Should I Stay or Should I Go? OKW 8/1-9

[HDNMKY]

I'm looking for advice on our August 1-9 OKW HH Studio booking. I am getting worried about the pools and resort being a little crowded if they continue to relocate cash guests into OKW. There is good availability for studios at a few resorts including GFV, BLT and Poly. What would you do based on what we know today?

 

[ColonialMouse]

I would expect Disney to be working to fill up all the resorts they have open, so I wouldn't expect that to be a difference. To the extent the resorts aren't full, they aren't opening all the pools and restaurants, so I would expect it to be a wash.

We are at OKW Aug 4-14 and picked it b/c the large rooms and nice decks seem to make it a better place if we hang out in the room more. And hopefully the walking path to DS will be open by then. My concern for VGF, BLT, and Poly would be your options are far more limited if the cash side hasn't opened (though there are far worse things than eating at Kona Cafe every night).

Bruce

 

[;-)]

I think you chose the best place to be if you’re worried about overcrowding. The resort is so big it will never feel crowded even at full capacity.

 

[kmorlock]

OKW is our home and it is very spread out so, you won't feel crowded even at full capacity. DVC is meant to run at full capacity so, no worries about crowding IMO. You have the boat to DS for lots of dining and entertainment. Keep in mind that while Goods To Go and the Turtle Shack may be open, (or not) the QS is pretty limited under normal circumstances. At this point, I would personally go with a monorail resort for more QS dining options unless it is forbidden to go to another resort by that time. If on points and you can swing a 1 bedroom, I'd consider that just for the kitchen access and laundry.

 

[Shellyred8]

You could do like we are and take this opportunity to stay somewhere you have never stayed before (if that still exists for you). I've always wanted to stay at VGF, but they NEVER has studios available for the times we go (not our home resort, so we have to wait for 7 months out). For our August trip, there was some studio availability, so I grabbed 3 nights. Our august trip will be a split stay: SSR, VGF, BWV (our trip is 10 nights, so 3x3x4 at each respective resort). We are planning to do the things close to the resorts we are staying at so we don't have to do so much busing. So, DS and AK while we are at SSR. MK while at VGF. HS/EP while at BWV.

A couple other things to consider:
1. With the social distancing rules and limited capacity on buses, you might want to consider staying nearer to the parks, if you are doing parks. Unless you have a car, then this is a moot point.
2. Staying at OKW will put you closer to DS, which will have more dining options. With possible limited food options available in the parks, this could be a bigger factor than normal.
3. Doing a split stay might be a nice option for your trip length. Do 2 resorts and 4 nights at each resort. This gives you a good amount of time at each resort. If you've never done a split stay, they are easy-peasy (kids make this a little more involved, for us, it's just two adults). We plan for move day to be a full-ish park day. We have everything packed up in the morning and drop our bags with Bell Services and ask them to transfer the bags to our new resort. Then we go to the park for the day. At the end of the day, we go to the new resort and check in and pick up our luggage ourselves (we have found this to be the most efficient, instead of waiting for them to deliver the bags to our room). The bags are usually at the new resort by 5-6pm.

Have a great trip!!!

 

[HDNMKY]

Thanks for the great advice everyone! We are going to stick with OKW and move up into a one bedroom. Have a magical evening!

 

[ColonialMouse]

Thanks for the great advice everyone! We are going to stick with OKW and move up into a one bedroom. Have a magical evening!

We're looking forward to our OKW stay, too. Just be aware that the older (HH and a few other I think) OKW 1 bedrooms have this weird design where you have to go through the MBR to get to the bathroom. The newer ones still have a single bathroom but it's accessible from the laundry room.

Bruce

 

[bobbiwoz]

Thanks for the great advice everyone! We are going to stick with OKW and move up into a one bedroom. Have a magical evening!

Wow! Enjoy!

 

[ABE4DISNEY]

Yay! I agree that OKW is probably one of the best resorts to social distance. Even in the summer last year when the parks were absolutely packed, we sometimes had one of the quiet pools entirely to ourselves.

Have a great time!!