Most Recent Reviews
Reviewed by bigsol Review Date: 01/19/2014
Rating: (9) Recommended
We are DVC members and stay at OKW using our DVC membership. It is not our home resort.
With the exception of two cons, one of which just takes a little forward thinking to remedy, we loved this resort. Don't let the fact that OKW is the original DVC resort fool you. By no means is this an "old" resort. The rooms were refurbished in the last few years, and the entire resort has a very comfy feeling.
Let's start with the room size. OKW has the biggest bang for your buck (or DVC point) as far as square footage goes. We stayed in a 2-br villa, which was just over 1300 square feet. I mean, my first house was only 1400 Sq Ft!! We are a family of four (2 adults, 2 children), and we had more room than we needed. We stayed on Miller's Rd, with a third floor villa overlooking one of the fairways of Lake Buena Vista GC. From our nicely sized balcony we could see the fairway, the main building, 3 water fountain features, a beautiful sunrise and, at night, the ballon going up at Downtown Disney.The layout of the room is ideal, like you would think it should be. Main room has a full kitchen w/island and dining area off to the side. The island acts as a, "partition", of sorts, that seperates the kitchen/dining area from the living room area. Large second br with two queens and full bath off the main room. The hallway has a seperate laundry room followed by the master br, which has the master bath and seperate toilet/shower room. Oh, the balcony has a table and chairs and a ceiling fan for those warm days. Very comfortable.
The staff was more than helpful when it came to things we needed, i.e.- dish soap, dish washer soap, bed rails, etc. The room was clean. It was just as clean as you would expect a resort room to be. I've read reviews where people get angry because they saw a spot or stain on the carpet or the couch. My personal opinion is that if you are going to any resort in the world with the expectation that the room is going to look unused and brand new, you're going to disappoint yourself every time. The room was clean to the standards that I was expecting. I had no problem letting my 1 and 3 year olds crawl, play and roll around on the floor and furniture.
The room was on Miller's Rd. Our building was exactly a six minute walk to the main building and pool area. Perfect if you want to be close to the main area, but have some peace and quiet while at your room.
The first of my two "cons" fits in right here. OKW has no elevators in any of it's guestroom buildings. In case you missed that, I said OKW has ZERO elevators in the guestroom buildings. Remember when I said that we were on the third floor? Yeah, the view was awesome... The loading and unloading of the car? Not so awesome, but ultimately worth it in the end.
This next one is quick and to the point. If you drive to WDW, which we did, you get to park right in front of your building. Maybe not the first spot right next to the entryway, but you will be within 20 or 30 feet of it. Oh, disclaimer: Our trip was the second week of November; A relatively slow time of year. This may not ring true if you travel during peak season or a very busy time.
The pool. Are you kidding me? It was ridiculous. Ridiculous in the best way possible! Hands down my favorite DVC pool to date. The sand castle waterslide, the beach area, the huge main pool, the relaxing, laid back Key West feeling. It was awesome. We went swimming two or three times and it was so much fun. My older boy and I had the greatest time going down the slide and jumping in the pool.
We ate lunch at the poolside eatery. It was priced as a resort counter service eatery should be (not cheap, but reasonable). The food was standard fare and enjoyable. Nothing to write home about, but you won't feel guilty about spending $25-$30 on a lunch for 4 at Disney. Wait, let me clarify that. I'm over 6ft and weigh 260 lbs. I eat allot... We ate dinner in our room almost every night. It just makes sense when you have the amenities available to you. One evening we decided to have dinner then put on a light jacket and walk over to Olivia's for dessert. It was fun. We sat outside and enjoyed the cool Florida air. My wife and I each got coffee and a Banana Bread Pudding Sundae. Yup, it was as good as it sounds. We shared the sundaes with the boys and got them some milk to wash it down. It was a great little outing and the atmosphere was so enjoyable. For some reason, it took a little longer than we expected to actually get the food. The restaurant wasn't what we would call busy, but, we were on vacation and we didn't care very much. We waited patiently and enjoyed it when it came.
