I am going to apologize now.... TRIP REPORT OKW

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Well, I haven't read all the posts that led up to this one but all I can say is there is one less member that I will have in front of me for a future OKW reservation!!!

We love OKW and having stayed at just about all the WDW properties, this is by far our families favorite!!!

We never take the bus and rent a car!! I hope the poster finds some happiness with his future stays at a DVC property. Maybe someday, when he find himself enjoying the relaxing atomosphere of OKW!!!
 
okay I can't resist. I'm new to these boards-and starting to second guess myself. Anyway,I was watching the Travel Channel and the "travel expert" made a comment that might be appropriate here. He said that people hold the Disney company to a much higher standard than other vacation destinations. I wonder if the standard is too high?
MEMBER AT OKW SINCE 93.
 
okay I can't resist. I'm new to these boards-and starting to second guess myself. Anyway,I was watching the Travel Channel and the "travel expert" made a comment that might be appropriate here. He said that people hold the Disney company to a much higher standard than other vacation destinations. I wonder if the standard is too high?
MEMBER AT OKW SINCE 93.

First of all - WELCOME!!!!!:dance3:

Not all threads on the boards are as 'heated' as some. This one tends to be a 'heated' thread. Some people like to call it :stir: "stirring the pot". People are free to voice their opinions (to an extent) as you can tell. Please look at other threads and stick with 'the boards'. You'll learn soooo much more and I'm sure that you have a ton of information to offer since you have been a DVCer since 93. WELCOME again!:banana:
 
We were at OKW about 3 weeks ago and I felt the bus service was also very slow. But no where was this a bad enough problem that it would make me never stay there again or even come close to considering selling my DVC membership. In fact, OKW is now one of my favorite resorts and I do hope to stay there again in spite of the slow buses. I'm not sure what the bus problem is at OKW - but it did seem to take a long time for buses to arrive. We did a survey after we got home and I cited slow buses as my only real complaint. As far as service, I was very pleased with the service I received at both checkin and concierge. Maybe OP just hit them on a bad day.
 

My family and I returned from a 2-week stay at OKW on 7/7/07 and the bus service was very good. Either going to the parks or returning to the resort, the wait never exceeded 15 minutes. Maybe we were just lucky???
 
I just love OKW and the relaxed atmosphere. Everyone has bad days, even people at work. It is unfortunate that the OP suffered but compassion is a wonderful thing to have when things are going badly.

A fight on the bus. That is just wrong! But you don't get to cancel your contract because people act like mules.

I like OKW because most people there are enjoying the relaxed, laid back feeling and they are nice.

Just one more person not staying at OKW and more nice times for us.
 
OT: Yes, the hydrolators are gone...they were the fake elevators (they didn't move, the floors jiggled a little) that were designed with a special effect to make it LOOK like you were decending several hundred feet into SeaBase Alpha.
Chuck, you have it wrong.:sad2:

They did move.:thumbsup2








According to one guidebook article I read, they desended a whole 2 inches. :fish: :fish:
 
We were there with friends a few weeks ago and had a wonderful time. Bus service could have been faster, but it was never an issue. Our friends were amazed by both OKW and HHI.

I've learned that you can have a great time anywhere. If you let the little things ruin your trip, it will happen everytime.

On our two week adventure, we stayed at OKW and HHI.

On the way--- any of these things could have ruined it - but now they are part of the story...

- We decided to drive from Lancaster, PA instead of flying (that was almost enough right there!)
- We were out of the driveway and the other family's van would not start. We jumped it, got it started and then and none of the lights or gauges worked. We were delayed 3 hours.
- One hour into the trip, my DD 12 started vomiting. (We always have a bucket on long trips - very lucky)
- We invited my dad who was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer last year. He is in good shape now but has become a bit eccentric.
- A big accident involving a bus(not ours) slowed traffic for sometime.
- At HH, the family under us whooped it up with loud music and yelling all the time.

And you know what, we had an awesome trip. None of that stuff matters - my family was together and these things which could have been disasters are now part of the story....

OKW is a beautiful resort and it is well maintained. The units are wonderful and spacious.
 
I've heard that with 55,000 CMs that WDW has the most employees in a single location in the world!

When I think about how hard it is for my employer to find good quality employees for relatively low wage jobs (and we are usually just looking to hire 1 person), I try to cut Disney some slack. So what if I was checked in by a grumpy CM, there are still probably 50,000 CMs more out there that might add some magic to my day. -- Suzanne
 
I've heard that with 55,000 CMs that WDW has the most employees in a single location in the world!

When I think about how hard it is for my employer to find good quality employees for relatively low wage jobs (and we are usually just looking to hire 1 person), I try to cut Disney some slack. So what if I was checked in by a grumpy CM, there are still probably 50,000 CMs more out there that might add some magic to my day. -- Suzanne

The other thing I try to remember is you don't know what else has happened. Sadly some of the WORST behavior I have ever seen at check in has occured at DVC resorts. (Folks seem to think REQUEST equals DEMAND and that being RUDE to the CM will help.....) So having watched that I am always amazed that CMs are as nice as they are. (If some of your fellow members weren't abusing them maybe they would be nicer. LOL!)
 
A long wait at check in can ensue if you arrive "right" after the Magical Express bus . . . NOT the CM's fault.
 
OT: Yes, the hydrolators are gone...they were the fake elevators (they didn't move, the floors jiggled a little) that were designed with a special effect to make it LOOK like you were decending several hundred feet into SeaBase Alpha.

I was always afraid of the windows breaking and drowning.

