switch from OKW to POR dilemna, please help!

[chmurf]

Hi,

I'm having a big Disney depression right now, I can't see things clearly, please help me sort this out.

We're currently booked at OKW, studio, 2 adults 1 child (10), free DDP, 21 days tickets, for octobrer 2015.

The price was what cut the deal. Our total price is £3779

But I'm having a really hard time not going back to POR.
When we talk about our next trip, DS is all about Aligator Bayou.
I know I'll be missing POR's food court. And as a family, POR is our favorite resort by far. We've visited them all, and POR is on top of our list.

I'm really not sure anymore that I made the right choice booking OKW which I merely booked for financial reasons, as it was cheaper than POR.

At POR we would stay preferred, as we love AB, and want proximity to the food court/pool/transportation (I'm disabled)
Our stay at POR preferred would hit us for £4272

So I'm seriously considering paying £493 more to stay at a moderate instead of a Deluxe.

Tell me I'm not crazy, tell me I'll enjoy OKW as much as I would POR

I'm really depressed about that, and I really don't know what to do.

Any input greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[Disney_Sarah]

Apologies now as I am probably no help as we stayed OkW last time and next time we are doing POR, in preferred room which was a bit more expensive.

What about meeting half way and moving to POR but cutting a few days off your holiday?

X

 

[chmurf]

What about meeting half way and moving to POR but cutting a few days off your holiday?

Do you mean splitting the stay in half ?
we'd lose the free DDP for the second part, so that's not an option

Or do you mean shorter vacations at POR ?
It's not a money issue. If I have to dish out the extra £493 I will. The dates are set, and I don't mind paying more to stay at POR. I just try to find a good reason to justify it, but it fits inside the budget.

 

[Elise79]

From what you have said POR seems to be the resort that suits you as a family.

OKW is not really disabled friendly - there are large distances between buildings.

The CS is ok but hasn't got the choices of POR and has no indoor seating.

We love OKW however we have a one bed - I use the kitchen, we drive most places and love the space and spread out feel.

 

[wayneg]

I think its one of those things you need to try for yourself and see if you do like it.
I really like POR but never stayed there to know my true feelings, OKW I know I like, as do about 99% of people who stay there. Until you try it you won't know if you are in the 99% or 1%.

How do you get around? do you have a car? stayed at OKW 4 times (about 80 nights) yet never eaten a CS there, we jump in the car and goto POR or POFQ if we want a food court, take 5 mins. If you don't have a car then its something you need to consider but £493 would pay for many taxis to go anywhere you want.

Its such an easy choice for me as OKW would be my choice for DVC if I ever bought into it(which I wouldn't) just love the resort.

Always difficult to try somewhere new when you like somewhere, good luck.

 

[chmurf]

From what you have said POR seems to be the resort that suits you as a family.

OKW is not really disabled friendly - there are large distances between buildings.

How do you get around? do you have a car? stayed at OKW 4 times (about 80 nights) yet never eaten a CS there, we jump in the car and goto POR or POFQ if we want a food court, take 5 mins. If you don't have a car then its something you need to consider but £493 would pay for many taxis to go anywhere you want.

thank you both

Unfortunately, I can't foretell if I'll have a car or not.
Actually I can't tell if I'll be fit to drive next week, so 14 months sure feel like a lifetime away.

I'll sleep on it for a couple of days, so keep your comments coming.

 

[stephensmum]

I feel your concern, I've not stayed at okw but have often considered it as so many seem to love it. In the end I've chose to stick at ssr, indoor food court is important to us (we don't drive). Okw didn't meet our family needs as much as ssr. If it meets your needs I would suggest giving it a try. The first time we stayed at ssr was because it worked out cheaper than our preferred choice of car. You won't know till you try but do make sure it meets your main needs. Good wishes in your decision.

 

[lady_hlh]

We loved the atmosphere at OKW but we've never made it back again because it is more expensive for us. I also loved the huge bathroom and having the kitchenette area. We didn't have a car so we requested to be close to the hospitality house where the main pool and the lobby area are located, we were just across the road near the guard shack. We stayed at POR 2 years ago and it also had really nice atmosphere plus the food court was great which you don't have at old OKW. We hated the bus service at POR though so if I had to choose between the two I would go back to OKW.

 

[Disney_Sarah]

Do you mean splitting the stay in half ?
we'd lose the free DDP for the second part, so that's not an option

Or do you mean shorter vacations at POR ?
It's not a money issue. If I have to dish out the extra £493 I will. The dates are set, and I don't mind paying more to stay at POR. I just try to find a good reason to justify it, but it fits inside the budget.

