simzac
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 8, 2004
- Messages
- 2,280
I apologize first if this gets long. We just returned on the 8th from our first trip home as members at OKW. We had a fantastic week and I just wanted to share some thoughts on our trip. Much of what I will cover relates to items that have appeared recently here on the DIS boards and I made a point to check them out personally during my stay. I will cover some non DVC areas first, then OKW after that.
ME, great again, except that our flight arrived at 12:30pm, and our luggage didn't get to our room until 8:30pm, but we were prepared, so it was no big deal. Took 1 hour from stepping off the plane to walking into the Hospitality House.
Dining, we love the buffets, and I feel the food offered on all the buffets is great. We ate at Biergarten, Donalds, Crystal Palace, Cape May, Hollywood & Vine, and Liberty Tree Tavern. Even my 12 year old ate more than he ever did before.
The Parks. We love the changes to POTC. Cleanliness was outstanding, even the restrooms. When I did find a restroom is disrepair, I would go back later, and both times it was totally clean. I even thanked one of the CMs cleaning the restrooms the last night for the great job they were doing. Crowds were up the whole week, much more so than the past 2 years. Even so, we never waited longer than 15 minutes for any attraction all week.
Transportation. We fly, don't rent a car, so Disney transportation takes care of all of our needs. Had one wait of 30 minutes on Sunday during the marathon for a Epcot bus, but all other waits for buses or boats was under 15 minutes. Because so many OKW members drive, I believe the bus loads were lower than what I expected.
Now, onto our new home. We arrived at OKW at 1:30 on the 1st. Couldn't believe how small the checkin area was, but we only had one family ahead of us in line. When our turn came, we got our first "Welcome Home" from the CM behind the desk. This was the first of many we received during our stay. Checkin went smoothly, our room wasn't ready, so our two DS's, ages 16 & 12, headed off to DQ and DW and myself started exploring. At 3:30, I called the number to get our room number. 3924, a 2 BR was ready, and DW and I headed that way. We walked in, and our jaws hit the ground. We could not believe how huge it was. All we kept saying was that the boys were not going to believe this. First the negatives about the room. The balcony had one section of the base board loose on it. Under the microwave, a piece of laminate about 4 inches in length was hanging loose. Few carpet fibers loose where the carpet met the tile floors. The coffee table and the end tables in the BRs had signs of wear, but nothing major. And that was all I could find. No stains, no dirty dishes or counter tops. No left over food. And everything worked just like it was supposed to. We were thrilled, our house doesn't have the square footage that our 2 BR did. The beds were very comfortable, no one had trouble sleeping at night. DW and myself loved the huge shower and whirlpool tub. Just couldn't figure how to pack them in our bags when we left. LOL Our room faced a small pond with a fountain. We were very close to Bonnet Creek Pkwy and LBV intersection, but with the balcony door closed, we never were bothered by street noise at night. We could see Illuminations from our Balcony, how cool is that.
The grounds of the resort were very well kept. I saw on many days maint staff working to keep it that way. We loved the great bus service, the bus stop was 3 minutes from our room. We also didn't mind the walk to HH, only 13 minutes at a leisurely pace. Think we made that walk at least 10 times during the week. Love the boat ride from HH to SSR and DTD. DW and I visited SSR twice, first time to check out the models to compare room sizes to ours, second to eat lunch at AP. We will definitely stay there a few times in the upcoming years. We also took the boys over to see BCV and BWV and they were impressed. I see some stays there also. But none of the other resorts impressed us as much as OKW. I am so glad I purchased our membership there last April. We now know we have 35 years of fantastic Disney vacations ahead of us.
Finally, I just want to thank all of you here on the DVC boards, because with your information I've read for the past year, we felt at home from day one. We had never stepped foot on OKW before our trip, but I just knew this was the right place for us based on all the info you pass along in your threads. Guess I now feel I belong to one big, happy family here on the DVC boards. Always felt that way, but having made our first trip, I can now relate even better to what you put in your posts.
If anyone has any questions, ask away, I'll do my best.
