OKW or Moderates

[Tk0021]

Me, my wife, two girls, and parents are planning a trip for September 2017. we have some friends that are DVC owners and they have offered to rent us some points for our trip at cost which is awesome. They only have enough points left over for one room, so we would be going through Disney for the second room. One that we are thinking of is OKW. We have never been there before and appears the price for two rooms would be about the same as a moderate. Give or take $100.

Any thoughts on this hotel or comparing it to the moderates?

 

[Rinx]

Me, my wife, two girls, and parents are planning a trip for September 2017. we have some friends that are DVC owners and they have offered to rent us some points for our trip at cost which is awesome. They only have enough points left over for one room, so we would be going through Disney for the second room. One that we are thinking of is OKW. We have never been there before and appears the price for two rooms would be about the same as a moderate. Give or take $100.

Any thoughts on this hotel or comparing it to the moderates?

Maybe you can look into getting one Grand Villa at OKW. OKW has been my home resort since 1993 so I'm quite partial to it and can tell you I love staying there. We did a Grand Villa once with my brother and I in one room, our parents had their own and so did our grandparents.

 

[Tk0021]

Thanks. The only negative thing I have read about the resort is the size and the bus system. Do you have any tips about ways to make that less an issue if you even think it's an issue?

 

[Amos1784]

I have stayed at OKW since I was a kid, my parents have been owners since '94. It is by far in my top 3 resorts at WDW. First the rooms are huge, you will not find rooms on property that are any bigger. I'm not sure what route you would be going but anywhere from a 1 bedroom and up you will have a full living room and kitchen and dining area, traveling with a large group as it sounds like you are this is a life saver. I always hear criticism of the bus system and to me you can have a bad bus experience at any resort, we were at Coronado 3 years ago and it was horrendous. I have never experienced that at OKW. First yes, the resort is large but it is maybe a 5 minute drive on the busses around the whole resort, and the perk is many people rent cars that are there so I have never experienced packed busses as I have at a moderate. Back to the size of the resort, there is a bus stop at the very front, which also happens to be the last stop on the bus route, if you do not feel like walking to the front of the resort you can hop on any next bus that pulls up and it will take you right to the front. I admittedly am not a fan of Moderates. Resorts are just as big and can cause same problems as OKW and Saratoga (buses, long walks) and I feel are overpriced for what you are getting, larger crowds and iffy bus systems. OKW will give you that true Florida feel with the Disney charm, yet relaxation from the parks. Just my two cents, but I am also partial . If your going to go Moderate I suggest the Port Orleans resorts. Have a great trip, if you have any other OKW questions feel free to post!

 

[Tk0021]

I have stayed at OKW since I was a kid, my parents have been owners since '94. It is by far in my top 3 resorts at WDW. First the rooms are huge, you will not find rooms on property that are any bigger. I'm not sure what route you would be going but anywhere from a 1 bedroom and up you will have a full living room and kitchen and dining area, traveling with a large group as it sounds like you are this is a life saver. I always hear criticism of the bus system and to me you can have a bad bus experience at any resort, we were at Coronado 3 years ago and it was horrendous. I have never experienced that at OKW. First yes, the resort is large but it is maybe a 5 minute drive on the busses around the whole resort, and the perk is many people rent cars that are there so I have never experienced packed busses as I have at a moderate. Back to the size of the resort, there is a bus stop at the very front, which also happens to be the last stop on the bus route, if you do not feel like walking to the front of the resort you can hop on any next bus that pulls up and it will take you right to the front. I admittedly am not a fan of Moderates. Resorts are just as big and can cause same problems as OKW and Saratoga (buses, long walks) and I feel are overpriced for what you are getting, larger crowds and iffy bus systems. OKW will give you that true Florida feel with the Disney charm, yet relaxation from the parks. Just my two cents, but I am also partial . If your going to go Moderate I suggest the Port Orleans resorts. Have a great trip, if you have any other OKW questions feel free to post!

