Old Key West Resort

[Grumpy 70]

I have just booked a studio room at Disney's Old Key West resort for the end of april. I was able to get what I believe to be a great rate of $160 a night. I was wondering if anyone can give me some information on this resort. We have never stayed at this resort before and I was hoping to get some feedback both good and bad about it.

 

[DisneyPhD]

Many people (DVC members and Non) love OKW. The theming is very relaxed and lovely and it really has a wonderful Florida feeling about it. One thing about DVC is, even the smallest room (a studio) is far superior to a normal hotel room. Your studio will have 2 queen size beds, a bathroom (I think with only one sink) a kitchenette with a mid-size refridgerator, a sink, cupboards, toaster, microwave, coffee maker, and other things like paper towels, garbage bags, paper plates and bowls and plastic silverware. (also some things like dish soap and and starter coffee.) You will not have a washer or dryer in your room, but have free access to one at the pool.

The one and two bedrooms are much better, lots of room and very comfy. Word of warning, after staying there you will want to look into joining DVC. (we are very happy we did, it is addictive.)

When we compare OKW to other DVC resorts we tend to feel a bit disappointed. IMO it is more like a Mod resort with far superior rooms. It is very spread out, and while we love WDW busses, we were not impressed with OKW ones. It can be difficult walking with small children, espcailly in the rain. If you have a car it is great because parking is close by. If you have a child ask for a room on the 1st floor since most buildings do not have elevtors and getting the stroller up and down the stairs is difficult. (especailly in the rain.) The castmembers are very friendly and most seem to really like their job. There is many pools, but no slide (they are fixing this in the near future.)

One word of warning, where your room is does make a difference. Ours was a studio that was really near the road, and we could hear every bus buzzing by from 7:00 am to 2:00 am. We live near a train and it doesn't bug us, but the busses did.

All in all OKW is a very lovely resort and $160 a night is a great rate. Have a wonderful time.

 

[Grumpy 70]

Thanks for the info DisneyPhD. I have two children 9 and 6. If I remember right I thought I heard that housekeeping will only change the sheets and make the beds once a week. Is this correct?

 

[lifeguard1020]

I love the OKW

Man...I sure do love this resort...while my sister and brother in law constantly tell us how great the Beach Club Villas are, I just can't imagine staying anywhere but OKW...
You are correct about the housekeeping...they don't come very often...I think the actual day is "halfway through your stay"...but that all depends on the length of your stay...

I've stayed there probably more than 10 times I think...I like it because it has a certain charm to it...we always get rooms in buildings between 16 and 18...they have pretty quick access to either the main pool or one of the satellite pools (right between them actually), PLUS it's right near a bus stop...

It was the first DVC resort to be built...and sold pretty well...they just can't keep up tho...they keep adding more and more resorts...after OKW they added wilderness lodge, boardwalk beach club...I dunno any more, I think I'm rambling...I better stop while I am ahead...

Dan

 

[MinnieFan]

If you made your ressie thru Disney then you will receive regular mousekeeping. If you rented points from a DVC member then you mousekeeping will be different. I think your trash/towel day is on the 4th day.

Have a great time!

 

[cherrynegra]

I stayed at OKW in '95 and last year stayed in the Boardwalk. I agree with the previous post. Love, love, love OKW. I definitely felt you were getting your money's worth there.

 

[Grumpy 70]

Thank you all for the information. We made our reservation through disney. We are not DVC members but who knows maybe this stay will change all of that. My biggest concern is the transportation. We will have a rental car though if we need to use it to get from park to park. We are going for ten days so I am sure we will be taking a couple of days to just soak up the resort. Thanks again for all of the info. If you have any other tidbits about the resort please post them.

 

[DisneyPhD]

Grumpy 70, since your kids are older, you shouldn't have a problem with the stairs or walk. Also, there is a vareity of childrens and other activities and a room or "community house" that kids could go and play games, comptuers ect.. There is pictures of DVC members vacations up all over every avilable space, it is really cute to see.

You might want to take your car to some places, like AK (the busses aren't great to there) DTD, and even possible MGM. However the busses are still best for Epcot and MK. Going resort to resort you will want to take your car too. The bus loop is kind of crazy. Since the resort is bulit around a golf course it roads loop in and the busses go out and turn around in parking lots, instead of just looping the resort as most mod resorts do. If you get on the 1st stop, it will take at least 10 to 15 min until you even get out of the resort, this adds some time to your total travel time.

Minnie fan is right, if you are DVC or rent points you will have a trash and towel change on your 4th day. If you stay over 7 night you would have a a full room cleaning half way through your stay in addtion to a trash and towel change. Paying cash you have normal maid service. Also paying cash you have a possible hope of getting an upgrade, if the rooms are avilable. DVC, no hope at all.

lifeguard1020's sister is right BCV is wonderful. You can't beat the location and pool, the resort is eaiser for us having interior hallways and the easy walk to Epcot. (but OKW is great, and if you never stayed at BCV you don't know how great it is and don't mind. We stayed at BCV 1st, then OKW, and that was a bit of a disapointment.)

Go ahead and take a tour of DVC if you have the time, (10 days) you get coupons for a free meal if you do. We bought from home and didn't get our free meal, so our guide gave us the coupons on our 1st stay.


Food options at OKW are somewhat limited since the rooms have kicthens. Be sure to go to a store and get some food. Olivias is good, but somewhat pricey for what you get. Goods to go is fast food counter service at the pool. Also there is a poonton boat that takes the short trip to DTD, that is nice.

 

[Huggups]

I love OKW! IMO the best rooms on the WDW property. I've stayed in the studio, 1 BR and 2 BR units. The studios are nice and for a studio room they are large. This resort is much quieter than the other resorts. I always request a water view room. There are plenty of bus stops but the last two times I was there we rented a car which is the thing to do if you want to go from one resort to another (for meals and such) otherwise commuting by bus can be time consuming. Nice restaurant on the property (Olivia's) which at peak times can get crowded and rather noisy. Best time seems to be any time 7:00 p.m. and after for dinner. Another good thing is if you have a car you can park right outside in close proximity to your room. I love that! Have fun!:sohappy:

 

[cloudboy]

How pushy are they with the sales at any of the vacation clubs? It seems the timeshare (for lack of a better word) concept places are always after you for tours and such. If you have no intention of buying into the vacation club, how prominent is the sales effort?