKW. Someone mentioned a while ago that some buildings do not have a parking lot. Is that true and where do you park in that case. We will be in a studio. All studios have 2 beds, no couches right? And do any studios have safes? Also, the laundry rooms are at the quiet pools, right? Any idea how packed they are and how many washers & dryers at each? The only set up like this I have ever experienced was at CBR. Thanks to anyone who can help.

 

[TDC Nala]

Here's my OKW question - are there better buildings for someone who will not have a car? I'm not terribly interested in going to the main buildings a lot, and walking is fine with me, but I would prefer as short a walk as possible after getting off the late PI bus.

 

[reneesam]

In your case, I think "close to a bus stop" is the most reasonable request. I find requests are most likely to be honored when:

1. I book 11 months out

2. The request is made at the time the ressie is made (the request is printed on the mailed confirmation form)

3. I make a single request (other than our standard non-smoking)

4. the request states a need: "close to hospitality house," "close to bus stop," "near quiet pool," etc. rather than a specific building or room

Good luck. As Rich said, there are no "bad" areas!

 

[DeeP]

I agree with a previous poster if you do not have a car and will be going to the main hub to eat at the restaurant, go to the store, guest services,main pool, pool bar, community hall, weight room or the boat dock to take a boat to DTD(there is alot that goes on in the main area) then request a building close to the front of the resort because OKW is huge and if you are in a section in the back without a car you have a choice of an internal bus or a long walk.

I had a couple questions myself about OKW. Someone mentioned a while ago that some buildings do not have a parking lot. Is that true and where do you park in that case. We will be in a studio. All studios have 2 beds, no couches right? And do any studios have safes? Also, the laundry rooms are at the quiet pools, right? Any idea how packed they are and how many washers & dryers at each? The only set up like this I have ever experienced was at CBR. Thanks to anyone who can help.

For buildings without a parking lot you just park as close as you can to your building. I have no idea how many buildings do not have parking lots, but I do know I have stayed in buildings with parking lots and when coming back after park closings I still had to drive around to another buildings parking lot to get a space.
All studios at OKW have 2 beds, no couches.
Every OKW studio I have ever stayed in had a safe.
The laundry rooms have a couple washers and dryers they are not nearly as large of a laundry room as CBR but then neither is the demand for the w&d. I have never had a problem getting a w&d at any dvc resort, within reason.

Not sure about all views but our one and only experience included a porch on the first floor that was "in the jungle" with trees and vegetation so overgrown we were "hidden" amongst it all; and to top it all off, the air conditioner units, all 6 of them, were right beside our porch. Quite unsightly and very noisy.

I have gotten a studio excatly like this once at OKW and it was not the greatest. When I tried to call the front desk after 15 min in the room I was told I would have to pay the extra dvc fee for changing rooms, since I had already accepted the keys/room. Since it was a solo business trip I just stayed where I was but I was not happy about essentially having a balcony which provided me with almost zero value. It seems as though each building has an end unit like this located right next to the air conditioning units and in order to hide the a/c units there are bamboo plants and other foilage planted there; but it greatly restricts the view from the villas located there and also greatly increase the noise factor when you are sitting on the balcony and the a/c units are running.

 

[msdis]

Thanks so much for your reply.