Opinions on Old Key West?

Has anyone stayed in a 2 bedroom villa at OKW? I am planning a future trip with 2 families 8-9 people total. I was checking David’s DVC rental site and OKW looks pretty spacious and more affordable than most DVC rentals for big groups.

I was wondering if anyone here had stayed there with a large group?
Was it kid friendly? It looks like a lot of adults like it because it was quiet, so I wonder if we would feel comfortable with 5 kids here.
How was the transportation?
Would you stay again, or would pay more to stay somewhere else?

OKW is MouseSaver’s Best Value Choice in the DVC category. Their one caveat is that they only recommend it if you have a car. Check out their full info and recommendations on DVC resorts here:

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The 2BR at OKW is GORGEOUS. It is enormous - square footage is larger than my house!

We were there with just our family of four, so I can’t speak to a group there. But each of my kids had a queen bed to themselves, and we didn’t use any of the pull out sleep surfaces in the living room.

It’s Disney, so it’s kid friendly! There are a number of pools, including splash zone type areas for the super littles, and playground too.

Transportation was no concern. The bus only serves OKW so while you do have several stops within that resort, once you’re done you go right to the location you are heading. Never waited overly long for buses to or from. And with multiple stops available you can choose different places to get on or off depending on your needs in the moment.

We loved it and I have secretly hoped we would get “stuck” staying there again. It IS quiet, but that is largely what we enjoyed. It is a wonderful refuge from the busy hustle and bustle of the parks. It’s definitely on island time :wink:

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Thank you for the replies! I like the idea of bigger space to spread out with all of the perks of being on site. I was trying to convince myself we could stay off site, but I just can’t convince myself that I’ll have as much fun if I’m battling traffic and looking for parking, it just takes away from the experience in my mind.

I stayed at OKW a very long time ago with my parents. Very spacious, quiet, comfortable, serene. Transportation was the only issue. Getting to the pool or to the parks meant waiting for a bus, and some of the villas are a decent walk from the bus stop, or at least it seemed so to me as a teenager. I think we ended up driving most days. Try to get a villa close to a bus stop or to a pool, if that’s important to you.

Here’s a map with the bus stops and boat launch marked with blue squares to give you an idea:

Thank you for posting this map. I didn’t realize how enormous this resort was! We have only been to WDW one other time and were spoiled by how easy and compact Wilderness Lodge was to navigate. I may have to rethink my plan…

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It’s definitely sprawling.

But a walk from the bus near Turtle Snack Shack to the Hospitality House is only about 10 minutes

Oh. You should know there’s not your usual QS location here. That’s a big deal breaker for some.

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We’ve stayed at OKW 2 BR the last 2 years and enjoyed our stay both times. It is very spacious. A lot of room in living room, so you really feel at home. Huge closet in the second bedroom. There is also a Florida room where you can eat or play games. The resort is very spread out, but the longer you’re there, the smaller it feels. I look forward to going there again.

I stayed at OKW in a studio in May 2019 with my parents and significant other. For my parents and myself ,this was our 3 rd studio at WDW on our May trip. We went from a Kidani Village (AKV) savanna view room to a Boulder RIdge (WL) studio to the OKW studio.

The OKW studio was the highest quality room we were in at WDW on this trip as OKW had just completed a refurbishment. The 2 queen beds and extra space contribute to this. My father viewed OKW as “fine.” My mother, however, really liked OKW even though she disliked Caribbean Beach Resort on a previous trip for being “too large.” She loved that OKW “felt like a community”. We were in the Turtle Pond area in Building 38 on the 2nd floor. It was in a quiet alcove on its loop (no highway noise) within an easy walk to the bus stop and pool/laundry/snack bar. My mother liked the building so much she wants to request it next time she stays at Old Key West.

My parents used the internal bus system at OKW to get around easily; my other half and I had an unfortunate experience with the internal bus system the night we arrived. We stopped at the lobby to sort out some dining reservations (which was well handled by the OKW front desk staff); when leaving Hospitality House sometime around 11 pm, we couldn’t find an internal shuttle. We ended up walking from Hospitality House to our building late at night and my other half refused to give the internal transport a shot after this so I can’t vouch for internal transport. We did have a lovely walk-up breakfast at Olivia’s the next day.

Overall, my family would definitely stay at OKW again. The studio units are some of the best for my family here. We’d rank it ahead of several moderate options: French Quarter and CBR which my mother refuses to stay at again. If we wanted larger accommodations for 5+ people, we would definitely consider OKW.

The other top options for me if I was looking for a 2 bedroom would be Bay Lake Tower and Animal Kingdom Villas - Kidani Village. Both of these have an extra bathroom in the units (so 3 total in a 2 bedroom villa). Animal Kingdom Villa 2 standard bedroom units have a relatively low number of points. We typically travel in May (Dream Season on DVC points charts) during which an AKV standard view 2 bedroom is fewer points per night than an OKW 2 bedroom; however, AKV charges an extra dollar per point during home booking so that may not end up being cheaper.

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