Click here to see my YouTube channel video on these machines
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Over the years when I would come down to Florida to visit Walt Disney World I always tried to stay at a different Disney resort.  Each of the resorts has their own unique theming and experiences.  It was always on my so-called Disney bucket list to try to stay at all the resorts at least once.  Now as anyone that has stayed on property at a Disney resort knows they can get a little pricey making that type of task potentially out of reach.  Since we have moved to Florida I would still like to mark this off my list as some point, but for now I’ll just stick to driving over and visiting each resort for an afternoon.  With 20 plus resorts this should keep me busy for a while, now I just need to figure out where to start.

Since we are on the topic of places on my bucket list, Key West is pretty high on that list so I figured why not check out Disney’s version of this intriguing locale.  Old Key West Resort was the very first Disney Vacation Club Resort and opened in December of 1991.  You do not need to be  DVC member to stay here, but since the rooms are either a Deluxe Studio, or 1 , 2 or 3 Bedroom Villas (including a kitchenette) these can get a little pricing if not using your club member points.

You can see by the above picture that the style of this place is very Key West, at least from what I’ve seen on TV and in vacation magazines.  There is just a very calming feeling that washed over me as I walked around this resort.  It was pretty quiet, and everything seemed to move at a nice leisurely pace.  Now this could be due to my visit being during the week in the early afternoon, but still it was really a nice environment to enjoy.

There is plenty of waterfront space to be entertained by.  Some of the Disney resorts used to have boats you could rent which looks to be the case here, but during my visit there were none available.

Olivia’s Cafe is the main table service restaurant here serving breakfast, lunch and dinner with a Key West flair.

The pools here are really nice and the kids area is themed like a giant sand castle.  When I visited they seemed unusually quiet and not much activity but I’m sure most days this is not the norm.

Back towards the main entrance to the resort is the Conch Flats General Store.  Really just their souvenir / gift shop.  My daughter always thinks these are her personal toy closet, and I usually have to drag her out even though they have pretty much the same stuff all over the place.  There are a few unique Old Key West items found here like luggage tags, coffee mugs and t-shirts.  Directly across from the General Store is the main registration building.

Inside this building the interior is a lot of wood paneling and gave me a very nautical feel.  There was an area to the far end with little chairs and Mickey cartoons for the kids to watch while their parents get checked into the resort.  On display is also a model of a Disney Cruise ship which I will admit I looked at for a least 10 minutes, it was very incredibly detailed.  Also in this area were two pressed coins machines.

The first machine was an older model which you can tell by the marquee.  The penny designs available her included Abu from Aladdin, Iago also from Aladdin, and the Disney’s Old Key West Resort Logo.  If you make a 180 degree turn you will come face to face with the second coin press machine.

This second machine only has one design available and pressed on a quarter.  This type of machine automatically starts to press your quarter as soon as you slide the required coins into the machine.  These used to be more common, but have been getting replaced with newer versions containing 3 designs.

This design is another resort special and has Pirate Mickey with a Parrot on his arm with Disney’s Old Key West above him.

My first adventure of casually visiting  a resort and checking out what they have to offer was a lot of fun.  Plus it gives me an excuse to collect even more pressed coins.  I’ll keep visiting the different resorts from time to time and will be sure to bring you a long.