Disney's Old Key West Resort
Disney's Old Key West Resort was the first Disney Vacation Club resort, opened in 1991 and themed on the old Florida Keys. Low pastel villa buildings spread across a large, green, low-rise site around the canals and a golf course. A boat runs from the resort marina to Disney Springs, and buses reach the four parks.
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Is it worth it?
The first Disney Vacation Club resort, best for families who want a villa with a kitchen and their own laundry, a quiet low-rise place to stay and the boat to Disney Springs, and don't mind a large site with longer walks in return for the space.
Old Key West opened in 1991 as Disney's first Disney Vacation Club resort, and it still feels like the original, with low pastel buildings themed on the old Florida Keys, spread across roughly 156 acres of canals, palms and golf fairways. It's a Deluxe Villas resort, so instead of hotel rooms you book studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom villas, most with a kitchen and their own laundry. With a kitchen you can have breakfast in the villa and cut the expensive park meals.
It's a quiet resort rather than a thrill one. The Sandcastle Pool has a slide and a sand-play area, and the theming is understated next to the newer resorts. Villas are being refurbished through 2026 and into 2027, so a freshly done room can't be promised at booking.
Best for
Families who want a villa with a kitchen and its own laundry, a quiet low-rise resort and the boat to Disney Springs.
The space and the villa size
The one- and two-bedroom villas are the largest of any Disney Vacation Club resort, and every studio has two real queen beds, so nobody sleeps on a sofa bed.
Boat to Disney Springs
Old Key West and neighbouring Saratoga Springs are the only two resorts with a direct boat to Disney Springs, an easy evening out with no park ticket.
The price
Old Key West has the lowest points chart of any Walt Disney World Disney Vacation Club resort, and often the deepest cash discounts in its tier.
Which area to ask for
Request Near Hospitality House for the shortest walk to the pool, dining and boat. Ask for a ground-floor villa or buildings 62 to 64 if you have a pram, since most buildings have no lift.
The spread-out site
The resort covers a lot of ground and the park bus runs an internal loop of stops before it leaves, so allow extra time for a day out.
Where is it?
In the Disney Springs Resort Area, on the waterway to Disney Springs, next to Saratoga Springs. Buses reach the four parks; there's no monorail or Skyliner.
Quick facts for UK families
A Florida Keys village around the canals
Low pastel villa buildings themed on the old Florida Keys, set around the Trumbo Canal and a golf course.
Old Key West opened in December 1991 as Disney's first Disney Vacation Club resort, and was renamed from Disney's Vacation Club Resort in 1996 once other DVC locations opened. It's built as an imagined early-1900s Keys town called Conch Flats, with two- and three-storey pastel buildings raised on piers, tin roofs, white verandas and picket fences, set among mature palms and bougainvillea that have had more than thirty years to fill in. You arrive over a bridge, and check-in is styled as an old railway depot. The whole place is low-rise and low-density, with the Lake Buena Vista golf course running straight through the grounds between the villa clusters.
Details to spotPapa's Den and the Hidden Mickeys
Just off check-in, Papa's Den is a small lounge themed on Ernest Hemingway, who lived in Key West, with fishing and writing touches around the fireplace; it's also where the free guided walking tour meets. Around the grounds there's a lot for a detail-minded child to hunt: Hidden Mickeys tucked into the building lattice and railings, the waterslide exit and the villa rugs, plus the DVC Family Tree planted by the Sandcastle Pool when the resort opened in 1991. On a resort sold on its theming, that's a free way to fill an hour with slightly older children, and small ones enjoy being the one to point one out.
Room to spread outThe villas are apartments, not hotel rooms
Old Key West suits a baby or toddler because of the space. There's room for a cot, a high chair, a pram and everyone's things without living on top of each other, and it's quieter and less crowded than the monorail hotels.
Which part of the resort to request
Two booking areas, one a short walk from everything and one spread around the edges, plus a few building numbers worth knowing with a pram.
