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Join me for a photo tour of the Old Key West Resort!  Old Key West Resort opened in 1992 as The Vacation Club Resort.  Since then, the Disney Vacation Club (DVC) has grown to include resorts in Vero Beach, Florida, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and several Walt Disney World locations including the Boardwalk Villas, Villas at Wilderness Lodge, and the Villas at the Beach Club Resort, and two new Walt Disney Resorts currently under construction.  Old Key West Resort was renamed in 1995.

Here's a picture of the main resort area at the resort, Turtle Krawl.  Turtle Krawl is the location of the resort's main facilities.

Here's an interior shot of Hospitality House which contains the front desk and guest services.  This picture was taken mid-afternoon, right when a bunch of people were trying to check-in.  Generally, this room is much less busy.

Hospitality House's check in area.

At the far end of Hospitality House is Papa's Den.  This is a relatively quiet place where you can just grab a book and sit for awhile.  Note the marlin over the fireplace mantel.

Papa's Den, named after Earnest Hemingway.

Old Key West is themed to be Conch Flats, a well-maintained part of Key West.  Here is the Conch Flats General Store.  It's smaller than many resort stores at WDW, but since Old Key West Resort is a smaller resort than most (with only about 700 rooms), it's appropriate.  The store sells logo merchandise as well as some grossly overpriced grocery items.  Even Goodings, a couple of miles to the northeast, is less pricey.  However, the General Store is convenient if you just need something to tide you over for a few days.

Conch Flats General Store.

Here's a nice picture along Turtle Krawl.  Olivia's Cafe is to the left, the marina (out of the picture), to the right.  The Gurgling Suitcase and Goods Food To Go are roughly centered in the picture.

By the way, Turtle Krawl's marina is located on Trumbo Canal which, in turn, connects to the Sassagoula River... the waterway that connects Port Orleans Riverside, Port Orleans French Quarter, the Disney Institute, and Downtown Disney.  An afternoon on the water can provide some great sightseeing!  

A close up of Turtle Krawl.

Just inside at Olivia's, is an interesting thing... this "Family Album" with many, many pictures of families of DVC members.  This is a strong reminder that Old Key West is primarily a membership resort, although rooms are available on a cash basis.

The Disney Vacation Club family album wall at Olivia's.

This view of Olivia's is classic.  Clearly, the atmosphere is anything but formal.  This is a great place for a relaxing meal... and also the location of a very popular character breakfast with Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends on select days of the week.

Oliva's Cafe.

Just as a reminder, MousePlanet's Walt Disney World Restaurant Resource has information, descriptions, and guest-submitted reviews of Olivia's!

Good's is a much simpler counter service venue serving sandwiches and snacks.  It's busiest during the early afternoon with the pool crowd.

Good's Food to Go is a counter service snack shop.

The Gurgling Suitcase is the resort's walk up bar.  This is very much in style with the local bars at Key West, down south.

The Gurgling Suitcase.

Across from Olivia's, Good's, and the Suitcase is the main pool area.  It's not a strongly themed pool, like some at WDW, but it's good sized and well maintained.  Frankly, I'd personally say that it's less fancy than Doubloon Lagoon (at Port Orleans) and far less extravagant than Stormalong Bay (at the Yacht & Beach Club Resorts), but is easily on a par with the pool at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and is nicer than the very simple pool at the Contemporary.

Old Key West Resort's main pool.

The lighthouse contains a sauna for guests to enjoy (photo by Sue Holland).

The dolphin fountain is a nice addition (photo by Sue Holland).

The main pool area also has a small kiddie pool and a playground area with a lot of sand for the little ones to enjoy.

Sand play area adjacent to the kiddie pool (photo by Sue Holland).

Not shown in these pictures is the resort's exercise room, the Electric Eel Arcade, the marina, the tennis and shuffleboard courts, and beach volleyball are also available for resort guests.

I'll just share some pictures here that Sue Holland took of the marina and the boats that you can enjoy on the waterways of Old Key West Resort.

Pedal boats can be rented by the hour (photo by Sue Holland).

As can these small canopy boats (photo by Sue Holland).

