OKW studio - near hospitality house or not?

[TigBaby]

Hi!

I'm a new member, and want to make a reservation for a studio for a couple of days in September at OKW. I can choose near hospitality house or not. Since I've never been there, would you please advise as to whether I'd want to be near it or not? Pros & cons? Very appreciated!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Hi!

I'm a new member, and want to make a reservation for a studio for a couple of days in September at OKW. I can choose near hospitality house or not. Since I've never been there, would you please advise as to whether I'd want to be near it or not? Pros & cons? Very appreciated!

HH area is my least favorite. I prefer SouthPoint or Millers Road, or even Turtle Pond. We prefer the leisure pools over the main pool. But if we want to head over to the HH area, it's an easy walk from anywhere.

 

[Anal Annie]

To each their own. I cannot imagine there would be a con to requesting HH. OKW is a HUGE resort. The only time we stayed there was several years ago - before there was a HH booking category. We ended up over in Miller's Road and I can tell you that we would NEVER, EVER stay at OKW again if we couldn't be guaranteed a HH location. What a horrid schelp that was to the main pool and the restaurants and even to the bus stop. We were in THE absolute furthest building possible so it even took several minutes just to walk to the closest bus stop. It was in August and when we walked back to our villa from the main pool we were all hot & sweaty again even though we'd just gotten out of the pool. (The closer quiet pool for our section was TOOOO quiet for our DS.) There was no direct path back to our villa from the HH. We attempted to cross the golf course late one night, in the dark and got caught in the sprinklers...then we couldn't find a place to cut thru the foilage. We just didn't want to make that darn walk again 'cuz the sidewalks took the long way around. It SEEMED like a good idea at the time. We were exhausted and had gotten off the bus at HH to try to find something to eat before we went back to our villa but everything was closed. It was a miserable experience for us and one we won't repeat any time soon.

 

[TigBaby]

Thanks for the the great comments. Since I'll be staying by myself, maybe staying closer to HH is a good idea so that I'm not wandering around in the dark all alone. Not that I ever worry about walking alone on Disney property, but might as well be a little cautious. Knowing me, I'd end up walking through the sprinklers too!

 

[Simba's Mom]

We just returned from OKW, in HH category (building 16-is that HH?) We didn't ask for it, but at check-in, asked about the Miller's Road. If 16 is a HH building, it was very quiet, and I loved the convenience to the HH. Beautiful golf course view also.

 

[RobDoc]

We just returned from OKW, in HH category (building 16-is that HH?) We didn't ask for it, but at check-in, asked about the Miller's Road. If 16 is a HH building, it was very quiet, and I loved the convenience to the HH. Beautiful golf course view also.

Building 16 is not included in the HH category. It is certainly close to the Hospoitality House, but is really in the Millers Road grouping of buildings.

HH includes Buildings 11-14 and 23-26.

IMO, Buildings 62-64, 15,16,17,18,26-29 are also close and convenient to HH.

 

[Nanajo1]

To each their own. I cannot imagine there would be a con to requesting HH. OKW is a HUGE resort. The only time we stayed there was several years ago - before there was a HH booking category. We ended up over in Miller's Road and I can tell you that we would NEVER, EVER stay at OKW again if we couldn't be guaranteed a HH location. What a horrid schelp that was to the main pool and the restaurants and even to the bus stop. We were in THE absolute furthest building possible so it even took several minutes just to walk to the closest bus stop. It was in August and when we walked back to our villa from the main pool we were all hot & sweaty again even though we'd just gotten out of the pool. (The closer quiet pool for our section was TOOOO quiet for our DS.) There was no direct path back to our villa from the HH. We attempted to cross the golf course late one night, in the dark and got caught in the sprinklers...then we couldn't find a place to cut thru the foilage. We just didn't want to make that darn walk again 'cuz the sidewalks took the long way around. It SEEMED like a good
idea at the time. We were exhausted and had gotten off the bus at HH to try to find something to eat before we went back to our villa but everything was closed. It was a miserable experience for us and one we won't repeat any time soon.

You can hop on any out going bus to get to the main pool and any in coming bus to get back to your villa. There is an internal bus that makes a loop around the resort as well.

 

[Caren]

We only book HH if we have kids along. When it's just my husband and me, we prefer the Turtle Pond area and the quiet pool, but when the 10-year-old nephew is along, we prefer HH area for the main pool and the kids' activities.

 

[Duffy Lover]

The #1 reason I think that villas near HH are great is due to the buses. You can hop on the bus at the last pick up spot just in front of the HH, but on the way home from a busy day at the park you could get off at the first drop off spot at the Peninsular Road. We stayed at OKW during spring break last year, in a GV at Miller Road, and even in the morning before parks opening the buses weren't crowded.

Only 47 more days and me and my girls will be in at OKW in a 2BR in the HH area!!

 

[KS_Disney_Dad]

We were near the Turtle Pond snack shack and it was great. We felt like we were the only one's there. Pool and laundry facilities were just steps away which were huge pluses for our family.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Building 16 is not included in the HH category. It is certainly close to the Hospoitality House, but is really in the Millers Road grouping of buildings.



IMO, Buildings 62-64, 15,16,17,18,26-29 are also close and convenient to HH.

