For a location that combines the friendliness of a Disney Vacation Club site and the beauty of gracious Key West living, the Old Key West Resort is the choice to make. Themed in the soft pastels and meandering pathways reminiscent of southern Florida living at the turn of the century, Old Key West creates a sense of community in the ‘village’ layout of the buildings. Bus transportation makes several stops throughout the resort area, providing inter resort travel as well as transportation to and from all of the Disney parks. Amenities include:

• Four swimming pools; the main pool is themed and includes a hot tub
• Olivia’s full service restaurant, offering breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as a character breakfast with Winnie the Pooh on Sunday and Wednesday mornings.
• Boat transportation to and from Downtown Disney
• Counter service restaurant offering sandwiches and picnic fare
• Health club
• Basketball, volleyball, tennis, and shuffleboard courts
• Video arcade
• General Store with some food items as well incidentals
• Free washers and dryers for guests doing laundry

As a home-away-from-home resort, Old Key West offers fully stocked kitchens with one bedroom, two bedroom, or three bedroom options. The studios have small areas with a microwave, under the counter refrigerator, coffeemaker, and bar sink. Old Key West rooms sleep four in the studios and as many as eight in the three bedroom, Grand Villa. While there is no room service, the Old Key West Resort does have pizza delivery. For some, the rambling layout of the resort and the distance to various Disney activities makes this resort a prime candidate for using a car.

Unfounded8/28/2010 by Dvc nut
Okw is a fantastic resort. I don't know what medication that other reviewer was on - maybe it was another okw. Listen, I've been a member since 92 - not a fly by night stayer. Old Key West has the biggest rooms of all DVC hotels. The rooms just were updated. Great place for families. Stay there; you will not regret it. Read reviews by this author

The worst Disney resort!!6/3/2010 by Abigail
Where do I start!?? Well me and my family have been coming to Disney since I was a baby and now my husband and I bring our kids. We are DVC members so we like to try new resorts. I have to say that we've had better experiences at the value resorts than we did at OKW. THE ROOM: when we checked in, I asked the cast memer for a room on the 1st floor because of my kids and strollers. She assured me that it was "just 8 or 10 steps". It was a lot more than that!! That wasn't such a big deal. What was terrible was the smell coming out of the food disposal. It was horrid. We noticed the smell the second day of our stay. We couldn't even use the kitchen sink. The shower had mildew on the walls and in the corners. As if it hadn't been cleaned properly in a very long time. The closet by the front door had dead bugs in it. And there must have been more than 30 tiny spiders and webs by the wall by the front door on the outside. To top it off the furniture could use an update. I have never felt more uncomfortable and scared to sit on the couches and to touch anything in the room. THE BUS STOP: The only complaint we had was the wait for Hollywood studios. We waited for 50 minutes! And we missed our reservations for dinner. A couple we met on that same bus said they were there for over an hour waiting. Other than that one time, everything was pretty much ok I guess. All in all, I wouldn't ever stay at OKW again. It was a horrible experience and couldn't wait to get out of there!!Read reviews by this author

Old Key West, our second home!7/25/2006 by Mcmillanmom

We love Disney's Old Key West. We started going there shortly after it opened. We then got swayed by the BoardWalk and the Yacht and Beach club while my dear Grandmother was alive. She could only stay out in the parks so long and loved to sit on the balcony of the BoardWalk and watch the "young folks" having fun.

The year she passed on, we needed peace. We needed quiet and went back to OKW. While we love the splashy theming of the other Disney resorts, we are a work hard, pray hard kind of family and just once a year, we like to simply relax. OKW has that easy-going island vibe. It's tucked away from the rest of the world on a nice section between Downtown Disney and the BoardWalk area. If Bob Marley was a Disney fan, I think he and his family would stay here. It's very family oriented and secluded. You are away from the hustle and bustle of the crowds. It's like your own private retreat.

A few times, we have been in a condo that has had spectacular views of the Epcot fireworks each night. A special treat for the princess. We don't much care for cuisine at the resort's restaurant, "Olivia's" but now it's a family tradition to eat there the first night upon arrival. I think tradition is a good word to describe OKW. We always meet families who have been going for years, know the ins and outs, pros and cons and still love the resort like us. The new water slide is an "awesome" addition(my six year old's word not mine).

I think the villas are due for a soft rehab; they are getting a bit worn, but the salmon and teal decor is still bright and cheery. It's an Audubon reserve, so we always buy extra bags of bread for a fun and inexpensive diversion. For us, the two bedroom is perfect for our multi-generational family.

We hope to save our $$$ and become DVC members someday. If you are looking for the "quieter side of Disney." Then try Old Key West. You won't be dissappointed.

