Thoughts on Old Key West

melmlantz

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jun 14, 2007
Messages
233
Hey everyone! We are staying at OKW for an upcoming trip... our last stay was at Wilderness Lodge, which spoiled us to death, and previously we've stayed at CBR and Pop. I saty at Disney for the Disney feel... and it's the holidays.. can anyone speak to their experience at Old Key West? There's nothing I can do about it now, but I am worried about feeling disappointed :guilty:

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
 
I love Disney Old Key West Resort. I remember returning from the parks at night and listening to the Disney Christmas being played in the hidden speakers along some of the sidewalks on the way back to my room.

I love the boat launch to Downtown Disney from Old Key West, too.

And if you have a car, you can park right in front of your room.

I'll be down in a couple of weeks at Pop Century Resort.

And I know what you mean about the Wilderness Lodge with all of the Christmas decorations.

I still visit WL to look at all of the decorations.
 
:santa: Thank you, Ray! The idea of strolling around and listening to Christmas music headed back to our room... :cloud9: I feel a little bit better.

We will be visiting all the resorts to see the holiday decorations.... we rented dvc points, but the other resorts were either sold out or were so much more money. So I've just been worried.
 
:santa: Thank you, Ray! The idea of strolling around and listening to Christmas music headed back to our room... :cloud9: I feel a little bit better.

We will be visiting all the resorts to see the holiday decorations.... we rented dvc points, but the other resorts were either sold out or were so much more money. So I've just been worried.

You're welcome and I hope that you have a wonderful time.
 

We've stayed there three times and love it.:goodvibesThe rooms are huge and the landscaping is lush. Although it is a large resort, we have never found the walk bad, and you can always hop on any bus and take it to the HH. The Gurgling Suitcase is fun and we found the food at Olivia's to be excellent. We love the vibe of the resort and if we buy more DVC points it will be there. Have a great trip.
 
We stayed at OKW this past summer and absolutely loved it! I requested a room by a bus stop, hoping to get it, but I knew it was a request. We were in the building right next to the first stop, in the villa closest to the stop. It was AMAZING. If we saw a bus pull away, we just went to the HH. The villa itself was awesome. I took tons of pictures ready to do a full report and never got around to it.....
 
I've stayed at OKW twice, and once for Xmas. (Waking up a Disney on Xmas was pretty cool.) We had a great time, both times. PP is correct about the rooms. I think since this was the first DVC, they are bigger than most rooms. That is a definate plus. The boat to DTD is also a nice perk.

I do "feel" your pain about WL. We stayed there in the Villas and love that theming (probably my favorite of all the resorts), but you will certainly have a great time at OKW.

There is no better time to be at Disney than Christmas IMO. :goodvibes
 
We're big fans of WL (over 10+ stays there) and a couple of trips back, had 3 families headed to WDW....we wanted 3 rooms at the Lodge but nothing was available...

They offered us OKW, 2 bedroom villas for a ridiclous low price so we jumped on it....here's the good: villa was fantastic...huge, clean, up scale....

what we didn't care for, 3rd floor villa and no elevators (had granddaughter and family with stroller)...huge resort and far from the main pool (long walk or bus (close pool to our building was just a hole in the ground) long walk to food center and hospitality house (refill mug not a good choice)....

From our perspective, the resort and grounds are beautiful, serene, well appointed but really non Disney....no theme what so ever and buses to everywhere...we're so used to the deluxes, especially WL, where you're so close to a park with alternatives for transportation (we never rent or use cars in WDW)...it was just a pain hauling things (stroller) up and down 3 flights of stairs to go anywhere.....or to jump on a bus to get to the main pool, food, drink etc...

Glad we had the chance to stay there, but to return...don't think so...it's just not our cup of tea for a Disney vacation....hope you enjoy OKW...sorry...just my point of view from many a stays at WDW..
 
When you stay at OKW, there really isn't any need for a refillable mug. Just fill up your refrigerator with your favorite beverages and you'll save money, too.

What sized villa did you reserve? Even the studio is the biggest of all the DVC studios and it has two queen sized beds versus one queen bed and one double sleeper sofa. The bathroom of the studio is very large with plenty of room. Even the porch/balcony is larger than some of the others.

