We got back yesterday from a quick trip down to enjoy the EE preview. To save points, we booked a studio at OKW and thought it would be a good opportunity to try a different resort.
We landed in Orlando Friday evening, picked up the rental car and headed straight to OKW. Check-in was a breeze, no lines, and we headed over to Olivias to see if we could get seated without reservations, which we could without a wait. Had a good meal and with the DDE discount it was reasonably priced.
As our AP's had run out in December, we planned to use some old Park Hopper tix from 2003 which still had one day on each of them. To be sure they still worked, before finding out a suprise at the AK turnstiles, I headed over to the concierge desk to have them check the tickets were still good. Well it was a good job I did - 3 of the 4 were fine, but the 4th, a childs ticket, was marked as being reprinted. The CM called over to Epcot Guest Services, who could look into it in further detail. It turns out the ticket had been reissued and used at MK on Jan 8th - while we were in cold and snowy CT. Of the 4 it was the only one showing this - it just didn't make sense that we would have used only 1 of the 4 tickets - it must have been a mistake or someone had used a forged ticket to get the reprint. So after a supervisor was called over, they issued a complementary 1 day pass.
By now it was getting late and the kids were tired, so we finally headed over to check out the room. The room was nice and clean, room 2915 on the 1st floor at the end, and yes bigger than the studios at our home resort of BCV, but it just didn't feel as "magical", not sure why. And then we tried to go to sleep and all we could hear was the constant noise of busses, cars and those golf carts go wizzing by - first you would hear it from the front and then as they passed by you would hear them from the back of the room - and vice-versa. Its funny, I have read many posts complaining about the road noise at BCV (which we never heard) but never a post about noise at OKW. Also the patio was tiny - maybe 5'x5' and with a view of 4 air conditioners and a large electrical transformer. I am guessing we were just unlucky with our assigned room, I know many of you just love OWK.
On Saturday (the big day!), we headed over to AK early for 8am breakfast at Donalds Breakfastosaurus. We got there a little early and had to wait for the parking booths to open. When they did we were directed an unusual way to end up parking on the grass at the very front of the parking lot - in front of the handicapped parking. This was a clue to the expected crowds that day. Entered fine with out tickets and headed over to Dinoland for breakfast. My plan was to use breakfast as an early entry into the park to beat the rush for EE. We finished breakfast at about 8:45 and started over to the path by Tarzan Rocks. As we approached, they dropped the ropes, so we just kept walking on the path to EE. After a quick ID/DVC card check we were in. I headed over and picked up FastPasses for everyone, then we headed over to the standby line - or as it was then, lack of line. We walked in, got our vouchers for the free pin/lanyard and walked the entry path straight onto the ride - no waiting - it was exactly 9am as we sat down to ride.
The ride itself was awesome, one of the best, if not THE best in WDW - not as fast as RnRC and not as themed as say Splash Mountain - the bird and Yeti being the only AA figures to be seen. But it is a must ride for anyone visiting WDW and is definitely going to make AK a much more popular park.
As we exited, we thought we would just go straight out, bypass the gifts, and go back in the standby line. Well what a difference 5 minutes made. The standby line was now huge and seemed to go on forever - so we said forget it and went back to the gift store, picked up the free stuff and a stuffed Yeti or two. We had some time to kill before our FPs were valid, so headed out back to Dinoland and walked straight on Dinosaur then over to Primevil Whirl with a bit of a wait. Then it was time to go back and use our FP's at EE. Got into the area no problem, but by then it was mobbed - the line just for FP distribution was the biggest I had ever seen. We managed to make our way through to the FP return and again, walked straight onto the ride. After that we headed out of AK - mission accomplished - and headed over to MGM and then onto MK for the rest of the day.
The other parks were crowded too, but we still managed to get a lot in and had a full day.
On Sunday we took our time, had breakfast at Olivia's - again no wait even without reservations, then looked around the pool area - very nice and the sandcastle slide is a nice touch. Then over to Downtown Disney to spend some more money - then over to the airport to fly home.
So, in summary, the pluses and minuses from this trip were:-
+ Larger rooms at OKW.
+ Efficient checking and excellent concierge staff.
+ Olivias - good food without a wait.
+ EE - what a ride!
- The nosiest room I have ever stayed in - at WDW or anywhere.
- Smallest patio with no view to speak of.
- Only being able to ride EE twice.
- Having to go back home to the cold Northeast.
I think OKW would be a great place for a more relaxed slower pace vacation, but we are still in the go-go-go phase, so it seemed a little to laid back for us. Next we will be checking out VWL (our other home) for the first time in December.
Let me know if you have any questions.
