Tell me about OKW with no car....

[panfan]

I have not stayed at OKW before. Well, actually that's not true. Stayed one nite at Disney Vacation Club back in 93 when We were thinking about buying the first time....if I only I had...
Anyway...don't remember that much and we had our own car then. My main question is regarding the pool. What do you do if your room is way far away from The main pool, Olivia's etc ?? I seem to remember everything pretty spread out. Could you still walk , even if you are at a pretty far away room? Sorry, I'm trying to picture it and It's all a little fuzzy. I guess I should check out the resort map too...

Thanks for any help

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by panfan
What do you do if your room is way far away from The main pool, Olivia's etc ??

Take a bus.

Every theme park bus is supposed to follow a route that stops at the Hospitality House on the way out. Just walk to the nearest bus stop, and when the next bus arrives, it wouldn't hurt to confirm with the driver that he/she will be stopping at the HH before leaving property.

Also, it's worth mentioning that they have motorized luggage carts that will get you and your belongings to and from your guest room on your check-in / check-out days.

 

[panfan]

Oh my gosh...now I feel dumb! I totally forgot about the bus! So pretty much any theme park bus would go to Hospitality House.
Sorry, trying to plan this quick trip and That was one of the silly things I was worrying about!

Thanks again!

 

[MiaSRN62]

If you chose to walk to Olivia's or the main pool, it's no more than 10-15 minutes from the furthest buildings----about the same walk you'd have from BWV to any of the restaurants on the boardwalk or Cape May Cafe.

 

[dianeschlicht]

And don't forget, there are 3 neighborhood pools at OKW in addition to the main pool. We have never had trouble walking to HH from anywhere on site. If the bus is there, we hop that, but walking is not bad (unless it's raining!).

 

[crisi]

How frequent is OKW bus service? I'm considering booking it for a large family trip, but at least some of the party would be dependent on the buses at any given time. The Unofficial Guide lists "infrequent" bus service as a con of OKW, but the Unofficial Guide has not been 100% accurate to my experience. It would be a few years, and things could change, but as long as the topic is active I'd thought I'd ask.

 

[kda]

We were told on our first trip to OKW (2 yrs ago) that bus service is every half hour because it's a DVC property only, and not associated with a regular resort. We've stayed for a total of 20 days and only waited 30 minutes once -- we saw the bus pull away, so knew exactly when the prior bus was. Most of the time it was 10-15 minutes and some times less.

 

[BillPA]

Panfan,
Just a reminder that the main pool at OKW will be closed from this Sept to Dec. For the new slide.

 

[Dean]

Personally, I'd never do OKW without a car though I feel it is workable.

 

[mickeymouse710]

We have stayed in OKW without a car and it was do able but it is much, much easier with a car. One of the main advantages of OKW is the parking outside of each building. I would not stay at this resort again without a car.

 

[Pa@okw95]

You can walk anywhere at OKW in a short time. All the walks are beautiful and no place you stay at is any kind of distance from the main area. You can get on any bus to get down to the main area, but just to be safe I would ask if they are stopping at the HH area, all do as far as I know, I don't use them myself. As for the bus service itself, it is bad to fair, depending on where you are going. I don't judge the sevice by how long you have to wait until you get on one. You can get on one and still wait for 10 minutes or so, plus the bus from AK stops at a water park on the way back. The last time I rode that bus it was a 55 minute affair of waiting then waiting more when boarding, then stopping at water park, then finally arriving at OKW. I consider the bus stiuation at all of WDW to be just an insulting situation. I drive all the time, but have been known to get on a bus to MK from OKW.

 

[lenshanem]

This might sound stupid, but is there sidewalks all throughout OKW? no having to walk on roadways?

 

[DebbieB]

Originally posted by lenshanem
This might sound stupid, but is there sidewalks all throughout OKW? no having to walk on roadways?

Yes, there are sidewalks.

I've stayed at OKW 6 times and have had a car each time. It can be done without one but I prefer not to. What drives me nuts at OKW is the ride through all the neighborhoods until you finally get on the way to the park or to your bus stop on the way home. I think you could be in the parking lot of the park you want to go to before the bus ever leaves OKW (considering average wait time). We usually stay on Turtle Pond Road, which is about in the middle of the stops.

 

[OneMoreTry]

We've done it without a car and it was fine. There are bus stops throughout the neighborhood. Walks to the bus stops are no further than other DVC resorts.

However, one of the great things about OKW is parking right by your door -- if you have a car.

 

[ILPHIL]

about 10 days ago. The only time we touched our van was when we made a day trip to Kennedy Space Center. The bus service was at least as good as any other WDW resort. Only took about 10 minutes to walk from HH to Bldg 52 which is about as far out as it gets.
Even my m-i-l who is a senior and gets lost easily had no problem making it up to HH and back w/ our niece.

It was our 1st trip home and already we are counting the days until next yr's trip!!

 

[MiaSRN62]

The bus service was at least as good as any other WDW resort. Only took about 10 minutes to walk from HH to Bldg 52 which is about as far out as it gets.

This is the way I feel. Disney bus service from just about any resort is going to take longer than a car. I can get to the parks by car from my offsite timeshare faster than I can most times using the busses and staying onsite. I've actually timed this. The exception is probably the MK where being able to bypass the TTC via Disney bus works out to be faster.
But as far as length of time to get to the parks from OKW, I found it no longer than from any other resort.

 

[jaysue]

OKW works great without a car - the bus service is frequent and timely - if you go try and get a room on the "outbound" side of the bus loop that way you will not spend as much time getting out of OKW

We have stayed at BCV, BWV, AKL, WL, OKW, ASMo and CR - OKW had the best bus service


thanks
jaysue

 

[beccasmom]

We have stayed at OKW (our home resort) more times than I can count in the last 12 years and we’ve only rented a car for a day or so - for grocery shopping offsite mostly. We always fly to Florida and have only rented a car for long periods in our “early” Disney days when we wanted to visit Sea World and Cypress Gardens (and the Florida Festival, remember that!?). We’ve had no issues without a car at OKW. We usually stay in the Turtle Pond area and walking around is not a problem. I can’t count the times I’ve been asked if I need a ride by the housekeeping staff on their golf carts! However, I have rarely had a long wait for the buses, either, and if one is available (and it’s hot, hot, hot!!), I use them. I’m up for joint replacement in the next year, so I walk, but try not to overdo. Walking around OKW is great exercise !

 

[dianeschlicht]

I find OKW bus service to be fantastic! The time it takes inside the complex is minimal. If you get on at the first stop, you will be about 8-10 minutes getting out of the complex, so not a big deal. We like to stay at South Point, because it is the second stop in and third to the last stop out, so our time on the bus in the complex is very minimal. If you stay near the HH stop, it is the last one on the way out and in, but you can get off at Peninsular Road on the way back (first inbound stop), and still be in easy walking distance of your unit. Several times we have had guests who took the car at the same time that we went to the bus stop. We were meeting at the entrance to the park. Each time, those of us on the bus were waiting for those who went by car EXCEPT when we were headed for AK. The OKW/AK bus stops at Blizzard Beach, so it takes a bit longer than the car to go there.

 

[MDonley]

Worst experience with the bus service at OKW?

One time we forgot to take something to the park with us. I volunteered to go back home and pick it up.

Was dropped off at our bus stop and had to wait 20 minutes after running to the room and back to the stop. Total time spent?
About 1 hour. Never did that trick again!