Palm trees blocking balcony-OKW?

[GAIL HAYDEN]

I love trees, I love the music that is played by the pools, I love the pools without slides, I love the OKW property just the way it is.

I am in total agreement with that sentiment.

 

[OKWKirt]

I will start by saying I love the landscapping and the trees, love OKW, only place for me. In June 2000 I was in buuilding 35, top floor one bdrm and there was no view because of the trees. I mean so thick you could see nothing but the trees in tight around the balcony. I wasn't happy but excepted it. By the way I get up early with coffee on the balcony every morning while everyone else sleeps in. Well, June 2001 I get the exact same room, the exact same view of nothing but those trees. I think a thinning of these trees, don't remove them, will provide the same privacy (for those wild women) and still provide a little view for the rest of us.

 

[~Magical Princess~]

I am a "non-member" and I definitely had no quams about asking them to trim the trees which they did willingly so that made our stay VERy happy! Whether you are a member or a non-member you are still a "paying" customer.

OKW is a beautiful resort, trees and all, except when they completely block your view of "water" which is what the view states it was supposed to be!!

Right now I wouldn't choose any resort other than OKW, trees and all, but perhaps might try the VWL soon.

 

[new_yawka]

Well, I'll be there in a few days and will be very pleased if I have plenty off privacy by the Master Bedroom window (we'll be in a 2-BR) Give me a bit of light by the living room, and I'll be happy as a clam (really though, I can't imagine being anything but happy as a clam at WDW! )

HERE WE COME OKW!!!

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

OKW is a beautiful resort, trees and all, except when they completely block your view of "water" which is what the view states it was supposed to be!!

They don't state any specific view at OKW. They are all the same amount of points, regardless of where you stay.
I am unsure who told you it was a "water view", but, you received some major misinformation.
Yes, indeed, you paid to stay there, you paid another member.
We, as members, paid a ton of money to have OKW as our home resort because most of us like the laid back atmosphere, like the fact that it looks like Old Key West Fl and most of all we LIKE THE TREES!!!!!! We, the members, will eventually pay for the hacking that you requested.
I am sorry to be harsh, I know I spoke with you when we were there and you are a nice person, but, this really, obviously, bothered some of the MEMBERS, me included. Most of us go there and request certain areas for certain reasons, if we don't get it, we, for the most part, just let it go. We do not expect them to change our rooms or landscape to satisfy a whim.
Like I said before, if you don't like the landscaping, then you really need to find something more concrete without trees.
If you really love OKW, and I believe you do, you are going to need to become a bit more flexible and realize that members are going to get their units assigned before people who rent points from members or through ressies through CRO. VWL has BIG trees, and I doubt they will hack at them for you. But, it is a beautiful resort.
Please, understand, I am not trying to be unfriendly, I am trying to tell you how I , as a member, feel about hacking away at something in my "home".

 

[joepoe]

Gail, I hear what you are saying. We love OKW just as it is, as well.

I also am a member at OKW. As members, we hire management of the resort. Management is responsible for landscaping. They decide whether a tree or bush needs trimming. I do not for a moment think they would hack away unless it made perfect sense to do so. I think we are brewing a tempest in a teapot with this thread. Next time you are home, at OKW check out the unit that Magical Princess stayed in to see if damage was done, then complain to management if it was. It should be easy to check it out from the outside.

The only "bad" view we ever got was in building 38(?) It was a thrid floor studio with a blah view of the backside of OKW and some tall pines that blocked Bonnet Parkway, which was right there.

 

[mb168]

YEAH, if they cut the trees at VWL, they would have lots of water view rooms and you could see the electrical light parade thingy ma doo. Of course if they cut the trees down at VWL they could bring in more sand and just rename it BCV II !

 

[TrudyZ]

Gail;

Ice out of your margarita does not qualify as plant food!

