Old Key west Versus Beach Club / Boardwalk Advice

[NJGoofy]

Hello,

I am looking for advice on the advantages of renting at the Beach Club or Boardwalk, versus Old Key West.

When we go, we plan on using the Disney transportation system, and plan on bring our stroller. We plan on trying to go for a week in November, and have park passes for 5 days.....

The advantages I see for Old Key west would be the cost is cheaper, which might allow to do other activities, such as an additional character meal. My child will almost be 5 when we go.

The Disadvantages, would be the travel time to Magic Kingdom....


The Advantages of Beach Club or Boardwalk that I see would be the Pool, and the location. Also, I think it might be easier with park hopper passes to go to Magic Kingdom early, then after a nap hit Epcot, or Hollywood Studios, as I do see spending as much time at those resorts due to our child age. How long would it take from old Key west to Epcot?

I have also heard that at the beach club you can see the Epcot fireworks, and they have movies under the stars and roast marshmallows on the beach. I am not sure what old key west has to offer...nor do I know how often would you do these activities, with the parks being the main focus

The dinning options also seem to favor Beach Club, or Boardwalk, but I heard downtown Disney is not far, which gives many options.

The pool would be the last plus, but I am not sure how often you would use the pool in November, or how much time you would spend in the pool since it will be our first visit with our child to Disney.....

Trying to decide which resort would be the best...I appreciate all options, as we are tying to figure out which would be best.....

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Chuck S]

The advantage to the EPCOT area resorts (BWV, BCV) is the ability to walk to EPCOT and boat to the Studios. Neither is any closer to MK than OKW, it takes 20 to 30 minutes from all of them, and BCV/BWV share buses with Swan and Dolphin. However, it may be difficult to book and EPCOT resort for November because of EPCOT's International Food & Wine festival.

OKW has a boat to DtD, and direct buses to the theme parks. There are 5 internal bus stops at OKW.

Only 3 OKW buildings have elevators, if you are taking a stroller, be sure to request a ground floor unit at OKW.

If staying in a one bedroom or larger unit, OKW has the largest rooms of any DVC resort, and also has full sized washers and dryers, and ice makers in the refrigerators.

Studio units at OKW have 2 queen beds, the others have a queen bed and full sleeper sofa. All studio have about the same amenities as far as the kitchenette. And all DVCs have a free laundry room for those staying in studios.

OKW has 3 quiet neighborhood pools, and a great giant sand castle pool slide at the main pool. The laundry rooms for the studios are located in the pool areas.

Remember that your stroller will need to be folded to board all buses and most boats.

 

[hakepb]

Yes, for MK bus service, I would prefer OKW to BWV. OKW kinda takes a "back way" to the MK that avoids the TTC parking booth, while BWV stops at the Aswan, then Dolphin before taking the main World drive to MK.

But OKW to EPCOT may take at least as long as the MK bus. (It depends if they take the clockwise route or counterclockwise. The counter route is 3x shorter, but it requires crossing a bit of a freeway, so I think they now take the clockwise route..)

 

[dianeschlicht]

We have always found bus service to both MK and Epcot to be very good from OKW. BWV and BCV on the other hand can take 2-3 times longer to MK. True that you can't walk to Epcot from OKW, but it is just across the road from the parking lot, and used to be considered a Epcot area resort before the Boardwalk area was built.

 

[culli]

We have always found bus service to both MK and Epcot to be very good from OKW. BWV and BCV on the other hand can take 2-3 times longer to MK. True that you can't walk to Epcot from OKW, but it is just across the road from the parking lot, and used to be considered a Epcot area resort before the Boardwalk area was built.

Did not know this, can you walk to EPCOT in a safe manner? We prefer walking if it is a longer distance.

 

[RobDoc]

Did not know this, can you walk to EPCOT in a safe manner? We prefer walking if it is a longer distance.

No, you cannot walk to Epcot from OKW. It is just "across the road", but has no sidewalks or walking path and would require crossing busy highways just to get near the property but without any guest entrance. It would be a walk of at least 2 miles (probably more) to walk to the entrance from OKW. The bus ride to Epcot is usually about 10 minutes vs 15 to MK once you leave OKW.

You can walk to DD from OKW over a paved walkway though and the distance is 0.93 miles to Cirque from Building 55 at OKW.

 

[culli]

No, you cannot walk to Epcot from OKW. It is just "across the road", but has no sidewalks or walking path and would require crossing busy highways just to get near the property but without any guest entrance. It would be a walk of at least 2 miles (probably more) to walk to the entrance from OKW. The bus ride to Epcot is usually about 10 minutes vs 15 to MK once you leave OKW.

You can walk to DD from OKW over a paved walkway though and the distance is 0.93 miles to Cirque from Building 55 at OKW.

Thanks Doc, Saratoga and OKW are our favorite resorts but love the EPCOT area so much, we are always torn on where to stay.

 

[hjgaus]

We own at BCV and it requires ALOT of patience for bus rides BUT if EPCOT is most important to you than BCV & BWV are a much better choice! We ALWAYS plan ahead for anything which requires timing & sometimes the bus may get there a little bit earlier than we expected but this would be a nice surprise on are part! We still have not tried any other resort yet because we like being closer to DHS & Epcot but will probably try others soon!

 

[NJGoofy]

Thanks for the reply's...It sounds like OKW might actually might be a better choice....It would save some $$$....but probably would be used on something else anyway......

The main focus would be Magic Kingdom.....I just thought it might be easier to go to Epcot, or the Studios after taking a break (and Nap).....I do not think I would need full day's at either of those parks....

I did think the pool at Beach Club would be pretty cool....but not sure how much you can swim in Nov....or how much time we would have available...

Thanks for the tip on Ground Floor....Speaking of Stroller....what size can you bring on the bus? Would you be allowed the regular size Graco?

Also, does anyone know how long you could have to wait for a bus? Say for example, if you just missed the bus...how long before the next one arrives....Does it matter on the time of day....

Thanks again in advance

What about the Boat to downtown disney....Does that run late at night...I hear there are a lot of restaurants......would you be able to get a boat back after dinner....

 

[sskem96]

You would have no problem taking a full size stroller on the bus. You just have to fold it up and hold it out of other people's way as best you can.

If you miss a bus, the next one generally comes within 20 minutes.

I believe the boat to DTD runs til 10pm, but it won't run if it's too windy or storming.

OKW does have a marshmallow roasting with camp sing a long songs in the evening, followed by a movie on an inflatable screen by the pool. The CMs running the marshmallow roasting were fabulous! We were 1 of 3 or 4 families there and we all had a blast!

 

[Mjkre]

OKW has a much better pool for a five year old, IMHO. You will be able to see and find your child and the sand castle slide is great. The beach club pool is cool but very spread out. I too vote for OKW, considering your needs.

 

[a742246]

I too, would think OKW would be better for you. To save some money (since your child is 5) I would suggest you do not buy the Park Hopper Option.

We took our GC age 6 to OKW last year and one park and pool time was what she liked the best. (note we had park hopper tickets)

 

[dvc_john]

What about the Boat to downtown disney....Does that run late at night...I hear there are a lot of restaurants......would you be able to get a boat back after dinner....

I don't recall how late the boats run, but they also have buses that run between DtD and OKW that run very late. (as late as buses to all the other resorts).