I meant the length of holiday,

The way I would justify it is by the yummy food court lol if that's what your heat is set on and where you know you will be happy then I would justify it that way xx

 

[jon18uk]

I haven't stayed at OKW but we did Saratoga Springs a few years ago and we also much preferred Port Orleans. We booked Saratoga for the same reason you did, price. As SSR and OKW are heavily discounted it was cheaper to stay there and get full dining free than to stay at POR and have to upgrade the quick service dining plan. However SSR to me just felt like a moderate resort, other than having the villa benefits of the kitchen, it didn't feel like a delux place to stay. Most of the time it felt like a ghost town, both POR and POFQ had a much nicer atmosphere. Not sure if same would apply to OKW?

 

[dixonsontour]

We love OKW. I'd definitely give it a try for that sort of price difference.

Rooms are a great size and the slide at the main pool is fun. There are a lot of kids activities too.

Are you there for Halloween? - DD loved the trick or treating at OKW.

 

[Elise79]

thank you both

Unfortunately, I can't foretell if I'll have a car or not.
Actually I can't tell if I'll be fit to drive next week, so 14 months sure feel like a lifetime away.

I'll sleep on it for a couple of days, so keep your comments coming.

I will add we tried BCV a few years ago as everyone seems to love it. It didn't do it for us and I was so happy when we moved to BLT. Fortunately, we were only there 3 nights not 3 weeks

OKW has a very special and unique atmosphere as it was the first DVC resort and a lot of guests are still the DVC members from the early days. We love it but I can see why people don't.

I can't imagine spending the money and then being unhappy - if there is a doubt I would listen to it - the worry will ruin the run up to the trip. 3 weeks is a long time to not feel at "home".

 

[chmurf]

Are you there for Halloween? - DD loved the trick or treating at OKW.

Unfortunately, due to school holidays, we'll be heading back home on the 31st October. So we'll need to trick or treat at MNSSHPs (we'll do at least 2)

we'll be at OKW (or POR) from october 14 to october 31st


I still can't decide. Long discussion with DW last night in bed, we're afraid that we might start comparing OKW to POR, and forget to enjoy things as they are. And if we switch resorts, we're afraid that we might end up regretting it

decisions, decisions ...

DW thought I'd lighten up a bit when she joked about the fact that switching to POR would allow me to link the ressie to MDX and choose Magic Bands now, instead of waiting until January to link the OKW ressie ... It didn't help, lol

 

[pampat]

I love OKW more than any other and we've stayed at lots of the resorts.

However, you won't like it as much because you will keep comparing it to PO, your favourite resort - it's really that simple.

Because OKW is my favourite, I compare everywhere else to that, so I know what I'm talking about! It's your holiday, you know what you love, don't compromise!!!!

Pam

 

[Pootle]

I've stayed at POR a few times (only for a couple of nights at a time before moving into OKW) and while I really like it, especially the surroundings, I certainly don't love it. In fact, it always feels (as do all the values and moderates) like those cheap *Motel 6/Comfort Inn/Days Inn type-blocks where folk can walk right in front of your bedroom window! The design is more or less the same, especially those on Magnolia Bend. What separates it from those is of course, the Disney theming, attractive surroundings, room decor and, as you say, dining options.

Like Wayne, we regularly do the couple of minutes' drive from OKW to use the food court at POR, and sometimes have a walk round, enjoy the ambience etc, I wouldn't personally consider spending a whole holiday there, because I value what OKW offers me at lot more - space (inside and out), car parked outside of the door (we spend a lot of time off-site) and its laid back feel.

Down to you to decide what you value most

* Please note, no put-down is intended to those who stay in those places - some of my earliest and happiest Florida holidays were spent in a Comfort Inn, when we were rarely in the hotel apart from sleeping!

