OKW had a refurb four years ago. BWV five years ago (and having another now). The possible signficant downside to buying either is end date. Any BWV ownership ends January 2042 For OKW it depends on what the owner has, ether a 2042 end date or the much longer 2057 end date for those who purchased an extension. Though 2042 may sound a long way off, if you are under 50, it can make a difference, and consider that there are many original purchasers of OKW from 1991 who are still going and plan on going for years more. SSR goes to 2054, AKV 2057, BLT 2060, and VGF 2064,
BWV has ideal location with the ability to walk, or boat, to two parks, Studios and Epcot. It also has two major room view advantages: boardwalk view, which is a booking category, and the best view on site, and standard view, which is the best
DVC bargain on site (for about the same point cost as OKW you get the ideal location). And if you want either of those views at BWV, you need to own there because they are usually gone almost year round at 7 months out (although stansd and boardwalk view 1BRs are usually open between mid-Jan and mid-Sep). However, if you want no noise, BWV is risky.. Closed doors muffle most noise, the boardwalk has noise for boardwalk view, Much of standard view has the front roadway and unloading area, mostl areas can hear boat horns, but the quiet pool and activity lawn area (a preferred pool/garden view area which is known for its complete lack of activity) are usually fairly quiet.
OKW is a large spread out resort where quiet is the norm except you may occassionally hear buses going around. It is the second easiest resort, next to SSR, to get at 7 months out unless you want a GV or a room close to the Hospitality House (a booking category), and then there is some (but not definite) risk of not being open 7 months out certain times of year (first and second of Dec, time arounf NYE, few days around Thanksgiving, the Food & Wine race weekend in Nov, Columbus Day weekend, and marathon weekend in Jan.Its major advantage is that it has the largest 1BRs and 2BRs on site, and its studios are second only to the ones at the new Poly DVC. Its studios also have the two queen beds that many prefer to the queen and pull out sofa bed that the other resorts have. OKW also has dedicated 2BRs which many prefer to the lock-offs (BWV has only lock-offs).
