anyone stayed at summer bay?

[shoney]

Hello! I was able to trade my RCI week for one week at Orange Lake in August. We decided to stay an additional week. With the help from RCI, we chose Summer Bay Resorts in Kissimmee (Clermont). The reviews are mixed. I did notice that most of the bad ones come from people who stayed on some timeshare deal where they needed to listen to the sales pitch in order to stay for some small fee. We aren't doing that. We are renting through RCI. With that said, I understand it is a little far from Disney. We are renting a car and are fine with that. I guess I am looking for more information on the types of activities and accomodations available. We are traveling with my parents (50's) and children (boys 4 and 6). We don't want to visit parks everyday. We did that last year and it was exhausting. We are hoping for a place that is clean, well run and lots of fun. What was your experience? Thank you!

 

[Melynny]

It's clean, well run and lots of fun! They have several pools each some for adults, some with water play areas for kids. They looked like tons of fun, I'd even love to play in them. We were in the villas section last month, and it was fine!

 

[spiceycat]

Orange Lake has more stuff to do than Summer bay - oh by the way - they are almost next door to each other.

Summer bay is closer to US 27 and than OL.

 

[DianeV]

The only problem with Orange Lake is exchangers and renters tend to be put in the older sections which have some complaints..also you have to drive to get to alot of stuff there since its so big

 

[ceopamom3]

Orange lake is far larger and you do need to drive within the resort - but it has a variety of pools and activities that I have not seen in any other resort in Orlando. I have been in the Tennis Villas several times, and in an older renovated single story unit in great shape.

I stayed at the Summer Bay Villas (the smaller 2br type) last Thanksgiving. Unit was smallish, but clean and well kept. My only complaint was that I had cockroaches - or as they call them locally palmetto bugs. They sprayed twice, but I was still finding live bugs on the 7th day. Perhaps I was just unlucky with the unit... Even with the bug problem, I would give Summer Bay a second try. In retrospect, I would have insisted that my unit be changed..

The resort itself is far smaller than Orange Lake, but the staff is friendly and accomodating - and there were numerous activities by the pool that my children enjoyed (ages 8,7 and 6). The pool was also surprisingly warm. The other guests were also very pleasant that I spoke with poolside. I think you could pass a day at the resort with ease. If I had my choice, however, I would plan more downtime at Orange Lake and maybe more park time at Summer Bay.

Adjacent to Summer Bay is a great Publix supermarket - and a very new Super Walmart is less than a mile away... I think the ride to WDW is around 15 to 20 minutes using Black Lake Road off 192 to Sherberth Road.

Two weeks in Florida sounds delightful! I am sure you will have a great trip!

 

[Maddle]

Summer Bay Resort was just fabulous, and I can't wait to go back. Yes, it was a bit of a drive, but not prohibitive. Pools were close to the condos, easier access than Orange Lake. Lovely landscaping, friendly staff, plenty of parking, elevators to the units, clean and well kept.

Maddle

 

[crjack]

We are staying in a 2-bedroom villa at Summer Bay July 10-17. It is our first stay there as well and we are hoping for all of the same things you are! We really want to spend some downtime at the resort and not overdue it in the heat. Our children love the water so we are hoping to enjoy the pools and some activities while we are there. As long as our unit is clean we're pretty flexible on furnishings and layout. I'll post a report when we return and I'll be watching for any new reviews in the meantime. Have a great trip.

 

[webray]

My sister stayed at summer bay this past october..yes, on one of those timeshare deals. She loved it..lol, she said if she would have had the money she would have bought in.

 

[shoney]

Wow! you guys are awesome! I really love reading your opinions. I am not "down" on going on a cheap vacation with the requirement of a time share pitch (I've done it myself in the Berkshires, MA), but I do think that you may get a second rate room and a negative "taste" from a place after being treated poorly for a minimum of 90 minutes! Thanks again, everyone and I really enjoy this!

