October 1997

Our Honeymoon stay at Old Key West

Our first experience staying at Old Key West was during our honeymoon in October 1997. As you will read in other parts of this web page, we had planned our honeymoon and the purchase of DVC in conjunction with each other. Having over 300 points available when our Use Year began August 1997 made it very easy (and attractive) to plan a LONG trip to OKW. This also gave us the advantage of being able to stay for nine nights in the 1-Bedroom. To complete our perfect Disney honeymoon, we spent the last three four days `veggin out’ at Vero Beach in a "Deluxe Inn Room" with a beautiful view of the ocean.

We arrived on Sunday afternoon and checked in right away. We had a second floor "Vacation Home" in building 56. The close proximity of the homes to the parking area makes it very easy to load and unload (as compared to BoardWalk). We had rented a Pontiac Sunbird from National. A couple of weeks prior to departing for our trip, we began reading on the newsgroups of the problems many folks had encountered with the off-airport rental car companies. We had heard horror stories of wait times for the buses to take you out to the rental counters and then the wait on lines once there. Many folks had suggested National as the best choice. For this trip, they worked out very well. We used the divide and conquer theory! While Karen waited for the luggage, Stephen bee-lined it to the rental counter. It was a relatively off time and there was no one at the counter. We had the car and luggage at the same time and were in the car and driving away within 12 minutes of landing! It was a nice way to start things off.

We had heard many good things about Old Key West but they did not begin to tell the full story of the charm and warmth as well as the "homeyness" that old Key West has. Our "Vacation Home" far exceeded our expectations in size, decor, and welcomeness, as well as in the conveniences in the room. It truly felt like a "Home away from home" (although at times we wished our home was as nice). After checking in and settling in a bit, we made a trip to the local Publix (for directions, click here).

After putting the food items away, we began getting ready for our big dinner. To commemorate the first night of our honeymoon and to treat ourselves to something special, we splurged on dinner at Victoria and Albert’s. It was quite memorable. Located in the Grand Floridian, Walt Disney World Resort’s Flagship hotel, Victoria and Albert’s is a five-star restaurant in every way! It would be hard to just say you "had dinner" at V&A. we think that it would be more appropriate to call is a "Dinning experience"!!

One of the advantages to being in a 1-bedroom vacation home is the convenience of having a full kitchen. Although it seems odd to be excited about this during our honeymoon, it allowed us to enjoy several romantic dinners at `home’ complete with wine and the Jacuzzi! Having just completed months and months of preparation for the wedding, spending time alone without the phone ringing was HEAVEN! Another advantage to a 1-bedroom vacation home is the washer and dryer. Not fully realizing the convenience of this item, we brought TONS of clothing (we were going to be away from home for 12 days). Our next trip in a 1-bedroom vacation home, we will know better not to bring so much with us and to take advantage of being able to quickly wash and dry our clothes.

We were very fortunate to have a honeymoon that lasted as long as this. In each of our prior visits to the "World", our stays had been anywhere from 3-5 days. Each time we had the feeling that we were rats in a maze desperately trying to reach the goal (to "see it all"), all that WDW had to offer. As anyone who has been there knows, this is impossible. So, each of our previous trips, we seemed to come home more exhausted than before we left. This trip was significantly different. Besides being our honeymoon, this was a different vacation because it was 11 days!

We followed a very loose schedule. Again, the kitchen came in handy. Most mornings we leisurely arose and fixed breakfast. We really loved the balcony to have our morning meal and coffee. Afterwards we would leisurely head to the parks. The ample amount of time allowed us to see many sites both at the parks as well as the resorts that we had always wanted to see but never had the time. Yet still have plenty of time to relax and take it easy.

Many evenings we would stop at Hank’s and take a movie back to the room and cook up some popcorn. Another advantage of the 1-bedroom is the 27-inch TV and VCR.

