OKW some surprises

[Pa@okw95]

We went to OKW to get out of the cold this January. We got 2 weeks of weather over 80 and the last two weeks the weather was in the low 60"s most of the time. We has some surprises at OKW regarding the condition of the rooms. In one room the compressor ran 24/7, in another the water faucet in the jacuzzi was stripped and the door to the porch would not close. In another unit the knob on the dimmer was missing as were the throw pillows. I called these problems into maintenance the last day we were in each unit. Another surprise was the amount of people in the check out area on Jan 2, all day long the line went right out the door. I did not get my room that day until 4:45 but the other times I got the room about 12:30 which made up for the first 4:45. At Olivia's for those of us who like to eat outside they got some new tables that are steady now, the old ones were about to fall over most of the time. The new tables have some real solid tops unlike the old ones. The slide and the pool opened up which was popular with the kids. The boat to DD is a real down-grade from the old ones we used to have. It is listing and has only some seats cushioned. It is a real tank compared to the nice boats we used to have, on the plus side we are not paying for the boats anymore. This was the first time since I was a member that I had any problems with the rooms, this time all 3 were in need of attention. Are we going the way of BCV? Well the weather more than made up for everything-I was just happy to be alive and in Florida in January.

 

[Chuck S]

I had a flaky A/C at OKW about a year ago. I noticed they are replacing a lot of the units. While I didn't have any maintenance problems with the one bedroom we had in December 2004 (it was in Bldg 14), I was surprised that the dimmer for the kitchen lights had been replaced with a standard light switch. The lights had also been replaced with compact fluorescents, so maybe they will be switching all the units over eventually to save energy.

 

[beccasmom]

We were really disappointed with the "new" boats, too on our last trip in August....the old ones were great! What a letdown!

 

[JudithM]

I was surprised that the dimmer for the kitchen lights had been replaced with a standard light switch. The lights had also been replaced with compact fluorescents

Fluorescent lights cannot be put on dimmers. Don't ask me why , but my electircal engineering friend said I cannot put flouorescent lights on dimmers in my house.

 

[JudithM]

We has some surprises at OKW regarding the condition of the rooms. In one room the compressor ran 24/7, in another the water faucet in the jacuzzi was stripped and the door to the porch would not close. In another unit the knob on the dimmer was missing as were the throw pillows. I called these problems into maintenance the last day we were in each unit.

Thanks for the report! I'm sure the weather was warmer in FL than in CT!

Just curious ... why did you wait until the last day of each stay to report your engineering problems? Maybe you have more patience than I do ). In December I called housekeeping the first night, left a message & by morning everything was fixed.

 

[KNWVIKING]

What's nice about the new boats is that they carry more then twice as many people. They do need to fix the cushions though. They can go in two locations on the seat-back, but the upper position is too hi and the lower position is too low. Plus the exposed felcro strip snags cloths.

 

[Pa@okw95]

Thanks for the report! I'm sure the weather was warmer in FL than in CT!

Just curious ... why did you wait until the last day of each stay to report your engineering problems? Maybe you have more patience than I do ). In December I called housekeeping the first night, left a message & by morning everything was fixed.

Well, the most serious one was the compressor, so it was possible if they came to fix it, I would have to move to another unit. I was on the 3rd floor, had guests, so I was not interested in going through that. With the faucet which was stripped, it was on the jacuzzi, it could still work if you slowly turned it to off and got it to stop in the right place. The porch door, I slammed it shut and we used the bedroom entrance, the throw pillows was in our first unit, so I did not know we still had them until I went to the other units, the dimmer switch I could live with. Personally, I spend a lot of time in the units, I don't even like the maids coming in for trash and towel. I called maintenance not housekeeping which I felt would get a better response. Like I said before I have been a member there since 95 and never had one problem before, this was a little much, but I lived with it and reported them all at the end of my stay.

 

[Pa@okw95]

What's nice about the new boats is that they carry more then twice as many people. They do need to fix the cushions though. They can go in two locations on the seat-back, but the upper position is too hi and the lower position is too low. Plus the exposed felcro strip snags cloths.

Not all the seats are cushioned. The old boat ran every 20 minutes with 12 people, this one runs every hour with 35 max, so one less per hour during the day, until 4 when they go on an 1/2 hour schedule. The old boat was my favorite attraction at WDW. These boats are similar to the tugs they use at POR and Dixie Landings. They get the job done. The one plus is we do not pay for them. We were given a book of menus to look at of all the restaurants that sponsor the boats before we landed at DD.

 

[KNWVIKING]

***" We were given a book of menus to look at of all the restaurants that sponsor the boats before we landed at DD."***

That's a great idea.

Were your daytime boats on a winter schedule ? I don't recall them being hourly till 4.

 

[dvc guy]

We spent a couple of nights in late December. We called for a few towels as we we short 2 bath towels and housekeeping came up with new throw pillows, don;t know why, did not ask for them, just put new ones in and took the old ones. I have seen a bunch of units without the dimmers, we use them to turn the light down when the kids sleep in the living room. BTW the unit was in excellent shape

 

[KNWVIKING]

***"We called for a few towels as we we short 2 bath towels and housekeeping came up with new throw pillows, don;t know why, did not ask for them,"***

The guy next door was trying to figure out why he got a couple towels when he had called down for pillows.

 

[dianeschlicht]

OKW lost our great housekeeping manager to SSR. They announced that at the annual meeting. Maybe the new OKW manager used to be at BCV?

 

[Pa@okw95]

OKW lost our great housekeeping manager to SSR. They announced that at the annual meeting. Maybe the new OKW manager used to be at BCV?

Housekeeping manager is one of the most important positions at any resort. There may be a problem with housekeeping reporting problems to maintenance not just guests. We will have to wait and see if there are any further complaints about the units.

 

[JudithM]

OKW lost our great housekeeping manager to SSR. They announced that at the annual meeting. Maybe the new OKW manager used to be at BCV?

I am pretty sure the relatively new housekeeping manager at OKW was not at BCV. I cannot remember all the WDW resorts he said he worked at ... Coronado comes to mind ... I believe OKW is his first DVC property. He is new to OKW, but not to WDW.

 

[JudithM]

Well, the most serious one was the compressor, so it was possible if they came to fix it, I would have to move to another unit. I was on the 3rd floor, had guests, so I was not interested in going through that. With the faucet which was stripped, it was on the jacuzzi, it could still work if you slowly turned it to off and got it to stop in the right place. The porch door, I slammed it shut and we used the bedroom entrance, the throw pillows was in our first unit, so I did not know we still had them until I went to the other units, the dimmer switch I could live with. Personally, I spend a lot of time in the units, I don't even like the maids coming in for trash and towel. I called maintenance not housekeeping which I felt would get a better response. Like I said before I have been a member there since 95 and never had one problem before, this was a little much, but I lived with it and reported them all at the end of my stay.

I am glad you reported the problems! I understand about being a long time member & not having problems before this trip. That is how I felt in December. We also had a stripped faucet except ours was on the bathroom sink. Now tell me how a housekeeper can wash/clean the sink or the jacuzzi & not notice the faucet does not turn off completely? (I don't expect any to answer this!)

 

[WithDisneySpirit]

Thanks for the trip report, Pa! Glad you got to spend January in a great climate

Lisa