Thanks for the information. Our friends are renting us their left over DVC points and only have enough for one studio room, so we would need two rooms and are planing on going through Disney for that. It's nice because they are renting them at cost so it will be some savings. I am trying to stay somewhere my parents have not stayed, so I am trying to avoid POR, but would be willing to stay at POFR. My parents also did not like POR but that was because of how far their room was from the main building.

We are only going for 4 days and plan on doing 3 days at MK and 1 day at EPCOT or all 4 days at MK. We are planning on the doing MNSSHP the first night and going to DS that morning so the boat to DS sounds cool.

 

[dreamfinder]

You could look into renting points for the second room through a broker like David's. Can't recall how the cost would compare to paying cash for a moderate, but that way you would both be at the same resort at least.
OKW was no worse for us bus wise than PORS or CSR. They are all larger sized resorts that have an internal shuttle as well as resort buses to get around. So it's really the luck of the draw unless you pay extra for preferred location.

 

[brifraz]

I was all set to do a full reply about the awesomeness of OKW and how I cannot recommend it highly enough and I've been beaten to the punch. Re-read everything that was posted above! We have only ever had positive bus experiences. It's largeness is MUCH less of a pain that Caribbean Beach. Port Orleans would be the best Moderate (IMHO), but not even remotely close to OKW in terms of experience.

 

[Tk0021]

I was all set to do a full reply about the awesomeness of OKW and how I cannot recommend it highly enough and I've been beaten to the punch. Re-read everything that was posted above! We have only ever had positive bus experiences. It's largeness is MUCH less of a pain that Caribbean Beach. Port Orleans would be the best Moderate (IMHO), but not even remotely close to OKW in terms of experience.

Thanks for you response. My wife and I are pretty sure we are going to go with OKW, as I stated above we were probably going to pay cash for the second room and I am a little concerned about the room locations. I am assuming we can request connecting rooms (I know not guaranteed to get it) but it seems from what I have read that if someone using points would be more likely to get a request closer to a bus stop compared to someone who is paying cash. Is that true?

 

[Tiggerish]

Another OKW owner weighing in here.

The resort itself is brilliant, you'll love it. As someone suggested, for the room you're paying cash for, consider renting points from one of the companies that do that rather than going through Disney, you'll save a bundle. And then have both reservations request a room near Peninsular Road. Short walk to Hospitality House, which is the last bus stop before leaving for the parks, and Peninsular is the first stop coming back from the parks. Can't lose with that location.

Any resort can have frustrating bus issues, if you've just missed the bus for where you want to go.

 

[MRGEFF]

I have stayed at OKW since I was a kid, my parents have been owners since '94. It is by far in my top 3 resorts at WDW. First the rooms are huge, you will not find rooms on property that are any bigger. I'm not sure what route you would be going but anywhere from a 1 bedroom and up you will have a full living room and kitchen and dining area, traveling with a large group as it sounds like you are this is a life saver. I always hear criticism of the bus system and to me you can have a bad bus experience at any resort, we were at Coronado 3 years ago and it was horrendous. I have never experienced that at OKW. First yes, the resort is large but it is maybe a 5 minute drive on the busses around the whole resort, and the perk is many people rent cars that are there so I have never experienced packed busses as I have at a moderate. Back to the size of the resort, there is a bus stop at the very front, which also happens to be the last stop on the bus route, if you do not feel like walking to the front of the resort you can hop on any next bus that pulls up and it will take you right to the front. I admittedly am not a fan of Moderates. Resorts are just as big and can cause same problems as OKW and Saratoga (buses, long walks) and I feel are overpriced for what you are getting, larger crowds and iffy bus systems. OKW will give you that true Florida feel with the Disney charm, yet relaxation from the parks. Just my two cents, but I am also partial . If your going to go Moderate I suggest the Port Orleans resorts. Have a great trip, if you have any other OKW questions feel free to post!

We're staying in OKW ( part of our countdown bucket list ) in 64 days. Thanks for the positive and helpful info.

 

[Tk0021]

We're staying in OKW ( part of our countdown bucket list ) in 64 days. Thanks for the positive and helpful info.

We have decided to go with OKW and have decided to rent points from our friends and from a third party site. We are just now work on that getting that worked out.

Thanks for all of the input.