Thanks! Frankly I'm thrilled to know that. Buildings 15 and 16 are now our two favorite, and if one were HH and the other not, it would make it difficult to book, request HH area or not, and request one of those two buildings. KWIM? I agree that buildings 15-18 are so convenient!

 

[dvcbrad]

Thanks for the the great comments. Since I'll be staying by myself, maybe staying closer to HH is a good idea so that I'm not wandering around in the dark all alone. Not that I ever worry about walking alone on Disney property, but might as well be a little cautious. Knowing me, I'd end up walking through the sprinklers too!

I was at OKW in early March by myself, too. I knew that for most things I would want to do that I would most likely want the boat to DTD. I took the boat over for drinks & dinner, and for carryout dinners. I played golf at LBV and did a combo of walk over, boat to DTD for post golf drink & cigar, and boat back to OKW. Because of that, I requested HH category, couldn't get it (it was a last minute planned trip), so then requested buildings 15, 16, and 62 - 64. I got 15, and it was about perfect. Nice view and about a 3 minute walk to HH.

Have fun. I certainly did.

 

[Anal Annie]

You can hop on any out going bus to get to the main pool and any in coming bus to get back to your villa. There is an internal bus that makes a loop around the resort as well.

Oh don't EVEN get me started on the buses at OKW!! We've never waited so long for a bus before anywhere. Took a full hour 1 night for 1 to come along for the MK. A full hour. I am certain that the quickest bus we ever caught was a 20 min. wait. You know how sometimes you just get to the bus stop and the bus you want comes a few minutes later? Not once all week did we have that kind of luck. It was horrid. One night we had an ADR at Boma and decided to take the boat to DTD to catch a bus over there. Figured anything would be better than waiting for a bus at OKW. HA! The buses over at DTD were equally as slow. Took us almost 2 hours to get to our ressie. The entire transportation system at OKW was a mess IMHO.

 

[WDWMom]

Oh don't EVEN get me started on the buses at OKW!! We've never waited so long for a bus before anywhere. Took a full hour 1 night for 1 to come along for the MK. A full hour. I am certain that the quickest bus we ever caught was a 20 min. wait. You know how sometimes you just get to the bus stop and the bus you want comes a few minutes later? Not once all week did we have that kind of luck. It was horrid. One night we had an ADR at Boma and decided to take the boat to DTD to catch a bus over there. Figured anything would be better than waiting for a bus at OKW. HA! The buses over at DTD were equally as slow. Took us almost 2 hours to get to our ressie. The entire transportation system at OKW was a mess IMHO.

In 14 years and about 20 trips I don't think we ever had bus service like that at OKW. We hardly ever wait for a bus unless we just missed one. We only usually wait about 5-10 mins at most. Now we do always have issues leaving EPCOT and to go to OKW. Not sure why, but it never fails that we wait forever.

 

[Deb & Bill]

In 14 years and about 20 trips I don't think we ever had bus service like that at OKW. We hardly ever wait for a bus unless we just missed one. We only usually wait about 5-10 mins at most. Now we do always have issues leaving EPCOT and to go to OKW. Not sure why, but it never fails that we wait forever.

I agree with you, WDWMom. We've never had bad bus service at OKW and we've stayed there at least eleven times in all locations. And if we had to wait it was because we just missed the bus minutes earlier.

 

[dianeschlicht]

In 14 years and about 20 trips I don't think we ever had bus service like that at OKW. We hardly ever wait for a bus unless we just missed one. We only usually wait about 5-10 mins at most. Now we do always have issues leaving EPCOT and to go to OKW. Not sure why, but it never fails that we wait forever.

I agree. In our 15 years of membership at OKW, I can only think of one time where we waited more than a few minutes for a bus, and that was on New Years Eve afternoon of the Millennium.

Oh, and I agree about the Epcot issue too. I'm just glad they finally took OKW out of that awful No.1 bus stop area there!

 

[MagikMom]

I prefer to be close to the HH. OKW is really big and I like to be close to the main pool, restaurant, ect. Another thing that is great about OKW are the size of the rooms. They are bigger than the other resorts.

 

[sleeperclan]

We were in bldg #14 last time, but the backside of it and loved it!! Just a quick walk across the street to the buses or the boat to DTD, but far away from the bus noise. We had a nice view of one of the golf course areas and very quiet. We aren't pool people, so being near one wasn't a big deal.

 

[pigby]

We stayed there last year and requested HH but couldnt honor that at check in as resort was pretty full due to it being start of the free dining. I understand that HH is now a booking category though - we have booked direct and are not DVC members (just like to look on here as it has lots of info on my current favorite resort) - I did make the booking last October though and didnt know that it was for DVC owners only (the HH booking categort that is) so maybe they will locate us somewhere not too far from HH.

Last year (end of August) we ended up staying in building 17 in Millers Road area which turned up to be very close to the bus stop and a small pool and had a great view over the golf course. We didnt use the small pool as we preferred to stroll over to the main pool but always caught the buses from Millers Road to the parks.

We are going back in a months time and requested HH location again but wont be disappointed if we are in the Millers Road area again - DH would prefer that area in fact - I would prefer slightly closer to HH - he never went to fill up the soda cups in a morning!

Oh and as for buses we stayed there 11 nights and the worst wait for a bus was going from DHS to Grand Floridian where we waited over an hour around 6pm ish and gave up on our 1900 Park Fayre ADR - OKW buses were fine.