Old Key West?

[minniemousegirl]

Hello all,
My family and I have just booked our week long stay at the Old Key West resort. There will be four of us, myself, my husband, my daughter(17), and her friend(16), staying in a two bedroom villa. We are VERY excited about our trip, but just wanted to hear an outside opinion on the resort. We are using my husband's co-workers timeshare and know very little on Old Key West. We've stayed on other Disney properties before, just not one of this kind. Any suggestions or things you have learned?

 

[vicki_c]

OKW is great - biggest DVC rooms on property. You will be floored with the size of a 2 BR.

Very peaceful location, good bus service around the resort, nice TS restaurant (Olivia's), not so great CS choices. Community Hall like many of the DVCs.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

OKW is great! The two bedroom villa is HUGE, you will love it. My best advice to you is to get groceries. If you don't have a car then have groceries delivered from We Go Shop or Garden Grocer. You will most likely be a long way from the central area where drinks and food are available, so you'll want to stock up on water, sodas, snacks, etc. Breakfast items are good to have also.

Also I pack my own laundry detergent and dryer sheets from home, it seems we always end up doing a lot of laundry when we stay at OKW. It's nice to be able to wear things more than once and also not to go home with a smelly suitcase full of dirty clothes. The resort is very peaceful and relaxing. Allow plenty of extra time if you have ADRs because the buses can be a bit longer of a ride than what you would experience at some of the other resorts, but nothing terrible. It feels more away from the hustle and bustle of the parks, very tropical and laid back. We've stayed there many times if you have any specific questions feel free to PM me.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

OKW is one of the hidden gems in WDW......You will love it!

There are 4 pools , the main pool with a great slide and hot wet and dry saunas, sand play ground. another pool at the far end, **L* shaped with a snack bar and limited bar. There are picnic table and BBQs. We usually take a evening in the middle of the trip and BBQ dinner their, relax with the pool and hot tub. Lastly 2 small quiet pools.

A ferry takes you to DTD.


The landscaping is wonderful and the layout is large and nice to walk in!


Have a great trip!


AKK

 

[vicki_c]

PS - here's the link to the DVC boards OKW Lovers thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1375743

 

[Magic3forme]

we really enjoyed our stay in a 2bd at OKW. The second bathroom has tons of counter space!! great for 2 teenage girls.

our kids like hanging out at the pool. it can be a little bit of a walk, but it is worth it.

I like that parking is right out front also.

have fun!!!

 

[JMD]

OKW is great, you will love it. We've stayed there many times and my only complaint is the quality of the QS food. It ranges from mediocre to just awful. But Olivia's is a good option for TS.

 

[darkwing818]

OKW is great - biggest DVC rooms on property. You will be floored with the size of a 2 BR.

Very peaceful location, good bus service around the resort, nice TS restaurant (Olivia's), not so great CS choices. Community Hall like many of the DVCs.

Agree 100% we love OKW , the 2 bedroom is really big, but you should check out the grand villa it's huge.

 

[Deb & Bill]

The only problem some guests have with OKW (and we don't have any problem with it) is that only three buildings have elevators. These three buildings are usually reserved for medical needs. So you might be walking up two or three flights of stairs getting to your villa. I've never had a problem hauling stuff up the stairs, but some people do.

We have stayed at OKW 15 times so far and have trip 16 coming up in October.

 

[brertoad]

We love to stay at OKW, it's very laid back, the amenities are great. Love that there is a table service and quick service food there. I like the room decor, room size, and 2 beds per room.

 

[Disfan454]

We just booked a week there for the first time as well. From everything I have seen, it looks amazing. The site allears.net just did an in depth blog with pics of OKW and he did a really good job. You should check that out. I believe it is on the front page of the site. If I can find it, I will get the link for you. Made me even happier about my decision.

Ok, found the link and edited this post. Worth reading for sure.
http://land.allears.net/blogs/jackspence/2013/04/old_key_west_part_one_1.html

 

[vicki_c]

We just booked a week there for the first time as well. From everything I have seen, it looks amazing. The site allears.net just did an in depth blog with pics of OKW and he did a really good job. You should check that out. I believe it is on the front page of the site. If I can find it, I will get the link for you. Made me even happier about my decision.

