Wandering Around the Hospitality House at Disney’s Old Key West Resort

I recently spent a day strolling the grounds of Disney’s Old Key West Resort. It was a little cloudy, but luckily I was spared the rain. I took a ton of pictures to share with you. These are all from the area near the Hospitality House. Come on, let’s have a look!

As we walk from the bus top down this corridor, the lobby is on our right and the General Store and Olivia’s are on the left (in this photo it is the opposite, because of course, I had to make it confusing).

First things first! I decided lunch was in order before taking on the grueling task of photographing the area so I ducked into Olivia’s.

I had a caprese salad that was pretty good. It wasn’t as good as my favorite over at Flying Fish Cafe on the Boardwalk, but it hit the spot. I also had the corn chowder, which I enjoyed quite a bit. The Cast Members that work at Olivia’s are very nice. It always feels like you’re eating at your favorite diner there.

After lunch I made my way into the lobby to have a look. I am always enamored of the the little seating areas they have for children in the lobby area. They’re so cute with all those tiny chairs lined up!

Next stop – the General Store. It seemed to me that it is one of the bigger and better stocked resort stores on the Disney property. I took a ton of pictures in here because I know folks want to know what they have. I’ll definitely share those in another post but for today I am just including a small sampling of the goods you’ll find there.

Now let’s head back outside for a walk along the waterfront.

This is the ferry that you can take to get to Downtown Disney. It’s a really pleasant way to go. In fact, I sometimes hop aboard just for the ride, without ever getting off until it returns to Old Key West. It’s an especially nice ride right around dusk.If you prefer to Captain your own ship, you can rent a pontoon boat to explore the canals.

What’s a vacation without a refreshing adult beverage every now and then? Right next door to Olivia’s, the Gurgling Suitcase is the place to go. It’s just a little hole in the wall but it’s the perfect place to meet up with friends and compare what you did that day.

For a quick bite check out Good’s Food to Go. They have sandwiches and burgers, salads, nachos, sodas – that sort of thing. Oh, and key lime pie! You can’t go to Old Key West without trying some key lime pie.

Now that our appetites have been satiated, let’s see what kind of activities there are. First stop is the Electric Game Room, Old Key West’s arcade. It’s a small arcade with just a few games. I’m not much of a game player so this room was kind of lost on me, but there was a 9 year old boy in there who was in heaven!

At Hank’s Rent and Return you can rent DVDs, board games, bikes, boats and more. 

Stop in the Community Hall to take part in all sorts of activities. On this last trip I popped into the community halls at three different resorts, which I’ve never done before. Now, I want to go back to all of them and spend time hanging out. All the Cast Members were very friendly and inviting. I was amazed at all the things they had to do – crafts, games, computers. They’re really worth checking out.

There was a lively game of shuffleboard happening as I walked by on my way to check out the tennis court.

Just past the tennis court is a playground with giant sand toys and sand castles to play on. Beyond the playground there is also a volleyball court and a campfire area. I meant to wander over there to take pictures but got distracted by the pool. My bad.

I love new discoveries at Walt Disney World. I don’t know how I missed this one but I never knew there was a sauna in the lighthouse! That was such a fun find.

That concludes part one of my Old Key West tour, the Hospitality House area. I hope you enjoyed it. Next time I’ll show you the rest of the resort, but for now I’ll just leave you with my favorite picture from that day.

~ Barrie Brewer, Social Media Director