Jimbo
6 AM and already the boy ain't right.<br><font col
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
We returned this week from 9 nights in a GV at OKW. We arrived on October 21st (a Saturday), and returned on the 30th (Monday). The cast members were DW and me, DS and his GF (sort of), DD and her husband. And most importantly, our two granddaughters ages 12 and 9.
Arrival
We took a limo from the airport to OKW (it's a grandfather thing
). We had a grocery stop, and arrived at around 2:30. I was told we'd be in room 2523 on Peninsular Road, exactly the room I was hoping to get. Unfortunately it wasn't ready, so we went to the pool because it was around 90 degrees out.
I called periodically, but had no luck. I asked at the desk once, too, and they said that the problem is there's a lot of new housekeepers on staff. So a manager goes over the room prior to releasing it. All other GVs were in use (plus I wanted that room), so I waited. Finally at 4:45 the room was ready.
BTW - This seemed like a big deal at the time, but we forgot about it almost immediately and I didn't even remember it 'til I started typing this out.
Room
Everyone was blown away by the room. DD's family of four lives in a house that's smaller than our "hotel room," so they were especially excited. All of us except DS's GF (sort of) had been in an OKW GV before, but it's still so impressive to walk into one.
The room was in very good shape. We noticed a couple stains on the couch later in the trip, but I can't say whether they were there when we walked in, or if we put them there (I hope it's the former). Other than that the room was spotless.
The entertainment center was set up kind of strangely, I think. The remote controls didn't work with the DVD player, and the player itself didn't have any buttons that we could see other than power, and a play/pause button. There was an A/V receiver but it wasn't hooked up to the DVD player. Lastly, there were speakers on top of the cabinet, but they weren't hooked up to anything at all. We didn't really care, because we just watched TV. But what was supposed to be there?
The deck had trees blocking half of the view, while the other half looked out onto the 5th green of the LBV course. Very nice.
Transportation
Since we didn't have a car, we were totally dependent on bus transportation. And I'm pleased to report that OKW came through with flying colors! We rarely waited more than a few minutes for a bus, regardless of where we were headed. Another thing that I never noticed is that OKW seems to have a preferred location at the parks; it was always one the first resorts in line, which is a blessing when everyone's wiped out at the end of a long day.
Peninsular Road's bus stop is usually the first one on the way back home - this varies some times, though - so we'd hop off without a long OKW tour. We usually walked to HH to take the bus to the park. It's really an ideal location we think.
Interesting story... The only time that we had a long wait was the night we had dinner reservations at AKL. We spent the day at AK, and then took a bus to the Lodge. It took probably 30 minutes for the bus to show, and we saw two OKW buses during that time!
Park Stuff
The crowds were light during the week, and fairly heavy on weekends. Epcot crowds really got big, and I'm sure that's due to the F&W Festival. I imagine a lot of locals go there on weekends.
DW and I took the girls to MNSSHP on Monday, and we had a fabulous time. It wasn't crowded at all, and we got to walk onto all of the rides. Plus there was literally no limit to the amount of candy you could get. We got enough to provides treats for the whole group for the rest of the week, and took a ton home.
We thought we might have some problems trying to keep 8 people happy, but it turned out not to be a problem. We've been to WDW enough times that everybody felt comfortable splitting off into smaller groups. It worked out fine.
I'm tired of writing, so I'm stopping now, even though there's lots more to say. We all had a grrreat time. DW and I will be back the end of December, staying at SSR, and can't wait to get back!
Arrival
We took a limo from the airport to OKW (it's a grandfather thing
). We had a grocery stop, and arrived at around 2:30. I was told we'd be in room 2523 on Peninsular Road, exactly the room I was hoping to get. Unfortunately it wasn't ready, so we went to the pool because it was around 90 degrees out. I called periodically, but had no luck. I asked at the desk once, too, and they said that the problem is there's a lot of new housekeepers on staff. So a manager goes over the room prior to releasing it. All other GVs were in use (plus I wanted that room), so I waited. Finally at 4:45 the room was ready.
BTW - This seemed like a big deal at the time, but we forgot about it almost immediately and I didn't even remember it 'til I started typing this out.
Room
Everyone was blown away by the room. DD's family of four lives in a house that's smaller than our "hotel room," so they were especially excited. All of us except DS's GF (sort of) had been in an OKW GV before, but it's still so impressive to walk into one.
The room was in very good shape. We noticed a couple stains on the couch later in the trip, but I can't say whether they were there when we walked in, or if we put them there (I hope it's the former). Other than that the room was spotless.
The entertainment center was set up kind of strangely, I think. The remote controls didn't work with the DVD player, and the player itself didn't have any buttons that we could see other than power, and a play/pause button. There was an A/V receiver but it wasn't hooked up to the DVD player. Lastly, there were speakers on top of the cabinet, but they weren't hooked up to anything at all. We didn't really care, because we just watched TV. But what was supposed to be there?
The deck had trees blocking half of the view, while the other half looked out onto the 5th green of the LBV course. Very nice.
Transportation
Since we didn't have a car, we were totally dependent on bus transportation. And I'm pleased to report that OKW came through with flying colors! We rarely waited more than a few minutes for a bus, regardless of where we were headed. Another thing that I never noticed is that OKW seems to have a preferred location at the parks; it was always one the first resorts in line, which is a blessing when everyone's wiped out at the end of a long day.
Peninsular Road's bus stop is usually the first one on the way back home - this varies some times, though - so we'd hop off without a long OKW tour. We usually walked to HH to take the bus to the park. It's really an ideal location we think.
Interesting story... The only time that we had a long wait was the night we had dinner reservations at AKL. We spent the day at AK, and then took a bus to the Lodge. It took probably 30 minutes for the bus to show, and we saw two OKW buses during that time!
Park Stuff
The crowds were light during the week, and fairly heavy on weekends. Epcot crowds really got big, and I'm sure that's due to the F&W Festival. I imagine a lot of locals go there on weekends.
DW and I took the girls to MNSSHP on Monday, and we had a fabulous time. It wasn't crowded at all, and we got to walk onto all of the rides. Plus there was literally no limit to the amount of candy you could get. We got enough to provides treats for the whole group for the rest of the week, and took a ton home.
We thought we might have some problems trying to keep 8 people happy, but it turned out not to be a problem. We've been to WDW enough times that everybody felt comfortable splitting off into smaller groups. It worked out fine.
I'm tired of writing, so I'm stopping now, even though there's lots more to say. We all had a grrreat time. DW and I will be back the end of December, staying at SSR, and can't wait to get back!
We LOVE those OKW GV's!
