So conflicted! OKW vs. Windsor Hills

[5olearys]

I know, another on-site vs. off-site thread! Our family of 5 (kids 7,8 and 9) is planning a December trip. We have a 3br townhome with parking in front of unit and private splash pool reserved in WH. Our price for the week was under $700. At the time I booked it, I hadn't done much research into renting DVC points. After seeing we can get *somewhat* close to the price we planned on paying originally, I'm now conflicted...although the 1BR at OKW has enough room, is it really worth the trade off? On-site magic vs more space and private pool? If we stay off site we will have a day of downtime...on site, it'll be go-go-go. We need a kitchen so PORR, even AoA won't work for us. Would love to hear from other families who have done both. Thanks!

 

[happymommy]

I was going to initially say if it's the same or similar price, go for OKW (for the perks onsite, magic bands, etc...) but it's really not a fair comparison.

At OKW you'd only have the one bedroom, so that would be very tight with 3 kids! We did a one bedroom over Christmas at the BWV with our 2 kids, and it was tight (but totally doable and fun).

Personally, with 3 kids I'd want more space. If you found onsite with 2 bedrooms it would be great, BUT that would definitely cost way more! If you're trying to make this more affordable (considering park tickets always cost so much) I'd stick with your townhome for now.

If you're going late December with the crowds, then I'd do on site for sure! I would not want to be driving to the parks over the Christmas holiday.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I know, another on-site vs. off-site thread! Our family of 5 (kids 7,8 and 9) is planning a December trip. We have a 3br townhome with parking in front of unit and private splash pool reserved in WH. Our price for the week was under $700. At the time I booked it, I hadn't done much research into renting DVC points. After seeing we can get *somewhat* close to the price we planned on paying originally, I'm now conflicted...although the 1BR at OKW has enough room, is it really worth the trade off? On-site magic vs more space and private pool? If we stay off site we will have a day of downtime...on site, it'll be go-go-go. We need a kitchen so PORR, even AoA won't work for us. Would love to hear from other families who have done both. Thanks!

I have stayed at OKW and offsite. Go offsite if you get more space. 3 br versus a 1 br! OKW honestly might as well be offsite IMO. I like it there a lot, but I didn't feel much "magic" there. It actually has a lot of the qualities that are nice about offsite...being able to pull up to your door, feeling like you're not all packed in, very quiet and calm. The units themselves look like any condo unit, plus some Mickey heads in the railings and maybe one Mickey lamp. I do like the public areas of OKW (main pool, etc) but it's really a place where a car is nice to have as it is so sprawling. I wouldn't stay there without a car.

Good luck deciding!

 

[5olearys]

Thank you. I was starting to have resort regret...but really,the townhome we rented is covered in Mickey from the coffeepot to the shower curtains. If it's not going to be a total immersion...we'll just stick to where we are. Thanks for talking me off the ledge

 

[JimMIA]

OKW is our favorite DVC resort, but I also agree with the larger space suggestion. I would go with the 3 BR townhome.

Also, for what it's worth, you would have virtually zero chance of getting an OKW 1BR for December anyway. The period between Thanksgiving and New Years is the busiest time of the year for DVC. In order to get anything during that period, owners must book the moment their 11 month booking window opens up. So OKW (or any other DVC) is not really a realistic option during December.

 

[5olearys]

OKW is our favorite DVC resort, but I also agree with the larger space suggestion. I would go with the 3 BR townhome.

Also, for what it's worth, you would have virtually zero chance of getting an OKW 1BR for December anyway. The period between Thanksgiving and New Years is the busiest time of the year for DVC. In order to get anything during that period, owners must book the moment their 11 month booking window opens up. So OKW (or any other DVC) is not really a realistic option during December.

I have gotten two quotes for Dec 14-20 for OKW (one was $1430, one was $1900). Both places said it wouldn't be a problem. I thought it'd be a no-go too, which is part of why I didn't look into it originally. There's another DVC resort with 1 br openings as well, but I can't remember which one.

 

[trudyt623]

Staying onsite may not be as spacious but you need to weigh the amount of time you will be in the villa vs the convenience of being onsite


I'm staying at the Marriott Grande Vista 12/18-12/25 and I am kicking myself I didn't book onsite.

 

[JimMIA]

I have gotten two quotes for Dec 14-20 for OKW (one was $1430, one was $1900). Both places said it wouldn't be a problem. I thought it'd be a no-go too, which is part of why I didn't look into it originally. There's another DVC resort with 1 br openings as well, but I can't remember which one.

The other would be SSR...if anything actually is available. Obviously, people will say they can get you a room.

If you rent DVC, make sure you are renting a DVC points reservation from a DVC owner. You can do that legitimately either directly through the DIS DVC Rent/Trade board, or through a broker like David's. That is the only kind of legitimate DVC rental, other than reserving directly through Disney.

Some people use RCI to exchange into DVC and then rent those reservations. That is a violation of both RCI and DVC policies, and if detected by either RCI or DVC, could result in cancellation of the reservation only a few days from checkin with no notice or recourse.

You don't want that -- nor do you want to do business with someone who puts you in that situation.

 

[mymickeyfans]

We've stayed both on site and off site. My kids much prefer being off site. They love having the space and the private pool is a huge hit. We get home from the parks and they are in the pool until bedtime! We are already booked at WH for November 2015.

 

[kathy884]

We'll be in Orlando the same week you are there. In case this helps, FYI, we had no hesitation whatsoever about booking an offsite condo for that week. You are there before the heavy Christmas crowds. Do note that by the weekend of the end of your stay, Friday and Saturday, crowds should start getting a little heavier, but will still be considerably lighter than the following week and will still be lighter than popular summer and spring break times. We personally think this is a great time ago, and as soon as I saw how early my son's college finals ended, I jumped on planning a budget trip (an extra trip on top of our non-Orlando vacation plans for the year), and I would not have even considered going to Orlando except for the timing that we could do with no school missed, no summer heat, and low crowds. I've done about five trips that included Christmas week, and these days I'm really not up for those Christmas week crowds anymore. We don't see any need for onsite perks like early entry during the timeframe of your stay either.

When I've done cost comparisons (and this isn't for a house in Windsor Hills which is probably even more economical), for similar quality accommodations and similar space (a two bedroom / two bath condo) which is what we want, it is typically triple the price to rent Disney Vacation Club points vs. rent offsite timeshare condo. // For us it's no brainer, as our trips to Orlando are typically budget trips. Offsite fits in the budget and onsite doesn't, and our all fitting in a smaller space and/or room or suite instead of condo isn't a trade off with our particular group that is even under consideration. We have six people going ages 19 and older (four different households). We want to stay together, but don't want that much togetherness. For us though too we also like to hit non-Disney parks (will be spending one or maybe even two with the second day for $10 deal at SeaWorld and are doing a one day park to park ticket at IOA/US.) We'll have one resort day too. With a chunk of non-Disney activities also, it makes it even harder to justify paying that onsite premium. The price differential that in our case would actually knock the entire vacation out of budget is just not very magical. lol