Large pontoon boats can be rented as well, but the Disney folks also run a regular transport service, called the Trumbo Ferry. The ferry takes passengers down Trumbo Canal which connects up to the Sassagoula River (which is run past the Port Orleans Resorts) and down beyond the site of the Disney Institute's tree house villas (soon to be Saratoga Springs Resort) to Downtown Disney located on Buena Vista Lagoon.

The Trumbo Ferry (photo by Sue Holland).

Here's a picture of buildings 18, 17, and 16 (from left to right) across the fountain basin.  At the far side of the water is the fairway and green of one of the Lake Buena Vista Golf Club holes that wind their way throughout the resort.  Several of the resort rooms have golf-side views.  The Lake Buena Vista Golf Club is one of the venues of the annual PGA golf classic at WDW.

Resort buildings across the fountain basin.

Here's a typical building exterior.  This one is part of building 47, which just happened to be a convenient building for me to take a picture of since we stayed in building 48, right next door, on our last trip. 

Exterior view of building 47.

Here are some pictures of the interior of these wonderful rooms at the resort. We'll start off with the dining room and kitchen area.

The dining area in the one- and two-bedroom vacation homes.

Panning right, here is the view of the living room area.  The couch is a pull-out queen sleeper.  The counter top at the extreme left (hard to see in this washed-out picture) is the 32" television.

The one- and two-bedroom vacation home living room.

Ah, much better... the cabinet I was just talking about is the kitchen island with the green tile top.  The doors on the living room side are closed, but the TV and VCR are inside.  The kitchen comes equipped with a full-sized refrigerator (with an ice maker), stove, dishwasher, microwave, and all the minor appliances, too.  Pots and pans, utensils, dishes and silverware are also provided.

The kitchen in the one- and two-bedroom vacation homes.

Just around the corner, in the one- and two-bedroom units, is a full-sized laundry.  This is very convenient for longer visits.

The one- and two-bedroom vacation homes each have a complete laundry.

Straight through that door in the back is the master bathroom.  It's equipped with a sink, toilet, and shower -- and plenty of counter space.

The master bathroom in the one- and two-bedroom vacation homes.

Walking from that bathroom into the master suite, you'll find another sink and a very nice-sized hot tub.

Another view of the master bathroom in the one- and two-bedroom vacation homes.

And then, finally, the master bedroom proper.  It has a king-sized bed, chair and ottoman, bed stands and lights, and another large TV (only 27" this time, if I remember correctly.)  One of my favorite features of all of the bedrooms at the resort is that wonderful ceiling fan.

The master bedroom in the one- and two-bedroom vacation homes.

A two-bedroom vacation home also has a second bedroom with it's own bath.  The second room has two queen-sized beds and yet another TV.

A studio vacation home is essentially this second bedroom layout, with a separate door to the exterior.  In fact, in that first picture below, you can see a closet across from the left-most bed.  The wall to the left of that closet is where the exterior door would be in a studio.  A studio, unlike this two-bedroom setup, would also have a small refrigerator, wet bar, and microwave in the hallway back toward the bathroom. 

The studios and the second bedroom in the two-bedroom vacation homes are very similar.

Here's the bathroom setup for a studio or second bedroom.  It's pretty simple, with a sink, toilet, and tub/shower combination.  The full-sized mirror on the back of the door is a nice feature, too.

The studio bathroom (again, the second bedroom of a two-bedroom vacation home has this kind of bath, too).

Old Key West Resort also has some three-bedroom vacation homes.  They have a very different layout -- with two of those "second bedrooms" upstairs and the kitchen, living room, and main bedroom downstairs.  They're very nice if you have a very large group.

Scattered around the resort, in addition to the main pool, are three "quiet" pools.  This one, in between buildings 41 and 42, is unique because it also has Turtle Shack Snack Shop adjacent to it.  The quiet pool by buildings 55 and 56 has a nice view of the Trumbo Canal, and the quiet pool on Millers Road, between buildings 19 and 20 is probably the least busy of the bunch. 

The quiet pool by turtle pond.

Here's a shot of Turtle Shack, which is a nice perk for the folks living along Old Turtle Pond Road.

Turtle Shack.

Click here to return to the Old Key West Resort "Fast Facts" Page.

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