Bill
PS, forgot to add that I met fellow DIS & DVC member ADP and his daughter at MCO the day we left. Had a great conversation both in the terminal and on the plane ride home. Shortest 2 hour flight I ever had being able to talk Disney with someone the whole time.
ME, great again, except that our flight arrived at 12:30pm, and our luggage didn't get to our room until 8:30pm, but we were prepared, so it was no big deal. Took 1 hour from stepping off the plane to walking into the Hospitality House.
Dining, we love the buffets, and I feel the food offered on all the buffets is great. We ate at Biergarten, Donalds, Crystal Palace, Cape May, Hollywood & Vine, and Liberty Tree Tavern. Even my 12 year old ate more than he ever did before.
The Parks. We love the changes to POTC. Cleanliness was outstanding, even the restrooms. When I did find a restroom is disrepair, I would go back later, and both times it was totally clean. I even thanked one of the CMs cleaning the restrooms the last night for the great job they were doing. Crowds were up the whole week, much more so than the past 2 years. Even so, we never waited longer than 15 minutes for any attraction all week.
Transportation. We fly, don't rent a car, so Disney transportation takes care of all of our needs. Had one wait of 30 minutes on Sunday during the marathon for a Epcot bus, but all other waits for buses or boats was under 15 minutes. Because so many OKW members drive, I believe the bus loads were lower than what I expected.
Now, onto our new home. We arrived at OKW at 1:30 on the 1st. Couldn't believe how small the checkin area was, but we only had one family ahead of us in line. When our turn came, we got our first "Welcome Home" from the CM behind the desk. This was the first of many we received during our stay. Checkin went smoothly, our room wasn't ready, so our two DS's, ages 16 & 12, headed off to DQ and DW and myself started exploring. At 3:30, I called the number to get our room number. 3924, a 2 BR was ready, and DW and I headed that way. We walked in, and our jaws hit the ground. We could not believe how huge it was. All we kept saying was that the boys were not going to believe this. First the negatives about the room. The balcony had one section of the base board loose on it. Under the microwave, a piece of laminate about 4 inches in length was hanging loose. Few carpet fibers loose where the carpet met the tile floors. The coffee table and the end tables in the BRs had signs of wear, but nothing major. And that was all I could find. No stains, no dirty dishes or counter tops. No left over food. And everything worked just like it was supposed to. We were thrilled, our house doesn't have the square footage that our 2 BR did. The beds were very comfortable, no one had trouble sleeping at night. DW and myself loved the huge shower and whirlpool tub. Just couldn't figure how to pack them in our bags when we left. LOL Our room faced a small pond with a fountain. We were very close to Bonnet Creek Pkwy and LBV intersection, but with the balcony door closed, we never were bothered by street noise at night. We could see Illuminations from our Balcony, how cool is that.
The grounds of the resort were very well kept. I saw on many days maint staff working to keep it that way. We loved the great bus service, the bus stop was 3 minutes from our room. We also didn't mind the walk to HH, only 13 minutes at a leisurely pace. Think we made that walk at least 10 times during the week. Love the boat ride from HH to SSR and DTD. DW and I visited SSR twice, first time to check out the models to compare room sizes to ours, second to eat lunch at AP. We will definitely stay there a few times in the upcoming years. We also took the boys over to see BCV and BWV and they were impressed. I see some stays there also. But none of the other resorts impressed us as much as OKW. I am so glad I purchased our membership there last April. We now know we have 35 years of fantastic Disney vacations ahead of us.
Finally, I just want to thank all of you here on the DVC boards, because with your information I've read for the past year, we felt at home from day one. We had never stepped foot on OKW before our trip, but I just knew this was the right place for us based on all the info you pass along in your threads. Guess I now feel I belong to one big, happy family here on the DVC boards. Always felt that way, but having made our first trip, I can now relate even better to what you put in your posts.
If anyone has any questions, ask away, I'll do my best.
Bill
PS, forgot to add that I met fellow DIS & DVC member ADP and his daughter at MCO the day we left. Had a great conversation both in the terminal and on the plane ride home. Shortest 2 hour flight I ever had being able to talk Disney with someone the whole time.