But seriously, I too was a little concerned to read about someone with no vested interest in OKW getting the trees trimmed to suit themselves. (Again, no personal offense meant. Remember, as owners, all of us have spent at least 5 digits to buy into the club and 3-4 digits a year in annual dues). Perhaps Magical Princess does not realize that as a member, I along with many others, actually own a vast majority of that facility for the next 40 years and just paid for that tree trimming. (to some DVCers, who hold OKW near and dear to their hearts, it would be akin to them coming to your house, trimming your trees to suit their liking, and then sending you a bill!!)

And of course, as a guest of all of us, may I speak for the group and say that we surely don't mind pointing out areas that could use some improvement. But from your posts on this board and others, I don't get the impression that the trees got trimmed by just a slight, casual mention in passing.....

And I am sure that OKW landscapers would not have done any true long-term damage; but from the post it can be inferred that the trees got trimmed by persistant calls (by making reference to multiple calls and the "squeaky wheel gets the oil" ). Perhaps our landscapers gave those trees a heavy-handed whack job just to stop the calls.

And why I hypothesize this is that in the multiple times we have stayed at OKW (and usually for 10-12 days each); any time we have had a maintenance issue, or any other issue, one quick courteous phone call and it was handled nearly instantaneously--and I am not talking about small matters that can be cleared up in a few minutes. I can only surmise that by needing to make multiple follow ups to get the job done, that they were either extremely busy, felt the request was not a priority, or were reluctant to do what you wanted done.

And Gail, you are not the only wild woman who needs trees. I hope that those trees grow quickly by Dec or we don't get that room!!


Trudy

 

[Niagara2]

We are one the the bigger fans of OKW - I am known to walk around in a daze when I arrive - repeating - I love my OKW!!! My kids think I an a luny...but once we got building 29, the vegation was thick in front of EVERY window......walk in to great room....dark dark dark...we turned on the lights as no sun shining in. Then we walked into bedroom, and again, electric lights on...it was sp dark. We saw alot of green trees, bushes, bark and nothing else. I had stayed at OKW a dozen times prior and this room brought me to tears. I felt like I was in a jungle with no way out and usually OKW makes me feel like I am in a tropical sunny paradise. The poor bellman saw my dismay and agreed with me.
The bellman called the desk and we were given another room, no where near our request but we were much happier....in FL with bright sunshine streaming into the windows in January!!
Now, we are stanch OKW fans, love the abvience of vegation and all, but some growth can be a bit overwhelming.
Just think.....those tree's in front of the windows will only be trunksin a few yrs Palms on thefirst floor in 91 are tall palms on the 3rd now. In a few years we will all have alot of tree trunks!! And alot of sunshine!

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Ice out of your margarita does not qualify as plant food!

It was orange juice, honest, I swear!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Gail, you are not the only wild woman who needs trees. I hope that those trees grow quickly by Dec or we don't get that room!!

LOL, glad to hear I am not the only "wild woman".

 

[~Magical Princess~]

THANKS NIAGRA !!!

 

[PADVCmember@OKW]

Has anyone notice that the grass at OKW is awfully high as compared to the other resorts? Blocks my view of the sidewalks.

Give me a break!

 

[donald@home]

People people people. No one is talking about hacking away at every tree at OKW. They are talking about trimming a few trees that have obviously become overgrown. I love OKW. I love the trees. But if I check into a unit that has trees blocking every bit of light I will call and ask if they can trim the trees a bit. And I don't believe the landscapers charge per tree. They are paid a salary. The dues will not go up for trimming the trees in front of a particular unit (which it sounds like are in need of a trimming anyway).

