1st time at Orange Lake- looking for tips/recommendations

[wdwcp2001]

We just booked Orange Lake in a 3 bedroom unit in the east village section for May 2018 for 4 adults and 2 kids. 3 & 6 year old boys so definitely looking to take advantage of the pools and activities at the resort on the days we aren't at Disney. Anyone stayed there recently? Tips on the resort, best pools, restaurants, golf, etc? Thanks!!

 

[bmatrose]

Best Pool is at River Island which is the next village over from East. East is the quietest of all the villages. One small pool. Other three villages have more amenities.

 

[iamjimmy89]

If you are interested in the pools and activities East Village is not the best. You will have to drive or get the resort shuttle to get to River Island, which is the closest to East.
River Island has a big pool, lazy river, arcade, restaurants, shops, mini golf and I think some other activities for kids.
However, I have stayed at East Village and really enjoyed it as it was quieter and accommodation was excellent.
If you don't mind the short drive to River Island then East Village is great.

 

[bmatrose]

If you are interested in the pools and activities East Village is not the best. You will have to drive or get the resort shuttle to get to River Island, which is the closest to East.
River Island has a big pool, lazy river, arcade, restaurants, shops, mini golf and I think some other activities for kids.
However, I have stayed at East Village and really enjoyed it as it was quieter and accommodation was excellent.
If you don't mind the short drive to River Island then East Village is great.

I agree....East is not the best location for amenities. I rented a unit in the West Village to a friend and OL upgraded them to East village and I requested they get moved back. They had small children and East village is not a good location for families looking to use the resort.

 

[greenclan67]

I totally agree, we have been to Orange Lake a ton of times, leaving to go back in 29 days, and again in Dec and March. We have stayed North, River, and West. West is by far my favourite. River island can be crazy busy, nice complex, but busy. Your 3 & 6 year olds may enjoy North Village Splash Lagoon....we really like the North pool, small slide, splash pad, and kiddie pool.

 

[kathy884]

We stayed in the East Village and had one quiet pool we could walk to. We found that pretty nice, as it wasn't crowded and we even got to know other people as the same people came over each night for a swim and to hang out in the hot tub. We are talking just a basic pool and hot tub though. Definitely the River Island area is the most impressive with all the amenities - lazy river etc. -- pretty cool. We took the shuttle over to there one day. We played tennis and checked out other areas too another day and this time drove our car. As nice as those other areas were usually in the evenings -- other activities in Orlando most days, we just stuck to our own nearby close pool.

It's probably important to level set expectations that the East Village while nice is kind of quiet and to get to fancier cool stuff driving or taking a shuttle is necessary. I could see people being disappointed thinking they'd be able to walk to all the other cool stuff when it's really far away actually. The resort overall is HUGE. A car or shuttle which only comes by every 15/20 minutes or so I think (you would need to check) is necessary for sure to get from Village to Village.