OKW advice

[newbie72]

Hi there! Hoping to gain some wisdom from you experts out there!
We consider ourselves still pretty new to the DVC family.. 2017 but have only been able to use points twice before the dreaded covid made us all home bound for last two years! (I’m a HCW and worked frontlines in hard hit ED) Home location and first time staying at OKW next month! Hubs and I excited for the relaxation, but alas we have three teenagers in tow. They are genuinely happy and excited just to be going somewhere, especially WDW, but we think disappointed it’s at a farther away resort.
Mine aged 13 DS, 15 DD and 17 DD. I know they were hoping for BLT to be “independent” and explore in their sibling pack, lol!
also DD 15 recently ruptured ACL and recovering from reconstruction surgery - VB-was supposed to be there this week for Nationals she’s having a hard time seeing her teams pictures and she’s home. Super happy and rooting them on from afar, but I know sad and disappointed she’s not there with them.
Is staying near the HH something that appeals to teens? I’m assuming so rather than the quiet pools? I am also anticipating them wanting to “explore” without the parental units…
We are staying in a 2bdrm, but we’re unable to secure near HH location. I would prefer to stay near wherever most appropriate for teens.. so possibly the HH on a first floor so DD can limit as much walking when ever possible. She’s rehabbing well, but mom still worries. And she likes to push the enevelope, thinking more is better and will return faster SMH… teens!
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated for room location, room request for first floor and if trying to ask for close to HH is good idea for teens. This is our first time staying at OKW. Has anyone have experience staying there with older teens?
thank you so much foryour guidance.. sorry for the long post!

 

[Evita_W]

Honestly, you will probably be happy anywhere. My one suggestion is make sure you get the Chicken Sandwich from the Turtle Pool Bar, it is made with Olivia's Fried Chicken and is delicious.

 

[newbie72]

thanks for the tip! We will definitely make that a stop.
going with teenagers, do they use the hospitality house often? Is this a location we should ask
For?

 

[peabody58]

Can you modify to SSR (recommend the Grandstand)? Close to DS for the kids to explore, has elevators and has recently been renovated.

 

[colleen costello]

HI! When Hospitality House area is unavailable, as it was for our upcoming trip, I request Turtle Pond Pool area. That pool has a snack bar that opens during lunch hours and it's a fun vibe. But my favorite "hidden gem" at OKW is the pool near building 55, Southport. If you swim there at night before it closes, you are often the only family there. The hot tub there is very private too. Tell them when you request ground floor that it it is for a medical reason so they will be sure to honor it. My fave Turtle Pond area building is 35. It's so pretty out front and it's right across the street from the bus stop and close to that pool. You can look on the map to see other nearby buildings you might like to request. I avoid the ones that back onto the road because it can be noisy. Your kiddos can get on ANY bus to go to the main area as each one stops at Hospitality House before leaving the resort. Buildings 27, 28 and 29 are fairly close to HH but may not be included in the "near HH"category so those might work for your family too. It's a quick bus ride to Disney Springs and from there they can get on another bus to ANYWHERE if they want to explore. And one of the nicest things about OKW is how serene and unhurried it feels even when it's a busy time like July 4th. I hope your kids LOVE IT!

 

[Brian Noble]

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated for room location, room request for first floor and if trying to ask for close to HH is good idea for teens.

If you are staying in a 1BR or larger: In buildings 29 and below, you have to go through the King bedroom to get to the main (and in a 1BR, only) bathroom. In buildings 30 and above, there is an extra door between the laundry room and that bathroom, preserving the privacy of those in the K bedroom. For a 2BR, that might not matter that much (they can share the second bath) but it is worth knowing. Note that most HH buildings do not have this door, while most "general resort" buildings do.

For general resort (non-HH), I happen to like the "canal view" in buildings 45 and 46. I don't think "near HH" is all that important both because of the bus situation noted above and because the feature pool is no big deal.

As for the teens exploring: they can go pretty much anywhere they'd like via the bus system. Giving them the flexibility to go off for an afternoon or two might be just the ticket.

 

[newbie72]

Thank you! This has all been so helpful. It sounds like Turtle Pond area is a favorite. Is a busy pool area? Or is it one of the “quiet” pools? Good for teens? Son still likes to play around… girls are more into sun bathing and meeting others in their age category
Is it walkable to the HH or would bus travel be needed? I love the idea of serene as we will be there 8 nights (needed to use our points before expire). Lol!
how do you request area? Is this something I should’ve put through during reservation? Or need to call the resort before arriving? Should I ask for near HH and if not available be placed by turtle pond area… or specific building numbers? I feel like we are just so grateful
To have found something that I would be making their job more difficult?
if we did a first floor location will there still be a view or covered by foliage?

