Just Back From OKW 05/18/2007 what gives?

[EMT310]

WOW, What a difference from my very first DVC stay at SSR (March 2007), OKW is of course better established as far as landscaping, it has longevity on its' side. The real difference is the quality, at OKW, I was shocked to be stocked with paper bowls (no plates) and plastic utensils, (no forks by the way) The ceiling in the shower was crumbling, the numerous re-paints in the room were sloppily done. The beds are worn out, time to replace those for sure. Another annoyance, the DVD player couldn't play any DVD back in color! Anytime we watched a movie, it was in pale muted colors, almost black and white tones. As long as I'm on a TV roll, the TV remote was missing and when I called the front desk, they informed me that housekeeping will bring one, when I asked about how soon, I was told..."I put the order in for you, I cannot give you a time, Have a magical evening."*click* The WDW bus service is great here, a little crazy for the drivers, but good overall. Given a choice, which I have, I'm staying at SSR in December(2007) for sure. P.S. If you are flying Airtran and plan on using the magical express for the return trip, get there as early as you can and still don't plan on Airtran being able to get this done, we spent 45 minutes in line only to come up empty handed due to Airtran not being able to work it on thier end, we hauled our luggage as usual, saving no time, actually losing time. The girls at the transportation desk tried very hard to make this happen, not thier fault at all. One more side note, Olivia's is awesome, we will go back there to eat!

 

[deide71]

Ohhhhhh, I did not need to see this.

We are staying @ OKW for the first time in September.

I am already a resort-changaholic....this is like giving me crack!

 

[Skroops]

Okaaaay, um, what do you mean about Airtran and Magical Express? Your ME departs approximately 2.5 hours to departure and all you do is bring your luggage to the bus at your scheduled pick up time from OKW. When you arrive at MCO you take your luggage to the departure level and check in at the AirTran counter for your flight with lots of time to spare. We have flown AirTran a few times with no problems.
Did you have trouble with concierge/guest services getting your boarding passes printed out 24 hours to departure? Because they were willing to print ours out for us no problem. Did you have trouble with luggage assistance to your ME bus? Because our help with our bags arrived right on time at 4:40 am, for our 7 am flight.
We had newer mattresses when we last stayed and the beds in our studio were very comfortable. We didn't notice any paint chipping, or layers of paint showing through. Everything seemed nice. OKW is a beautiful resort. We had nothing but exceptional service and a wonderful stay.
Is this a joke post? If so, you can laugh and call me sucker for my sincere post!

 

[alldiz]

I thought airtran....participates in ME.....this way.....

At resort they take your luggage and check you in like you
are at the airport.....

Then you just go to the gate when you get to airport.....with no luggage...

I use SW....so they don't participate....on the way home....

To OP....
Sorry your trip had some not so magical moments
Kerri

 

[alyssa810]

We've always had good luck with OKW- it's one of our favorites places to stay! We've always had plenty of paper bowls & plates & plastic ware- which I prefer because the last thing I want to do on vacation is dishes! I also take extras home so I was bummed at SSR last week when we had "real mugs" and not disney cups.
Who sits around watching DVDs when you're at Disney World anyway?!!?

 

[JJ&JSMOM]

WOW, What a difference from my very first DVC stay at SSR (March 2007), OKW is of course better established as far as landscaping, it has longevity on its' side. The real difference is the quality, at OKW, I was shocked to be stocked with paper bowls (no plates) and plastic utensils, (no forks by the way) The ceiling in the shower was crumbling, the numerous re-paints in the room were sloppily done. The beds are worn out, time to replace those for sure. Another annoyance, the DVD player couldn't play any DVD back in color! Anytime we watched a movie, it was in pale muted colors, almost black and white tones. As long as I'm on a TV roll, the TV remote was missing and when I called the front desk, they informed me that housekeeping will bring one, when I asked about how soon, I was told..."I put the order in for you, I cannot give you a time, Have a magical evening."*click* The WDW bus service is great here, a little crazy for the drivers, but good overall. Given a choice, which I have, I'm staying at SSR in December(2007) for sure. P.S. If you are flying Airtran and plan on using the magical express for the return trip, get there as early as you can and still don't plan on Airtran being able to get this done, we spent 45 minutes in line only to come up empty handed due to Airtran not being able to work it on thier end, we hauled our luggage as usual, saving no time, actually losing time. The girls at the transportation desk tried very hard to make this happen, not thier fault at all. One more side note, Olivia's is awesome, we will go back there to eat!