Old Key West books into two categories that cost the same: Near Hospitality House, the cluster around the main pool, dining and boat dock, and Standard, meaning anywhere else on the site. Near Hospitality House is worth putting on your booking if you're not driving or you have young children, because the pool, Olivia's, Good's, the boat and the first bus stop are all a short walk away. The outlying villages, along Old Turtle Pond Road, Miller's Road, South Point Road and Peninsular Road, are quieter and several have their own leisure pool, but they're a longer walk or a bus ride from the main hub.
The requests that matter with a pramGround floor, or a building with a lift
Only three buildings, 62, 63 and 64, have lifts; the rest are stairs to the upper floors, so a pram on an upper floor means carrying it up and down after every park day. The single most useful request for a family with a pushchair is a ground-floor villa, which has a level patio and no steps, or one of those lift buildings. A few studios in buildings 35 and 38 have no window and are reached only from the balcony, so ask about natural light if that matters, and buildings 45 and 46 have the best canal views. Rooms are allocated before you arrive, so put your request on the booking and mention it again at check-in, though a specific room is never guaranteed.
The rooms
Studios that sleep four, and one- and two-bedroom villas with a full kitchen and their own laundry.
Old Key West has 761 villas in four types. The studio is the smallest and works like a large hotel room with a kitchenette; from the one-bedroom up you get a full kitchen, an in-villa washer and dryer and a separate bedroom. Every studio has two proper queen beds instead of the usual queen and sofa bed, which Disney has confirmed won't change in the current refurbishment, so two adults and one or two children all sleep in a real bed. A travel cot is already in the villa closet, and one baby under three can use it on top of the numbers below. Every villa also has a wall safe, a hairdryer, an iron, complimentary Wi-Fi and the "Hey Disney!" voice assistant, which can order extra towels, answer park questions or play along with a child. Sizes are approximate, from Disney Vacation Club measurements.
| Villa | Size | Sleeps | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deluxe Studio | About 380 sq ft (35 m²) | 4 | Two queen beds, the only DVC studio with two real beds rather than a queen and a sofa bed. A kitchenette with a small fridge, microwave and coffee maker, one bathroom and no in-villa laundry. A private balcony or patio. |
| One-Bedroom Villa | About 940 to 1,005 sq ft (87 to 93 m²) | 5 | The largest one-bedroom villa of any DVC resort. A king bed plus a sofa bed and a sleeper chair, a full kitchen, an in-villa washer and dryer, a separate bedroom and a split bathroom with two sinks. |
| Two-Bedroom Villa | About 1,395 sq ft (130 m²) | 9 | The largest two-bedroom villa of any DVC resort. A king, two queens and a sofa bed and sleeper chair, two full bathrooms, a full kitchen and laundry. Sold as a dedicated villa or a lock-off studio joined to a one-bedroom. |
| Three-Bedroom Grand Villa | About 2,375 sq ft (221 m²) | 12 | A two-storey villa with three bedrooms, three or more bathrooms, a full kitchen and a dining table for eight. Only 27 of them, so they book far ahead. |
Sizes are approximate, from Disney Vacation Club figures. The travel cot in the villa closet is free and takes one baby under three, on top of the occupancy shown.
Which villa suits a family
For one or two young children, the studio and the one-bedroom are the two to weigh. The studio is the cheapest, but it has only a kitchenette and no in-villa laundry, so you'd use the coin laundry by the pool. The one-bedroom costs more and adds a separate bedroom with a door, which is what makes naps and an early bedtime workable while you're still up. The two-bedroom and the Grand Villa are for larger or multi-generational groups travelling together, with room for grandparents and children under one roof. All types are sold on cash or DVC points, and UK families can also rent points through a broker.
The restaurants
One table-service café, a pool counter, a tiny bar and a seasonal snack shack, kept deliberately light because most villas have a kitchen.