 

[zackiedawg]

Just one opinion among many - but hopefully just to help you plan things out. For me, if I can't get the HH category and have to book the standards, I still like to be near HH - so I will request Building 27 on the main road which is still very walkable to HH, building 62 which is right across the street from the HH, or Building 16 which is just one building in from 62. All of these for me are still very walkable to HH and convenient.

My main reasons for wanting to be near HH isn't necessarily because of any activities there - but I like having easy access to the store, the quick serve restaurant, and Olivia's...I like having walkable and fast access to the boat to Disney Springs (though it's still not running now having been shut down after the pandemic closure), and I find the busses to the parks to be convenient as I can walk over to the HH and catch the busses before they leave for the park (HH is the last stop, so if I miss a bus at Peninsular stop, I can walk over to HH before the bus gets there and hop on there - it's basically like having two bus stops). And Peninsular is the first bus stop, making it convenient when coming home from parks where I can be first off. When I'm in building 27, I can see what bus just left Peninsular stop as it heads off to Turtle Pond stop...if it's the one I want, I can just leave my building and walk over to HH to catch it before it leaves...if I don't see my bus go by, I can just wait for it at Peninsular.

BTW - buildings 62 - 64 have elevators - so if you had trouble getting a first floor room, you could request one of those buildings as that would make things less stressful for your daughter.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Thank you! This has all been so helpful. It sounds like Turtle Pond area is a favorite. Is a busy pool area? Or is it one of the “quiet” pools? Good for teens? Son still likes to play around… girls are more into sun bathing and meeting others in their age category
Is it walkable to the HH or would bus travel be needed? I love the idea of serene as we will be there 8 nights (needed to use our points before expire). Lol!
how do you request area? Is this something I should’ve put through during reservation? Or need to call the resort before arriving? Should I ask for near HH and if not available be placed by turtle pond area… or specific building numbers? I feel like we are just so grateful
To have found something that I would be making their job more difficult?
if we did a first floor location will there still be a view or covered by foliage?

Turtle Pond pool is a leisure pool, so no slide. Quiet pools are leisure pools, so not themed like the main pool. It's the larger of the leisure pools. You can walk anywhere at OKW in ten minutes or less. Or hop any bus and get off at the HH. Then walk over to the Peninsular Rd Bus stop and hop the first bus there to go back where you want to be. There are tennis courts at OKW and during daylight hours you can walk to Disney Springs (or hop the bus). If the boat starts running again, that would even be better to get to DS. Just about every one or two bedroom villa has a golf course or water view. Studios are probably the only places that can have a view of the AC units and bamboo.

 

[newbie72]

Just one opinion among many - but hopefully just to help you plan things out. For me, if I can't get the HH category and have to book the standards, I still like to be near HH - so I will request Building 27 on the main road which is still very walkable to HH, building 62 which is right across the street from the HH, or Building 16 which is just one building in from 62. All of these for me are still very walkable to HH and convenient.

My main reasons for wanting to be near HH isn't necessarily because of any activities there - but I like having easy access to the store, the quick serve restaurant, and Olivia's...I like having walkable and fast access to the boat to Disney Springs (though it's still not running now having been shut down after the pandemic closure), and I find the busses to the parks to be convenient as I can walk over to the HH and catch the busses before they leave for the park (HH is the last stop, so if I miss a bus at Peninsular stop, I can walk over to HH before the bus gets there and hop on there - it's basically like having two bus stops). And Peninsular is the first bus stop, making it convenient when coming home from parks where I can be first off. When I'm in building 27, I can see what bus just left Peninsular stop as it heads off to Turtle Pond stop...if it's the one I want, I can just leave my building and walk over to HH to catch it before it leaves...if I don't see my bus go by, I can just wait for it at Peninsular.

BTW - buildings 62 - 64 have elevators - so if you had trouble getting a first floor room, you could request one of those buildings as that would make things less stressful for your daughter.

Than you so much for this info. When you request, how do you do that? Do I need to call ahead of time and just request a certain building?

 

[newbie72]

Turtle Pond pool is a leisure pool, so no slide. Quiet pools are leisure pools, so not themed like the main pool. It's the larger of the leisure pools. You can walk anywhere at OKW in ten minutes or less. Or hop any bus and get off at the HH. Then walk over to the Peninsular Rd Bus stop and hop the first bus there to go back where you want to be. There are tennis courts at OKW and during daylight hours you can walk to Disney Springs (or hop the bus). If the boat starts running again, that would even be better to get to DS. Just about every one or two bedroom villa has a golf course or water view. Studios are probably the only places that can have a view of the AC units and bamboo.

Thank you so much! It sounds like really anywhere is not a bad location, just a matter of deciding if would like certain area over others?
We will have a 2 bedroom, so that seems like it will not be an issue with view?
we did build in more down days than normal just to make it a little easier to recover from the walking. When requesting,is there a particular way to do this? Do I call the resort ahead of time or just call dvc and put in request? Is it poorform to request a certain building? Should I just ask for a ground floor building in xxx area?

