Carrie....first of all, welcome to the DIS Boards!!
You ask about Standard rooms and Preferred rooms, but actually the rooms themselves are identical. Standard and Preferred refer to the views from the rooms, not to the accommodations themselves. Sorry if you knew that, but you did say you were new to this, so I didn't want to assume.
Standard view rooms, for the most part, have a view of the front driveway or the tennis courts at BWV. Preferred views are split into two groups....Boardwalk Preferred and Water & Garden Preferred.
Boardwalk Preferred is just what it sounds like....the rooms overlook the Boardwalk. Water/Garden View rooms overlook the canal & the pools for the most part.
There's a significant difference in point requirements, and if view is not a big deal to you, then Standard View is great. It's also hard to get on this short notice, and you are looking at a busy time of the year for
DVC accommodations.
As for the spread out portion, BWV is set up hotel style rather than the separate buildings/condo style of OKW. So any walking around within the resort is in air conditioned hallways. You could request something close to the one elevator which could help too.
I think BWV could be a great location for your group.