I have plans to be in WDW next December and my primary plan is to rent points from a friend at WL. She just sent me an e-mail indicating that room availability may be very tight and I might have to wait-list. She said she could wait-list me there and make a “back-up” at OKW. I know virtually nothing about OKW. Looking for the good and bad; rooms, lobby, theming, transportation, food, etc.
OKW is MouseSavers’ “Best Value” for DVC resorts:
Sorry, it’s one massive page so you will have to scroll.
@bswan26, your post is making me very nervous. I am planning one night at Copper Creek and I bought if I booked it 11 months out I would be fine. Innthe long run your post will have me prepared if I cannot get it.
Hopefully @ezed62 can chime in here. I think he stayed there relatively recently.
There are also a couple YouTube videos about OKW
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We just stayed in september as it was the only thing available for a last minute reservation and although I wasn’t wicked excited about it before we left - even a bit nervous! - we LOVED LOVED LOVED it! We will DEFINITELY stay again and not because it’s all that’s left/backup.
We stayed in the Turtle Pond area. We were close to that section’s pool, directly across from the bus stop (which is early in the going-to-the-parks route, perhaps second stop?), and the area is a comfortable - and very pretty! - walk to the Hospitality House, where you can get QS at Goodes, drinks at Gurgling Suitcase and TS at Olivia’s. The porch of the HH overlooks the marina and there are rockers where you can relax and take it in.
The boat to DS is delightful and we found bus service to be very very good. A car would be convenient here if that’s your preference as the spaces are immediately outside of each building - no long trek from a huge parking lot.
We had snacks from the turtle shack but we brought our own food and drinks to keep in our villa for breakfasts and other snacks - a downside might be not being immediate to the food and drink options.
The vibe is very friendly and relaxed here and it’s quiet - a really nice refuge from the bustle of the parks.
We loved it! I hope you do too!!
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And yes there are a ton of YouTube videos. I ate them up like mad so that I felt like I knew the laynof the land before arriving.
Really enjoyed my stay there. Very spread out, had a car, so can’t comment on buses. Can boat to Disney Springs.Stayed in 2br which was about a 5-6 min walk away from main building and pool. My room was close to a second pool which had a QS eatery and arcade. Very big room with a Florida room which connects to main bedroom and living room. Olivia’s was nice, good food, not fancy. Gurgling Springs was good for a quick bite. I felt like I was in an apartment as opposed to hotel room. Resort has a nice feel and seems to get smaller the longer you’re there.
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Good: Quiet. Excellent on-site restaurant (Olivia’s). Boat service to Disney Springs. Bus service to parks has always been good (contrary to some reviews you may come across). Clean, well appointed suites. Cast members are friendly and really like working at OKW (and they’re happy to tell you how much they like OKW). Very mature and well maintained landscape.
Not as good: Distance of some units from the Hospitality House (mitigated for the most part by the excellent on-site bus service). No elevators to upper floor suites. Boats are more subject to weather impacts than the larger Friendship boats that service the Epcot resorts. Boat rides can get chilly during cooler weather.
Bad: Nothing as far as we’re concerned. One of our favorites.
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Recently refurb’d!!
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Have all the rooms been refurbished at this point? I am wondering if I need to request a refurbished room for a trip in late May.
Glad the hear that the bus service is good. That was my only concern. On our last trip, we stayed at AoA partly for the good bus service and found it subpar due to extremely long waits when returning from the theme parks (any time of day). I am guessing we got unlucky on our last trip. We have never had issues with buses on previous trips which include stays at CSR and CBR.
They should be done by now I believe. I think @Nicky_S is usually a good resource on this. Or @melcort10
Yes, the buses do make the internal circuit but do not go to another resort. Sometimes it felt long as we made our way around OKW but once we left we were at our destination in a jiffy, and always within about 20 mins of boarding (often less). I have a theory about buses which is that Disney has figured out that guest tolerance threshold for being on buses is 20 minutes, and have devised bus routes to fit within that limit. Just a theory, but if you were to time bus rides from almost anywhere under usual conditions, I think you’d find that whether you’re at a deluxe and sharing (or making an internal circuit) or a value and not sharing, bus rides max average right around 20 minutes, with those parks nearest to a given resort obviously being the short ride for that resort…
This has been my general observation too; I’ve never understood why 5 min plus or minus on a bus means so much to so many people.
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Agreed.
The bus ride time was fine. The part that bothered everyone in our group was the wait for the bus to arrive.We often waited 40-50 minutes for the bus to arrive at the theme park bus stop. The rest of my family spent the whole trip commenting on how the buses were so much better at AKL on their last WDW trip (which I did not attend).
So sorry for the delay here! My maternity leave is ending this week and I should be much more responsive on the forums!
I believe the refurb is almost done but not fully completed. I think the hospitality house sections have been the last to get done. I think by May the whole thing will definitely be done. I would guess they should be all finished by March!
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Great, thank you!
After many visits, we have grown to really dislike Disney transportation and always rent a car (getting grumpy in our old age!). OKW is fantastic for having a car. Parking right outside your unit is super convenient.
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So glad I’m not the only one who feels that way about Disney transportation.
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We’ll probably have a rental car, however, my father will be the driver and he isn’t going into the theme parks during our stay at OKW.