OKW or BWV?

[TiggerTrigger]

We were booked in a studio at the Poly for February, but I decided to change after the refurb and closures were announced for the bulk of the Poly. I contemplated other studios because of their locations, but the main reason (after location) that I had gone with the Poly was square footage. BCV's or BWV's locations are great, but the studios seem like they'd be too small for us and all of our stuff. This is not a DVC booking, so it's $ on the brain with the decisions.

I switched us to a 1 bedroom at OKW. Room size, resort opinions from friends and family, Olivia's, proximity to Disney Springs and SSR, and the overall look of the resort swayed me. Still, I can't get over the nagging feelings about location with regard to parks. We'll have one of our vehicles with us, so it's not like we'll be relying solely on Disney transportation (although, it would be nice if they'd get the boats going to DS). Still, I'm debating about switching to a 1 bedroom BWV (I like the looks of the room better than BC's), but I'm not sure it's worth it. I've stayed at YC and the Swan before, so I know what kind of convenience you get by staying in that area. The closest we've been for lodging in the past to OKW was the one time we stayed at POR and we weren't fans, but POR also gets more crowded (from what I've heard) than OKW and I may not be as turned off to the buses in lighter crowds (especially with Covid standards right now). I may wait to see if discounts are offered and decide then if I want to make a change, but I'd love some opinions from people who have stayed at both. Alternately, if we stick with OKW, I may bump up to a 2 bedroom if discounts are offered.

 

[cvjw]

I would be nervous about buses at OKW unless they are running a ton of them. We were just at the poly and the buses are set up with 6 different zones. One family per zone. With the size of OKW, a bus could fill up at the first bus stop.

 

[BillPA]

The PV isn't larger than most of the other studio, you just gain an extra 1/4 bath, a shower and sink.

 

[PsycProfPlum]

BWV is my favorite resort, OKW my least favorite DVC so my vote would be solidly for BWV. I haven't done a 1BR at either though and having a car might offset some of the negatives of OKW.

 

[sethschroeder]

This is not a DVC booking

Whats the price differences?

 

[Lumpy1106]

BLT owner here - I am a family of 5 and considering a split stay, BWV and BLT to minimize the rides on buses, plus we walked through Boardwalk on our trip a few weeks ago and REALLY liked it! Here's my concern though; am I wrong in saying that the BWV 1 BRs are really inefficient? I mean, a BLT 1 BR can sleep 5 and has 2 full bathrooms. BWV sleeps 4 and has 1 bathroom. I am told you can sleep 5 in BWV but you have to bring your own "bed" for the 5th person - correct? Looking at the floor plan, it looks like BWV is actually larger SF wise though. Anybody have a similar experience? Are we going to be disappointed in BWV?

 

[Lumpy1106]

We were booked in a studio at the Poly for February, but I decided to change after the refurb and closures were announced for the bulk of the Poly. I contemplated other studios because of their locations, but the main reason (after location) that I had gone with the Poly was square footage. BCV's or BWV's locations are great, but the studios seem like they'd be too small for us and all of our stuff. This is not a DVC booking, so it's $ on the brain with the decisions.

I switched us to a 1 bedroom at OKW. Room size, resort opinions from friends and family, Olivia's, proximity to Disney Springs and SSR, and the overall look of the resort swayed me. Still, I can't get over the nagging feelings about location with regard to parks. We'll have one of our vehicles with us, so it's not like we'll be relying solely on Disney transportation (although, it would be nice if they'd get the boats going to DS). Still, I'm debating about switching to a 1 bedroom BWV (I like the looks of the room better than BC's), but I'm not sure it's worth it. I've stayed at YC and the Swan before, so I know what kind of convenience you get by staying in that area. The closest we've been for lodging in the past to OKW was the one time we stayed at POR and we weren't fans, but POR also gets more crowded (from what I've heard) than OKW and I may not be as turned off to the buses in lighter crowds (especially with Covid standards right now). I may wait to see if discounts are offered and decide then if I want to make a change, but I'd love some opinions from people who have stayed at both. Alternately, if we stick with OKW, I may bump up to a 2 bedroom if discounts are offered.

If you didn't like the buses before COVID, you really aren't going to like them now. You will always get a seat, that's an improvement, but the capacity is so limited that you won't necessarily make it on and they weren't sending additional buses to pick up stragglers when we were there. We specifically ruled out SSR and OKW when we bought DVC because of the stories we had heard about the buses.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

We have a January Poly stay booked and I haven't had chance to look into what will be affected. Is there a good link to get info on how it may impact our DVC stay? Thanks!

And we love BWV but haven't stayed OKW. With COVID concerns (if you are trying to take max precautions) I kind of like the idea of OKW or SSR with a car. I like the idea of walking right out into the open air vs hotel hallway and elevator. Of course, BWV gets you walking to 2 parks, so no crowded trans.

We are split staying at SSR. With not knowing what the status of nighttime shows / fireworks will be and the possibility of no park hopping, we expect to end most every night at DS. The walkability factor there is appealing. (Just throwing it out there)

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Whats the price differences?

I don't have the figures off the top of my head, but I looked at point rentals the other day and I seem to recall it wasn't far enough off for me to give up the flexibility with my current booking.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

We have a January Poly stay booked and I haven't had chance to look into what will be affected. Is there a good link to get info on how it may impact our DVC stay? Thanks!

And we love BWV but haven't stayed OKW. With COVID concerns (if you are trying to take max precautions) I kind of like the idea of OKW or SSR with a car. I like the idea of walking right out into the open air vs hotel hallway and elevator. Of course, BWV gets you walking to 2 parks, so no crowded trans.

