Any Info on Orange Lake North Village?

[krisces]

Has anyone stayed at this property?? It is the first time for us, so any comments would be appreciated!

 

[U2_rocks!]

I've been looking at it as well. It seems a lot smaller than the West Village from the map, which is what we like - we prefer a smaller resort, but with access to the other sections in case one day we do feel like venturing out. I'd be interested to know if the pool and other areas in the North are, in fact, closer to the units. Also, I couldn't tell if there were tennis courts in the North as well.

 

[Wishing on a star]

There are a couple of excellent threads on Orange Lake and the North Village a page or two down. So, you may want to check them out and just bump them up.

1. I believe, in general, the North section should be a bit smaller and quieter than the other sections. This is why we chose North for our visit this spring.

2. Orange Lake is a huge property. I have a good property map of North. It is not like the pool is centrally located. So even in the North Section, it looks like there are units that are far enough away from the pool that you may be tempted to hop in your car. I assume that you could ask for a unit that is on, or near, the pool. But, I have not been to Orange Lake either, so I do not know how they are about trying to meet these kinds of requests. It couldn't hurt!

PS: If you have not looked at tripadvisor, There are tons of good reviews and photos. You will not see the click-button for traveler photos until you expand the travelers reviews. It is a great resource!

Ours will be an RCI exchange (thru my inlaws). So I know that you can also look at RCI.com. They have the Orange Lake sections spit up into four separate resorts. West, North, East, River Island.

 

[U2_rocks!]

We're exchanging through RCI too, and I like that the sections are split so we don't have to rely on a request to get into the section we want. River Island looks great, and we may actually try for that first, but as I imagine it is popular, we may not get availability. I'm thinking North may suit us better as an alternative.

Thanks for the info - I saw some Orange Lake info on this forum, but didn't remember seeing a lot of North info - will go back and reread! I have also been looking on TUG, but there's not a ton on there (at least in the free forums). I also looked at Tripadvisor for several resorts, but you have to read through all the reviews to find ones specific to North Village, and I hadn't found that many when I was skimming. Sounds like I need to do some further reading.

 

[gjw007]

I'm not sure what information you are looking for.

The units are the same as those pictured on www.olcc.com (www.orangelake.com). The 1-bedroom units in this section are all in a multistory building near Splash Lagoon. Pictures of Splash Lagoon are also on Orange Lake's website.

The 2- and 3-bedroom units are in building consisting of 5 units, 3 on the ground floor and 2 on the second level. There are no elevators in these units. The 3-bedroom units are the bookends on the ground level with a 2-bedroom unit situated between the 3-bedroom units. Depending on where you are located and your personal decision on distance, you may wish to drive from your unit to the pool area. The pool area is at one end of the resort section (near start of the North Village) while the units are spaced further back. The area is quiet but in general, all areas of OLCC are quiet with the possible exception of being at River Island and the Tennis Villas in the West Village which are both near major hubs of activities. Even there it is quiet just that you have a lot more people and activity in the area. The East Village is probably the quietest area as there is no major hub of activity such as the Main Clubhouse area in the West Village, Splash Logoon in the North Village, or the River Island complex.

There is a shuttle on site (free) that will take you to any section so if you don't want to walk or drive, you can meet the shuttle at a few predetermined areas. There should be a shuttle every 20 minutes. Sources are saying that Internet access is now free for all.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Thank You Gary!

I am glad to notice how you explain how the buildings in North are set up.
I imagine it to be like this
_____________
: 3br: 2br : 3br: - 2nd floor
: 3br: 2br : 3br: - ground level

Although this means that there are way more 3br units than two bedroom ????

We will be in a two bedroom, so I imagine that we will not be in an end unit.

I am assuming that all units are one level.
So, we will either have a ground floor unit, or a second floor level unit.
If they seem okay with requests, I will ask for a 2nd floor unit if possible. It might be nice to have the walk-out patio. But, I think we can handle one flight of stairs, and I would rather have people below than above!

 

[smi727]

Does anyone know which are the studios are in? The prices are pretty good right now for my dates in June.

 

[krisces]

Thanks everyone!! I appreciate your comments!!

 

[gjw007]

Thank You Gary!