On-site dining is small for a resort this size, which suits the self-catering setup, so most families cook some meals in the villa and eat out for the rest. Everything sits around the Hospitality House by the main pool and marina, so from an outlying village it's a walk or a bus ride to a sit-down meal. The Conch Flats General Store across from the lobby stocks groceries to fill the kitchen.
The only table serviceOlivia's Café
Olivia's Café is the resort's only table-service restaurant, a mid-sized casual room with a covered patio over the marina, serving an all-day brunch and a dinner of Key West and Floridian home cooking. The dish most tied to the resort is the shrimp fritters with a Key Lime-Mustard dip, sweet cornbread fritters that took over from the original conch ones in 2022, and the pudding it's best known for is the Bananas Foster sundae, warm banana bread with caramelised banana and ice cream. Reviewers rate it as one of the more relaxed and easily booked table-service restaurants on Disney property, and it takes walk-ups on a waitlist as well as reservations up to 60 days ahead. High chairs are provided, and the children's menu covers plain favourites. The build-your-own ice cream sundae, where a child assembles their own toppings, keeps a toddler busy while you finish, and some visits bring an "I Spy" card too, a hunt for hidden details around the room for a small prize, run when the restaurant has the staff for it. There's a dedicated allergy menu and a separate fryer for allergy-safe food, and you can order almost the whole menu to take away.
The pool counter and the barGood's Food To Go and the Gurgling Suitcase
Good's Food To Go is the counter by the Sandcastle Pool for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's the picky-eater standby, with Mickey waffles, burgers, chicken strips and mac and cheese, and it makes the Key Lime Dole Whip, a key lime soft-serve sold nowhere else at Walt Disney World. The refillable-mug station is here too. The Gurgling Suitcase is a tiny Key West bar next door, named after a Prohibition-era trick of smuggling rum into Key West in suitcases that gurgled when customs shook them, its walls covered in badges and number plates donated by members over the years. It's open to all ages, though the indoor room is small, so families sit at the outdoor tables over the water, and you can order the full Olivia's menu here without a reservation.
Snacks, groceries and deliveryThe Turtle Shack, the General Store and grocery delivery
The Turtle Shack is a seasonal snack counter at the Old Turtle Pond Road pool, handy if you're staying near there, though it runs on reduced hours and is often closed, so check the resort's page for your dates. The Conch Flats General Store sells milk, eggs, cereal, fruit, yoghurt and frozen meals alongside the merchandise, enough to cover breakfasts. For a full shop, families order grocery delivery from a nearby supermarket to Bell Services, who'll refrigerate it until you arrive. Pizza can be delivered to the villa in the evening through a service shared with the neighbouring resorts, useful on a late night back from a park, though it can be slow.
The pools and things to do
A feature pool with a waterslide and a sand-play beach, three quiet leisure pools, a marina of boats and bikes and a full week of free activities.
The main pool is the Sandcastle Pool at the Hospitality House, built around a giant model sandcastle with a 125-foot waterslide, a separate children's pool with water-spouting dolphins, a sandy play area where children dig with buckets and spades, a whirlpool spa and a dry sauna inside the lighthouse. A Cast Member runs free pool games, relays and trivia here most afternoons, roughly midday to 2pm. There's no zero-entry or beach-entry section and no splash pad at any Old Key West pool, so if dedicated water play for a very small child is essential, this resort doesn't have it. Away from the main pool, three quiet leisure pools, at Old Turtle Pond Road, Miller's Road and South Point Road, each have their own hot tub and are calmer for a nap-time swim; Disney refurbishes them one at a time, so one may be closed during a stay while the Sandcastle Pool stays open.