But if you got a one bedroom or larger, look forward to heaven.

At OKW you are never far from any bus stop, any pool, or dining. Even if you are the furthest point from the Hospitality House, it is only about a ten minute walk. But you can catch any bus and get off at the HH since that is the last stop. Then walk over to Peninsular Road and catch the bus there to get back to your villa if you don't want to enjoy the stroll back.

Olivia's has excellent meals (breakfast is especially nice if you can eat outdoors). They don't have a food court (none of the DVC resorts really have food courts similar to the deluxe resorts) but there is a walk up window at the pool. Plus the Turtle Pond pool has a seasonal counter service with limited offerings.

We've stayed at OKW at least ten times and never had a bad stay. Most recently we were in a Grand Villa and had a wonderful time. We've stayed all over the resort and love all the areas.

True, there aren't elevators in most of the buildings, but the steps aren't that bad. I just had my second total knee replacement three weeks ago, but I had no problem with the steps last June.

If you have a car, you park right next to your villa which is a great perk. If you are taking the bus, all the villas are fairly close to the bus stops (five of them). I've never had a problem with the buses at OKW. And you can take a boat over to DTD from the HH boat dock. It's a nice ride on the Trumbo Canal over to DTD. The boat dock at DTD is near Pleasure Island (close to the balloon launch area).

As for the non-themed pools (three of them), they are far from a hole in the ground. They usually have a small play ground for kiddos and a laundry room for the studio guests to use. Like I said earlier, Turtle Pond does have a seasonal counter service. But HH area does have a themed pool if you prefer that.

What I like best about OKW is the ability to get away from it all. After a hectic day in the parks, it's so nice to come home to my villa, sit out on the porch and watch the golfers go by (unless I'm by the Trumbo Canal and then I watch the boats go by). We've seen otters, deer, turkeys, all sorts of wildlife at OKW. It's a great place to relax.
 
We just got back from WDW and spent two weeks in a 2 bedroomed villa at OKW.

I really loved the resort, especially the great buses, pretty landscaping and large clean rooms.

We were in building 63 which was just across from Hospitality House, this one does actually have an elevator.

The only thing that irked me was that the main counter service restaurant, Goods to Go closed every night at 10pm. It didn't bother me every night, but would have nice to have returned back to the resort after Illuminations or Wishes and get a snack or something. Also the refillable drinks section was very limited so not great for the mugs.

As we had a car, we did make a stop at POR one evening to grab a bite to eat and get some hot chocolate from Riverside Mill which was open till 11pm :goodvibes
 
Just checked out yesterday :) We were in building 62 in a 1-BR. It was a great location.... but had it been further away from the HH, I may have not liked it as much.

Goods to Go was nice, but the bee situation at the mug station was bad. Really bad. I wish the station wasn't outside. Had I not got Sprite, I wouldn't have known one was in my cup. I didn't go back after that. It was safer for me to just buy drinks.

The gift shop was great :) Nice selection in there!

The room was really nice. The couch put me to sleep every night, lol--there was just something about it that was comfy! The bathroom set up is odd--but okay. I missed having a desk in the bedroom where I would normally do my makeup. The kitchen had some of the same appliances as we do in our condo. The ice maker sounds like Chewbacca... but it's a sound I've come to know well--made it feel like home :laughing:

The staff was very accomodating and very friendly!

Have a great time!!
 
We were at OKW in September and loved everything about it. I am going back in January for a "girls" trip and we are staying at OKW again. I would not hesitate to recommend it...it was perfect for us.
 
I absolutely love OKW. To me there is something quiet and removed about it then the other resorts. One of the best features is the boat to DTD, which is always a plus. I was just at WL in Spetember, and I would easily pass it up to go to OKW again. Enjoy!
 
i love it. and own it.

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more christmas pics here.

it's not the wilderness lodge. no giant tree. no boat to the MK. no northwest lodge theming.

but it's a relaxing casual "key west"/beach theme with beautiful landscaping. the boat to DTD is a nice option. try to enjoy the differences, and if it's not your thing, you can go back to the WL next time...:)
 


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