 

[zackiedawg]

Than you so much for this info. When you request, how do you do that? Do I need to call ahead of time and just request a certain building?

Yes - just call ahead and put in a request for one or two specific buildings. There's not a guarantee you'll get them, but you can stick the request in and see what happens. You can even go so far as to request specific room numbers...I've done that probably 6 times and actually gotten the room I wanted 3 times (my home resort is Boardwalk, and there are certain Boardwalk-view rooms with giant, covered balconies - I like to request those as they have double to triple the outdoor space and fully covered, and very private...you could sleep out there and no one would see you!).

 

[newbie72]

Oh wow! I had no idea. Great information… good to know, hopefully one of these trips we can get over to boardwalk. We had avoided it as one of my now teens was terrified as a young-in of the clown pool, lol!! His sisters never let him
Forget it, haha.
Thanks so much for the great information!

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you want to make a request, go to the member website and click on Help & Contact. Then select Email Us. Make sure you have a few weeks before you enter you request because they are short handed right now. You should get a canned response back saying they received your request but cannot guarantee it. Just make it general and not really specific.

 

[newbie72]

thank you so much everyone for the great advice! We did not realize how big of a learning curve this all entailed!
We are so grateful for everyone’s generosity in sharing!

 

[Lilnemo]

Just one opinion among many - but hopefully just to help you plan things out. For me, if I can't get the HH category and have to book the standards, I still like to be near HH - so I will request Building 27 on the main road which is still very walkable to HH, building 62 which is right across the street from the HH, or Building 16 which is just one building in from 62. All of these for me are still very walkable to HH and convenient.

My main reasons for wanting to be near HH isn't necessarily because of any activities there - but I like having easy access to the store, the quick serve restaurant, and Olivia's...I like having walkable and fast access to the boat to Disney Springs (though it's still not running now having been shut down after the pandemic closure), and I find the busses to the parks to be convenient as I can walk over to the HH and catch the busses before they leave for the park (HH is the last stop, so if I miss a bus at Peninsular stop, I can walk over to HH before the bus gets there and hop on there - it's basically like having two bus stops). And Peninsular is the first bus stop, making it convenient when coming home from parks where I can be first off. When I'm in building 27, I can see what bus just left Peninsular stop as it heads off to Turtle Pond stop...if it's the one I want, I can just leave my building and walk over to HH to catch it before it leaves...if I don't see my bus go by, I can just wait for it at Peninsular.

BTW - buildings 62 - 64 have elevators - so if you had trouble getting a first floor room, you could request one of those buildings as that would make things less stressful for your daughter.

We are planning an OKW family trip in April of 22, renting a 2 bedroom. I am bringing my 85 year old mother along with us and renting her a scooterbug to help her get around. Would you think building 27 would work well for us? or would you suggest a different location? Thanks!

 

[thanxfornoticin]

We are planning an OKW family trip in April of 22, renting a 2 bedroom. I am bringing my 85 year old mother along with us and renting her a scooterbug to help her get around. Would you think building 27 would work well for us? or would you suggest a different location? Thanks!

Sorry if you are already aware of this, but Building 27 is one that will not have an elevator - so hoping you are requesting a first floor room should you need it. As for the actual location, the building is great (at least we think so) - it's close to one of the bus stops and is an easy walk or 'scoot' to the main Conch Flats area and the pool. My biggest concern would be the stairs for your mother.

 

[Lilnemo]

Sorry if you are already aware of this, but Building 27 is one that will not have an elevator - so hoping you are requesting a first floor room should you need it. As for the actual location, the building is great (at least we think so) - it's close to one of the bus stops and is an easy walk or 'scoot' to the main Conch Flats area and the pool. My biggest concern would be the stairs for your mother.

Thank you! I was not aware! I did plan on requesting a first floor near HH, but did not realize that many of the building were without elevators. The last time we stayed in OKW was in 2007 when my children were small so we didn't have the same concerns. We decided to stay there again this family trip because all of the fond memories. I will have to do much more homework... thanks again

 

[zackiedawg]

Thank you! I was not aware! I did plan on requesting a first floor near HH, but did not realize that many of the building were without elevators. The last time we stayed in OKW was in 2007 when my children were small so we didn't have the same concerns. We decided to stay there again this family trip because all of the fond memories. I will have to do much more homework... thanks again

As mentioned above, Building 27 location is for me very nice with a short walk to the HH and a very close bus stop - but you'd want first-floor only if stairs would be problematic. The buildings with elevators are 62 through 64. 62 would be best of those, as it's the closest to the HH.

 

[BillPA]

Also if you need the 2nd entry to the master bath, via the laundry room, you need to be in building 30 or higher. Else you need to enter thru the master bedroom.