I guess now is as good a time as any to talk about my second "con". Bus stops. There are 5 or 6 of them. I can only speak directly to our stop on Miller's Rd. Pro to Miller's Rd- It's the next to last stop on the way out to the parks. Con, It's the very last stop when you come home!! UGH! You're tired; kids are tired; it's really late; kids hanging on your arms sleeping; stroller folded up in one arm; 3 different bags in the other. You just want to go to sleep. You can add anywhere from 5-10 minutes to your bus trip AFTER you enter OKW property (if your stop is Miller's Rd). Here's where that forward thinking I mentioned earlier comes in. If you can situate and prepare yourself for a hasty egress before rolling onto the property, you can get off the bus at the first stop, Peninsular Rd, which is located just past the main building, and walk to your resort in... you guessed it, six minutes! Now, I know you may think that a six minute walk vs. a 5 - 10 minute bus ride isn't really saving you any time. Well, it's not the time that I'm trying to save; it's my sanity and cramping in my arms and legs! You get off the bus at Peninsular, pop open the stroller, put the munchkins in, clip the bags on and, BOOM, you get to breathe fresh air, stretch your legs a little, collect your nerves, and you STILL beat the bus by a minute or two. It works for me, maybe it doesn't work for someone else.
You're going to have a good time at OKW as long as you want to have a good time. If you go into any situation with the mindset of nitpicking everything you see, guess what, you're going to find something to complain about every day. I don't go on vacation to be miserable. Nothing is ever absolutely perfect. Nothing. That said, Disney does everything they can to get you as close to perfect as they can. In my 14 years of going to WDW, I have personally never had a bad experience. Anytime I had an issue, I called for help and it was corrected. I love Disney, so maybe I'm biased, but I'm also a realist. I realize and accept that everything isn't always going to be perfect. However, as for OKW, we had a great time and I highly recommend this resort.
Pros:
Room size, Pool, atmosphere, parkingCons:
No elevators, Many bus stopsReview of Tusker House Character Breakfast
Reviewed by kmdebree Review Date: 01/19/2014
Rating: (10) Recommended
We loved everything about this experience. Please try the juice, even our picky 8 year old loved it! Anything you could possibly want to eat was available and the characters all came to our table. Will definiately go back on our next trip.
Pros:
Saw all the characters, Wonderful breakfast, nice atmosphereCons:
noneReview of Fort Wilderness Campground
Reviewed by kmdebree Review Date: 01/19/2014
Rating: (10) Recommended
I am giving Fort Wilderness a rating of a ten, it is a beautiful and wonderful place. I was only
disappointed by the bath house and I will tell you why, the showers. There are only four in the women's room and when people are in them the condensation falls from the ceiling which is very gross. We did not have access to a shower in our camping vehicle so we had to use the showers at Fort Wilderness.
Pros:
Beautiful, clean,Cons:
the showersReview of Chef Mickey's Dinner
Reviewed by kmdebree Review Date: 01/19/2014
Rating: (10) Recommended
We ate here on 1/2/2014 and also on 1/9/2014. The experience was wonderful each time. The first time we were concentrated on getting all of our autographs and pictures and the second time we could relax and actually watch the fireworks from the MK since we were right by the window. Will definiately go back when we return, never a bad experience at Chef Mickey.
Pros:
characters, foodCons:
—Review of Crystal Palace Lunch/Dinner
Reviewed by kmdebree Review Date: 01/19/2014
Rating: (5) Recommended
We ate here on January 6, 2014. We last ate here 2 years ago and it has gone down since then. The tables are jammed in so that it is hard to pass to get to the buffet. The bathroom has 3 stalls total. Our waitress was very sour and even made faces while clearing other tables etc. , this was upsetting because we had a table larger than 6 so our gratuity was already included. The food was good, but some things that the girls remembered from the last time were gone. We had to have the waitress flag down two characters that totally skipped our whole seating area. I want to say that we will try again, however, I am a little warey.
