Grand villas at OKW

[merlib]

Hi all;

I am so excited -- I just found out today that I have been approved to get Christmas week off! That means I can go ahead with my plans for a family gathering at WDW!! My dd wants to have both sides of the family join us for Christmas at her favorite place on earth --- Walt Disney World!

Can someone tell me how many grand villas there are at Old Key West? That is our home resort and where we want to stay. I will begin calling on January 22nd (our first day will be Dec. 22nd) and call each day until I have the entire stay booked. I kind of like to know what my chances are for success ahead of time, so I will know how quickly after member services opening to be on the phone.

Anyone having experienced a grand villa stay can chime in with their experiences too! Our families are mostly guys, with my daughter being the only girl cousin, and possibly one daughter-inlaw coming. Aught to make for some interesting sleeping arrangements. We'll have 9, and possibly 11 people coming.

Thanks in advance for your answers!

 

[dianeschlicht]

Calling day by day at the 11 month booking window right at the time MS opens certainly will get you a GV for the holidays.

WE have stayed in a GV several times, and had a BLAST! The last time was with 12 people ranging in age from 66 down to 10.

 

[Mike]

I am currently booking my first GV for 12/2-12/7 at OKW so I can't give you a firsthand opinion. I just wanted to point out to you that if your first day is going to be 12/22, then you cannot call until Jan 23rd. You have to call 11 months from your checkout date - not your checkin date. Good luck!!

 

[dr&momto2boys]

Call right when they open each day and you'll probably be fine. That's how we did our reservation for a GV at Boardwalk. We're not going at such a busy time though so don't chance it--call the minute they open. Have fun!

 

[RobDoc]

OKW has 27 GVs. I would call daily beginning on January 23 and I expect you'll have good success.

Enjoy! The GVs are great!

 

[dianeschlicht]

If you are looking for a bit more specific info, I can tell you that the master is about 3-4 feet wider than the master in a 2 bedroom. The master bath is also different, but I kind of prefer the arrangement in the 2 bedroom better.

The 3/4 bath in the hall is great and one of the cutest bathrooms at WDW. The laundry room is HUGE, and ended up being a storage area for us last time. In fact, it would make a good bedroom for a toddler in a Pac N Play. I really like the big living room too and love the wicker game table set in there. The dining room is huge too with plenty of room to seat everyone between that table and the one in the living room. There is one thing I do not like about the GVs though. I don't much care for the arrangement in the kitchen. The sink is stuck next to the corner at right angles to the stove, and it makes navigating with more than one person in the kitchen a problem. There is a lot of food storage area in the center island though, and we utilized the island often for seving food buffet style. Our group did a lot of cooking last time to save money, and the kitchen got a real workout.

One of the upstairs bedrooms is a bit cramped with a strange bathroom arrangement (the one with the 2 double beds), but the other is nice and spacious with 2 queen beds in it. There is also a little bench out in the upstairs hall that one of our little people used to nap on last trip.

 

[Mike]

Are all the OKW GVs on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the units? God willing, my wife's 95 year old Grandmother will be joining us in December. She gets around alright, but a lot of stairs will be a problem for her. She is not confined to a wheelchair so we do not need a HA GV. Are there regular GVs either with an elevator or that are on the first and second floor?

dianeschlicht - that was a great description - thanks

 

[merlib]

Hi everyone!

Thanks for your replies, it has given me a lot to think about. I love the idea of a grand villa, but am wondering with all the "guys" in our party whether or not a 2 bedroom and a one bedroom would be better. Here is the scenario:

We have myself, dh, and dd. My dh's brother and 4 boys (youngest will be 20). Then, on my side of the family I am inviting my brother who needs to sleep on the pull out couch (can't do stairs well). My dilemma is -- where is my 17 year old daughter going to sleep? And on top of that - DH's nephew #2 who is currently in Iraq will hopefully be home by then so he and his wife would come too!

Can you help me figure out which is best for us?

Thanks in advance!

