Just returned from OKW....

[rbuzzotta]

We just spent 1 week in a 1 BR at OKW. We did get one of the newly renovated rooms and I must say..........I was a little disappointed in it!!! I understand the need to remove the carpet and put down the flooring but it just seemed toooooo dark fo rme!!! I missed my bright and cheery OKW!!

The kitchen table was painted black....the counter tops darker......even the bed headboard was dark (I liked the rod iron ish they had). I did really like the new roman shades instead of the wooden slat blinds.

It too some getting used to.........although it did not ruin my time at all!!

We had a few issues with the room and brought it to Mousekeeping (missing kitchen items, too soft bed) and Maintenance (very leaky facet in jacuzzie causing soaking wet floor) attention. They fixed the fast!!

Only thing that bothered me and my family is that we wer given a handicap room (did not request it). The shower curtain does not reach the floor (I can understand why if I were in a wheelchair) and every time someone took a shower, the floor got soaked. Also, due to the chair, it was tight in the shower.

My girls actally went to the main pool to shower a few times for more room!!

I think when we checked in, we should have been told it was a handicap room and given the option for a regular room (I did book right at 11 months!!!). next time I will ask for sure.

Otherwise..........it was another great trip........lots of relaxation at the pool and reminiscing with old friends. We met some of the OKW regulars (those that we always see this same week and have for years!!) and chatted with our favorite CM's...........Maryann looks fantastic!! and Ted is in his final year at Hanks!!!

Going back in April..........and ready to book for next summer already!!

Any questions about the resort/trip, please feel free to ask!!!

 

[Debbie H]

I would have called to request a room change. They should not do that. I too don't care fir the "new" look. It's way to dark.

 

[rbuzzotta]

Debbie....I may have called for a new room but my DH and DD arrived the day before I did and they didn't even go into the bathroom and went straight to the pool!!!!

Next time I think we will........the shower just was not comfortable at all for none of us.

 

[sgtdisney]

I have to agree with the shower setup in the HA room we had in July. I am sure they work great if you need the seat setup, but if not they can be dangerous.

We were in 2611, in a one bedroom. We needed a first floor room due to a member of our party not navigating stairs very well. That may be why we were given one, because when we checked in they were going to put us in a third floor unit. This was after I requested first floor 6 months ago and explained our need for one. Anyway, I told them that we really needed a first floor and explained why, so they switched the room upon checkin to a first floor, which I was thankful for. However, they didn't tell us when they switched us to the first floor room, that it was a HA room. When we got in, I thought, well no problem we really wanted to be on the first floor, so we'd forgo the big walk in shower, and be happy to be on the first floor. However upon using that shower it was actually a little dangerous, I thought. The shower curtain was about 1 foot above the floor of the shower, and with the seat folded up against the wall it wasn't very wide to stand in. So as you would shower the curtain would move out over the ceramic tile, and water went all over the floor making it very, VERY slippery. We had to be very careful not to fall in the bathroom, and ended up using our beach towels on the floor so we wouldn't be walking on wet tiles. I don't understand why they can't make the shower curtain go down lower, or have made the shower wider and had the curtain set back from the slight lip of the shower floor...

It was very difficult for the person in our party who couldn't navigate the stairs, because trying to navigate on the wet floor was almost worse than the stairs. I know the rooms are there for a reason, and I am glad that people who need them have access to them. I think next time, however, I'll be double sure to check when we check in.

 

[rbuzzotta]

Every day we took about 8 towels from the pool just to put on the floor in the bathroom...........YES, very slippery.

 

[mrsswiss]

I hate to hear of the dark interior changes. This is our favorite DVC property!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Every day we took about 8 towels from the pool just to put on the floor in the bathroom...........YES, very slippery.

I received a HA room at Jambo in December. I asked for and did receive many extra towels to put on the floor. I have an issue walking and when the floor was so slippery due to being wet, I was terrified. In the end I wore my watershoes in the shower and when walking on the wet floor.

I do like a hand grasp in the bathtub. I feel more secure with one of those, I don't need or want the showers that get the floor all wet.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I totally agree about the style of the rehab of the OKW rooms. It looks cheap to us, and I'm still trying to figure out how this could possibly be a 90% rehab when they used the same cupboards, and did nothing to the bathrooms except paint the only unique thing in the units, the wall.

 

[sgtdisney]

I totally agree about the style of the rehab of the OKW rooms. It looks cheap to us, and I'm still trying to figure out how this could possibly be a 90% rehab when they used the same cupboards, and did nothing to the bathrooms except paint the only unique thing in the units, the wall.

I agree about the 90% rehab. We were in two units last month, the one I mentioned above, and a two bedroom we moved into in building 14 on the 2nd part of the trip. The cabinets in the kitchen of both units were pretty rough. The hinges were loose, and you could just tell they where a little worn. The bigger thing I noticed was the appliances were definately old. You can see the mfg date inside the microhood and I think it was built in 2002. Honestly, I kind of liked the paint colors, etc., more than I thought I would but still think the rehab was only 1/2 baked. I did like the kitchen counters, but kind of missed the tiled island.. I did notice that the dark woods show the dust more and the scratches on the kitchen table. I really didn't like the new thermostat, but that's another story. I don't like this "green" initiative in terms of room comfort.

 

[Sammie]

In my opinion they really cheaped out on this rehab. No improvement to the bathroom, which needed it, no new appliances and really all they changed was carpeting, flooring and granite and window shades.

Does not sound like 90% improvement to me either.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

I did really like the new roman shades instead of the wooden slat blinds.

I loved the look but what a pain to roll up and down, morning and night! Not user friendly at all!

Like you, not happy about some of the changes, it's not the white washed, pastel OKW that it was but I still love it!

 

[bobbiwoz]

I wonder if the blinds are the same as they have in Vero. There you have to roll them up and down because you can't have lights seen from the water at night.

 

[dmoore22]

I totally agree about the style of the rehab of the OKW rooms. It looks cheap to us, and I'm still trying to figure out how this could possibly be a 90% rehab when they used the same cupboards, and did nothing to the bathrooms except paint the only unique thing in the units, the wall.

It's the old semantics of language. If they use the word "rehabilitate" then they took what's already there and "return to its former condition." If they renovated then they "restored to a good state of repair." In this case it looks like a combination of the two, ie. rehabilitate + renovate = regurgitate.

Regarding the handicapped rooms. We had the same issue once. Now, at check-in I specifically tell them not to give us a handicapped room since no one in our party is handicapped. I tell them it should be saved for someone that truly needs it.