M
~Magical Princess~
Guest
I've finally got some time to type out our family's recent trip details after staying at OKW. This was my 2nd visit to OKW and my parents first visit. We of course all love this resort tremendously!
We rented points from a board member, Andrea, and she was an absolute dream to work with! THANK YOU ANDREA!!
We've also decided that we will not be joining DVC after we've been discussing it heavily, and even had what seemed to be the perfect contract available to us at very low prices, but we've just decided it's not the right move for us at this point. I have to be honest, I'm really turned away from the idea of the weekend points being more than double than the weekday points. But hey, to each his own! Maybe our views will change in the future - but hey it's nice to know we can still enjoy the resort!!
Now on to the REVIEW!!! We checked in Sunday, 9/15 at around 12:30 pm and as all of you are very well aware, they are (or were at that time) doing the "first come first serve" deal and to our dismay there was no rooms available in the "60's" as our CM put it (those were our top requests, buildings 62 - 64) except for one room in 62, 3rd floor, 6230 (steer clear of this room) it was completely enclosed (balcony) with trees! COMPLETELY!! I didn't view this room until later, when I was contemplating changing rooms and so I got a first hand view that this particular balcony view was completely tree'd in!!! LOL In fact, when I did view this room, the cm (who was a college student) even said, Oh yes, this room is available, it's actually available until 11/25 - so I'm guessing they typically DO NOT put people in this room unless they absolutely insist on being in a room in the 60's.
We were able to get a room in building 23, which was our choice of buildings if 62 - 64 wasn't available, however it was on the 3rd floor (4 flights of stairs) after my request of "2nd floor" and while that didn't bother me, it was just a little troublesome for my parents - but they are only in their early 50's so it really wasn't as bad as they'd thought it would be! Our room was 2332, and yes it was also VERY enclosed with trees, outside on the balcony as well as all the windows (which I figured since it was probably the same situation as that room in 62). It took around 2 or 3 days of calling, but luckily, landscaping was able to come around and trim a WHOLE TON of trees away from this unit! We were EXTREMELY thankful for this!! YEAH!!!!!!
Upon asking, I was given the option to change rooms on the following Friday (apparently the HUGE checkout day) to get into any of the specific rooms I had listed on my requests, but no one wanted to "repack" and move. So that was fine - no biggie! After they cut all the trees down, the room was fine!!
We found the staff at OKW to be MORE than pleasant! They were all so nice! My mom just LOVED how they would say "welcome home" at the entrance gate (not all the time, but quite often) and when we first walked by upon check-in the bell service guys said, "Welcome Home" and my mom just about cried (same as me) - she just really liked that! (Even though we aren't members, they sure make you feel like part of the family!)
We really loved the menu at Olivia's - especially the chicken pasta with sun-dried tomatoes. HINT: Order that off the LUNCH menu to save a few bucks!!
Our boys loved the pool and the hot tub, and loved the game room! All the tonka trucks and the ping pong tables! We rented the water mice and that was so much fun! A little scary though for me when you'd come to a bridge and one of those big pontoon boats were coming at you! LOOK OUT!!!!!
We couldn't have gotten ANY better bus service! WOW the busses were running extremely frequent and we didn't even have long waits at the parks waiting for a bus! Our only complaint seemed to be that our bus stop was one of the LAST ones, I know they move these around though right??? I guess it was OKW's turn to be down at the end!!! No biggie!!!
We LOVED going to the Boardwalk pool, the WL pool and the POFQ pool! In fact, no one ever asked to see our room cards which said "DVC MEMBER" on them so I guess maybe since it wasn't that busy of a time they didn't seem to bother much. And for all the rule conscious people out there, I specifically asked our front desk Cm's about the pool-hopping policy and she said that since our ressie was made by a member, we were considered their "guest" and that entitled us to the same privileges (she said that was in the handbook or something) so we really felt extra special!!
All in all, I have to say the only thing I was disappointed in was that we didn't take a drive (or walk) over to the Turtle Pond area as I know this is a very popular area and I really wanted to check it out! However, we really like the exercise room, the main pool, and the boat access, as well as the play room, so I can't see us wanting to be anywhere else except near the HH area.
As usual, the accommodations at OKW are just extremely spacious! I can't say enough about how nice it was to be able to have breakfast in our room, or evening snacks! That was just grand!!!
Oh wait, forgot something - I was a little disheartened about the fact that on check out day - at like 8:55 am, housekeeping was knocking at the door asking if we were ready to leave yet - that I found a bit annoying. Then we told her we'd be out at 11:00, and about 1 1/2 hours later (10:30 I believe) the housekeeping manager came and was asking when we'd be leaving and again I said - "We'll be leaving at 11:00"! I didn't think this was very tactful! We were out of the room by 11:10, and had every intention of being out even if no one had knocked on the door, but I just thought that was a bit much!! I realize the rooms have to be ready by 4:00 - but that's LONG time after checkout and if they want people out any earlier than 11:00 then they should change the check out rules. If 5 hours isn't enough time to get rooms ready, then they need more staff. But anyway, just a small thing I thought I'd add!!
Our trip was AWESOME! Can't say that enough times! The parks were very lightly crowded (except for MK which ALWAYS seemed to be swarmed with people), but the lines for the rides were EXTREMELY short - if at all -.
I can't wait to go back! We are sneaking back to OKW for a short trip early November (before our passes expire) thanks to another lovely board member named MARK! Can't wait!! I'll have to let everyone know if the "first come first serve" thing is still in progress!!!