Correction
7/25/2003 by Ahnalira
Oopsies.... CORRECTION follows; >)

Actually, the 2 bedroom villa will sleep 8 plus one infant. The grand villa will sleep 12 plus one infant.Read reviews by this author

Our stay at Key West
3/20/2003 by Christie
Our family spent 3nts at this home away from home in 2000. It was fabulous. We stayed a short distance from a quieter pool, but no problem. We rented a 1BR. Lots of room! The bathroom holds a whirlpool big enough for everybody. The kids were impressed. We really liked the screened porch over looking a small pond with a fountain. The buildings are painted pretty colors, and really had the Key West feel. I highly recommend this resort. Read reviews by this author

Lovely OKW
11/6/2002 by Lisa Heckler
The Room:
We stayed in the Turtle Pond area, room 3720 (studio). It was positively PRISTINE! The walls looked freshly painted, the bedspreads looked brand new. The fridge was a bit "well loved" but the toaster and coffeemaker looked brand new as well. Im so glad that someone warned me about the peep hole because on that first night I was sure I was staring into the Vikings Eye in Maelstrom. One super-sized band-aid and I was out of the spotlight for the rest of the trip.

Also we noticed on more than one day they appeared to be swapping out beds and couches in the buildings across from us. One morning a CM came by to install new wooden blinds in our room. (Of course they waited for us to leave for the day)

My only complaint about the room was the really teeny counter space and the small cabinet that we could barely reach (Neither of us are taller than 54"). We dont do any "real" cooking in the room, but we do enjoy having our coffee/cereal/English Muffins in the morning and the teeny counter had us bumping into each other at morningtime.

The Location:
We made no requests when we made our ressies so I was pleasantly surprised when, at check-in, the CM pulled out a map and asked if there was any area in particular that we wented to stay (and this at about 3pm on a Saturday). We requested some kind of water view close to a bus stop. She said it was a fairway view (but when we arrived we found it was near a water hazard that the ducks liked to hang out in so we were very happy) but it was only 2 buildings away from the bus stop and our room was on the second floor. Our view was obstructed a bit by trees, but we could still enjoy what view we had and there was a fountain in the water hazard which gave us the soothing sound of running water.

The Buses:
As mentioned above -- No Complaints Whatsoever!! The longest we waited was 15 minutes and we only had a really crowded bus once (and this was after Illuminations).

Olivias:
We at dinner there twice and were very pleased both times. The service was good on our first visit and Exceptional on our second visit. The food was great on both visits. The Buttermilk Chicken is To Die For, imho. Also, one night I ordered the special which was roasted salmon with a mushroom sauce wrapped in flaky pastry dough sitting on a cream sauce with julienned veggies. It was quite possibly my favorite meal in all of Disney (and Im including the Cruise here, too). Theming:
Im so glad that we visited Key West, FL before visiting Old Key West!! First of all, I might have expected KW, FL to be as pristine and manicured as OKW and I would have been disappointed. After visiting KW, FL and learning about some of its history, the little touches around the resort had more meaning for us. For example: In Olivias there was a sign that said "Sunset In Mallory Square - 5:34" The number looked as if they could be changed. Knowing what an EVENT sunset is in KW, FL the sign was more than just something pretty on the wall. There were also lots of shipwreck-type objects here and there and "Papas Den" was the Resort Lobby and was definitely "Hemmingway-esque".

And speaking of Sunsets.....we witnessed some of the most glorious ones here. Did they plan that, too??? General Comments:
We werent very conveniently located to visit the Hospitality House easily. It was either a long walk or we would wait for a bus. This is when we wished we had rented a car but otherwise we were fine. The Hospitality House has a bit less "going on" in it than many other resorts, though, so we didnt feel a strong pull to stop there EVERY day. The shop is pretty small and Goods To Go, while very good, didnt have a huge selection. We did find out, though sadly it was our last day, that you could order from Olivias menu and Carry-Out from Goods.

This resort is lush and quiet and beautiful and friendly and we absolutely loved it. We will definitely be staying again but NEXT time we will definitely splurge on the 1BR for the extra kitchen amenities and well rent a car. Read reviews by this author

Old Key West Review
7/13/2002 by Dorothy Timm
We stayed here after 5 nights at the Wilderness Lodge Villas. As new DVC members, we just asked member services to book our last night at a different resort so that we could try them all. Well, Old Key West quickly became our favorite. If you have a rental car, as we did, its so convenient to be able to park right by your unit. The studios seemed so much roomier, and we had the full size coffee-maker! Although there was a family next door, we rarely heard them, and the way the buildings are set up, no one went by our door (only 2 units on our floor) so we didnt get the constant "hall noise" wed gotten at Villas at Wilderness Lodge. Cast Members seemed so much friendlier than our previous experience. My husband has a high pressure job, doesnt relax easily, and here he finally relaxed. As we left, he firmly said "THIS is where I want to come next year!"Read reviews by this author

Old Key West studios = B-
3/3/2002 by Susan Brown
We extended our vacation by 2 extra days and needed a place to stay because our villa at the Wilderness Lodge was booked so we stayed in a studio at Old Key West. I was not impressed! We stayed almost at the very end of the complex (with no rental car!), a block away from the community pool, on the bus turnaround loop with brakes squealing until 2am, and with a connecting door that allowed us to hear EVERYTHING that was said between the family members next door! Very disappointed with the overall experience, although people were friendly and the staff was accomodating, I am not sure I would stay there again for the same money as one of the other resorts for a comparable room!Read reviews by this author

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