-DisZip
We landed in Orlando Friday evening, picked up the rental car and headed straight to OKW. Check-in was a breeze, no lines, and we headed over to Olivias to see if we could get seated without reservations, which we could without a wait. Had a good meal and with the DDE discount it was reasonably priced.
As our AP's had run out in December, we planned to use some old Park Hopper tix from 2003 which still had one day on each of them. To be sure they still worked, before finding out a suprise at the AK turnstiles, I headed over to the concierge desk to have them check the tickets were still good. Well it was a good job I did - 3 of the 4 were fine, but the 4th, a childs ticket, was marked as being reprinted. The CM called over to Epcot Guest Services, who could look into it in further detail. It turns out the ticket had been reissued and used at MK on Jan 8th - while we were in cold and snowy CT. Of the 4 it was the only one showing this - it just didn't make sense that we would have used only 1 of the 4 tickets - it must have been a mistake or someone had used a forged ticket to get the reprint. So after a supervisor was called over, they issued a complementary 1 day pass.
By now it was getting late and the kids were tired, so we finally headed over to check out the room. The room was nice and clean, room 2915 on the 1st floor at the end, and yes bigger than the studios at our home resort of BCV, but it just didn't feel as "magical", not sure why. And then we tried to go to sleep and all we could hear was the constant noise of busses, cars and those golf carts go wizzing by - first you would hear it from the front and then as they passed by you would hear them from the back of the room - and vice-versa. Its funny, I have read many posts complaining about the road noise at BCV (which we never heard) but never a post about noise at OKW. Also the patio was tiny - maybe 5'x5' and with a view of 4 air conditioners and a large electrical transformer. I am guessing we were just unlucky with our assigned room, I know many of you just love OWK.
On Saturday (the big day!), we headed over to AK early for 8am breakfast at Donalds Breakfastosaurus. We got there a little early and had to wait for the parking booths to open. When they did we were directed an unusual way to end up parking on the grass at the very front of the parking lot - in front of the handicapped parking. This was a clue to the expected crowds that day. Entered fine with out tickets and headed over to Dinoland for breakfast. My plan was to use breakfast as an early entry into the park to beat the rush for EE. We finished breakfast at about 8:45 and started over to the path by Tarzan Rocks. As we approached, they dropped the ropes, so we just kept walking on the path to EE. After a quick ID/DVC card check we were in. I headed over and picked up FastPasses for everyone, then we headed over to the standby line - or as it was then, lack of line. We walked in, got our vouchers for the free pin/lanyard and walked the entry path straight onto the ride - no waiting - it was exactly 9am as we sat down to ride.
The ride itself was awesome, one of the best, if not THE best in WDW - not as fast as RnRC and not as themed as say Splash Mountain - the bird and Yeti being the only AA figures to be seen. But it is a must ride for anyone visiting WDW and is definitely going to make AK a much more popular park.
As we exited, we thought we would just go straight out, bypass the gifts, and go back in the standby line. Well what a difference 5 minutes made. The standby line was now huge and seemed to go on forever - so we said forget it and went back to the gift store, picked up the free stuff and a stuffed Yeti or two. We had some time to kill before our FPs were valid, so headed out back to Dinoland and walked straight on Dinosaur then over to Primevil Whirl with a bit of a wait. Then it was time to go back and use our FP's at EE. Got into the area no problem, but by then it was mobbed - the line just for FP distribution was the biggest I had ever seen. We managed to make our way through to the FP return and again, walked straight onto the ride. After that we headed out of AK - mission accomplished - and headed over to MGM and then onto MK for the rest of the day.
The other parks were crowded too, but we still managed to get a lot in and had a full day.
On Sunday we took our time, had breakfast at Olivia's - again no wait even without reservations, then looked around the pool area - very nice and the sandcastle slide is a nice touch. Then over to Downtown Disney to spend some more money - then over to the airport to fly home.
So, in summary, the pluses and minuses from this trip were:-
+ Larger rooms at OKW.
+ Efficient checking and excellent concierge staff.
+ Olivias - good food without a wait.
+ EE - what a ride!
- The nosiest room I have ever stayed in - at WDW or anywhere.
- Smallest patio with no view to speak of.
- Only being able to ride EE twice.
- Having to go back home to the cold Northeast.
I think OKW would be a great place for a more relaxed slower pace vacation, but we are still in the go-go-go phase, so it seemed a little to laid back for us. Next we will be checking out VWL (our other home) for the first time in December.
Let me know if you have any questions.
-DisZip
You were about 25 minutes ahead of us at Everest, and you are right, it got over crowded real quick. But what a ride! 
Destined to become a Disney classic. 
