OKW 1BR or Villa at WL?

[rjacobs]

Looking to go in December with wife and three children (9,6,4). Curious as to the comparison of these two sites, selected room accomodations, transportation, "magic", pools, and anything else you can think of to help us make a decision.

 

[MulanMom]

Let me start off by saying I'm a DVC member and have stayed at OKW for years, so I may be a little biased. However, this past Oct., we stayed in a 2 bedroom at VWL. Though I like the theming of the WL and the boat ride to MK, I really missed the space of an OKW villa. If you are looking at using a car and hauling your own groceries to your room, you'll be surprised at the walk you have at WL. Or you can have bell services take them to your room. The luggage dollies cannot be used by anyone other than bell services.

The VWL is beautiful and quiet. We had a woods view on the pool side of the building. The balconies are tiny and you get two separate ones for most 2br villas. The furnishings are all high quality. The 2nd bedroom was very nice and the vanity area was huge! (We had a dedicated 2br unit.) The VWL quiet pool is enjoyable, but the main WL pool area is stunning.

OKW has a much different feel to it. I like being able to park outside our building. Though the pool areas aren't flashy, I like the lushness surrounding the main pool and the toddler pool being adjacent to the playground area. As for transportation, though an OKW bus to MK isn't as exciting as a VWL boat ride, it can take about the same amount of time.

I guess you'll just have to determine what's important to you at this time and make your decision based on that. You'll probably get lots of people extolling the virtues of ones over the other. (I follow DVC boards and one resort vs. another sparks a lively exchange of messages!) Whichever one you decide on will be sure to please!

Sharon

 

[Samsma]

Hi,

We are not vacation club members, but did stay for 7 nights at OKW last June. The room was excellent, it was great to be able to lay around the room and relax without being on top of each other. I'll never do another week in a cramped room, definitely worth the extra money. We also liked the parking right outside the room, although we never got in the car once. We specified a ground floor, so we didn't even have to drag stuff up the steps. The only thing we didn't care for was the distance to the pools. We didn't even get in one time the whole week we were there. It was just too much trouble to make the trip just to swim. My kids were in the awesome tub a lot though. And the pools were nothing that fancy. Have fun! We'll probably do the Wilderness Lodge next time, just to be different. But I'm sure either one will be wonderful!! Have fun.

 

[robinb]

rjacobs,

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but occupancy limits for a 1 bedroom villa at OKW or VWL is 4 people + 1 infant under 3. Your family of 5 is over the limit .

 

[Ken the Retired Cop]

Per Member's Services DIRECTLY, there is NO PROBLEM with 5 in a 1br - they just tell you that they will not provide bedding for the 5th person (i.e., there's the sofa and the king bed in the main bedroom). We all know there's room for everyone!!

** This was per "Romy" at MS and she well knew that the 5th person was NOT an infant.**

Choose OKW - you won't be disappointed! My daughter stayed there and fell in love with the place and we've seen pictures and video and it's awesome!

We are going there this September for almost 2 weeks! Can't wait!.

 

[^^^ SnowBunny ^^^]

Choose OKW. The resort is gorgeous, the rooms are HUGE. WL is pretty - but the rooms are tiny. Literally tiny compared to OKW. Of course the WL rooms are bigger than the hotel rooms, but they don't even compare to the luxury and spaciousness of OKW. Plus if you have a car it's awesome to park outside your building.

Re the 5 in the room, that is bogus! Of course you can have 5 in a room, as Ken Retired Cop said, they won't provide bedding, but you can definitely have that many in the room. No firecodes or rules broken there.

Why even at a regular resort like Y&B club you can have 5 in the room and those rooms are just that a "room" not a deluxe 1br condo unit.

 

[DeeP]

I am a DVC member and I like all the DVC resorts but there are definitely differences between them all.
The villas at OKW are the biggest of all the DVC resorts and they are very nice. The WLV are also very nice but are a good deal smaller than a OKW villa.
However, I would suggest going to WLV because in Dec WL will be decorated beautifully for the holidays. Much nicer than OKW.
With young children you will probably spend alot of time at MK and transportation from WLV to MK is a breeze.
The pools at WL & WLV are much nicer than OKW.
The transportation from WLV is much better than OKW.
If you are taking your own car then the transportation will not be an issue.
I like OKW but for the time of year you are going, WL & WLV are simply beautiful.

 

[robinb]

Re the 5 in the room, that is bogus! Of course you can have 5 in a room, as Ken Retired Cop said, they won't provide bedding, but you can definitely have that many in the room. No firecodes or rules broken there.

Well ... the "5 to a Room" topic over on the DVC board is such a hot topic it's been banned ! And yes you are breaking the rules. DVC specifically says the limit is 4 people, or 5 if one of them is under 3. If you have 5 people over 3 in a studio or 1 BR you are breaking the rules. I have no idea if it's a firecode problem or not, but it may be since there is only bedding for 4 people in each unit.

Why even at a regular resort like Y&B club you can have 5 in the room and those rooms are just that a "room" not a deluxe 1br condo unit.

Because certain deluxe resorts have additional bedding for the 5th person. FWIW, some studios at BWV allow 5 to a room because they also have a day bed in addition to the regular bed and the fold out couch.

 

[rjacobs]

Well, as it turns out, they will not let me stay in a 1BR Villa at WL with 3 kids either! Oh well, thanks for all your responses, just booked a Deluxe at WL 9/28-10/5.

 

[Deb & Bill]

BWVillas, Villas at WL, and OKW are all DVC resorts. 1 bedrooms are limited to 4 plus one child under 3.