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Hi Everyone: We own at SSR and AKV - Kidani. Both of which I LOVE! I'm taking a short trip alone the first week in September so I'd like to try something different this time...I'm a big photography buff. So I'm thinking Old Key West looks interesting. Never been there.
Thoughts, opinions, I wanna hear it! :D
Thanks.
That's my home resort. To date, I've stayed there on three occasions. The first time we stayed there was before we owned. We went for a quick weekend and were placed in a studio right across the street from a bus stop. It was quite some distance from hospitality house and we were quite bothered by bus noise - not only from the busses right across from our room but the bus route entailed traveling further up, making a u-turn and then making another pass right by our room. This bothered us more than the distance from Hospitality House (We live on a very quiet, dead end street so this type of traffic noise might not have been an issue for others.) At the end of that trip, we came away thinking we did not like this resort very much.
Despite this, we bought in the resale market with this as our home resort. Our first stay as owners occurred about 2-1/2 years ago. On that trip, my brother and his family joined us so we booked a 2 bedroom close by Hospitality House. The 2 bedroom unit was huge and perfect for an active 4 year old!!
Six months ago,we stayed in the same area close to Hospitality House but in a 1 bedroom unit. Since our unit was close to the entrance road, I was worried once again about bus noise but I didn't need to be.
Things we like about Old Key West:
* The large, spacious units
* Olivia's Cafe - it's nice to have a full service restaurant on-site.
* Boat to Downtown Disney
* The Gurgling Suitcase - charming place for a drink though it would be nice if it were a little larger
* The store is quite large and amply stocked
Things we don't like about Old Key West:
* Some of the units can get traffic noise (depending on where your unit is located)
* Busses make multiple stops throughout the resort which can be quite time consuming (again depending on where you unit is located)
The grounds at OKW are beautiful and the boat ride to DTD is very pleasant. You will have plenty to take pictures of. It is a very relaxing resort.
We are not DVC members but stayed at OKW with friends who were. This was before the refurb. We shared a 2 BR - the suite was very large (but largely unusable to us as her 2 teenagers spread out in the living room area). The grounds were huge and very spread out but nicely landscaped. We were near the hospitality house which is a very nice area, especially around the marina and pool. Overall, I liked it better than their room at BLT the next year - it was much more spacious, open, and airy.
My first DVC trip, I stayed at OKW... I can honestly say I liked it.. My friend didn't but he is another story.... Yea, he doesn't count LOL...
The resort is pretty spacious... Lots of greenery... I had a golf course view, and thought the view was just fine...
I think you'd really enjoy the resort...
Lat year we stayed at OKW and i must say i was pleasantly surprised.
Pros:
The rooms were very big, I really likes the boatride to DTD, alot of great views you normally dont see.
Olivia's is a great place- the breakfast is wonderful there.
The staff is very nice, overly pleasant, i guess the people staying there are alot more low key than other resorts.
Pool was better than I realized.
Kid activities were top notch
Counter service had a very good tuna sandwich.
Well decorated at night (lights)
Great gift shop
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Cons-
The buses were very slow. I ended up driving a few times to the parks, it was much more convienient.
Consierge desk was very clueless. We had some major issues with them being unexperienced.
Alot of bees near the soda machine. Actually tons of them- but they never bit anyone.
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But besides that, it was a great place and i would stay there again.
Great info - thank you all! :thumbsup: