DVC suggestions for pre wedding and wedding day

[Icecoldpenguin]

So I need some help from my fellow DISbride members. my home resort is the wilderness lodge and we just closed so we are waiting to get put in Disney's system for DVC. We want to use points to put my family up for the wedding at disney and points for us too and for our honeymoon.

We are getting married at the Swan and Dolphin. A friend of mine checked and the BWV have no availability for my dates June 29-July 2nd (wedding portion of the trip) They said that SSR, OKW, VWL and AKV have availability then. So this means I need to figure out where the best place to stay is for the pre wedding and wedding day portion of the trip.

I will need to get ready the morning of the wedding the ceremony is at 11 am so no matter where we stay I will need transportation over to the swan.

Any suggestions on which of these resorts would be the best to put my family and me and my fiance up in for the wedding portion of the trip. The honeymoon there is still available where we want to stay so I am not really worried about that.

My concern is having a place to stay for the pre-wedding part, the getting ready the day off part and the transportation from whichever DVC property we stay at to the wedding at the swan. any suggestions?

Teresa

 

[lurkyloo]

Well, OKW is closest to the Swan & Dolphin. Will you not have a car? That could be tricky, but I'd say it would be worth the fare (and probably not cost much at all) to take a cab over. Also, the rooms there are huge, which would be nice for getting ready.

 

[princesswendy720]

You could always pay for a few of those one way vans to transport your guests to the ceremony. I would choose AKV just for the getting ready and pre-ceremony photo ops for you.

 

[tric8783]

I agree with Carrie on the proximity.... OKW rooms are definitely huge also and were recently renovated. AKV is the least amount of points for a standard view, but only by a few/night. OKW is definitely 2nd least points and if you're trying to get rooms for all of the family also, I'd try to get in at the resort with the least amt of points needed to spread them farther? There arent any elevators at OKW so I'd suggest requesting ground floor, especially for older family members if you have any. I do think for proximity to S&D and getting everyone over there, it's worth an extra point or two/night to be at OKW rather than the farther drive from AKV. Just my 2 cents!

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

OKW! Lots of space. Loveseat, Chaise, and Couch (lots of sitting room).

We were in building 62 and loved it!! Any of the 60s would be perfect!

I did love Kidani... but it's soooooo far away.

 

[Icecoldpenguin]

Well, OKW is closest to the Swan & Dolphin. Will you not have a car? That could be tricky, but I'd say it would be worth the fare (and probably not cost much at all) to take a cab over. Also, the rooms there are huge, which would be nice for getting ready.

I really did not have any idea where OKW was. I looked it up and I see that it is really the closest. I have to look at points because the AKV are so cheap that it may be worth the cab fare or something. Or we might rent a van to transport me.

You could always pay for a few of those one way vans to transport your guests to the ceremony. I would choose AKV just for the getting ready and pre-ceremony photo ops for you.

I do like the idea of the photo ops that are available with the getting ready shots from AKV however there is still a possibility the swan will be giving me either a room or a hospitality suite to get ready in so if that is the case then it won't really matter either way

I agree with Carrie on the proximity.... OKW rooms are definitely huge also and were recently renovated. AKV is the least amount of points for a standard view, but only by a few/night. OKW is definitely 2nd least points and if you're trying to get rooms for all of the family also, I'd try to get in at the resort with the least amt of points needed to spread them farther? There arent any elevators at OKW so I'd suggest requesting ground floor, especially for older family members if you have any. I do think for proximity to S&D and getting everyone over there, it's worth an extra point or two/night to be at OKW rather than the farther drive from AKV. Just my 2 cents!

I agree with the least amount of points so that they go farther....true though that AKV are so far away. I just was not really too impressed by pictures I have seen of OKW can you direct me to a good place for room photos. It will be my grandparents there too and I would not want to walk down stairs in my dress so we would definitely have to ask for ground floor

OKW! Lots of space. Loveseat, Chaise, and Couch (lots of sitting room).

We were in building 62 and loved it!! Any of the 60s would be perfect!

I did love Kidani... but it's soooooo far away.

I had no idea the rooms at OKW were so large and that they had that much seating do you have any pictures?

So I am probably going to be getting a hospitality suite or a room to get ready in at the swan so we may be able to avert that problem so then it just becomes getting the best deal for my family...I know the AKV are so far away but how cool would it be for people that have never been to disney EVER to have animals outside their windows?

Im still trying to figure out my best option but I just don't know I guess because I don't know much about OKW.

Teresa

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

Here's a little piece of my TR. This is a 1-BR villa, the 2BRs have 2 real beds in them... unlike the other villas that have a bed and a pull out couch. That's a plus too!

