Any tips for staying at Old Key West?

[leafas]

We are visiting Disney for the first time as a family: three children (boys age 6,7,and 10) and six adults for a week, starting November 5. We have a two bedroom villa and a studio booked at Old Key West. We chose to purchase the meal plan, but will eat breakfasts in the room. I need advice about the best buildings and rooms to request at OKW, transportation issues to and from this resort (should we have a car or is WDW transport good?), how to get groceries without a car, and any other tips about the resort and maximizing our convenience and fun during our stay. Just heard about this site today--wish I had known about it sooner! Lea

 

[CDSTapisRouge]

OKW resorts buses are for OKW only which is nice (other hotels share the buses between 2 or 3 resorts). You will hear both ways on the buses from OKW but it really just depends on time of year and how busy it is. The buses do tend to be very reliable for that resort.

As for room location, the buildings do not have elevators (except for 3 of them) so if that is an issue make sure you request ground floor or an elevator building. Personally I like the area away from the front check in...There are bus stop all throughout the resort so no matter where you are you are not far from a bus stop. The buses do the interior property bus stops first and the main building last so if you just want to come up to the front of the resort to go shopping or eating you can get on any bus and it will drop you off there before heading out to the parks. They also run an internal bus that just does the loop of the property. There are also 3 small pools and the Main feature pool (the small pools are located in the different sections of the property and the main pool is at the front check in area (so no matter where your room is you are close to a pool as well).

You can call ahead and order groceries through the gift store... They will deliver them to your room for you, or you can us wegoshop.com which also is a grocery delivery service (although you will need to be in the room for them to deliver). Both of these options are highly used at this resort for those that do not have cars and very reliable.

OKW is a great property. If you go over to the Disney Vacation Club message board (about half way down on the main message board page), the DVC members can answer all your questions about the resort. Since they are the owners (since it is essentially a timeshare). They have property maps that they can post for you with all the buildings and locations... they would be a great resource for your questions

 

[ebmouse]

Hi leafas, We just got back from "the world" 2 wks. ago and stayed at OKW. We were in bldg. 54 which is one of the furthest away from Hospitality House. We had a quiet pool right across from us and the bus stop also very close. It was nice and quiet. The golf course was out our veranda. One thing I would think about is what floor you request. There are no elevators so you carry all your stuff up the stairs. One nice thing is you can park right outside your room. I had heard that bus service wasn't that great here but we found it to be just fine. We had a car but never found the need to use it. Just add extra time for stopping at other bus stops on resort property before actually heading for your destination. Hope this helps. Have a terrific time!

 

[xterratri]

We've stayed at OKW 2 of our last 3 trips and will be there again in December. We've had consistent good experiences with Disney transportation and we tend to return to the villa mid day prior to hopping to another park. We prefer to use wegoshop.com, a delivery service for our groceries. Location requests are a bit tougher because it depends on your priorities. We really like Bldg 25 because it's in a quiet area with a bus stop right there but is also an easy walk to Hospitality House with the main pool, etc. Have a good trip.

 

[SB in KY]

There really are not any "bad " locations at OKW that we have found (and we have been there twice a year for the last 10 years!!)

When we travel with my elderly mother we always request first floor, but a lot of people prefer the upper floors (even with the stairs) because the views are nice and it is quieter...to each his own. Being near the hospitality house is over rated IMHO.... it is easy enough to hop any bus and ride up there and the more distant locations are quiet and peaceful.

You have made a great resort choice....you will love having the room for your family to visit and eat together. If you have a car it is really nice to be able to run to the grocery (10 people will need a LOT of food if you plan to do ANY meals in the room I would suggest having a car for grocery run/s)....wegoshop or the resort delivery service is fine for a few items for a small family of 3 or 4.....but pretty expensive and unweildy for groceries for 10 people!!)

And it is really nice to be able to park right by your villa and hop in and take off whenever if you have a car.

 

[mjkaferle5]

....... We chose to purchase the meal plan......

How are you getting the dining plan staying at a DVC resort?

 

[JillU-DVC]

I'm assuming the OP booked OKW through CRO, and are not DVC members - if you book your room through CRO, you can get the dining plan.

FYI!

 

[misslissa]

Is there a list online of the items that can be delivered to your room by the resort itself? I'm going to check wegoshop but I'm not sure at this point when we'll be in our room so the OKW delivery might be a better option!

 

[SueOKW]

here's a map of the resort

CLICK

what building you stay in depends on your needs - close to big pool? Golf course view? Peace and quiet?

Read this forum for a bit and you will learn all kinds of neat stuff....

ENJOY!! We love it!
sue

 

[spiceycat]

We are visiting Disney for the first time as a family: three children (boys age 6,7,and 10) and six adults for a week, starting November 5. We have a two bedroom villa and a studio booked at Old Key West. We chose to purchase the meal plan, but will eat breakfasts in the room. I need advice about the best buildings and rooms to request at OKW, transportation issues to and from this resort (should we have a car or is WDW transport good?), how to get groceries without a car, and any other tips about the resort and maximizing our convenience and fun during our stay. Just heard about this site today--wish I had known about it sooner! Lea

I would go with
www.wegoshop.com for your groceries.

there is a general store across from you check in.

for views you can get woods, golf or water - some of the golf views look like DVC is trying to change them to garden views - putting up trees, shurbs between you and the golf course.

you can ask to be near a bus stop, pool, or HH - the HH is the main building where these things are located - bike/boat rentals, main pool, restuarant, snack bar, lounge, gym, tennis court, basketball (half court), sandy playground, boat to DD - plus this is the check in area.

It has too much traffic for me.

I like either Miller Rd or South Pointe

here is the informtion form this site - it includes a map
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/Resorts/okwrec.htm

forgot - there are 5 bus stops that the bus must stop at before it leaves for the part - this can make it seem to be slow.

 

[spiceycat]

Is there a list online of the items that can be delivered to your room by the resort itself? I'm going to check wegoshop but I'm not sure at this point when we'll be in our room so the OKW delivery might be a better option!

there is a grocery order but only on the DVC member site so this might not work

http://dvc.disney.go.com/dvc/member/memberDetail?id=GroceryOrderPage#