Old Key West

[Scott Murray]

What do you like and dislike about Old Key West?

 

[kanerf]

The rooms are the largest on property, but there are no elevators in most of the buildings. You can be really far away and have several stops before you can leave property for one of the parks. I don't care for the two beds in the studios, though many really like them.

 

[tgarre06]

I loved the 2 bedroom units that were remodeled a few years ago, they were huge! It was a great option for us traveling with grandparents. My kids enjoyed the pool, and we liked the boat to Disney Springs.

 

[Tonberry]

My opinion of when we went.
Pro's:
1) Large rooms
2) Recently refurbished rooms
3) Short boat ride to Disney Springs
4) Beautiful Resort, relaxing atmosphere

Con's
1) Room views vary. Can be beautiful. Unfortunately, our patio overlooked the golf course with carts driving by all the time.
2) Goods Food To Go (their quick service). Nothing special really. Cheeseburgers, chicken strips, hot dogs, etc. No indoor seating. Either eat it outside or bring it back to your room.
3) Very large resort. If your room is far away, it's a bit of a walk to the pool and food. You know it's big when they have an internal bus shuttle.

Other observations:
1) We had great luck with the bus service. We never really had to wait very long at all. Longest wait was 20 minutes. But do give yourself extra time. There are multiple bus stops throughout the resort before the bus heads to its destination.
2) The pool is nice and has a sandcastle waterslide which my kids loved. It's not a fancy pool or a very large pool like some of the other Deluxe or DVC resorts have. There's no splash pad or kids area if that matters.
3) Olivia's (their table service restaurant) was great for dinner, but unimpressive for breakfast. Dinner was hot and tasty and we all loved it. Breakfast was a different story. Half of us got our food cold. Eggs came out wrong twice.
4) All cast members we ever interacted with here were so friendly and awesome.

Hope that helps!

 

[Kate_45]

Stayed in a 2br. Loved the size of the rooms and the lovely big balcony to sit out on and play cards. Also loved our location - were by the first bus stop coming back from the parks and could stroll over to the main building to get the bus in the morning straight out of the resort. Nice and close to the main pool. Loved the feel of the place. Loved the views. Loved the boat to Disney springs

Didn't love the fast food and refillable drinks offer. Not enough choice.

Main reason for choosing it was so we would be guaranteed 2 beds in a studio (6 of us were upgraded from 2 rooms at POFQ and chose one 1br and one studio. They were nice enough to put us into a 2br instead) but preferred the feel of it to both POFQ and SSR (the other upgrade choice) so we were very very happy with the holiday.

 

[Chuck S]

Love OKW, large rooms, Disney Springs boat, all the pools are nice (there is one main pool with slide, and 3 neighborhood pools. kids play area by each pool. full sized washer dryer in one bedroom and larger units. specious open kitchens. The stairs aren't bad, they are pretty gentle...but if you have ambulatory issues, be sure to request first floor or book a HA unit. And on the occasional I got a studio, I always needed the two real beds.

 

[Tigger's ally]

Gurgling suitcase! Jimmy Buffet music on the busses. Boat to Springs is a wonderful perk.

 

[scpratt]

We loved staying in the OKW studio. There was plenty of room to spread out and the balcony gave my husband a place to sit while the rest of us got ready for the day. The food at Olivia's was fantastic and stopping for a beverage at the Gurgling Suitcase was a must.

 

[WIll C]

The buses were the worst. Trying to get around was a real pain and depending on where you were located, the timing on the buses was really strange. We never got the hang of which bus went where first (I don't think the drivers did either).
Loved the room size, our 1BD was huge. Did not love the need to walk up stairs (my wife has mobility/stair issues) but we struggled through it. The staff was great as well and helped us a lot with travel and up/down the stairs on some occasions.
Really like Olivia's and the store was decent for DVCs. We had plenty of food options while there but we did have to make sure to grab stuff before heading to our room. The meant getting drink refills was a bit of a pain.
If you have a car or get a room close to the main building, it's great, otherwise, you are on your own!

 

[Ensusieasm]

is the living room sleep sofa comfortable?

 

[WIll C]

is the living room sleep sofa comfortable?

I didn't have any problem with it. It's not the worst I've ever used but not as nice as the pull down ones that don't fold up.