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43809439&postcount=1276

 

[tric8783]

I've only stayed at OKW once since they renovated- there are wood/pergo floors now and there used to be carpet- Deena's pics are really good to look at. I just went on google images, I found this map of the resort;
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/okwmap.htm

This is the original DVC and our first "home" we bought into so we used to stay there a lot when I was younger, we liked staying buildings 54/55/56, there is a pool down there and the resort staff call it the "Honeymoon Pool", there is also laundry there if you get studios without laundry. This is it's own little street off the main road so it's very quaint and quiet there, and it connects to the path to walk over to SSR/ DTD if you wanted at the end of the street also. There are multiple bus stops throughout the resort that will all bring you back up the hospitality house/check-in and the main pool. The main pool was recently re-done with a new slide etc also. It definitely has an island-feel and very laid back. Your doors all go right out to the sidewalk so you don't have to walk down a long hallway (a drawback to some of the others I think that you can't just get outside and go!), but they don't have any elevators so definitely tell them you have asthma and can't take stairs etc for you to really need a ground floor room. I think OKW is very pretty with its lush grounds for pictures IMO.

We went on a weekend cruise for one of my friends bachelorette parties, and we stayed at OKW on points the night before the cruise- all girls that had never been to OKW and hadn't been to Disney in years. They all thought it was gorgeous and wanted to come back and stay there (an outsiders opinion of the resort)

IDK if this will work but I'll try it:
http://www.google.com/search?tbm=is...3125l0l4579l15l15l0l3l3l2l203l1564l4.6.2l12l0

you'll have to keep us posted!

 

[Icecoldpenguin]

Here's a little piece of my TR. This is a 1-BR villa, the 2BRs have 2 real beds in them... unlike the other villas that have a bed and a pull out couch. That's a plus too!

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43809439&postcount=1276

The pictures are great but is that the same type of furniture and decor that the studios have? Your pictures are kind of making me like OKW a little bit more.

I've only stayed at OKW once since they renovated- there are wood/pergo floors now and there used to be carpet- Deena's pics are really good to look at. I just went on google images, I found this map of the resort;
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/okwmap.htm

This is the original DVC and our first "home" we bought into so we used to stay there a lot when I was younger, we liked staying buildings 54/55/56, there is a pool down there and the resort staff call it the "Honeymoon Pool", there is also laundry there if you get studios without laundry. This is it's own little street off the main road so it's very quaint and quiet there, and it connects to the path to walk over to SSR/ DTD if you wanted at the end of the street also. There are multiple bus stops throughout the resort that will all bring you back up the hospitality house/check-in and the main pool. The main pool was recently re-done with a new slide etc also. It definitely has an island-feel and very laid back. Your doors all go right out to the sidewalk so you don't have to walk down a long hallway (a drawback to some of the others I think that you can't just get outside and go!), but they don't have any elevators so definitely tell them you have asthma and can't take stairs etc for you to really need a ground floor room. I think OKW is very pretty with its lush grounds for pictures IMO.

We went on a weekend cruise for one of my friends bachelorette parties, and we stayed at OKW on points the night before the cruise- all girls that had never been to OKW and hadn't been to Disney in years. They all thought it was gorgeous and wanted to come back and stay there (an outsiders opinion of the resort)

IDK if this will work but I'll try it:
http://www.google.com/search?tbm=is...3125l0l4579l15l15l0l3l3l2l203l1564l4.6.2l12l0

you'll have to keep us posted!

You make a great point about it being right by DTD and there being the walkway or the boat. Since our reception is at Fulton's crab house and we are not providing transportation back to everyone's resorts it would be great for my family and even for me to just take a ferry boat back to OKW.

I am starting to get sold on OKW.

Teresa

 

[tric8783]

You make a great point about it being right by DTD and there being the walkway or the boat. Since our reception is at Fulton's crab house and we are not providing transportation back to everyone's resorts it would be great for my family and even for me to just take a ferry boat back to OKW.

I am starting to get sold on OKW.

Teresa

AH! I totally forgot your reception is at Fulton's- YES they can take the water taxi/boat right back to the hotel, would probably be a nice breeze in the summer! That would be convenient!

Sorry didn't comment on the furniture for Deena- yes, it looks like that in all the rooms- studio, 1BR, 2BR and the grand villa!

 

[Deesknee]

We are a family of 6 and usually stay in a 2bdrm. We have not stayed VWL or AKV. We love OKW and SSR. The advantage of OKW are the large rooms. the villas with laundry have actual laundry rooms with full size washer/dryer (not stack). Another advantage to OKW IMO is the laid back feel. I find some people get a bit over whelmed with the disney feel 24/7. I find OKW is a bit more subtle than other resorts. Also, if anyone has a car, parking is basically right outside the villas doors.
The down side is lack of elevators. And some may say the size of the resort. However I think AKV & SSR may be larger. At least they seem it to me.
If it were me, I think I would go with OKW, especially if it is the closest to my wedding venue.