Pros:
Got to see the charactersCons:
Service, automatic gratuity, Dining room was very crowdedReview of Mama Melrose's Lunch/Dinner
Reviewed by kmdebree Review Date: 01/19/2014
Rating: (10) Recommended
This was by far one of our greatest dining experiences at Disney. We dined here on January 8, 2014. Our service was exceptional and the food was delicious. We had the calamari, tomato and cheese, the soup, chicken parm. , bread and husband had a seafood dish. We all enjoyed the atmosphere and of course the fantasmic seating is a wonderful bonus. Will definiately eat here again when we return.
Pros:
Great service, great food, fantasmic packageCons:
—Review of Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue
Reviewed by kmdebree Review Date: 01/19/2014
Rating: (10) Recommended
This was a wonderful experience. We attended on January 1, 2014 the 8:30 show. It was my husband's Birthday and our table was right next to the stage. The wait staff was awesome, the actors and actresses were wonderful and let food was delicious. I have only wonderful words for this experience. We loved the Sangria, the ribs, and our server made us aware of a vegetarian meal for our lovely daughter. Would definiately reccomend and can't wait to go back!
Pros:
Seating, Show, FoodCons:
—Reviewed by kmdebree Review Date: 01/19/2014
Rating: (5) Recommended
I would give this an excellent rating based upon the fact that your princess can meet all of her favorite princesses at her table. The negative aspects were the following, pictures were taken directly in the dining area which was very cold and distracting to the dining experience. The cold salad bar was ok, however, the dinner offerings were not appetizing to our crew. I had the chicken which looked microwaved, my daughter had the meatballs which were very big and tough, my youngest had the childrens chicken which was char grilled and not appealing to an 8 year old and my husband had the salmon which normally he loves, however he picked at it. Our waitress was not attentive and if not for the pictures and princessed I would be very disappointed.
Pros:
The princesses were wonderfulCons:
Food and service were very poorReview of Planet Hollywood - Closed for Renovation
Reviewed by clmorelandinFlorida Review Date: 01/18/2014
Rating: (2) Not Recommended
Ordered the Southwestern Salad. The dressing was so bland it had no real taste and the chicken evidently was frozen cause it was cold and still partially frozen. The so called tortilla strips were stale. The wait for the food was ridiculous. My husband had the spaghetti and meatballs and I tasted the meatball and it was bland. You are paying for the atmosphere because the food there, well I will never eat there again what a waste of time and money.
Pros:
AtmosphereCons:
foodReview of Caribbean Beach Resort (Moderate Resort)
Reviewed by steelers_fan Review Date: 01/18/2014
Rating: (8) Recommended
We stayed at CBR the first week of Dec 2013. The resort is very beautiful and laid back. The pools are great with a kiddie pool at the main pool. We didn't use the smaller pools but they did seem adequate in size for the areas that they serve. The beds were just doubles, no queens here. Hopefully that changes soon. We thought the food court options were just OK. We actually liked the food courts at Pop and AOA better, where we stayed last year! We did not eat at Shutters, just the quick service places. We stayed in Trinidad North, so we had a very short walk to the main building/food court/pool. Bus service was good. We never used the internal shuttle, but park buses came rather frequently. Longest wait we had was maybe 15 minutes. There was one instance where a bus came that was totally full, but it wasn't for our destination anyway. I didn't like that our return bus stop at the parks is as far away from the gates as the value resorts. You pay more to stay at a moderate than a value. The staff, including mouse keeping, was excellent. We WOULD stay here again, if it fit into our overall plans. We stayed this time on a deal with free dining plan, and had wanted to stay at POR but they had no availability. If you stay here, just try to get a room as close as possible to the main building.