 

[Pa@okw95]

Many of the trees at OKW are there for a very good reason. We have a golf course that runs right through our resort. Certainly some are there for our protection. Other are there to block certain lights, hide air conditioners, and other are just there for the beauty. What "Magical Princess" does not realize is that this is not BW or some other place where they hand out rooms with views and charge for them. All members pay the same number of points for the size unit you get, whether ;you can see anything from your back porch or have a lovely view. What I would suggest to "Magical Princess" that she stay somewhere else where her needs can be best served. I have stayed in units at OKW that have what some would call no view and with good reason, on the other side of all the trees is a golf tee. They are there for your protection. Now " Magical Princess" I have to tell you that you did not pay for a view, all you paid for was the size of the room, studio, one bedroom or whatever. If you want to pay for a room with a view I would suggest you go elsewhere. I say that in the most friendly way of course.

 

[WDWMom]

We also stay at OKW exclusively and have noticed that most studios have a blocked view. It really stinks but i think there is little we can do. We have also noticed any end unit tends to have lots of trees. I think this is part of the overall landscaping plan. If you want few trees, request the third floor. It seems to be the best plan for the best view.

 

[~Magical Princess~]

Thanks Donald! I'm glad to know people can understand the situation without overreacting!!!

Trees blocking every view from every part of the 2br unit is not acceptable. I don't care how many points it cost, what the name of the resort is, what it entails or what have you. The trees were requested to be trimmed and they were -- PERIOD.

"PaOKW95" unfortunately in the most friendly way of course, I **do** know the difference between OKW and BWV and if I wanted to stay at BW I would have. Obviously I love OKW for many reasons, and yes the landscaping is one of them!! It is gorgeous! The whole resort is gorgeous! I'm fully aware that I'm not alone in having the trees have caused a problem for the view, and for that I'm forever grateful that OKW trimmed the trees appropriately and without just hacking at the poor things as many of you are trying to portray and destroying the resort. Further, OKW serves and has served, and will CONTINUE to serve my needs just fine!!! The rooms are obviously in the minority that have blocked views and obvoiusly the resort has enough respect to make sure that their guests, members or whoever are happy! And finally, I never claimed to have "paid" for a view, I had "made requests" just like everyone else - just plain and simple!!! And I full well know requests are just as they are stated - requests. They shouldn't stand at the check-in desk and tell you that you have a "water view" for the particular room they are assigning you to, when it is obviously a "tree blocked" room.

One final note I just have to add and that's this "vested interest" and "ownership" thing people keep referring to. Please remember, in the friendliest of ways of course - the DVC is STILL a timeshare and even though you "own" it still is just a "timeshare" and no matter how many members don't like the trees being trimmed or even cut down, unfortunately DVC can pretty much do whatever they like to see fit and in this case, they saw fit to meet my request of trimming the trees and I think this is a problem that you all seem to have and it's gotten way out of proportion!

 

[Fran]

BRAVO!!



Fran

 

[brittsmum1998]

Wow Magical Princess...nice "welcome home" huh?

 

[TrudyZ]

"and for that I'm forever grateful that OKW trimmed the trees appropriately and without just hacking at the poor things as many of you are trying to portray and destroying the resort."


versus:

"When they came to "trim" - they MEGA trimmed! I mean they were yanking Palm Trees leave assortments from EVERYWHERE and literally "hacking" down the Bamboo Trees! I was SO impressed!!"

Those two quotes sure give me two different visions of what happened. Which one was it, really?

Magical Princess, it was your own choice of words that gave us the impression of "clear-cutting" and started this thread spiraling.
Had you used the language of your latest quote to report on the tree trimming, this thread would have died a long time ago.

Obviously, you can post anything you like (within reason of the moderators) on these threads, but may I most humbly suggest that if you do not wish to illicit such strong responses, you tone down the drama.

Trudy

 

[nydizfan]

about 2 years ago I got a 2 brm with a very bad view. All I could see was trees. That kind of made me upset. So I made myself a drink.(heavy). And I asked my wife if she was upset with the view. She said "no its cool we are at disney". I was ok with that (thank god).But the main thing was , if the trees weren't there , all we would see , would have been the bonnet creek pwy. so it was ok.....so sometimes you have to just ADJUST. and we did......dave