 

[SueM in MN]

Are all the OKW GVs on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the units? God willing, my wife's 95 year old Grandmother will be joining us in December. She gets around alright, but a lot of stairs will be a problem for her. She is not confined to a wheelchair so we do not need a HA GV. Are there regular GVs either with an elevator or that are on the first and second floor?

dianeschlicht - that was a great description - thanks

There are 2 OKW GVs that have access without climbing stairs. They are both handicapped accessible. You can request one, but the only way to make sure you get one is to have a handicapped one guaranteed thru Special Services. Anything else is only a request and if someone who has a guarantee for one of them is there at the same time as you, they will get it.

The wheelchair accessible GV we stayed in was in building 48. The other one is in building 62 or 63 (someone else may know for sure). The bottom floor is accessible, with a lowered counter in the kitchen and a roll under sink. The master bath has a raised seat toilet, a roll under sink and a roll in shower. The hall bathroom is not accessible. The other bedrooms are upstairs and are not accessible. We had 2 people with bad knees who used the upstairs bedrooms. They felt the stairs were not too bad and were easy to climb.

 

[Merilyn]

There are at least 2 GV in the elevator buildings. We have stayed in both. They are on both ends of the building. We have also stayed in the one that is on the ground floor. All work nicely for handicapped.

 

[Mike]

SueM and Merilyn - thank you both for your replies. I added a request for a GV with an elevator. From Doc's OKW map, it appears that these are only available in Bldg 63. The CM said there are very few of these units (I'm guessing 2 ???) so we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Are all the OKW GVs on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the units? God willing, my wife's 95 year old Grandmother will be joining us in December. She gets around alright, but a lot of stairs will be a problem for her. She is not confined to a wheelchair so we do not need a HA GV. Are there regular GVs either with an elevator or that are on the first and second floor?

dianeschlicht - that was a great description - thanks

The GVs are all on the 2-3 floors with the exception of one HA GV in building 48 and the one HA GV and one regular GV in building 63, which has an elevator. If she is mobile enough, the stairs are low rise stairs on the outside of the buildings, and even my DH who has very arthritic knees has little difficulty with them, but the interior stairs will be a bigger issue. Perhaps you will want her to either use the pull out or the master so she doesn't need to do the interior stairs.

 

[Mike]

The GVs are all on the 2-3 floors with the exception of one HA GV in building 48 and the one HA GV and one regular GV in building 63, which has an elevator. If she is mobile enough, the stairs are low rise stairs on the outside of the buildings, and even my DH who has very arthritic knees has little difficulty with them, but the interior stairs will be a bigger issue. Perhaps you will want her to either use the pull out or the master so she doesn't need to do the interior stairs.

Did I mention that she is stubborn too We spoke with her last night about this and she insisted that she wants an upstairs bedroom because she only has to go up and down the inside stairs once a day.

Her concern is going in and out of the unit as we will be doing that several times a day as we come back for meals/naps for the little ones and then head out again. I do not want to take one of the few HA GVs because others may need it more than us. She told me that she is not worried and will do what she has to. Hopefully, we can get the unit with the elevator in Bldg 63 - that would be ideal. Hey we have a 1 in 27 shot

Thanks for the input

 

[OneMoreTry]

I went through the process of guaranteeing a HA access GV through special services. it took a while to explain to MS what I needed to do, but finally accomplished it through patient persistence and the knowledge i gained here on the DIS. However, DMIL is on new medication and is negotiating stairs well. If she is doing this well before we go, I'll drop that request and just try to get a unit in the elevator building.

Here is the thread.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1088932

 

[mickeywho?]

dianeschlicht -
Have you stayed in a GV near the main pool area? Any idea which building it would be? We're thinking of requesting this and would love an experienced opinion..
No little ones here so noise during the day is not an issue.
TIA

 

[SueM in MN]

SueM and Merilyn - thank you both for your replies. I added a request for a GV with an elevator. From Doc's OKW map, it appears that these are only available in Bldg 63. The CM said there are very few of these units (I'm guessing 2 ???) so we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed.

One of the 2 in the elevator building is wheelchair accessible, so if someone else has a guarantee for wheelchair accessible, you are right that it leaves you a 1 in 27 chance.