We recently returned from our first stay at VWL after being members of
DVC at OKW aince 1993.
One of the things we missed at VWL was a balcony/porch. The ones at OKW are big and have a table where you can easily seat 4 people with room to spare. One of the things we enjoy doing on our vacation is making some coffee and just having a leisurely cup of coffee and donut on our porch. The balcony at VWL was just barely large enough for 2 chairs and a side table the size of a large pizza. When my DD wanted to come in, I had to move, since I was sitting in front of the door. The balconies at all the villas are similar in size. For some people, this would not be a minus, but for us, it was.
The villas would be a good choice for someone who doesn't plan to spend much time in their room. They are comfortable and well furnished. We sometimes end up spending a lot of time in/near our room because of DD's special needs and we are traveling with elderly grandparents. The 1 or 2 bedroom villas are significantly smaller than the 1 or 2 bedroom at OKW. We have no problem with a wheelchair in the OKW unit, but if we ever stay at one of the villas again, we will definately reserve a wheelchair unit. The room size would probably not be a problem for other people, but it was for us.
On the plus size for VWL, there seemed to be a lot of activities, beaches, nature walk areas and there were 2 restaurants plus a food court. The sitting areas in the villa building were nice (the Spike room, etc.) You could spend time there with family members in spacious surroundings. They were mostly empty when we were there, but there are comfy looking sofas, rockers and large tables with quite a few chairs (would be a good place to play cards).
The boat transportation to MK was nice, but during non-peak travel times, the boat went to Fort Wilderness for pick ups before going to MK. That meant a 25 minute boat ride, which is similar to the bus ride from OKW. If not stopping at FW, the boat ride was about 7 minutes (the same amount of time as the bus ride from OKW to Epcot). Traveling to places other than MK from VWL would be time consuming since we were told you had to take a bus to TTC than pick up either the monorail to Epcot or another bus. This might not be the fact, but it was what we were told by the front desk when we asked about wheelchair transport to the other parks. We wer advised that taking our van would be a good choice for other than MK.