SSR or OKW?

[Simba 1]

DH and I are planning a DVC purchase through resale. We can't decide between SSR and OKW. I know the contract is longer at SSR (not many OKW extended contracts in the resale market yet). Any opinions out there? I'm less concerned about theming, more concerned about convenience. We have 3 DDs under 6 yrs old. Playgrounds, pools, buses, food courts, laundry, room size and general availability (2 bedroom suite for 1 wk at a time) are important to us. Planning 7 (or even 11) months ahead is not an issue - so does the home resort matter that much anyway? We don't plan to travel during peak or premier seasons.

Also, I keep reading reviews about OKW rooms looking worn. Any plans to refresh soon?

Thanks for your help. This decision is giving me a headache!

[dlpmikki]

OKW is being completely refurbed this year. Not sure what the new rooms will look like yet! Room size for a 2 bed is massive - way bigger than SSR.

Neither resort has a food court but SSR has something close which does good food. OKW only has a counter service Goods to Go which the majority of people think is inadaquate.

Never had a problem with the buses at OKW. Both have nice pools. OKW has a laundry room in the apartment and SSR has a cupboard. Same equipment but less space.

Both are good for general availability but SSR is much bigger so is virtually always available.

[MinnieMommie]

AS you noted SSR has a longer contract but it would seem you could purchase the extension to OKW.

A couple of things. If you own at SSR you can use the tree houses which are a part of the SSR system.

Also, there are plans to add on a pool/eating area to the Carousel section of SSR. With that extension all areas if the SSR will have pools closely located. The planned extension is very nice.

People in general recommend to purchase where you want to stay. If you are able to plan your vacation at the 11 month window you will have a great chance of getting your home resort. :mickey:

[lovin'fl]

I reccommend purchasing whichever is cheaper. If price is very close, than go with SSR because the contract is longer. If you buy OKW with the extension, you'll pay more than you'd pay for SSR and it's not worth it. We have OKW and have stayed all over WDW. It is, for the most part, easy to book at 7 months out, so where you buy doesn't matter too much (may be hard, but not completely impossible, to get BCV during peak times). When we bought, we went with the cheapest WDW resort in the resale market and that was OKW. Now, you can find some great deals on SSR. And another thing to consider is the annual maintanance fees. SSR is lower than OKW. If I were to buy today, I'd buy SSR. BTW- we've stayed at SSR and OKW and they are both comparable(similar location and size resort- where OKW has larger rooms, SSR is new- our kids enjoyed both equally).

[Simba 1]

Thanks to all who responded to this post and a few others.

We heard from the TimeShare Store this morning that our offer was accepted on 310 points at Old Key West. We are thrilled (and maybe a little nervous too).

Next step - Disney's First Right of Refusal

Sprinkle some pixie dust our way. Hopefully we can take our first trip home next May.

:mickey:

[slheflin]

My $0.02 after the fact (lol). We've stayed at SSR twice - most recently last week - and my kids (18,10 & 8) LOVE the main pool! We've stayed in room 3511 in The Springs both times and really hate to stay anywhere else. The room is a ground floor, dedicated 2 bedroom, right across the parking lot from the pool. Our room faces the "courtyard" area of the building and also one of the "ponds". The bus stop is right outside the building and we've never had to wait longer than 10 minutes.

We purchased an additional 100 points at OKW while we were there last week.

Like I said, my post is a little late, but the nice thing about DVC is that you can stay anywhere you want regardless of where your "home" resort is :mickey: