OKW Owners -- How About Another Poll?

[PamOKW]

Questions have been raised about how OKW owners use their membership. Pick the one that most closely matches your overall use of the resort and your current future plans.

 

[mb168]

This is one of those difficult polls to word. We are a "it depends" family. We go to FW, we stay at BCV or BWV. Went down for Thanksgiving, tried VWL for the theming and lights. Take the kids with no plans for a park in the summer, BCV for SAB. But about every other visit we go, its a "we don't care where we go" so we stay at OKW. We also took family last year so we wanted more room, OKW . Next summer when the kids go for a week we are planning on doing some park days and the rest will be at OKW on less points, a bigger room, no dumpster view, and no long walk from the elevator !

 

[pmcpmc]

Originally posted by mb168
This is one of those difficult polls to word. We are a "it depends" family. We go to FW, we stay at BCV or BWV. Went down for Thanksgiving, tried VWL for the theming and lights. Take the kids with no plans for a park in the summer, BCV for SAB. But about every other visit we go, its a "we don't care where we go" so we stay at OKW. We also took family last year so we wanted more room, OKW . Next summer when the kids go for a week we are planning on doing some park days and the rest will be at OKW on less points, a bigger room, no dumpster view, and no long walk from the elevator !

you just need to get the bus to the main pool

 

[PamOKW]

Originally posted by mb168
This is one of those difficult polls to word.

That's for sure -- I gave it a shot. I think it's the folks who own but never or rarely use OKW that would be most interesting to find out about. Really, the use you describe is how DVC was intended to be used -- a network of resorts with a booking priority at one of them.

 

[Richyams]

I think it's the folks who own but never or rarely use OKW that would be most interesting to find out about.

But I suspect that we will hear from very, very few of those that chose the first option because those votes are probably from non-OKW owners trying to perpetuate the silly myth that there are many OKW owners who bought for the lower costs only planning to use other resorts.

 

[Bojo]

Two stays @ OKW and one @ HHI since our June, 2002 purchase of OKW points. Next is an OKW GV in March with extended family. Not all that interested in the other resorts at this time.

 

[pmcpmc]

paying cash because of the Availability of space.
Maybe Disney wants to encourage more to use it.

 

[DeeP]

Originally posted by Richyams
But I suspect that we will hear from very, very few of those that chose the first option because those votes are probably from non-OKW owners trying to perpetuate the silly myth that there are many OKW owners who bought for the lower costs only planning to use other resorts.

Why do you assume it is a silly myth? The DIS board is a very small representation of the actual number of DVC members and there is at least one poster here that I know of (Kansas) that has made it very clear that is excatly how their membership is used. No one knows how many other OKW owners there are out in the real world that do the same thing.

 

[PamOKW]

It's true that these boards are not representative of the total DVC population but I had never heard of people owning at OKW just to stay at other WDW resorts before the discussions of the last few days. I'm curious whether I was totally in the dark on that one. I had heard of people purchasing at Vero and HHI when they were available and either other options were not or the financing offers were more advantageous. The fears of how these people would be absorbed into the system were unfounded. I think the similar feeling that OKW members are somehow innundating the other resorts is also unfounded. The reason that OKW is usually available when the other resorts are not is primarily a function of it's size -- not an indication that members are not using the resort. I'm currently on the wait list for OKW -- rooms weren't readily available for me.

 

[DeeP]

Pam,
No one really knows what goes on with vast number of DVC members that do not read or post on the DIS board. The numbers generated on this board are not a true indication of really anything concerning DVC because the number of posters here compared to the real number of members is rather ridiculous.
I was recently discussing this at work one day when someone was asking me about DVC dues and much to my surprise I found out that I happen to personally know 2 families that do not read the DIS and that bought OKW mainly because it was the cheapest. One family does enjoy the resort and they do stay at OKW, the other family bought it because it was the cheapest resort and have only stayed at OKW once in 6 years and that was because they were unable to get into any other DVC resort. The second family stays at BWV or BCV all the time because they like the location and the full deluxe resort amenities. Did they intend to do this when they bought at OKW? They sure did, and they are quite proud of it!

 

[Richyams]

Two friends is certainly more of a true sample than the hundreds on this board.

 

[DeeP]

Originally posted by Richyams
Two friends is certainly more of a true sample than the hundreds on this board.

Please do not put your words/thoughts in my mouth!! I did NOT say 2 co workers were a true sample, I was merely pointing out that no one knows what the vast majority of DVC members really want, do etc based on the posters on this board. Nor do we even know anything about the vast majority of DVC members. I have been working with these people for years and never knew they were DVC members.
You are correct 2 families are no more of a true sample of the total number of DVC members, then the posters on this board are!

 

[DVC-Don]

We originally came into the DVC fold at VWL, which we love. But, one time we used the VWL points to stay at OKW and decided we needed points there too.

 

[PamOKW]

For those who bought at OKW but don't plan to stay there, will the addition of a slide change your plans? If not, what would?

 

[Uncleromulus]

Glad to see the slide coming of course, but lack of one never stopped us from staying at OKW every time we've visited since 1992. We like the spacious, layed-back, relatively quiet nature of the place and nothing beats being able to park right in front of your door.

 

[Beth]

We've owned for 7 years, and we've stayed at each DVC resort (including VB and HH) at least twice.

This was a hard one for me to answer, because our stays are pretty much evenly spread out among all resorts. I guess if I went back and looked at my spreadsheet, it would favor OKW... In 2003, we've stayed at WLV twice, BCV once, BWV once, and OKW once.

We make so many "short-notice" reservations, we often times just take whatever is available. And, believe it or not, it's not always OKW!

Like others, it often depends on the focus of our trip as to where we choose to stay.

I must say - this talk we've been hearing over the last week about how it's not appropriate for OKW owners to be using the other resorts due to the difference in dues is just blowing my mind!!! This is how the program is SUPPOSED to work! I hope that no one reading these posts and considering buying in are getting the wrong idea! DVC welcomes you to stay at any resort that has availability! ENJOY them all!!!!

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

Originally posted by Beth
In 2003, we've stayed at WLV twice, BCV once, BWV once, and OKW once.

Beth
It must be nice to live in Florida.............we can't wait to be able to do this.

 

[AZKathy]

We purchased in 1997 at OKW. We have stayed one weekend at VB one trip (we like VB a lot), but we solely stay at OKW while on WDW property. So, no one needs to worry about us using the other DVC resorts!!!

 

[ArnyVee]

I voted for the "I'm a fairly new owner and I'm trying out all the resorts about equally with OKW stays" option, because that's what we are planning on doing for the immediate future.

But, I can definitely see us staying at OKW exclusively because of the great laid back atmosphere that we were able to enjoy on our first trip 'home' a couple of months ago.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

I voted "My first choice of resort is almost always OKW but I sometimes use other resorts."

But this is not necessarily true because I do stay at BWV and occasionally elsewhere. But since I own at OKW and BWV equally, I always use my BWV points to book at BWV in order to utililize the 11 month window to book standard view.

When staying at BCV (once) and VWL (twice) or at the Conceirge Collection - Disney Resorts (twice), I may use a combination of the two (OKW & BWV) points.

However, over the last year or so, I've primarily been using my BWV points to stay elsewhere, because I've been banking my OKW points in order to have enough points to book the GV for our January trip. I actually had to use some (most) of my BWV points to book the additional 2 studios we needed in January.

None of the poll choices actually reflect how I use my DVC points. But "My first choice of resort is almost always OKW but I sometimes use other resorts" is the closest because I use my OKW points "almost" exclusively at OKW.