Old Key West Building/Room Reservation Strategy

[HyattVacationClub]

Hello Everyone! My DW, DD, and DS will be at Old Key West in early March and are looking forward to our first full week at Disney World!
However, my pre-school son has asthma and is a very light sleeper, so we are a bit concerned about noise at OKW since it's near a highway.

We have a 2BR unit already reserved but we want to know what strategies YOU have employed to try to get the building of your choice. I've already read Unofficial Guide and they suggested for "quiet isolation" buildings that are "far away as possible from the highway noise." Buildings 45, 46, or 55 for river views, or buildings 11, 12, 13 that offer golf course views.

I asked reservations for a non-smoking room because of my son's asthma and a building that's as far from highway noise as possible. Reservations said they noted the non-smoking request but added (somewhat rudely) that "we do not take building/room requests."

Any suggestions??? We should be arriving at the resort by mid-morning. I read somewhere on the boards here about a family with a similiar problem and that reservations put them in smoking room even though the father placed his request verbally and in writing twice!! They wasted almost 18 hours trying to correct the situation.

Thank you so much in advance!!!

 

[diathoney]

My son also has asthma (and allergies). I request a non-smoking room for medical reasons and a top floor, quiet location because I'm a very light sleeper. Just a warning - quiet locations are usually far from food, bus stops, pools and elevators. This is exactly what I want and I don't mind trading the convience for the quiet.

 

[snyderla]

We stayed at OKW Oct.2003 in a 2BR, with family staying in an adjacent studio. It was directly across the street from the Old Turtle Pond Road Bus Stop and was very,very quiet. It seemed like we were the only ones staying in that building, although I know we weren't, because of stuff I saw sitting outside of rooms sometimes. It was the most peaceful resort I've ever stayed at. Absolutely wonderful. I've heard people say stuff about the noise of the busses, but we never heard them when we were in our 2BR Villa. I don't remember the exact room #, but it was first floor, which we requested due to physical limitations of a couple of the guests. I hope we can stay in the same on next time we go to OKW, it was great!

Lori

 

[milmore104]

We have stayed at the OKW many times. I have not had a problem getting a certain building that I requested. I just wait until check in and nicely ask if there are any rooms avalible in the building I would like to stay in. I also ask for the top floor. I would just nicely ask them when you check in you could stay in building... because your son is a very light sleeper. I don't think you will have any problem. You have several choices there! Good Luck

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

We've stayed at OKW three times and have never heard any type of highway noise at all. The first stay we were in building 62, two bedroom, 3rd floor. Never heard a sound from anywhere, very close to Hospitality House, etc, etc. The second time we were in building 13, two bedroom, 2nd floor. Never heard a sound except maybe a tiny bit from the room above us... but not even noticeable with the fan running. It was close to the Hospitality House also. Our third stay we were in building 21, two bedroom, first floor. It was pretty far from everything, but I wouldn't say it was more or less quiet, it seemed the same as our other stays except for the distance from the Hospitality House. OKW is very quiet and serene, I really wouldn't worry about any noise problems.

*Only one of those three trips did we have our building request met. The other two times we were told at check-in that it was all they had, take it or leave it, the end. So I wouldn't get your heart set on a particular building.

 

[SB in KY]

We are DVC members and have stayed at OKW twice a year for 8 years now. We almost always request a first floor unit because my mother (in her 80's) is often with us...while our request for first floor has always been met often our building request is not... the quietest units would definately be on the top floor and they have almost NO requests for top floor units (the general manager told me a few years ago that almost 75% of the requests were for first floor units and/or in buildings near the hospitality house so if you request a top floor unit down by Turtle Pond you should have nno problem being accomodated).

The only time I ever remember hearing any road noise at all was last spring we were in one of the new buildings with an elevator across from the old Commodore House (I think it was building 16 but that may not be right)...we heard some bus noise as they came through the OKW gate. I think you'd be fine with any of the units in the 40's and 50's.

You all will love OKW...so peaceful and so much room to spread out. There are lots of fun activities for kids up at Community Hall also. Have a terrific trip.

 

[DisneyMin]

We stayed there just last wknd,,in a 2 bdrm in building 28. We were on the ground floor,which i recommend if you have little ones. We had a golf course view. It was VERY quiet. I wondered if they weren't even 1/2 full! I liked our location,,we were a short walk to the bus stop(which we didn't use,but it would have been convienent.)and the main pool wasn't too far,either. We could see a bit of fireworks at night,,i think from Epcot. I heard 1 voice,,a teenage sounding girl. I thought "oh,no,,it'll get loud when the parks close" but it did not. I didn't hear toilets flushing,or pipes from people taking showers like you hear at the regular hotels. We had a great time,,we only stayed 1 night,but we brought our inlaws w/us and we all just really enjoyed it. One tip,which you may or may not know,,they provide a certain amount of towels(we stayed in the 2nd bdrm,let our inlaws have the master)and there was not 1 towel per person. And our bathroom had no shampoo,just 1 thin bar of soap. The master,however,had 2 bottles of shampoo,and soaps everywhere. I read in the pamplet,that if you request more towels/shampoo,they do charge. We shared w/the inlaws,but had to knock at their door in the a.m. to get the shampoo. Anyway,,didn't mean to ramble,but we heard no busses or yelling or traffic noise from our building. We had a great time!!Our kids are 7 and 4 and they did too.

