Old Key West room requests

[Kim Pomarico]

hi. During online check in I was asked to make two room requests. There were so many not sure what to pick. Mostly locations to stay, near transportation or what floor to stay on. Any advice would be appreciated! Tia

 

[abner1776]

Oh boy...with OKW there are just so many answers. What you really need to do is look at the resort map and decide on what area you want to be in...hospitality, millers rd, peninsula, turtle pond or south point and choose a bldg in that area. What I find is most important is what floor you want to be on. If you are a senior(like me) or have young kids with strollers, the 3rd floor can be tiring with all of the stairs. Also close to a bus stop is always desirable unless you have a car and are planning on driving everywhere.
If you did not book the hospitality category when you make your reservation, then you will be precluded from choosing those bldgs which are the ones closest to the hospitality area.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Most buildings do not have elevators. So if taking stairs will be a problem, request ground floor. If you are in a one bedroom or larger and want the door in the laundry room to the bathroom, so any guest sleeping on the living room sleeper sofa won't have to go through the master bedroom, select Turtle Pond or South Point (or second bathroom access - or something like that). Buildings numbered less than 30 do not have the door in the laundry room to the bathroom.

If you want to get on the first bus into the resort, choose Peninsular Road.

 

[Dizjunkieee]

I have a similar quandary, I just RENTED (I do not own) points to stay at OKW for 9 nights in October. I was hoping to have the member request "near hospitality house", but the DVC Rental store folks who handled my rental indicated that is a "booking category" and there is no availability during my dates for that location. They said I WON'T be able to request these bldgs: 11-14; 23-26. My biggest want is to be fairly close to the hospitality house so that we can catch the park busses from that location, as I understand that is the last stop before heading to the parks. If possible, I would like to avoid having to be on the bus for what I understand is a fairly long and convoluted ride around the property before heading off to the parks. Also, since I have not yet visited this property, can someone tell me in relation to somewhere like Coronado Springs, or Caribbean Beach which are quite spread out, how does OKW compare size wise? I always hear it referred to as being HUGE, but don't have any real perspective on that. So if we were to be placed the farthest from the hospitality house, how long of a walk should we expect between our villa and HH? We are 4 adults & rented two studio rooms. thanks for any thoughts here!

 

[Harambe]

I didn't mind the drive through the resort on the busses - it is neither long, nor convoluted. We were in building 27 and it was a quick walk to the first bus stop. First on, and then, as DH says, a pleasant ride around Leave it to Beaver's neighborhood, and out to the parks. On the return ride, we were the first off, then a quick walk to our room. It was also a quick enough walk over to the main building, to jump on the boat to Disney Springs. Of course, the weather always has a hand in these opinions! haha Beautiful weather makes strolling around at WDW wonderful!

 

[Dizjunkieee]

Good to know, Harambe! Looking at the resort map, it does look like Bldg 27 is a nice location and relatively close to the HH. And yes, weather definitely plays a role in whether, or not, it is fun to stroll around WDW! Thanks for your thoughts - very helpful!

 

[Deb & Bill]

I have a similar quandary, I just RENTED (I do not own) points to stay at OKW for 9 nights in October. I was hoping to have the member request "near hospitality house", but the DVC Rental store folks who handled my rental indicated that is a "booking category" and there is no availability during my dates for that location. They said I WON'T be able to request these bldgs: 11-14; 23-26. My biggest want is to be fairly close to the hospitality house so that we can catch the park busses from that location, as I understand that is the last stop before heading to the parks. If possible, I would like to avoid having to be on the bus for what I understand is a fairly long and convoluted ride around the property before heading off to the parks. Also, since I have not yet visited this property, can someone tell me in relation to somewhere like Coronado Springs, or Caribbean Beach which are quite spread out, how does OKW compare size wise? I always hear it referred to as being HUGE, but don't have any real perspective on that. So if we were to be placed the farthest from the hospitality house, how long of a walk should we expect between our villa and HH? We are 4 adults & rented two studio rooms. thanks for any thoughts here!

You will be able to do online check in up to 60 days before you arrive. You might want to request Peninsular Road area. That would give you the first bus stop and right across the road/canal from the Hospitality House. You would be close to bldg. 23-26. However, Peninsular Road, being the first bus stop, means you stop at South Point, then Turtle Pond, then Millers Road and finally Hospitality House when leaving for the park. Unless you want to walk over to the Hospitality House to catch your bus (a short walk). That would give you the first stop off the bus, too. You could walk to the Hospitality House when you see the bus arrive at Peninsular Road and get there just before it arrives there.