Bikes, boats and the marinaHank's Rent 'N Return
Hank's Rent 'N Return by the main pool hires bikes, including children's bikes with stabilisers, and covered surrey bikes you pedal as a family, though a rider needs to be about 58 inches (147 cm) to pedal, so younger children ride along as passengers. From the same marina you can take out pedal boats, canopy boats and pontoon boats to explore the canals, and there's guided catch-and-release bass fishing on the lake. Paved paths run along the canals and golf fairways, including a nature trail from the South Point end that connects to Saratoga Springs and on to Disney Springs.
Free things to doCommunity Hall and the evening activities
Conch Flats Community Hall is the indoor room for a rainy afternoon or a nap window, with toddler toys, board games, crafts, video games and free DVD and film screenings, plus racquets and balls to borrow. Most evenings there's a campfire with marshmallows near the main pool from around 6pm, an outdoor Disney film on selected nights and free bingo in Papa's Den a couple of nights a week. Pick up the activities calendar on arrival for the rest, which lists a Mickey tie-dye session most afternoons for a small charge, a morning yoga or aqua-fitness class, pirate bingo with a treasure hunt on Monday evenings and a hair-wrap station at weekends. Younger children can join the daily hunt for Orange Bird, the resort's retro citrus mascot, finding and photographing a hidden cut-out to collect a button they fill over four separate days, and the bus drivers and boat crews hand out Disney transportation trading cards to collect. There's also a free guided Legend of Conch Flats walking tour a couple of mornings a week that ends with an exclusive collector pin, walking you through how the resort's backstory was built. The resort also has tennis, pickleball, basketball and volleyball courts, two arcades, three sand playgrounds, a marked jogging loop of about 1.4 miles (2.2 km) and an exercise room by the main pool that's free for guests aged 14 and over and open long hours; there's no spa on site, though in-room massage can be booked. The Lake Buena Vista golf course that runs through the grounds is closed for renovation until around autumn 2026.
The resort at the holidaysChristmas and Halloween
Old Key West gets ambient seasonal theming rather than a signature display. At Christmas the lobby has several trees with nautical touches, garlands, blue ribbon, wooden-oar accents and baubles strung along the lampposts, in keeping with the pastel Keys buildings, and seasonal treats appear at the venues. Halloween is mostly free resort activities and a check-in activity pack for children. There's no centrepiece here like the Grand Floridian's gingerbread house, and the ticketed Christmas and Halloween parties are held at Magic Kingdom rather than on site. A family who wants a big festive set-piece at the hotel would find more of that elsewhere; if a calm, light seasonal feel is what suits, that's what you get here.
Getting around
Buses to the four parks, a boat to Disney Springs and the case for a hire car.
You reach the four theme parks by bus and Disney Springs by boat or bus, with no monorail or Skyliner. The park buses are dedicated to the resort and run roughly every 20 minutes, but each one drives an internal loop of five stops around the site before it leaves, which adds fifteen to twenty minutes and can mean a full bus by the last stop. Families get around it by boarding at Peninsular Road, the first stop, a quarter-mile (0.4 km) walk from the Hospitality House, where the bus is empty and you get a seat. Pushchairs have to be folded on the buses and the stops are open-sided, so pack rain cover.
The boat, and the case for a carThe Disney Springs boat and a hire car
The boat runs from the marina behind the Hospitality House through the canals to Disney Springs, roughly every twenty to thirty minutes from mid-morning until late, and needs no park ticket. Pushchairs fold to board, and the service pauses in a thunderstorm, so keep the bus as a backup. Uber and Lyft turn up quickly, and the Cast-Member-driven Minnie Van fits two car seats put in by the driver and seats up to six, so a family that hasn't brought its own seats can still move a toddler around off the bus network for a set fare; it's booked through the Lyft app and costs more than a standard rideshare. A hire car changes the day-to-day here more than anything else. You skip the bus loop entirely and, unusually for Walt Disney World, park free right at your own villa building, which helps when you're unloading a cot, a pram and a tired child. Old Key West is near EPCOT, but mature trees block almost all of the fireworks, so a fireworks view isn't a reason to pick it.