We are split staying at SSR. With not knowing what the status of nighttime shows / fireworks will be and the possibility of no park hopping, we expect to end most every night at DS. The walkability factor there is appealing. (Just throwing it out there)

This was posted the other day on the DIS...

https://www.wdwinfo.com/news-storie...ian-village-resort-delayed-until-summer-2021/
The information out there varies, but I've seen a number of sites speaking of closures of the GCH as well as the Poly's monorail station. The monorail aspect isn't being noted on all sites, but I've seen it come up quite a bit. I was already contemplating a move if we couldn't take the monorail from the TTC to Epcot, but the possibility of the loop stations being closed really turned me off. I thought about SSR for the walkability to DS, but for whatever reason, OKW appealed more.

 

[sethschroeder]

I don't have the figures off the top of my head, but I looked at point rentals the other day and I seem to recall it wasn't far enough off for me to give up the flexibility with my current booking.

You are renting but I am confused then as you said if discounts were offered you would do the 2BR at OKW? Who is offering the discount? Just confused on this.

If you are renting then you are going to find February is starting to fill up unless you are only going for a partial week and are flexible. There is a reason why BWV/BCV cost more on the resale market in comparison to OKW and its because more people prefer those based somewhat on location.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

You are renting but I am confused then as you said if discounts were offered you would do the 2BR at OKW? Who is offering the discount? Just confused on this.

If you are renting then you are going to find February is starting to fill up unless you are only going for a partial week and are flexible. There is a reason why BWV/BCV cost more on the resale market in comparison to OKW and its because more people prefer those based somewhat on location.

I think that's the confusion. This isn't a rental. I booked this villa like a regular room booking directly through Disney. So, if Disney releases discounts for room bookings and includes the deluxe villas, which they often do, I should be able to get a room discount. I just was asking resort based questions, and since OKW and the other villas are frequented more by DVC folks, it's usually advised to ask these kinds of questions over here vs. the regular resort forum. It makes perfect sense for BWV and BCV to be higher due to location. It's the same logic with the monorail resorts. Just trying to decide if it's worth it this time around.

 

[sethschroeder]

I think that's the confusion. This isn't a rental. I booked this villa like a regular room booking directly through Disney. So, if Disney releases discounts for room bookings and includes the deluxe villas, which they often do, I should be able to get a room discount. I just was asking resort based questions, and since OKW and the other villas are frequented more by DVC folks, it's usually advised to ask these kinds of questions over here vs. the regular resort forum. It makes perfect sense for BWV and BCV to be higher due to location. It's the same logic with the monorail resorts. Just trying to decide if it's worth it this time around.

Okay but points requirement and cash price will be completely different.

Rack rates will put BWV like $150/night more so I would think even with discounts if offered on both that OKW will come out significantly cheaper. I would also look at CBR but not really sure how it lines up with your needs.

I would easily go BWV over OKW but if i had to pay an extra $1k cash for the week for BWV over OKW I am not sure I would do that.

 

[tstein12]

We love OKW - the 1 bedrooms are huge! I would definitely choose it over BCV if you're worried about size. The extra distance to the parks is not a big deal (at least to my family), especially if you have a car.

 

[sethschroeder]

The extra distance to the parks is not a big deal (at least to my family)

Remember though restricted capacity to busses is very likely to still be a thing in February. So its not the extra distance but there is going to be a higher likelihood of extra waits especially at a DVC only resort which will be booked to its normal 90%+ capacity.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Only three OKW buildings have elevators if that’s a concern.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Only three OKW buildings have elevators if that’s a concern.

I'm sure we could manage if we were put on an upper floor of a building with no elevator, but I did list ground floor as my #1 room request. I know there are no guarantees, but it can't hurt.

 

[Deb & Bill]

BLT owner here - I am a family of 5 and considering a split stay, BWV and BLT to minimize the rides on buses, plus we walked through Boardwalk on our trip a few weeks ago and REALLY liked it! Here's my concern though; am I wrong in saying that the BWV 1 BRs are really inefficient? I mean, a BLT 1 BR can sleep 5 and has 2 full bathrooms. BWV sleeps 4 and has 1 bathroom. I am told you can sleep 5 in BWV but you have to bring your own "bed" for the 5th person - correct? Looking at the floor plan, it looks like BWV is actually larger SF wise though. Anybody have a similar experience? Are we going to be disappointed in BWV?

The issue with BLT one bedrooms is that there are two different sizes. The ones on the inner side (facing the lake) are smaller than the ones on the outer side of the building because of the curve of the building. I've stayed in both and was amazed at how much bigger the outer villas are compared to the inners. The inner villas don't have stools at the island and have a real laundry room (with space for storage) compared to the larger island and stools and only a laundry closet of the outer villas. I was guessing how much more space was in the living room of the outers and guessed maybe five feet wider than the inners.

At BWV, BCV and BRV (and still at SSR), DVC owners can bring their own bedding (including bed) and towel for the fifth guest and that guest can sleep on the floor. Booking on cash doesn't have that option. BWV, BCV, BRV and SSR are all nearly identical in their layout of each villa. The shape of the building will be different.

 

[Disneypapa]

OKW for me. More space and easier to get in and out of building with parking at the door.

 

[DebbieB]

BWV 1 bedrooms have a king in the master and a queen sofabed in the living room. OKW 1 bedrooms have a king in the master, a queen sofabed in the living room plus a twin sleeper chair. From your signature, you have 2 daughters, would they be comfortable together in the sofabed? Another possibility would be bringing a blow up bed so they could split up. OKW would allow them to split up, one on the sofabed, one on the twin sleeper chair.