Help us choose

[shortkathleen]

Ok- We are having a tough time deciding which resort to book for our end of May/early June trip.
We are booking a one bedroom villa and have previously stayed at SSR and Beach club. We love them both. In our group we have 4 people maybe 5 going. Our kids are 10 and 12 and my 10 year old may bring a friend. We will also have a car with us. This will be an 8 day trip and we would like to spend more "resort" time as it is our 5th trip in 5 years. This will be our first "Hot weather" trip as we have always gone in December and February.

So here is where we are at:
DH-wants to stay at SSR (Loves the feel, proximity to DD)
DS-wants to try OKW
DD- wants to go back to BCV because of SAB and proximity to parks
the friend- she doesn't care, she just wants to come
Me- I love, love, BCV but kind of want to try Kidani (2 bathrooms are appealing to me but location is a concern)

We are all over the place and I am about to put those 4 in hat and just draw.

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[wink13]

We have stayed at all the DVC resorts at Walt Disney World and my choice as well as my boys have always been BCV. However they do like Bay Lake Towers.

The pool at BCV is the main draw for us as well as the location to the parks.

Have a great trip!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Ok- We are having a tough time deciding which resort to book for our end of May/early June trip.
We are booking a one bedroom villa and have previously stayed at SSR and Beach club. We love them both. In our group we have 4 people maybe 5 going. Our kids are 10 and 12 and my 10 year old may bring a friend. We will also have a car with us. This will be an 8 day trip and we would like to spend more "resort" time as it is our 5th trip in 5 years. This will be our first "Hot weather" trip as we have always gone in December and February.

So here is where we are at:
DH-wants to stay at SSR (Loves the feel, proximity to DD)
DS-wants to try OKW
DD- wants to go back to BCV because of SAB and proximity to parks
the friend- she doesn't care, she just wants to come
Me- I love, love, BCV but kind of want to try Kidani (2 bathrooms are appealing to me but location is a concern)

We are all over the place and I am about to put those 4 in hat and just draw.

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

With five, OKW would be a great fit. Four nice pools. A boat ride away from DTD. Excellent Community Hall with lots of activities for the kids. Gurgling Suitcase for mom and dad.

Five actual sleeping spaces (one king, one queen sleeper and one twin sleeper chair). The two girls could share the queen sleeper and your son could have the sleeper chair.

You are also pretty close to Typhoon Lagoon if you decide to get water park tickets.

 

[MinnieLee]

I'll throw a "monkey wrench" into your choices. Did you consider BWV? Luna pool,things to do and see at night along the boardwalk, the ice cream shop, the bakery, ESPN and alot of different restaurants choices all within walking distance of BC, S&D and the Boardwalk. There is also a quiet pool back by the community hall. You could also rent the bicycles that fit 4 and go around. You are also within walking distance to Beaches & Cream.

 

[DizBub]

I would agree with OKW for all the reasons Deb & Bill gave you. Plus the lower point requirement if that is important to you. And the 1br is huge. You won't be disappointed. Honestly, we could live there.

Otherwise AKV/BLT for the extra bathroom and sleeper chair.

 

[ABE4DISNEY]

I am leaning towards your choice...Kidani. The second bathroom is wonderful to have and with a possible young guest, it would be a wise choice. Also, Kidani is really a destination unto itself. You have the animals, a super pool, a very nice community hall, access to cultural activities that your kids would love and you are close to Jambo as well. Between the two resorts, you have a lot of food options. Finally, if you have a car, you are also in the best resort location to go outside of Disney property for dinner as well. You are literally just 5 minutes from a ton of food options via Sherberth Road.

 

[shortkathleen]

Thanks for all the insights! These really are fun decisions to make. BWV are probably a no go bc of the creepy clown pool. I have nightmares about that slide.
My family watched a video about Kidani and weren't sold on it. They didn't like the themeing. I think if I take them over there on our next trip they might change their mind.

We have narrowed it down to SSR and OKW.

 

[Tikihula]

If you like SSR you'll probably like OKW. In addition, OKW has lusher landscaping, you can park right outside your building and usually in the shade, the rooms are a lot bigger, and they show movies on an outdoor screen by the pool. They may do that at SSR, too, but I'm not sure.
OKW is a little more laid back and casual in theming, and the gift shop is larger than the one at SSR.

Enjoy making your decision.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I'll go with the others and recommend OKW, based on what you have previously liked. It has some similarities to SSR, and BCV and OKW are the two DVC resorts at WDW that DH will stay at.

 

[disney314]

Did they see the pool area at the AKV's? It looks nice. We haven't stayed there, but the extra bathroom is very appealing. With 5 people in a one bedroom, aren't you limited to AKV, BLT and OKW? Or do they let you put 5 in a room if you provide your own bedding? I'm not sure.