You'll want to be aware that you probably won't be right next to each other with two studios. Most studios are at the ends of the buildings; you might be right over each other or on opposite ends of the same building.

 

[Dizjunkieee]

Thanks, Deb! Sounds like if I am able to get the Peninsular Rd area that will suit my needs very well! We will likely choose to walk over to HH to catch the bus there, vs. riding around the whole resort. And BONUS that we'd be the first stop on the way back! Thanks for listing out the whole bus route too so that I will know what that looks like should they not honor my request for Peninsular rd area. To that end, can you tell me how long the walk would be if we ended up the farthest away from the HH? I'm a planner so like to know these things lol!

Thanks for the info on us likely being in slightly different areas and not right next door to one another. That is totally fine for us, but am sure some would be like "WHAT?!" I've heard that OKW fairly frequently will upgrade people from a studio to a 1-BR if they have availability, but thinking the chances of that are slim to none where we will be there A) for 9 nights & B) during F&W. It would be amazing, but I have ZERO expectations of something like that happening

Thanks again for all the great info! Much appreciated!

 

[abner1776]

I have a similar quandary, I just RENTED (I do not own) points to stay at OKW for 9 nights in October. I was hoping to have the member request "near hospitality house", but the DVC Rental store folks who handled my rental indicated that is a "booking category" and there is no availability during my dates for that location. They said I WON'T be able to request these bldgs: 11-14; 23-26. My biggest want is to be fairly close to the hospitality house so that we can catch the park busses from that location, as I understand that is the last stop before heading to the parks. If possible, I would like to avoid having to be on the bus for what I understand is a fairly long and convoluted ride around the property before heading off to the parks. Also, since I have not yet visited this property, can someone tell me in relation to somewhere like Coronado Springs, or Caribbean Beach which are quite spread out, how does OKW compare size wise? I always hear it referred to as being HUGE, but don't have any real perspective on that. So if we were to be placed the farthest from the hospitality house, how long of a walk should we expect between our villa and HH? We are 4 adults & rented two studio rooms. thanks for any thoughts here!

OKW is a large and spread out property but getting around is not entirely up to your two feet. There are 5 bus stops and with with every bus eventually stopping at HH, one can hop on any bus from the other bus stops for a quick bus ride up to HH. For the return trip you can walk over to Peninsula bus stop and hop on any bus to take you to the other bus stops and save your feet. Also keep in mind that there is an internal bus that simply goes around OKW stopping at all of the bus stops. The technical answer to your questions is it could take 15 minutes to walk from the furthest bldg to the front desk at a leisurely pace. There is a reason why many OKW people have their own cars, but we have stayed at OKW many times and have never had a car so it can be done.

 

[sharadoc]

We think the bus service at OKW is the best of any resort. Because of that, we like South Pointe, which is beautiful, and at the end of the resort

 

[Deb & Bill]

Thanks, Deb! Sounds like if I am able to get the Peninsular Rd area that will suit my needs very well! We will likely choose to walk over to HH to catch the bus there, vs. riding around the whole resort. And BONUS that we'd be the first stop on the way back! Thanks for listing out the whole bus route too so that I will know what that looks like should they not honor my request for Peninsular rd area. To that end, can you tell me how long the walk would be if we ended up the farthest away from the HH? I'm a planner so like to know these things lol!

Thanks for the info on us likely being in slightly different areas and not right next door to one another. That is totally fine for us, but am sure some would be like "WHAT?!" I've heard that OKW fairly frequently will upgrade people from a studio to a 1-BR if they have availability, but thinking the chances of that are slim to none where we will be there A) for 9 nights & B) during F&W. It would be amazing, but I have ZERO expectations of something like that happening

Thanks again for all the great info! Much appreciated!

You probably won't get upgraded to a one bedroom on points. We did get up graded from a studio to a one bedroom on cash once, but we were already booked in a one bedroom for point for seven more nights, so they just kept us in the same villa.

 

[Harambe]

Thank you, guys! We had every intention to stay here again on our trip next year, but then I start looking around other resorts and changing my mind. But all this chatting has reminded me how much we loved staying here, and will do it this time again, since it will probably be our last time as a family (kids and friends in their early 20s) where we will need all the room of the wonderful 2BR.