Booking, arrival and the app
How UK families book a DVC villa, and the resort-guest perks that come with staying on site.
Old Key West is sold on cash or Disney Vacation Club points, and on points it's the lowest-priced Disney Vacation Club villa at Walt Disney World. Renting points through a broker, where a member books the villa for you, is usually the cheapest route and gives you a normal Disney reservation with the resort-guest perks, but it's a private booking rather than an ATOL-protected package, so it can't be changed or refunded through Disney once it's confirmed. Old Key West is also one of the easier Disney Vacation Club resorts to get on points at shorter notice, because it has more villas than any other and less competition for them, so a broker can often find space closer to your dates than at the newer resorts. Booking the cash rate through Walt Disney Travel Company UK or a UK Florida specialist costs more but comes with full ATOL and ABTA protection. Take travel insurance either way. You may see Old Key West described as having two contract end dates, 2042 and 2057, because it's the only DVC resort Disney has offered an extension on; that split only matters if you're buying a contract, and makes no difference to a family renting points for a holiday.
Check-in and the resort-guest perksArrival, the app and early entry
Check-in is from 4pm and check-out is 11am, and you can check in on the My Disney Experience app before you arrive and open the villa with your phone or a MagicBand. Given the size of the site, Bell Services delivers luggage to your villa by cart, and the front desk lends out a small number of wheelchairs on a first-come basis, useful if someone in the group tires on the longer walks. Off the check-in area there's a small children's room with kid-sized furniture and a TV playing classic Disney films, somewhere to settle a restless toddler while you queue at the desk or sort a booking. Staying on site, on cash or points, gives you the resort-guest park benefits: 30 minutes of early entry to any park every morning, and, because Old Key West is a Deluxe Villas resort, the occasional Extended Evening Hours after normal closing. You can also buy Lightning Lane passes earlier than day guests. For how tickets, early entry and Lightning Lane work, see our tickets and passes guide rather than the front desk. A stay in summer 2026 also includes a free water-park ticket for each guest on check-in day, loaded in the app.
Babies, toddlers and the day-to-day
Why the space and the kitchen suit a young family, the baby-essentials gap to plan around and the childcare options.
A travel cot is already in the villa closet and high chairs are provided in the restaurants. In a villa with a full kitchen, from the one-bedroom up, you can make up bottles, sterilise them and warm food without leaving the room, and the in-villa washer and dryer means you can pack a week's clothes for a fortnight. The big balcony or patio is somewhere to sit with a drink while a child naps inside with the bedroom door shut. Free ice machines at every bus stop are handy for chilling milk on a long day out.
The gaps to plan aroundBaby basics and childcare
The General Store isn't a reliable source of nappies or a particular formula, so bring your own or add them to a grocery delivery. There's no baby-care centre at Old Key West, so changes and feeds happen in the villa or a family restroom; the four parks have full baby-care centres. The resort doesn't hire out pushchairs, since Disney rents those only inside the parks, so bring one or use an off-site firm. For an evening to yourselves there's no kids' club on site, and the only childcare is in-room babysitting through a vetted outside agency such as Kids Nite Out, booked directly with the agency and ahead. On a points stay, housekeeping is lighter than the daily service on a cash booking, which the in-villa laundry helps make up for.
Loves and gripes
Most of the complaints trace back to the size of the site, and the praise is steady on the space, the food and the quiet.
The space and the self-catering setup are what families name first, with the atmosphere a close second. Reviewers describe a resort that feels like a village rather than a hotel, and because fewer families with young children stay here, it stays quieter for those who do. Olivia's is well liked in its own right, especially the banana bread French toast, the key lime and the free pineapple-coconut bread that arrives before you order. In the one-bedroom villas and up, the split bathroom, with the sink and tub in one room and the shower in another, gets singled out for letting two adults get ready at once. Returning guests are notably loyal, and guest ratings run high.
