Old Key West or Port Orleans French Quarter

[thewhitequeen]

I'm just curious what y'all would choose and why.

Both resorts are currently under renovation, both have boats to downtown Disney, 1 is a DVC and the other a regular resort. This is all I know.

 

[captainkidd]

Port Orleans.

Although I stayed at Riverside, FQ seemed very nice to me, and it's very compact so it's easy to get around. We stayed at OKW about 5 years ago, and never again. Theme wasn't appealing to us, bus service is pretty bad, and it's HUGE. We had a 15 minute walk from our room to guest services, restaurants, etc. Hated it.

 

[BiggerTigger]

I have stayed at both and it is going to depend on what you are looking for.
POFQ is very quaint and small making walking distance to things easier. You have the counter-service area, main check-in, and store near by. The pool is nice and centrally located. Access to DTD is just on the waterway and a great relaxing ride. The rooms tend to be smaller in this area.

OKW is spread out. We were back by the second pool area, which made it very isolated so not many people used it. The rooms are larger and you can get a suite if you so choose. They do have resort bus that travels through every 15-20 minutes. The walk from where we stayed was about 5 minutes to the main check-in, sit down restaurant (which was really good and rarely crowded), and store. Plus, this is where you catch the boat to DTD.

If you make a list of what you are looking for, then maybe you can find a match with a place that fits your needs. We enjoyed both and will book them both again.

 

[Tazer19]

Port Orleans.

Although I stayed at Riverside, FQ seemed very nice to me, and it's very compact so it's easy to get around. We stayed at OKW about 5 years ago, and never again. Theme wasn't appealing to us, bus service is pretty bad, and it's HUGE. We had a 15 minute walk from our room to guest services, restaurants, etc. Hated it.

Your thoughts seem to be on par with a lot of others that I've read here, so we must get lucky when we stay there. We've stayed there 10+ times and never had a problem with buses, at least compared to other DVC resorts.

While I'll admit OKW is pretty spread out, I think 15 minutes is a bit of an exaggeration. We were in the 2nd to last building as far out as you could get 2 years ago and even then I don't think the walk was close to 15 minutes. If I remember right, my Nike+ iPod sensor said it was just about half a mile from the back corner to Olivia's (I had it with to run in the mornings and was curious since it seemed we were pretty far out).

One nice thing about being spread out is how nice and quiet it is after a long day at the parks.

 

[slappy magoo]

The themeing of Port Orleans French Quarter (or Riverside) is more elaborate than Old Key West. But Old Key West rooms are much larger than at Port Orleans. Unlike POFQ, there is a full service restaurant at OKW - because POFQ is considered a sister restaurant of POR, they "share" a restaurant that is currently only open for dinner. But Olivia's is open for all three meals. Both resorts have similar amenities - arcades, watercraft rental, bike rentals. OKW also has stuff like shuffleboard, volleyball courts, tennis courts and a fitness center. I don't think stuff like that is available at POFQ, though I also don't know if that sort of stuff is something you look for in a WDW vacation.

There are often deeper discounts for OKW (and SSR) than most other resorts, mainly because they are both DVC resorts that are standalone DVC resorts, as opposed to a deluxe resort with a DVC wing. They're the ones often used to try to entice people into joining DVC, but unlike other time-share discount deals, there are NO sales pitches to sit through to get the discounts. If the discount were deep enough, I'd go OKW, even if it were still more expensive than POFQ.

 

[thewhitequeen]

So it sounds like the only thing better is the room size at OKW. I noticed French Quarter is being renovated and the rooms (so far) look very nice. I'm all for new rooms.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

I just stayed at OKW for the first time the other day, and I thought it was great. I personally loved the community/small town feel to the place and thought that the theme was great. The only drawback to the resort is it's size...it is gigantic. I was in Building 32 (just renovted) which is half way back in the resort and it was about a 7 minute walk to the main area. Other than that, I thought the resort was great and will be happy to use my DVC points there in the future.

 

[dreamfinder]

It depends on what you are looking for. If you want a bigger room, then definitely OKW. With discounts prices are similiar. Ditto if you want a sit down option available on property. If you do CS at the resort alot, then you would definitely want POFQ as they have about 4 times the selection as OKW for CS. POFQ is much more compact, with a very different feel than OKW, but OKW isn't bad at all.

