First Stay at Old Key West

[rickdeni]

I have been to the Wilderness Lodge Villas at least 5 time but now am going to stay at Old Key West for the first time. We are 2 adults who intend to use the pool daily with only 1 or 2 trips to the Parks. We like fine dining and am interested in how hard it will be to get to the other resorts from Old Key West.
Also, suggestions on what buildings are close to the main pool, bus stop, etc. Are there any elevator building close? Can we walk anywhere from Old Key West? Thank you for your help

 

[southerngirl528]

If you are wanting near HH, you will need to book that category of room. As for elevators, there are none at OKW except those (3 bldgs total I believe) few that are built on the site of the former Commodore House and the former parking lot for the same. These rooms are often much needed by folks that absolutely cannot do stairs. If you have a physical need for this, you must tell MS when booking.

There is a boat that runs back and forth from the OKW marina to DD all day and evening which makes it very convenient for getting to DD. As for getting from OKW to another resort? Resort to resort has always been an issue and not just for OKW. Often it is more efficient to grab a bus to a theme park that is close to your desired resort destination, then take whatever Disney transpiration is most convenient for you from that same theme park, whether it be monorail, boat or bus. For instance, if I wanted to go from OKW to have dinner at say, Narcoosee's at the GF, I would take a bus to MK, then transfer to either the resort monorail or grab a boat launch headed that direction. If it was Narcoosee's I would definitely grab a boat launch since it drops you at the dock close by! Hope this helps a bit.

 

[disneynutz]

OKW is the oldest resort, sometimes some rooms have a moldy/mildew smell maybe because they aren't all used or because they are built on wetlands. Running the AC all of the time helps get rid of the odor if you notice it. Units close to the bus routes tend to seem nosier than the other. Olivia's is great for a nice home cooked meal.

Bill

 

[Deb & Bill]

We've stayed at OKW more than 15 times since we bought DVC. Never had a musty smell in our villa. With two adults you won't want to visit the main pool much. Too many kids, pool games, lots of noise. One of the neighborhood pools might be better, Millers Road or Southpoint would be best in my opinion. Quieter, more adult. That's usually our choice. I can't remember the last time we did the HH area pool. But you can hear those darned pool games all over the resort during the day.

If you want to dine at other resorts, you'll either need to take a bus to a park and then to a resort (or dine close to the park at a resort you can walk to) or get a cab. You can walk to SSR or DTD, but you'd need to do that during daylight hours. The path over to SSR and DTD isn't lit at night. It starts over near the Southpoint pool. And you could take a boat back from DTD if you walk over. There isn't a direct boat to OKW from SSR or POR/POFQ. You need to transfer at DTD.

Anytime you want to head to the Hospitality House, you can hop any bus and it will stop there last. To get back to your area, you can hop the Internal/DTD bus (as long as it hasn't completed its route around the resort - it stops first and last at HH) to go to the other areas. Or you can walk across the bridge to Peninsular Road bus stop and ride to Southpoint, Turtle Pond or Millers Road.

 

[lsyorke]

OKW is our favorite! Never had a musty/moldy smell. We've done OKW with a car and using transportation and found that having a car does make it faster to get around, but buses are very available to get to anywhere.

 

[southerngirl528]

I've been an OKW member for 22 years. I have never once had a musty smell staying there. Okay, maybe from our beach towels that were left laying damp too long….

I agree that Olivia's has some good food. If you like fried chicken, be sure to ask if they have their buttermilk fried chicken on the menu that week. (Long ago, this was a menu standard, nowadays it's only featured a week at a time occasionally) If they do, ORDER IT. Served with mashed taters and cream gravy and it's yummy!! No. Not low cal, but hey! You're on vacation and going to be walking miles and miles in the theme parks every day!!! Their onion rings are great too.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

I recommend the conch fritters.

And I liked staying by the Turtle Pond pool.

 

[rickdeni]

Thanks for the information. Please keep it up. Thanks again

 

[jcanary]

As adults only traveling we also like the turtle pond pool and the rooms there. Real nice area, they have their own charcoal grills and picnic tables.

 

[nezy]

We have stayed at OKW in the past and I have always loved it. Kids like SSR-for pool table, ping pong tables, basketball courts (I know OKW has all of these too! ) and the food court. That may be the only thing missing from OKW--an artists pallette type of place. With that said, I am deciding between the two resorts right now for out next stay!!
OKW is a more spread out resort and larger rooms--no elevators--but I do love the beach atmosphere .....decisions decisions!!