The internal bus loop and the walking distances are the loudest complaint by far, with one reviewer giving up on a full bus, missing early park entry and taking an Uber instead. Stairs are the next most common gripe with a pram. On-site dining is limited for a resort this size, the Sandcastle Pool is modest next to the elaborate feature pools at the newer resorts, and the theming reads as understated or dated to some, though its fans value exactly that quiet.
The neighbouring DVC resortHow it compares to Saratoga Springs
The resort families most often weigh it against is Saratoga Springs, its neighbour in the Disney Springs Resort Area and the only other resort sharing the boat. Both are Disney Vacation Club resorts at the lower end of Deluxe pricing, spread over a large site and reached from the parks by bus. Old Key West is the older of the two and lower on points, while Saratoga Springs is newer with its own look. Our Saratoga Springs guide covers it in full.
Questions parents ask
A few things families check before booking Old Key West, with the official links below.
Which villa fits a family of four or five?
For two parents and one or two small children, the studio is the natural fit, and a baby under three goes in the villa cot on top of the four it sleeps. You move up to the one-bedroom for a fifth person, or when you'd rather have the full kitchen and the in-villa laundry than save the money.
Do we need a hire car?
No, and plenty of families never hire one, because Disney's buses and the Disney Springs boat reach everywhere you need. It comes down to your group and pace. With a baby on a fixed nap schedule, or grandparents along and a lot of coming and going, a car is usually worth it; for a couple doing one park a day at an easy pace, the bus is fine. If you're undecided, you don't have to settle it at booking, since you can hire partway through the trip, or use the Minnie Van for the odd day.
We've got a pram. Which villa should we request?
Pack a pushchair that folds flat and folds quickly, because it comes down for every bus and for the Disney Springs boat, and the resort doesn't hire prams out, so what you bring is what you've got. A ground-floor villa or one of the three lift buildings is the request to make, which the villa-area section covers, and it's only ever a request, not a guarantee.
Can we cook for a toddler in the villa?
For a baby, a studio's kitchenette is enough on its own, with the fridge and microwave covering bottles, sterilising and warming a purée. It's a toddler on cooked meals who makes the case for a one-bedroom villa or larger, where the full kitchen lets you cook a familiar meal from scratch. Either way, you can order a grocery delivery to Bell Services before you arrive, from a WDW specialist like Garden Grocer that stocks formula and baby food, so the fridge is stocked from the first night.
What can a non-swimming toddler actually do in the water here?
The separate children's pool is shallow enough for a small child to stand and paddle in while an older one takes the slide, and the main pool is lifeguarded. Every pool has free life jackets and towels to borrow, so you don't need to pack your own, and the quieter leisure pools dotted around the villages are the calmest water for a little one who's still finding their feet.
Should the building work put us off in 2026?
Not on its own. If a recently refurbished room matters, ask Disney UK for your building's refurbishment status when you book, and again nearer the date, since the schedule can change. The work runs through 2026 into 2027 with no published schedule, and the dining, pools and facilities stay open throughout.
Is anything free for children in summer 2026?
Yes. It's a ticket to either Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon, valid on arrival day only, so it helps to land early enough to use it. It covers every guest on the booking and applies across the Disney resort hotels, not Old Key West alone. Our tickets and passes guide has the detail.
Old Key West photos
The pastel villa buildings, the Sandcastle Pool and a dessert at Olivia's Café, all in one place.
Open the Old Key West photo gallery →
Useful links
- Disney's Old Key West Resort: the official hotel page for villas, dining, the live refurbishment status and prices.
- Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa: our guide to the neighbouring DVC resort families compare it with.
- Disney Springs: our guide to the shops, dining and entertainment the boat reaches.
- Tickets and passes: how tickets, early park entry and UK booking work.
- Walt Disney World with little ones: our guide to the resort, its parks and getting there.
Last updated 9 July 2026.