 

[L2DAVI]

I love POFQ, it is small and beautiful. We had about a 3 min. walk (with a pokey 4yr kid) from our room in building 7 (the last building). About the same for the buses and never had to wait long for the buses. POFQ shares its bus with POR but POFQ is the first stop. I loved their selection on counter service foods. Pool was great, DS loved the slide. I enjoyed the hot tub. My family has agreed that this is where we will stay from now on. :sohappy:
Hope this helps!

 

[RonAnnArbor]

Absolutely POFQ -- the bus service is amazing there; the size of the resort just right, and it's prettier to boot.

As to OKW -- stayed there one time a year ago, and never again. I know someone above said the resort bus service is every 15-20 minutes -- NO WAY....easily 45 minutes in between buses -- in fact, they pretty much tell you that between Noon and 6 pm you can expect very limited bus service at the time of check-in...if you need a bigger room, go for it. If not, POFQ is much more of a Disney-type "resort" if your main visit will be to the parks and to DD -- OKW, like the other vacation club resorts, is better if you have an extended stay, and if you have a car with you and plan to travel to other places in Orlando as well.

As to rooms being renovated in POFQ -- huh?? They did a renovation of the entire resort about 4-5 years ago, and I am not aware of any renovations going on there. I have been at POFQ twice in the last year, and going again in December, and I do believe all the renovations are long completed.

 

[Daddio]

The only other thing I'll add to this discussion is that Old Key West rooms are much quieter (better insulated) and have baclonys to sit and relax on.

As for the bus service, I don't think there is much difference between Old Key West and any other Disney resort in terms of service. They are all operated by the same transportation system. I have found that waiting times at any resort can be long if you just missed the last bus (and on the return too).


David

 

[thewhitequeen]

Absolutely POFQ -- the bus service is amazing there; the size of the resort just right, and it's prettier to boot.

As to OKW -- stayed there one time a year ago, and never again. I know someone above said the resort bus service is every 15-20 minutes -- NO WAY....easily 45 minutes in between buses -- in fact, they pretty much tell you that between Noon and 6 pm you can expect very limited bus service at the time of check-in...if you need a bigger room, go for it. If not, POFQ is much more of a Disney-type "resort" if your main visit will be to the parks and to DD -- OKW, like the other vacation club resorts, is better if you have an extended stay, and if you have a car with you and plan to travel to other places in Orlando as well.

As to rooms being renovated in POFQ -- huh?? They did a renovation of the entire resort about 4-5 years ago, and I am not aware of any renovations going on there. I have been at POFQ twice in the last year, and going again in December, and I do believe all the renovations are long completed.

I googled and came across a Port Orleans fan page and they show photos of a renovated room. No bedding yet, but it looks like it's going to be nice!

http://www.portorleans.org/rehab.php

 

[Cubs Brian]

I'll sum up my response this way: POFQ=beignets. OKW not. Nuff said!

 

[pax_65]

I'm a DVC member with OKW as my home resort. Although we've stayed at almost every DVC resort (except BLT which we're working on), OKW is still our favorite. It's essentially an escape from the craziness of WDW... very relaxing, very nice rooms, very quiet, beautiful theme, nice pools, friendly staff, etc.

We always take rental car and use the bus service when it makes sense to do so. I agree there are sometimes long bus waits but I've experienced this at other resorts too. The car is nice to drive to the front of the resort to avoid the walk.

If you have a rental car, go with OKW. If not, you might be better off at the more compact French Quarter.

Both nice resorts, you can't really go wrong.

Good luck!

 

[patricia27]

Old Key West

We are DVC members. Old Key West is our home resort. It is so peaceful even though it is in WDW. The pools are quiet--we love it. We do like self catering--so get stocked up at the Publix or Walmart and then just eat out in the evenings. The bus service is fine, we probably only use the car in WDW when going to the water parks or Animal Kingdom. You can also go to Downtown on the boat or even walk via Saratoga springs.

 

[stratman50th]

Wow, I was going to respond to this till I saw how old it was! :veryconfu
The original poster has probably been and come back by now!
For what it's worth this late in the game, I really love both places for different reasons.

EDIT: Duh, I guess I did respond anyway!

 

[thewhitequeen]

Yeah - thanks for the bump Tracia. animwink:

eta - And dangit, I meant Patricia.