Curious as to what type of room you had. If it was a studio, from what I've read (going on my memory) the studios are stocked w/paper plates and plastic utensils. Sorry your stay was not what you expected.
Glad to hear Olivia's was great...we'll have to try it when we go to OKW in October for the 1st time!

 

[SB in KY]

Studios are always stocked with paper and plastic at all of the DVC's, they always have been...no dishwasher so no way to sanitize glasses, plates and siverware..plus who wants to be washing dishes in that tiny sink on vacation anyways?? or eating off of dishes that had been??

If you had stayed in a 1 or 2 BR villa you would have had glass and stoneware and stainless. SSR puts paper and plastic in the studios too!!

I have stayed at OKW for years and one time we did have a worn out bed...I called to complain thinking they would send over an eggcrate mattress pad or something and they replaced the mattress before we came home from the parks! (and left the eggcrates)

I have never seen peeling paint or sloppy paint jobs...if you were unhappy with the state of the room you should have asked for something to be done at the time. Not much anyone can do about it now!!

 

[scoobndolliesmom]

We are getting ready to stay at Old Key West resort for the first time. We have heard only good things until now. Were you in a studio or a one or two bedroom? We have taken air tran before and we did not have a problem. Sorry you had a bad experience.

 

[Cee]

For all you folks going for the first time, not to worry. You will LOVE IT!

 

[EMT310]

OK, my bad for the whole paper plates and plastic, I did not realize that studios are set up that way. Also, sorry if I'm the only one that may actually want to watch a movie in the evening after I have spent 10 hours + in a park, my choice isn't it? This is indeed a beautiful place, just a few things that get overlooked, In my opinion, the rooms should be top notch, I mean, come on...I'm not paying Super 8 prices here. Don't be hating me, I'm going back for crying out loud...going to feed the Mouse three times this year alone, we love it down there and will continue to go. The Airtran issue is that you are (supposed) to be able to check your bags and get boarding passes at the resort at the remote check in area. The remote check in area, which I understand has nothing to do with WDW and is between Airtran and Mears (Magical Express) are the ones where the issue lies, Airtran dropped the ball, no one else did, perhaps that was misunderstood. Also, in May when I went...it was not as easy as one poster made it sound, the ME was 45 minutes late, had to stand in line for almost 55 minutes and then had just 30 minutes to spare to board. This time, (May) the ME was on time, the wait at Airtran bag check was minimal, so not a huge deal. I just thought that if Airtran is going to participate in this program, they should have things good to go before they go live with it.

 

[lillygator]

we just returned....today - stayed in a studio..no DVD player (I thought they had one) and in the bathroom the paint was peeling and it looked as though it had been repainted several times over a leak.

We enjoyed it though and would stay again.

 

[SueM in MN]

Another annoyance, the DVD player couldn't play any DVD back in color! Anytime we watched a movie, it was in pale muted colors, almost black and white tones.

Studios don't have DVD players, so I'm confused about that - I understood from your post at 12:52 today that you had a studio.

If you had a 1 or 2 bedroom and did have a DVD player, we noticed the same thing when we put on a movie to play in our 2 bedroom OKW room in April. We didn't have the TV on the right setting for playing back the DVD. When we got the TV to the right place, it played just fine (all in color). The same thing happens on our TV at home; if you have it on the wrong channel, the DVD plays, but not in color. When you find the correct one, it plays fine.