 

[iluvtot]

Hi,
I wasn't sure what AB was so googled it, and it seems to be themed rooms and prefered location. Am I wrong?
You have been so helpful with questions I have posted, I would like to return the favour!
We love OKW, and have been lucky enough to stay there several times; as DVC guests with DSIL, and more recently with DDP. We haven't been there for a while so are really looking forward to our stay there in 3 weeks!!
We have tried other resorts, and had a few days at POR which me and the kids really enjoyed but DH had been spoilt by then with OKW and preferred the space!
So first plus for us with OKW is the extra space, and comfort. In the studios, when we stayed there, the benefit of the little kitchenette was great, with the table and chairs so we had an area to enjoy a quick breakfast or takeout, or even sit out on the balcony without feeling too cramped. When I googled AB there were some comments about the storage space being reduced. If you are staying for 3 weeks I know we would need a bit more space and storage for all our purchases!!
Second plus for us would be the balcony! I love sitting there with a glass of wine enjoying the view!
Third plus would be our preferred, (which you could request) location close to the reception, buses, gurgling suitcase(great cocktails!), Olivia's and counter service, shop, pool, boats, club house etc. DD and I love to get up early and take a stroll to the counter service to pick up our morning coffee's! The pool area in my opinion is better than POR and we have always found a spot without it feeling too overcrowded. They also have a water slide which the kids loved when they were younger, and still went on last time we stayed there! The daily pool entertainment is fun, and they seem to have good prizes!
We also visit POR for the food court, but with the DDP, you would have so many other options, that wouldn't really be an issue, as you would have your choice of restaurants for TS meals. You could also choose from those in Downtown Disney and get the boat over!
So those are our plusses, but then we feel about OKW how you feel about POR
I would definitely say give OKW a try. You can always visit POR for a quick fix if you need it; but at the end of the day you would be returning to a larger room space which if you are there for 3 weeks would be beneficial! x

 

[jon18uk]

Hi,
I wasn't sure what AB was so googled it, and it seems to be themed rooms and prefered location. Am I wrong?

AB at POR is the Alligator Bayou section of Port Orleans Riverside. The rooms at POR are split into 2 secotions, two story buildings of AB and three story mansion buildings. Some of the Mansion buildings have a princess theme (but are also some of the furthest from main building). All of the preferred rooms are in AB but not all AB rooms are preferred.

See also http://www.portorleans.org/room-requests.php for a guide to all the room types at POR.

 

[chmurf]

Thnaks for sharing your views.

DW and I have watched many videos and pictures (including some we shot ourselves during our stays in Florida) from OKW, POR and other resorts (we even went as far as considering WL and BC)

our biggest "fear" is that OKW might be too similar to POR (small buildings for example) and we didn't really like CBR that much when we stayed there (you can't skip the pirate rooms with a 5 years old ) I didn't mention, but will we like the theming better at OKW when we didn't really enjoy CBR ?

Now, after another long discussion with DW, we think we would miss POR, but we also think that we would be missing an opportunity to try something else.

In that regard, we then went on watching SSR videos ... and DW was almost sold on that one. (Do I need to mention that it doesn't help at all) and it would not cost a penny more than OKW.
DS would need to sleep on the sleeper sofa. It's one of the points we're still reluctant about.
Second point would be the size of the resort, especially if we don't have a car, but if we do have a car, it's not that much longer a drive to POR than from OKW, and on the other side, we'd have DTD even closer by... and I could really survive with WPE as our food court (we're on the DDP)

Am I overthinking this ?
I don't want to turn this thread into a OKW vs. SSR thread, there are already many of these on this board and I must have read them all. I just want to know if it could be a good move for us, or if I'm in total denial, or if I'm beginning to lose my sanity over this.

From what I've told in this thread, is it a good idea even to think about switching to SSR, or should I really leave things as they are ?

 

[disneyholic family]

i assume you would upgrade the free QS dining at POR to TS dining (since you only get QS for free at POR)..

i can't tell you what to do about POR vs. OKW - i like them both a lot.

As for OKW vs saratoga - that i can tell you.
Did you say you're taking a child with you?
if so, then you need to stick with OKW.
At OKW the studios have two queen beds.
At Saratoga, the studios have one queen bed and one sofabed.
that would be the deciding factor for me.

 

[chmurf]

i assume you would upgrade the free QS dining at POR to TS dining (since you only get QS for free at POR)..

yes, this was factored in when I mentionned it would cost £493 more at POR.

we want the DDP (as long as at least a part of it is free )

At OKW the studios have two queen beds.
At Saratoga, the studios have one queen bed and one sofabed.
that would be the deciding factor for me.

that's what DW and I are concerned about.

DS is rather lightweight (under 50lbs at almost 7) and would probably find it fun to sleep on a sofa ... kids ... but during our stay at POR, all day long on our first day, he talked about the folding bed under the telly and how it was his "favoritest" bed of his whole life... but as soon as we went "home" that night, he headed straight for the queen bed without giving the additionnal bed a look, and he did not even talk about it anymore.