Yeah, I knew the lay out is weird. And I am not looking for OKW to be the star of anything. This trip was an attempt to be quick and cheap and not use too many points. We are fine at SSR. But we save 12 points total if we stay at OKW. And we have never stayed at OKW so thought it was a good chance to try it out.
We tacked this trip kind of spontaneously because we really want to do Soarin’ Across America, and aren’t sure if we would otherwise be back before they switch back.
But I definitely appreciate the input. Basically the choice is SSR studio at 14 pts/not, or OKW studio at 11 pts/nt.
We were in Building 54, which was across the street from a small pool (and laundry room). Our balcony overlooked greenery, a little bit of water and a busy road in the distance. We didn’t find the traffic noise bothersome. There seemed to be housekeeping equipment stored back there near the pool; we saw lots of back and forth in golf carts and impromptu huddles between the housekeeping cast members and someone who appeared to be their manager.
The TP website lists this OKW building as less desirable.
The walkway to the SSR and golf course was behind the building we were in. We walked there and back a couple times just to enjoy being outdoors in warmer weather than home.
We were less than half a block to a bus stop; we had a car so I can’t report on how far into the loop
the stop was.
We walked to the Hospitality House several times, and took the boat to and from DS once.
The room (5426) was fine: 2 queens, microwave, cooling fridge, toaster. It was a walk-up, lock off studio.
The sink was in the bathroom. The bathroom did not have an in tub bathmat and was a little slippery (I think from the cleaning products used).
There was no grab bar in the tub, which surprised me. Are those only in the older or handicapped accessible rooms?? Our AKL DVC Jambo studio had a grab bar in the tub, OKW and SSR did not.
It felt more spacious than the studio I had at POFQ in 2022. As I said in a previous post in another thread, I liked the Murphy bed in SSR better, but I liked the vibe of OKW more. (And the vibe of AKL the best of the three.)
Thanks for everyone’s thoughts…just an update, today was the day 7 months out, so I was able to switch to OKW, and picked a Studio near Hospitality House. I will have to make a room request within that category.
I noticed that OKW is supposed to start undergoing refurbishments this year. From what I can gather, there is no yet firm timeline, but it does make me wonder if, by the time, we go, the rooms could be done. Anyone know how OKW has handled refurbishments in the past in terms of ordering buildings, etc?
In any case, I was spending time looking at the specific buildings considered “near Hospitality House”, and I’m leaning toward perhaps this building as my first choice:
I’m not sure after that…but that building seems like it provides a good walkability to either bus stop, plus the boats.
Question I have has to do with first floor. Normally, we do NOT like first floor, but from what I can gather, ALL of the first floor rooms have more of a deck rather than a patio with a railing around it. Is that correct? (Not very many of the room photos contain a shot from the deck/patio itself.) We really don’t want a THIRD floor…but first or second would probably be fine.
Not really. It depends on how the land is near the building. We have had first floor that was a patio with a railing around. And we have had first floor that - because the land slopes away - was more of a raised balcony. Both are identical though in terms of construction materials and space.
Yes, the consensus in past threads has been that this area is a good location for access to HH and the buses, if you can get it.
Re: the balcony, I was able to find this photo from the bridge that shows the first floor having a balcony very similar to floors 2 and 3 for this particular portion of the building:
I think as long as the “view” from a first floor is not directly a sidewalk, and there is a railing, that should be okay. We just didn’t like having a room (BLT) where we were first floor, open up the curtains, and like people can be standing practically right outside your room!
That building - or even 26 - was my choice, should we be staying at OKW again.
63 was our bldg, first floor, 2 br. The arrow from 63 is pointing directly at our deck, with railing. But I think we were slightly elevated from the surrounding ground elevation, tho facing that water hazard.
All first floor has a patio w/ a railing surrounding & enclosing it.
Refurbishments: South Point pool has the ONLY working hot tub/spa. All the others are either non-functional or being refurbished. We’ve stayed at Miler’& South point area. Miller laundry and pool was closed for over a week w/ sceptic tank issues.
I will say that I came to one negative conclusion/limitation recently: QS at OKW has only outdoor seating and so if the weather is poor then you can only take food to go to your room.
Because of the way the buildings are constructed I don’t think a single one could have a sidewalk outside. Maybe a golf cart path but even that would be off a bit. Some views are better than others but I think every one overlooks golf course, pond, or river. Pretty genius.