I am glad to notice how you explain how the buildings in North are set up.
I imagine it to be like this
_____________
: 3br: 2br : 3br: - 2nd floor
: 3br: 2br : 3br: - ground level

Although this means that there are way more 3br units than two bedroom ????

We will be in a two bedroom, so I imagine that we will not be in an end unit.

I am assuming that all units are one level.
So, we will either have a ground floor unit, or a second floor level unit.
If they seem okay with requests, I will ask for a 2nd floor unit if possible. It might be nice to have the walk-out patio. But, I think we can handle one flight of stairs, and I would rather have people below than above!

Actually it is:
________________
2br: 2 bd: ............ 2nd floor
3bd: 2bd: 3bd: ..... Ground Floor
________________

There are 5 units in the building.

 

[gjw007]

Does anyone know which are the studios are in? The prices are pretty good right now for my dates in June.

The studios are in the West Village in the Clubhouse in the top two floors. It is the only area on OLCC that has studios. The East Village is the only section that doesn't have 1-bedroom unit. River Island is the only section that has 3-bedroom lockouts and 4-bedroom units.

 

[Shasta]

Sources are saying that Internet access is now free for all.

I called a month ago because we are going in June and I need internet access for work. They told me then that they were in the middle of adding internet and larger flat screen TVs with DVD players to all units and these changes shoudl be done by my June visit.

 

[tinkerbell423]

Hi
Are the West units set up the same as the North (3bd 2 bd...)
We just found out yesterday my Brother and his family will be joining us on our Jan 2010 trip and they have a 2bd, we have a 3 bd. So it is feasialbe that we could be next to each other. We both booked through RCI (as a gift/guest) on the same RCI account. Will they try to keep us together or will it just be the luck of the draw?

 

[alice99]

I would call them and request to be close by. They may have "pre-assigned" units for inventory purposes, but I'd call early for a request to be close to a relative.

We stayed there once , and are going there in August also. The resort is very clean. We stayed in the "main" section last time, and are staying in the North section in August.

The north section is quieter, near the Golf course vs. near pools and other amenities. I prefer north. We took a tour of the property and liked that north section the most. It is a big property, which I like for my morning walk.

 

[gjw007]

Hi
Are the West units set up the same as the North (3bd 2 bd...)
We just found out yesterday my Brother and his family will be joining us on our Jan 2010 trip and they have a 2bd, we have a 3 bd. So it is feasialbe that we could be next to each other. We both booked through RCI (as a gift/guest) on the same RCI account. Will they try to keep us together or will it just be the luck of the draw?

The only 3-bedroom units in the West Village at in the Tennis Villas. The Tennis Villas are the multistory units next to the clubhouse and lake. This is the same layout used in the East Village. The 2- and 3-bedroom units in the Tennis Villas are exactly the same layout as the 2- and 3-bedroom units in the North and East Village. Note that the 2-bedroom units in the Golf Villas (single story units) in the West Village are a different layout than the Tennis Villas/North Village/East Village layout.

 

[ScotnSteph]

We were in the West Village January 10th -17th. They were working on the interent while we were there. Sometimes we had it. Sometimes we didn't. I would think it would be complete soon.

 

[Shasta]

Not to hijack but I know you guys can answer these questions. We will be staying at East in June as I stated above.

1. Can daily maid service be added for a fee?

2. Is it best to take the shuttle to the River Island Pool site or is there enough parking. (we are driving)

Thanks!

 

[gjw007]

Not to hijack but I know you guys can answer these questions. We will be staying at East in June as I stated above.

1. Can daily maid service be added for a fee?

2. Is it best to take the shuttle to the River Island Pool site or is there enough parking. (we are driving)

Thanks!

Maid service can be added for a fee. I have never seen where there has been a parking problem at River Island but I guess the potential could be there. One thing that OLCC has done well is provide enough parking spaces whereas in other resorts, I have had to walk several buildings away from where I am staying (I'm thinking specifically of Vacation Village at Parkway and the Hilton Grand Vacation Club at I-Drive but you could add DVC as most parking - except SSR and OKW - is not near your unit).

 

[alice99]

Vacation Village at Parkway was the worst parking I've ever experienced at a resort.