Thanks for listening!!! OKW IS GREAT!!!!!!
We rented points from a board member, Andrea, and she was an absolute dream to work with! THANK YOU ANDREA!!
We've also decided that we will not be joining DVC after we've been discussing it heavily, and even had what seemed to be the perfect contract available to us at very low prices, but we've just decided it's not the right move for us at this point. I have to be honest, I'm really turned away from the idea of the weekend points being more than double than the weekday points. But hey, to each his own! Maybe our views will change in the future - but hey it's nice to know we can still enjoy the resort!!
Now on to the REVIEW!!! We checked in Sunday, 9/15 at around 12:30 pm and as all of you are very well aware, they are (or were at that time) doing the "first come first serve" deal and to our dismay there was no rooms available in the "60's" as our CM put it (those were our top requests, buildings 62 - 64) except for one room in 62, 3rd floor, 6230 (steer clear of this room) it was completely enclosed (balcony) with trees! COMPLETELY!! I didn't view this room until later, when I was contemplating changing rooms and so I got a first hand view that this particular balcony view was completely tree'd in!!! LOL In fact, when I did view this room, the cm (who was a college student) even said, Oh yes, this room is available, it's actually available until 11/25 - so I'm guessing they typically DO NOT put people in this room unless they absolutely insist on being in a room in the 60's.
We were able to get a room in building 23, which was our choice of buildings if 62 - 64 wasn't available, however it was on the 3rd floor (4 flights of stairs) after my request of "2nd floor" and while that didn't bother me, it was just a little troublesome for my parents - but they are only in their early 50's so it really wasn't as bad as they'd thought it would be! Our room was 2332, and yes it was also VERY enclosed with trees, outside on the balcony as well as all the windows (which I figured since it was probably the same situation as that room in 62). It took around 2 or 3 days of calling, but luckily, landscaping was able to come around and trim a WHOLE TON of trees away from this unit! We were EXTREMELY thankful for this!! YEAH!!!!!!
Upon asking, I was given the option to change rooms on the following Friday (apparently the HUGE checkout day) to get into any of the specific rooms I had listed on my requests, but no one wanted to "repack" and move. So that was fine - no biggie! After they cut all the trees down, the room was fine!!We found the staff at OKW to be MORE than pleasant! They were all so nice! My mom just LOVED how they would say "welcome home" at the entrance gate (not all the time, but quite often) and when we first walked by upon check-in the bell service guys said, "Welcome Home" and my mom just about cried (same as me) - she just really liked that! (Even though we aren't members, they sure make you feel like part of the family!)
We really loved the menu at Olivia's - especially the chicken pasta with sun-dried tomatoes. HINT: Order that off the LUNCH menu to save a few bucks!!
Our boys loved the pool and the hot tub, and loved the game room! All the tonka trucks and the ping pong tables! We rented the water mice and that was so much fun! A little scary though for me when you'd come to a bridge and one of those big pontoon boats were coming at you! LOOK OUT!!!!!
We couldn't have gotten ANY better bus service! WOW the busses were running extremely frequent and we didn't even have long waits at the parks waiting for a bus! Our only complaint seemed to be that our bus stop was one of the LAST ones, I know they move these around though right??? I guess it was OKW's turn to be down at the end!!! No biggie!!!
We LOVED going to the Boardwalk pool, the WL pool and the POFQ pool! In fact, no one ever asked to see our room cards which said "DVC MEMBER" on them so I guess maybe since it wasn't that busy of a time they didn't seem to bother much. And for all the rule conscious people out there, I specifically asked our front desk Cm's about the pool-hopping policy and she said that since our ressie was made by a member, we were considered their "guest" and that entitled us to the same privileges (she said that was in the handbook or something) so we really felt extra special!!
All in all, I have to say the only thing I was disappointed in was that we didn't take a drive (or walk) over to the Turtle Pond area as I know this is a very popular area and I really wanted to check it out! However, we really like the exercise room, the main pool, and the boat access, as well as the play room, so I can't see us wanting to be anywhere else except near the HH area.
As usual, the accommodations at OKW are just extremely spacious! I can't say enough about how nice it was to be able to have breakfast in our room, or evening snacks! That was just grand!!!
Oh wait, forgot something - I was a little disheartened about the fact that on check out day - at like 8:55 am, housekeeping was knocking at the door asking if we were ready to leave yet - that I found a bit annoying. Then we told her we'd be out at 11:00, and about 1 1/2 hours later (10:30 I believe) the housekeeping manager came and was asking when we'd be leaving and again I said - "We'll be leaving at 11:00"! I didn't think this was very tactful! We were out of the room by 11:10, and had every intention of being out even if no one had knocked on the door, but I just thought that was a bit much!! I realize the rooms have to be ready by 4:00 - but that's LONG time after checkout and if they want people out any earlier than 11:00 then they should change the check out rules. If 5 hours isn't enough time to get rooms ready, then they need more staff. But anyway, just a small thing I thought I'd add!!
Our trip was AWESOME! Can't say that enough times! The parks were very lightly crowded (except for MK which ALWAYS seemed to be swarmed with people), but the lines for the rides were EXTREMELY short - if at all -.
I can't wait to go back! We are sneaking back to OKW for a short trip early November (before our passes expire) thanks to another lovely board member named MARK! Can't wait!! I'll have to let everyone know if the "first come first serve" thing is still in progress!!!
Thanks for listening!!! OKW IS GREAT!!!!!!