 

[Ensusieasm]

I didn't have any problem with it. It's not the worst I've ever used but not as nice as the pull down ones that don't fold up.

Thanks for the info. Glad to know you didn’t have a problem with it. Before the Saratoga renovations, that included the new pull down beds, the Saratoga sleep sofas were horrible. I was hoping the ones at Old Key West were better.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I don't know if anyone emphasized that not only is there a balcony, but (last time I was there at least) the balcony is large enough for 4 people at least, to sit around the table and eat a meal. Every morning my grandchildren and I would go out there and eat breakfast together.

 

[cedricandsophie]

No real downside for us. We go every March. Always book 11 months out so we can get close to hospitality house. My disabled daughter and her best friend always come and it needs to be easy for them to get back and forth on their own. I always request a first floor room and get it most of the time.
the one bedroom has a full size laundry and kitchen and a pullout chair and couch so the girls each have their own beds. and they are pretty comfortable

we dont do the parks much so we enjoy the pool, tennis, shuffleboard. The girls love the poolside games and the stuff going on in the community center. They have a bonfire every night and movies several times a week.
we like the quick service for lunch and Olivia’s for dinner.
we also like the boat to Disney Springs.

 

[maryblanchard49]

My opinion of when we went.
Pro's:
1) Large rooms
2) Recently refurbished rooms
3) Short boat ride to Disney Springs
4) Beautiful Resort, relaxing atmosphere

Con's
1) Room views vary. Can be beautiful. Unfortunately, our patio overlooked the golf course with carts driving by all the time.
2) Goods Food To Go (their quick service). Nothing special really. Cheeseburgers, chicken strips, hot dogs, etc. No indoor seating. Either eat it outside or bring it back to your room.
3) Very large resort. If your room is far away, it's a bit of a walk to the pool and food. You know it's big when they have an internal bus shuttle.

Other observations:
1) We had great luck with the bus service. We never really had to wait very long at all. Longest wait was 20 minutes. But do give yourself extra time. There are multiple bus stops throughout the resort before the bus heads to its destination.
2) The pool is nice and has a sandcastle waterslide which my kids loved. It's not a fancy pool or a very large pool like some of the other Deluxe or DVC resorts have. There's no splash pad or kids area if that matters.
3) Olivia's (their table service restaurant) was great for dinner, but unimpressive for breakfast. Dinner was hot and tasty and we all loved it. Breakfast was a different story. Half of us got our food cold. Eggs came out wrong twice.
4) All cast members we ever interacted with here were so friendly and awesome.

Hope that helps!

I'll be staying there this year and your post is really helpful. Thank you

 

[las3888]

I really love the resort, it wasn't an instant love, but it grew over time. Now I have a map of all the buildings we have stayed in through the years and I pull it out when we have a reservation coming up there and reminisce about the various locations. The views are generally really beautiful, once in a while it can be so-so and studio views are often of a lot of trees and bushes, but 1BR and 2BR villas are wonderful. They are so spacious. I love parking right by our room and not having to deal with parking far away from our room after a long day in the parks. I love the music piped in throughout the resort and pools. And while I love the theming of so many other resorts, you're in Florida and the theming of course fits. I also love that it costs lower points and is more readily available than many other resorts. If we do decide to do a more last minute trip, and all that's available is OKW (if anything) we are A-OK with that. Oh, and we like all the pools...

 

[CalOilerGurl]

I am so happy to hear all of the love for OKW! We are in ROFR with our first DVC contract right now - OKW home resort. Finger crossed!

 

[Simba's Mom]

I am so happy to hear all of the love for OKW! We are in ROFR with our first DVC contract right now - OKW home resort. Finger crossed!

I forgot-one more reason to be happy you're considering OKW. After our first stay there, DH decided we HAD to own there. So we went home, sold our contract at a different resort and bought at OKW. And yet when we reserved our stay there, it was just because it was the only DVC resort available (short notice) and we were less than enthusiastic. Certainly didn't expect to fall in love with it.

 

[mikeuno]

I loved the 2 bedroom units that were remodeled a few years ago, they were huge! It was a great option for us traveling with grandparents. My kids enjoyed the pool, and we liked the boat to Disney Springs.

How long of a boat ride is it to Disney Springs?

 

[GrumpyInPhilly]

15 - 20 minutes