OKW tips and advise please?

[jacksmom]

My dd (24) and I are going to WDW as a side trip in June and will be staying 3 nights at OKW (1rst time! ) and would love some tips! We will be staying in a studio (I requested 1rst floor). Also, have heard there is a boat to Downtown Disney?? if so, where does it let you off at DD? Thanks for any help!

 

[Granny]

The best "tip" for OKW is to plan on relaxing at this beautiful resort. It is very peaceful, especially if you are not very close to the HH. With the bus routes, any location within the resort is a good one.

The boat to DTD drops you off near the Rainforest Cafe area. It is very punctual and a lovely ride through the waterways and past SSR.

I'm sure you'll really enjoy your trip with DD.

 

[Chuck S]

For room requests at OKW, the best thing to do is request general areas, if you want to be near the boat dock and restaurant, requests to be near the "Hospitality House."

The DVC Ferry runs from OKW to SSR to the dock near Rainforest Cafe and another stop at Westside. They don't always stop at Westside, if you need that stop be sure and let the boat skipper know.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Boats run once an hour, and buses to DTD run often as well, but seem to be slower.

You might want to reconsider asking for a ground floor room if you only have a studio. The ground floor studios COULD have all the air conditioners for that particular building right outside the studio window. Not all do, but I would stay away from 1st floor studios for that reason. The stairs at OKW are not bad. They are very low rise ones, and even DH who has very bad knees has no trouble with them at all.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Another tip: Be sure to try out Olivia's! We love to have lunch there. Also, the bus service to the parks is great from OKW. It can take awhile to Animal Kingdom, but all the other parks are pretty fast. We actually prefer the neighborhood pools over the main pool for nice relaxing in the hot tub late at night. I usualy enjoy the Jacuzzi in the room in the morning and the hot tub at the pool at night. As with all DVC resorts, there is free movie rental at the community Center just for showing your room key.

 

[aubeone]

We stayed in a Studio in building 55 near one of the small pools and a short walk to the bus stop. It was very quite.(Also close to laundry facilities) We were directly next to a nature trail that is about a 15-20 minute walk to downtown Disney. It was a wonderful relaxing walk. If you get tired you can grab the boat at SSR to downtown Disney. We were on the first floor and the air conditioners were not a problem.

 

[2giddy4wdw]

Have to agree with the earlier post about Olivia's. We ate there for both breakfast and dinner. Both were amazing. The food was delicious and the service was great also. It's one of those places that's a hidden treasure. We didn't even have reservations for breakfast, and they got us right in. I would highly recommend this place. Also the whole resort is so relaxing. We really enjoyed it so much, that we are going back this year.

 

[Stitch1404]

Which buildings would be best to request if you want to be near the hospitality house? Or should I just request "near HH?"

 

[dianeschlicht]

Request near HH, if that is your main request. I usually only request non-smoking for medical reasons. I LOVE the South Point area of OKW, but they seem to always give me HH area, even though I have never requested it.

 

[mickeyluv]

We were at OKW last week and I would not recommend a 1st floor studio if you want any type of view from your balcony. Our view was awful. The shrubbrey needed to have been cut back just a bit. I would recommend a 2nd floor studio!!! The resort is very, very nice and relaxing!! I think you will both enjoy it very much!! Just keep in mind that from our experience if you are near the HH, your bus stop coming back from the parks will be last! THis happened 95% of the time with us. It was great going to the parks though because we were picked up last and didn't have to stop at the other 4 stops within the resort!

 

[Disney Doll]

The main pool is great. The quiet pools are great. The boat to DTD is really nice, and a lot of fun to take. They also have boats that you can rent to go around the waterway to DTD. Olivia's is a great little restaurant. The walking path to SSR/DTD is also nice during the day.

I would agree with the posters who have said that the views from the first floor won't be great, so if view means a lot to you, you might want to reconsider that.

 

[LoveMickey]

We just got back last night from a 7 night stay at OKW. It was our first stay.

Our requests were for
1. Near HH
2. Non -smoking
3. 2nd floor
4. waterview

We were in building 14 which is right across the street from the bus stop and the area where Olivia's is, the gift shop, guest services and the pool is right near there too, the main pool.

This was a great location. We did have a non-smoking room and were on 1st floor. We did not have any problems with overgrown shrubbery. Our view was of the 8th holes of LBV golf course, red tees. And we could see the river.

It was great to be the last pick up and head right out to the parks. On the way back if we did not get dropped off at HH, we got off the bus at the Pennisular stop and walked back. This was not a problem, just a short walk (and we were tired from park touring).

The only concern I had was the vehicle traffic. As stated in other posts, a lot of guests use their cars at this resort and you do have to watch out for traffic when crossing the roads.

We loved it there and will definitely stay there again.

 

[DisneylandGuy22]

Im at OKW right now and Im in a non smoking second floor studio in building 24. Its close to the HH and really close to the bus stops. The most I have waited for a bus was 15 min and that was for AK.

The resort is huge, take time to walk around and take a look at everything and just enjoy. This is my first time here and I am enjoying it so far.