This was our first trip to OKW, having only stayed at Vero Beach prior to this time. We really enjoyed the pastel hues and décor of both the outside as well as the inside of the homes. Having purchased DVC through re-sale we had the added advantage of having passes with our points. This was a great savings as well as adding to our feeling of relaxation. Having the feeling of the passes as being "free", we did not feel the urge to run all day long and "get our money’s worth".

We tried to do some of things that we had never gotten a chance to do before. For instance, we had lunch at Cinderella’ Royal Table. We had told them that it was our honeymoon and they made us stand up, and made the "Royal Proclamation" of the "Royal Honeymoon" to the whole restaurant. It was really neat to be there and to especially get our picture taken with Cinderella considering that our wedding had a Cinderella theme.

In addition to this, we also did things like ride the monorail, with nowhere to go. Visit some of the resorts just to look at them!!!!! Some of the other romantic things included our time in EPCOT for Illuminations. We tried to avoid the crowds by finding an `out of the way spot’ to view the show. One night we leisurely sat in Norway and had dessert and watched from a distance. After the show, as people left the show and headed for the exits, we allowed them all to herd their way out. Music is still playing and the atmosphere is still very upbeat. After most of the people had filtered out, we leisurely walked around the lake and (the opposite way from the crowds) towards the exit through the International Gateway (behind the France Pavilion). We would continue walking along Crescent Lake's beach and then enjoy Boardwalk.

Another fun, romantic thing that we did was to explore and enjoy the tropical paradise of the Polynesian as well as the grandeur of the Grand Floridian and the romantic notions of the Wedding Pavilion. We found a visit to the Polynesian in the evening with a through the lush grounds very romantic. Flaming tiki torches light the way across the paths that were edged with Hawaiian lilies and palm trees. As in most Disney spots, soft Polynesian music played in the background. After enjoying the Polynesian, we would leisurely stroll along the "Walk around the world" that stretches all around Bay lake. and make our way over to the Wedding Pavilion. Here we would relax in one of the swings or hammocks. From this vantage point, we could watch parts of the Electric Water Parade!

After checking out of OKW on day 9 of our honeymoon, we traveled to the Vero Beach resort. Having stayed here on two previous occasions in the 1-bedroom, we were looking forward to our stay in the Deluxe Inn Room. We checked into a third floor room that had a spectacular view of the ocean. Each morning, as in OKW, we would have our coffee out on the balcony. Unfortunately we never got a chance to swim in the ocean, as there was an "epidemic" of tar washing up on shore making it unusable.

The next three days we spent most of our time at VB by the pool. VB is a WONDERFUL place to relax in. The resort is relatively isolated. It is much removed from other buildings and people. There are many organized activities to participate in. As well, you can do NOTHING at all and still have a great time.

Many of the amenities and activities are described in one of our past VB reports, You can find them by clicking here!

For the first night at the resort we decided to be adventurous and go looking for someplace OFF property to have dinner. We had a recommendation for a restaurant not too far away that we had gotten from one of the DVC info people stationed at the Beach Club. It was a nice little restaurant, the food was great and the price was very reasonable. But, we both felt that leaving that leaving the resort took away from the magic we had been enveloped in for the past 10 days. So, even though we had very few choices, we decided to eat our dinners at either Sonya’s or Shutters.

One of the evenings we ventured to the Green Cabin Room. We had visited there before on our July `97 trip and, unfortunately, weren’t impressed by either the entertainment or by the service. This time wasn’t any different. It seemed to take a long while for the waitress to take our orders and the same gentleman was singing the same songs. So, we stayed for only a short time. It’s a shame that the only night-time adult entertainment on the resort isn't a little better.

After three days at VB, we got everything packed up and headed to the airport. We got back the WDW area a little earlier than expected so we stopped at the MarketPlace for one last trip. Of course we couldn’t leave without buying something!!

All in all, our DVC honeymoon was a wonderful vacation that was very relaxing. We got to do a lot of Disney things that we hadn’t before and everything we did was at a relaxed pace.

If you have any OKW experiences to add, please email us and we would be happy to add them to the site.