I do like the amount of space you get at OKW, but the extra bathroom at AKV would be the winner for me if there is going to be 5 people. It is hard enough for four to use one bathroom.

 

[peabody58]

OKW is great, but remember there are no elevators. If walking up 2 or 3 flights of stairs is a concern, you may want to reconsider SSR.

 

[LSchrow]

my vote would be for ANY you haven't tried before (we thought we wouldn't care for SSR because we really didn't like OKW - but we LOVED SSR!)

the kids ages are pefect for a BWV/BCV stay (leaning toward BWV because BCV tends to be more geared toward the toddler thru 8ish group). we felt comfortable letting our kids (when about 12ish) to go in pairs, with a celphone, to pick up something at the BW bakery - they loved that little bit of freedom (admittedly, we had a BW view so could watch them)

kidani's 2 bathrooms might be the deal breaker tho....i can't imagine that many ppl with just one bathroom. also, AKL in general is an amazing resort, with great and informative CMs.

my vote is anywhere you haven't stayed tho

 

[lovin'fl]

I am always all over the place to when trying to make a decision about our WDW trips too. It's like looking at a menu that has tons of pages and there's just too much to choose from. Here is what I can tell you:

We have 3 kids (twin DDs-2 months away from 14 and DS-a few weeks away from 16). We have been going to WDW since 2003 and have been DVC owners since 2006. We have stayed at POR, Contemp, BWV, SSR, VWL, OKW, HHI and VB. Next month will be our 1st, and long awaited, trip to BCV. This is my family's thoughts: location, location, location! We LOVE BWV as we can walk to Epcot and HS and monorail from Epcot to MK (only bus to AK). We are not big Downtown Disney people...just don't get the draw...but our teenaged nephews LOVE SSR because they can walk to/from Downtown and apparently they do that every day confused3)...my kids aren't into that. We also LOVED the Contemp and probably would very much enjoy a stay at BLT (we'd monorail to Epcot and MK as well as the other resorts for ADRs). Now, for us, if the Epcot resorts are not available or are just too many points for that trip, we will go OKW over SSR and VWL because they have larger villas with really good layouts (and you still can boat over to Downtown Dis). We haven't done AKV yet (but I think we'd prefer that over OKW as it conserves points and Kadani has the extra bathroom and we think they have great theme-ing there and great dining venues).

So, if my fam of 5 was going and I had unlimited points I would go BLT, BCV or BWV in a 2BR (and BLT takes soooo many points that it has been last in this trio when we book). If we needed to conserve points I'd go AKV in a 2BR and might go with a 1BR (OKW would be runner up). If we had 1-2 others in our party and needed space we'd def go OKW in a 2BR (AKV would be runner up).

 

[lovin'fl]

OKW is great, but remember there are no elevators. If walking up 2 or 3 flights of stairs is a concern, you may want to reconsider SSR.

I think OKW does have a few elevator buildings. Just discovered this tidbit myself. Plus you can always request 1st floor, which is what we do for my MIL (who has bad knees).

 

[shortkathleen]

Thanks everyone! The elevator thing at OKW is really a non-issue as we can do the stairs just fine. (I might not say that after a long, hot day at the parks!)

I think we will try OKW since it is one we haven't done and will change up the vacation a little bit. I think since we are driving it will be nice to have close parking. I will miss BCV but we can always do it next time!

Now, if anyone has a great building suggestion for OKW that would be great! My kids would love to be near the pool.

 

[lovin'fl]

Thanks everyone! The elevator thing at OKW is really a non-issue as we can do the stairs just fine. (I might not say that after a long, hot day at the parks!)

I think we will try OKW since it is one we haven't done and will change up the vacation a little bit. I think since we are driving it will be nice to have close parking. I will miss BCV but we can always do it next time!

Now, if anyone has a great building suggestion for OKW that would be great! My kids would love to be near the pool.

You likely won't be able to get the 'Hospitality House' booking this close. But here's a map (midway down the first page of the link below) and you can see which are close to the pool/boat/shop/etc. HH is outlined in blue and is a separate booking than all the rest of OKW (and they book up pretty much before the 7 month window).
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2922912&highlight=okw+map

I suggest building 27 as that bus stop is the 1st one coming in from the parks plus you can walk over to the HH bus stop to go to the parks (as that bus stop is the last one going out to the parks). Building 62 is not bad either.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Thanks everyone! The elevator thing at OKW is really a non-issue as we can do the stairs just fine. (I might not say that after a long, hot day at the parks!)

I think we will try OKW since it is one we haven't done and will change up the vacation a little bit. I think since we are driving it will be nice to have close parking. I will miss BCV but we can always do it next time!

Now, if anyone has a great building suggestion for OKW that would be great! My kids would love to be near the pool.

Miller's Road is very nice. We were in a GV in Bldg 15 and really enjoyed it. If you miss the bus as you see it heading to the Miller Road bus stop, you can usually beat it to the HH.