Ok, found the link and edited this post. Worth reading for sure.
http://land.allears.net/blogs/jackspence/2013/04/old_key_west_part_one_1.html

What a great article! I had not seen that. Thanks.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

HAVING WORKED AT ALL DVC RESORTS, EXCEPT BLT:

1) OKW is my favorite DVC resort.
2) It was the first, and set the standard for all other DVC's.
3) After OKW, Disney got cheap and made lesser quality DVC's.
4) In our opion, OKW
. . . largest rooms of any DVC
. . . best theming
. . . best quaint resort surroundings
. . . most interesting and varied architecture
. . . one of best, if not the best, DVC bus systems
. . . best walking and strolling atmoshphere

 

[SusieBea]

OKW is our home resort. We've stayed there over 30 times. You will love the size of the unit, as previous posters have said. Take the boat to DTD. Enjoy the huge balcony! The great room is wonderful. And have a key lime tart at Olivia's (oh, also, if they're serving the buttermilk fried chicken, it's worth the calories!).

 

[TheSilverTherapist]

As you can see from my signature I've been to OKW one, two, three... a lot of times. It's my parents' home resort so I grew up staying there almost every year we went. To me, it feels more like Disney World than anywhere else.

The grounds are gorgeous, the rooms are huge, it's a convenient location to get everywhere on property, it has a great pool (not YC/BC great, but overall really nice)... I could go on and on.

One minor gripe, as some people have mentioned, is the lack of a true counter service place. Goods Food to Go is more of a stand than a real counter service place and it can take a bit longer to get your order there than at most.

If you haven't already made building requests, I'd go for 23-26 near the Pennisular Rd. bus stop. It's usually the first stop the buses make and those buildings can also get right to the pool through the back of the Hospitality House area.

Hope you love it as much as I have.

 

[Deb & Bill]

...If you haven't already made building requests, I'd go for 23-26 near the Pennisular Rd. bus stop. It's usually the first stop the buses make and those buildings can also get right to the pool through the back of the Hospitality House area.

Hope you love it as much as I have.

Those buildings are not requests. They are booking category for points stays called Hospitality House Area (with Bldg 11, 12, 13 and 14). If the OP booked on cash, they will not get those villas. If they booked with points, that had to be the location booked. If they booked with RCI, they won't get that area either. And if they did book with RCI, they need to make sure the office co-worker paid for a guest certificate so the reservation isn't cancelled by RCI.

 

[WILDERNESS FAN 55]

We just booked a week there for the first time as well. From everything I have seen, it looks amazing. The site allears.net just did an in depth blog with pics of OKW and he did a really good job. You should check that out. I believe it is on the front page of the site. If I can find it, I will get the link for you. Made me even happier about my decision.

Ok, found the link and edited this post. Worth reading for sure.
http://land.allears.net/blogs/jackspence/2013/04/old_key_west_part_one_1.html

Hello all,
My family and I have just booked our week long stay at the Old Key West resort. There will be four of us, myself, my husband, my daughter(17), and her friend(16), staying in a two bedroom villa. We are VERY excited about our trip, but just wanted to hear an outside opinion on the resort. We are using my husband's co-workers timeshare and know very little on Old Key West. We've stayed on other Disney properties before, just not one of this kind. Any suggestions or things you have learned?

Just got back from our first stay there. We had 3rd floor in bldg 26 (HH area)and would highly recommend it for anyone. It's bus location is ideal and very short walk to pool-shop-Olivias etc. We had 6 in a 2br and it was plenty comfy.Have fun on your trips.

 

[FigmentChick]

I've already subscribed to the OKW lovers thread. We're heading down in Oct/Nov. You'll have to tell me how you liked it.

Happy travels!!!

 

[jenn3456]

WHat if you booked through Disney? We would love to be closer to the Hospitality House but we booked through Disney. This doesn't sound like an option for us?

 

[nolanboys]

Will just add that one of the benefits of staying there is the full kitchen. We stayed there twice going directly through Disney before buying DVC. We shipped groceries down one time and had them delivered from Garden Grocer the other time. The ability to do that makes up for the lack of counter service in many ways. We love it there and are hoping to book it for spring break when our 7 mo window opens up.