Doug7856
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2003
- Messages
- 2,027
Trip Report: First DVC Trip!
Where: OKW
When: June 27 30, 2004
Who: DW- Sherri, DS- Matthew (age 2 ½) and Me- Doug
We couldnt pass up the amazingly low airfare of $49 each way so in May we called and found availability at OKW for a studio for three nights. We own at SSR and have a trip planned for December, but this was a great excuse to visit WDW (its been over two years since weve been and our sons very first visit!).
We arrived at OKW at about 12 noon. We received our first welcome home greeting. We often joked about the welcome home greeting and our 2 year old pick up on this. Each time we entered our room we DW and I greeted each other with welcome home and kissed. Our son decided he should do likewise and he said welcome home and kissed each of us! LOL
We had a selection of about 4 rooms all on either the 2nd or 3rd floor. We selected room 1620 in building 16, second floor. We liked the proximity to HH. We chose wisely as our room was ready!
We loved the room. It was comfortable and clean. The theme at OKW is wonderful and DW while hesitant to stay in an old resort, was pleasantly surprised. We decided that OKW will always be an option for us!
We had thought about going to Typhoon Lagoon, but since pool hoping was available for just our first day, we decided it would be a great opportunity to visit SSR! We called and got the all clear and drove over. No problem getting past security.
We loved the pool at SSR. Our 2 year old had his first experience in a pool and he loved every bit of it. The zero entry area was particularly enjoyable for him. The slide was great and DW and I enjoyed alternating trips down. DS loved watching us come down the slide. He also enjoyed the little slide and the springs with Donald.
I was concerned that the pool was too small for such a large resort, but I compared the capacity size of the OKW pool and SSR and guess what: the capacity at SSR is 100 people and at OKW it is 102! Both are large resorts (or will be) and both have a similar sized pool. We loved the pool at SSR and consider to be one the top Disney on site pools we've visited (weve never been to SAB!).
At SSR we were VERY disappointed in the Artists Palate. There was very little selection and we would have a hard time finding something for our two year old to eat. We just picked up a few snack items but I don't think we'll be eating there very often if ever. This is an area I feel DVC needs to address. There appears to be many buildings with room for expansion and I suspect they will fine tune this feature especially if they get feedback from members.
We had a great evening at Downtown Disney with dinner at Wolfgang Pucks. We drove to/from Downtown Disney for each visit.
Back at OKW, the bus service was good and reliable. HH was always the last stop. Our room was equidistant between Miller Road bus stop and HH, so we used the flexibility to meet our needs.
We didnt try Olivias we dont generally do table service at the resort but we did try Goods to Go. The hamburgers and hot dogs were tasty, the fruit cup was large and very fresh. We enjoyed the food and would eat there again. We did get some groceries and had breakfast in our room each day.
The parks were great! We noticed that the crowds were significantly bigger than past June visits, but with fast pass we had little wait for most attractions. The one that did not have Fast Pass that we wish did was the Playhouse Disney show over at Disney-MGM Studios. Our son loved visiting the characters and even rode on Goofys Barnstormer twice!
It was a great trip and we are so glad that we joined DVC. Special thanks to all of the wonderful folks on this board who have given advice and offered your opinions!
Where: OKW
When: June 27 30, 2004
Who: DW- Sherri, DS- Matthew (age 2 ½) and Me- Doug
We couldnt pass up the amazingly low airfare of $49 each way so in May we called and found availability at OKW for a studio for three nights. We own at SSR and have a trip planned for December, but this was a great excuse to visit WDW (its been over two years since weve been and our sons very first visit!).
We arrived at OKW at about 12 noon. We received our first welcome home greeting. We often joked about the welcome home greeting and our 2 year old pick up on this. Each time we entered our room we DW and I greeted each other with welcome home and kissed. Our son decided he should do likewise and he said welcome home and kissed each of us! LOL
We had a selection of about 4 rooms all on either the 2nd or 3rd floor. We selected room 1620 in building 16, second floor. We liked the proximity to HH. We chose wisely as our room was ready!
We loved the room. It was comfortable and clean. The theme at OKW is wonderful and DW while hesitant to stay in an old resort, was pleasantly surprised. We decided that OKW will always be an option for us!
We had thought about going to Typhoon Lagoon, but since pool hoping was available for just our first day, we decided it would be a great opportunity to visit SSR! We called and got the all clear and drove over. No problem getting past security.
We loved the pool at SSR. Our 2 year old had his first experience in a pool and he loved every bit of it. The zero entry area was particularly enjoyable for him. The slide was great and DW and I enjoyed alternating trips down. DS loved watching us come down the slide. He also enjoyed the little slide and the springs with Donald.
I was concerned that the pool was too small for such a large resort, but I compared the capacity size of the OKW pool and SSR and guess what: the capacity at SSR is 100 people and at OKW it is 102! Both are large resorts (or will be) and both have a similar sized pool. We loved the pool at SSR and consider to be one the top Disney on site pools we've visited (weve never been to SAB!).
At SSR we were VERY disappointed in the Artists Palate. There was very little selection and we would have a hard time finding something for our two year old to eat. We just picked up a few snack items but I don't think we'll be eating there very often if ever. This is an area I feel DVC needs to address. There appears to be many buildings with room for expansion and I suspect they will fine tune this feature especially if they get feedback from members.
We had a great evening at Downtown Disney with dinner at Wolfgang Pucks. We drove to/from Downtown Disney for each visit.
Back at OKW, the bus service was good and reliable. HH was always the last stop. Our room was equidistant between Miller Road bus stop and HH, so we used the flexibility to meet our needs.
We didnt try Olivias we dont generally do table service at the resort but we did try Goods to Go. The hamburgers and hot dogs were tasty, the fruit cup was large and very fresh. We enjoyed the food and would eat there again. We did get some groceries and had breakfast in our room each day.
The parks were great! We noticed that the crowds were significantly bigger than past June visits, but with fast pass we had little wait for most attractions. The one that did not have Fast Pass that we wish did was the Playhouse Disney show over at Disney-MGM Studios. Our son loved visiting the characters and even rode on Goofys Barnstormer twice!
It was a great trip and we are so glad that we joined DVC. Special thanks to all of the wonderful folks on this board who have given advice and offered your opinions!
That's just too cute.