I do miss these they were corny but they made you feel like you were underground I also miss the and it rained and rained and rained and rained and rained and rained and rained... maybe that is why I though they would flood someday :idea:
For the record The POLY has the worst bus service at of any resort that I have stayed at and I did stay there several times I once got offered a free admission to PI.... if only they had a bus to get me there!
 
I never had a problem at OKW or any of the other resorts, but then again I don't go in the summer months. :woohoo:
 
I will first apologioze for everything I am going to say in this posting. First I have to say for the first time I was humiliated, mortified, upset, embarressed, etc. to be a DVC member. Reason being: OKW!!! We brought another family with us this past week (returned last night) and I could not tell you how embarressed I was all week and our friends kept asking "why would you buy a timeshare here, this is awful!"

snip...

WE WILL NEVER STAY AT THIS RESORT AGAIN!!!! I have already called into member services, our guide, DVC management, transportation, etc. to find out if we can get out of DVC just because of this experience.

Those that have reservations booked there, good luck! Go to SSR, you'll be treated as you expect not like a low life as you will be treated at OKW.

Good things:
WE HAD A GREAT TIME EVERY MINUTE WE WERE AWAY FROM OKW


The more I think about this, the more my blood boils and here is why. I have NO PROBLEM with the OP hating OKW...again, part of DVC is the whole different strokes for different folks philosophy. Ok, OP, you learned that OKW is not for you, so you won't stay there again, problem solved.

I am not keen on the fact that you stated in all caps that this is a horrible resort. YOU didn't like it and YOU felt that YOU didn't get the level of service that YOU wanted. This does not mean that it is horrible. There are FAR more positive posts about this resort than negative ones like yours.

But again, this is not what really gets to me about your post. It is more along the lines of what Diane said...


Don't blame OKW for your failure to research the fact that only 3 buildings have elevators there. If you wife is pregnant, she must also be young enough to walk all day at the parks. How on earth did she manage to do that and not be able to climb the stairs at the end of the day?

There is something in your posts that is not being said. I'm not sure what it is, but I didn't read anything specific about OKW other than your impression of the attitude of the Conch Flats person you spoke with. You have said nothing about the room, the look of the resort etc. etc. You DO mention bus service, but not bus service that originated from the resort. Your complaints were about bus service TO the resort from other places. We KNOW not to take the bus to or from DTD....Always a big wait no matter WHICH resort you are going to. If we can't drive, we always take the boat. You don't say how long you waited to go from OKW TO DTD, but I'm guessing it wasn't long, since OKW has an internal bus that goes the loop at OKW and DTD.

If you have stayed this same time of year at any other DVC resort and had different experiences, then you can judge, but your report sounds like a vendetta with no real meat to it about the resort specifically.


You see, I remember when you, douglas, first came to these boards becasue you were thinking about buying into DVC. In fact, your posts were quite frantic...in one of the threads you started you said that you were buying THAT DAY and you needed to know how many points to buy!!

HUH?

I responded to you stating that you were right to ask questions here on the DIS before making such a purchase, but if you didn't even know the basics like the number of points you needed, then you were nowhere near ready to purchase. There were other basic questions that you had no clue about and yet you rushed to purchase.

(and btw, yes I have a life and do not live on these boards. I just remember your early posts in particular because I could not believe that someone was getting ready to drop $15 K without knowing the basic information.)


In fact, it was one of the few times dumbo71 and I actually agreed on something! :rotfl2: :rotfl:

My point is that you bought into DVC very rushed and without doing a lot of research. Sure, you may have learned some things along the way. However, had you really done due diligence in your research, then you would have known that you were traveling at a very busy time of year...and that buses are ALWAYS slow and ALL resorts during the busiest seasons.

But by all means, blame DVC. After all, since you spent that much money, I suppose that they should have sent you a private tutor to help you with all of this information. Oh yeah, I forgot, they did....your guide! (and the entire DVC MS team.)
 
3DisneyKids, that explains the comparison to the Ritz. I was really wondering what the OP thought if he was comparing DVC to the Ritz.... (As I sometimes tell my Girl Scouts. "Failure to plan on your part does not constitute a crisis for me to clean up")
 
You see, I remember when you, douglas, first came to these boards becasue you were thinking about buying into DVC. In fact, your posts were quite frantic...in one of the threads you started you said that you were buying THAT DAY and you needed to know how many points to buy!!

In a Rush to Buy DVC

popcorn::

:rolleyes1
 
I was getting kind of critical about this whole post when I remembered a negative experience I had at Disney about ten years ago.

Let's just say I stayed at this Dinsey resort, one which I will not name. The resort wasn't great, but a lot of other things went wrong on the trip (niece got sick, buses ran late, there were some rude CMs and rude vacationers). I hated the trip and every time I think about it, I vow never to stay at that resort again. If anyone tells me they're staying at that place, I cringe. (I still love Disney though.)

I think it's just a bad part of our human nature to play the blame game. As I did with that one bad trip, you focus all your frustration on one source, and you always feel someone or something is responsible.

Let's just agree that people perceive things differently.
 
Whew... this thread is getting long...

Maybe I should start a new "my resort is better than your resort" thread. Or perhaps a "your resort sucks" thread.

Seriously, I enjoy the more positive threads or even those with constructive criticism than the negative posts...
 


You're quite the sleuth Granny, digging up that old post. This kind of reminds me of an SSR owner who was going to sell after her first trip. "Something awful" happened with the staff at SSR(she had a couple of teenagers, so Slakk & I were thinking they got into some sort of trouble).
 
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