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by DisneyMin
We stayed there just last wknd,,in a 2 bdrm in building 28. ...(snip).....and there was not 1 towel per person. ......

That was an error on housekeeping's part (unless you had more people in the unit than the maximum stated occupancy, which is 8 persons plus a child under 3).

Each 2 bedroom should have 8 sets of towels (bath, hand and washcloth) plus 2 bath mats (one for each bathroom). Each bathroom should have one soap and one shampoo. If that is not the case when you check in, call housekeeping and they will make it right.

If you booked through CRO/WDWTC, the towels will be exchanged daily and additional soap/shampoo will be provided. (I recommend that you bring your own shampoo - Mickey's stuff is not the best, LOL).

If you are renting points from a DVC member, there is a specific schedule for the towel exchange and unit cleaning. It is not daily and depends on your length of stay.

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

We always prefer bulidings 23-26. Very close to the HH. Here is a map for you in case you didn't have one.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/OKWmap.jpg

P.S. You will not want to stay in a regular hotel after this stay.

 

[colleen costello]

Hi there. We are big OKW fans, have had DVC for about 2 years now and usually stay there. Just wanted to reassure you as others have. This is a lovely, peaceful resort. We have enjoyed staying in every building we have been assigned to. DVC regulars often say "there's hardly a bad assigment at OKW!" We went this Thanksgiving, and we were assigned to #49, which worried me. This building is way at the far end of the property, near the highway. My parents had a room on the end of the building close to the road, and we were at the other end, near a bus turnaround. Both rooms turned out to be just fine. You could hear the cars from Mom's balcony or out in the parking lot, but not in the room. From our room, same deal -- you could hear the buses ONLY if you kept the door to the little balcony open. The air conditioning makes a nice "white noise" and we also always pack our white noise machine and hear the ocean all night.

The staff at OKW are usually wonderful. Explain your concerns at check-in and see what they suggest. There are some buildings that are on cul-de-sacs where the buses don't run, and these are my personal favorites (#55 and #56).

Have fun!

 

[colleen costello]

I just re-read your post. Don't take any chances. Disney needs to realize the non-smoking room request is not something to be taking lightly... Call them back and politely remind them that your non-smoking request is for MEDICAL REASONS. They listen to this. Mom has asthma and we could never stay in a smoking room. When they see "medical reasons" they will prioritize at least that request. We have never had a problem this way.

 

[HyattVacationClub]

Thanks to everyone who responded to my question!!

What I take away from these replies is that Old Key West is generally a very quiet and relaxing resort, regardless of what building one is in.
That confirms what I've read about OKW and I feel pretty comfortable that for peace and quiet AFTER the parks, this is the place to stay. It's also reassuring to know that the noise level is tolerable even if the building one is in is close to the highway.

I will definitely phone and write to request our non-smoking room
for medical reasons. I'll also take a shot at requesting (as nicely as possible, and without bribing...LOL) a building away from the highway.

I can't believe we'll be there in less than two months. The forecast
for the greater Washington, DC area calls for 4-8 inches of snow in the
next 24 hours, so we can't wait to get down to WDW.

Again, thanks for your replies...I'm a bit more at ease!

 

[Sammie]

I am not sure what Highway you are referring to. The only roads near Old Key West are Disney World internal roads. Even those are removed from the property with lots of landscaping.

 

[DebbieB]

OKW is bordered by Buena Vista Drive and Bonnett Creek Parkway, fairly heavily traveled bus roads. I've heard building 39 can be noisy.

We've stayed there 4 times and have had good rooms. We have been in buildings 26 (pond, golf view), 28 (fairway view blocked by trees), 31 (pond view) & 43 (pond view). We prefer the Turtle Pond area water views. We always have a rental car so distance to the main building is not a problem.

Will you have someone sleeping in the living room? If so, you may want to request buildings 30 and above. Those buildings have a second master bathroom entrance through the laundry room. Avoids that person(s) having to go through the master bedroom to use the bathroom at night.

You'll love the 2 bedroom!

 

[TDC Nala]

Only noise I've ever heard at OKW was a screaming child in the room next door. Comes right through the connecting door. You won't have that problem in a 2 bedroom (unless it's your own kid screaming).

Hello Arlington! Is the government closed yet?

 

[PamOKW]

I'm also puzzled by the use of the word "highway". These are the same roads that run by all the resorts -- POR, CBR, BW, etc., etc. There are a very few buildings that abut the border to these roads but even then there are trees between the units and the roads. Some people, especially in studios on the ends of units, sometimes mention hearing the buses on the internal roads. I haven't been bothered by this noise but I have seen it mentioned. Basically, with the doors closed you shouldn't be hearing much of anything.

My main goal would be to make sure that non-smoking for medical reasons is noted. Chances are excellent this will be fulfilled.

 

[tinkerbee]

We just returned from OKW yesterday. We were in building 41 second floor. There was no noise at all. I was concerned because the Turtle Pond bus stop is right around the corner but we didn't hear a thing.