 

[DianeV]

Summer Bay does have a fun thing at their "beach". Kids can do a rock climbing type thing and jump into the water and there are other climbing things..it is run by someone else though and it ended up costing $5 for each kid to play there.

Also there is a really cute almost play set area that squirts water out and has some standing water underneath..has the buckets that spill out in a much smaller version then at water parks but my daughters who are 8 and 11 really enjoyed themselves there even though you would think its for little kids. There is also a cool slide

They do have some fun activities for kids there too and everyone is really nice. Those things alone are great and would make me want to stay there again

 

[MouseClubMom]

Great water areas for the kids. The only problem we had there was ANTS! We had stopped at Dunkin Donuts on the way there and when we woke up in the morning the entire box was COVERED in sugar ants. I should have known better since I used to live in Orlando but oh well.

We would not hesitate to stay there again and in fact it was the first place we checked after finding out that resorts on property were sold out for our Spring Break trip!


MCMom

 

[crjack]

For those that have stayed at the villas are the layouts always the same? I have read that the villas are smaller and I am just wondering if the second bedroom has two twin beds in it? Could anyone compare the size of the 2-bedroom villa to say an HIFS kidsuite? I know the resort and the villas will be smaller than other resorts like Orange Lake but it still seems great compared to a standard size hotel room.

 

[TNKBELL]

I believe the villas are over 800 square feet (according to thier website) and HIFS are only 480sf. Hope this helps!

 

[ceopamom3]

and the villas... Villas are much larger! They have a nicely equipped kitchen with full size appliances, a stacked washer and dryer and two full baths.

I think the only area in the villa that is notably smaller than most 2 br timeshare condos is the combined living and dining area - but it was perfect for our needs and we are a family of 5. The dining table has 4 chairs and then there are two or three bar stools at the kitchen counter. There is a sofa, (i think this may pull out) and one chair of of course a TV with VCR (no DVD player - but we went to Walmart and bought a few $5 VHS tapes for a rainy afternoon).

There are two twin beds and I think only one dresser in the second bedroom -but there is a nice size closet and a TV... The master bedroom was a good size with an additional TV... I thought the king bed at the HIFS occupied most of the room..

The HIFS is very compact in comparison to the villas. I enjoy the two bathrooms, the fully equipped kitchen and, of course, the washer and dryer. It is so nice to come home from vacation with clean clothes!

 

[swilshire]

Our ant experience was at Orange Lake. We luckily had ant spray in the van (don't ask), so attacked them daily. Had to keep everything well sealed, though.

We stayed at Summer Bay a few years ago and liked it very much. It was a bit of a haul from WDW and they were working on 192 at the time, which created big delays. As mentioned above, they're not much farther out than OLCC. Our unit had a small master bedroom with only a queen size bed (we were used to a king), but that was our only complaint.

We're scheduled to go back on October to stay in one of the 3br pool houses there. Looking forward to our return.

Sheila

 

[DianeV]

Sheila we just got back from staying in one of the pool homes and loved it. The pool is great for whenever you want to get wet and they keep the water pretty warm.

The homes are really nice although showing abuse in my opinion. I just dont understand how they get so abused looking. Do people do that to their own homes?

Anyway we checked out resales when we got back and they are even going for $10,000 and up so decided against that although we really liked it. Also the location is walking distance to the main pool beach etc. so that is a plus

 

[MollyBelle]

We stayed in a villa @ Summer Bay this past October, and we adored the place. We had no ants or palmetto bugs to contend with (pshew!), and admittedly, the drive was a little further than we'd grown accustomed to. That said, it WAS WORTH IT!!

Our unit was GORGEOUS and not at all showing signs of wear (because I think we must've gotten a newer unit)...

Once you get the route down, the driving thing is inconsequential (at least to me). I found it easy to navigate.

I am shopping my sources again for this place or comparable for another October trip. HTH!

 

[crjack]

Thanks so much to all for the great input. We are looking forward to our trip this summer and I'm sure the villas will work out well for us. I love the fact that there are so many wonderful places to choose from in greater Orlando -makes us want to keep going back and try as many as possible!