OKW Fans - Help Find building

[bwv4me]

Had to switch my ressies in April to different dates and could not get my home resort. Had the choice of OKW and SSR. Chose OKW due to the bigger rooms, two queen beds, and point value. Although I am a bit apprehensive about not staying at my usual place near the EPCOT area, I want to make the best of my OKW experience. Who knows? Maybe OKW will become my new favorite! Anyway I would like to get input on building preference locations. In a perfect world, I would like to be close to a bus stop, the main building, and a pool. If this is not possible, they are listed in my order of preference. Also, during a busy time of year, what is the likelihood of getting a building request? Thanks in advance OKW'ers!

 

[Chuck S]

The simplest request that would fulfill all those needs would be a request to be near "Hospitality House" (the main check-in area).

Any of the 60s buildings would be good, bldgs 11 to 14, or bldgs 23 to 26. All are within an easy walk of bus stops, Olivia's Restaurant and the main oool. There are 3 nice quiet pools also scattered throughout OKW, and if you do have to stay in an area away from main check-in, any bus can take you there...it is the final stop before leaving the resort on the bus route.

Here is a map of OKW that may be of help:
http://disneydoc.homestead.com/files/okwmap___newest_coded_map.JPG

 

[donald...really]

Don't request a specific building. Ask for what you mentioned here...

Close to bus stop
Close to Hospitality House (main building)
Close to pool

At OKW you are never really too far from either a pool or bus stop, and there is no "bad" location, so hopefully you will be happy where ever you end up.

 

[bwv4me]

I forgot to mention I will be traveling with 3 young children, all under the age of 5. (What fun!? ) That is why I like to be close to things. Anythhing to avoid brining that darn stroller on the bus as often as possible! Also, do I request buildings or specifics at check-in or on the phone now with DVC?

 

[Chuck S]

List your requests on your ressie, and mention them again to the CM at check-in.

 

[bwv4me]

Thanks for the info!

 

[dianeschlicht]

With really young children, you might actually prefer being closer to one of the quiet pools than the main pool. Each quiet pool has a small play area. The main one has a large sand play area, but it can be reached easily from any location by taking any bus to the HH main pool area. I have stayed all over OKW, and I prefer some of the buildings farthest from the HH area, but I never feel very isolated by that. Most buildings are close to a bus stop, and any bus stop is a short ride to the HH area, if you choose not to walk it. Since there are no buildings that have direct access to HH without crossing a street, I don't think proximaty to the HH is necessarily needed. As long as you will have to cross a street anyway, a bus is still the safest way to get to HH. Buildings11,12,13, and 14 are closest with 62, 63, and 23. Are you in a studio, 1 bedroom or 2 bedroom?

 

[Disney Doll]

OKW has 3 quiet pools in addition to the main pool. All the quiet pools have a play area, I believe. Every bus that goes through the resort always stops at the Hospitality House (HH) main area (check-in, Olivia's, main pool, gift shop etc) before it leaves the resort, so even if you are not within walking distance to the HH, hop on any bus and you'd be there pretty quickly.

Personally, we like the Southpoint section. There is a quiet pool and a bus stop. Building 56 is a nice building.

 

[ccw]

We have stayed twice in Bldg. 33, twice in Bldg. 19 or 20 and just returned from a fabulous stay in BLdg. 49 (Grand Villa). If you are looking at the map of OKW you will notice that 49 is at the back of the resort, not exactly where I had expected to be based on my request to be NEAR HH!!!! HOWEVER, we loved our location because we had a nice golf course and lake/pond view, it was very quiet, was just a short walk to Turtle Pond quiet pool, bus stop, jogging path, and not a bad walk to the spa at Saratoga and Downtown Disney. And the walk to HH was only a little over 5 minutes walking at a good clip.So for my next trip I have requested the same general area (CM who made my ressie actually suggested requesting specific buildings...I think we decided on 52-56...can't remember for sure) SO, this time i'll probably be close to HH !!!! The lesson i have learned from my OKW stays is that proximity to HH isn't really important to me. Three things have annoyed me though-(1) when we could hear the traffic from the highway (staying near Miller Road area), when obnoxioous and drunken adults hung out at the pool WAAAY late into the night and we had a pool view room (same area), and the squeel of bus brakes at the bus turnaround which was right in front of our villa (same area). Now those are the things I try to avoid rather than stressing over proximity to HH.