Horizons By Marriott

[jeff968]

Brer, I would definately consider the trade if I were you. Although Cypress Harbour is my family's favorite resort if I had a 1yo and a 3yo again I would stay at Horizons. I've stayed at both and was at Horizon's in 2009. The pools there are all zero entry which will be great for your little ones. None of the pools at CH have this (they have specific, small kid pools located off to the side). The pools at Horizons (now Harbor lake) have fountains to entertain the kids. The water park and pirate ship is also something they'll love. Like I said, CH is my favorite but harbor lake is very nice and geared to give your little ones a better time.
Jeff

 

[randbmom]

I agree that your 1 and 3 year old would love Harbour Lake, and I would not stay at Harbour Lake (or any offsite location) without a rental car. I've never had problems with travel or traffic to and from WDW on I-4. I is 15 minutes tops to any parking lot (MK and AK being the furthest drive).
Enjoy!

 

[Brer Brett]

Thanks for the continued feedback all. The last few posts are really making me consider Harbour Lakes - almost for the kid water areas alone. I don't think we're going to do a Disney Water Park, so the H.Lakes pools would be a big plus for my toddlers. Jeff - I especially appreciate your comment on the zero depth entry - - I didn't know that.

That said, it is now highly probable that my in-laws will be joining us (I'm hoping that my best behavior might induce them to watch the kids on one or two nights so that my wife and I can go grab a nice dinner). With the additional members of the group, can any of you provide a room size comparison between Cypress Harbour and Harbour Lakes? I've gotten some mixed input on this given the renovations that have occurred, but what I'm usually hearing is that the Cypress rooms are bigger/better.

 

[littlestar]

The second bedroom at Cypress Harbour can be kind of tight on room when the couch is let out into a bed. There's a queen bed and a sleeper couch in the second bedroom at Cypress Harbour.

Most units at Harbour Lakes/Horizons will be dedicated two bedrooms with two queen beds in the second bedroom. The exception would be the lock-offs that lock off into a studio/efficiency and 1 bedroom (not many of those at Horizons). Only the new buildings at Horizons have lock-off units.

 

[Detailor]

Harbour Lake 2 bedroom/2 bathroom villas are approximately 1,074 square feet in total (not specific to this resort but Marriotts in general: there usually is some minor variation on total size depending on when a building is built and what the Marriott standard might be at the time of planning a building). There are two queen beds in the second bedroom, a king sized bed in the master bedroom and a queen sofabed in the livingroom. One bathroom is accessed only through the master suite while the second bathroom is located between the hallway near the front door of the villa and the second bedroom. The second bedroom can be accessed either through the second bedroom or its primary door that's off the hallway near the kitchen counter.

Cypress Harbour has only 2 bedroom/2 bathroom villas and they are approximately 1,345 square feet in size. There are a queen size bed and a queen sofabed in the second bedroom, a king sized bed in the master bedroom and a queen sofabed in the livingroom. One bathroom is accessed only through the master suite, which includes a jacuzzi tub, while the second bathroom can be accessed from either the second bedroom or the hallway across from the kitchen area at the front of the villa.

Dick Taylor

 

[jeff968]

Jeff - I especially appreciate your comment on the zero depth entry - - I didn't know that.

can any of you provide a room size comparison between Cypress Harbour and Harbour Lakes? I've gotten some mixed input on this given the renovations that have occurred, but what I'm usually hearing is that the Cypress rooms are bigger/better.

Brer, I'm glad to help.

As for the rooms, the renovations have never changed the actual size of the rooms, just updated/refreshed the rooms. I would think either resort room would work for you. CH does have a larger master bathroom with a hot tub but we have rarely used it. I think the CH main area feels bigger and I agree with the earlier poster that the second bedroom configuration is better with HL then CH.

Jeff

 

[tink2007]

This is a great resort. I am a huge fan of all things Disney and our family has always stayed on Disney property until last summer. My parents bought a timeshare at Horizons so we decided to try it for our vacation. We were not disipointed at all. Even my teenagers loved the place. I cant remember which building we stayed in but my favorite thing was sitting on the screened in porch and watching the fireworks at Sea World every night. We had a great view. We are actually staying again in May.

 

[cwnhokie]

We stayed at Harbor Lake in the Summer 2009. We were in a 2 bedroom with the grandparents in the master and us with our 3 boys in the second bedroom, we had a pack and play for our almost 2 year old. The resort is very compact with made it nice to navigate with our kids. The boys all loved the pirate pool. Our older boys participated in some of the planned activities too. We loved the ice cream social every day. You buy a cup at the beginning of the week and eat as much ice cream as you want during the social each afternoon. (Not sure if they still have it) The older kids loved the ping pong and basketball. We even went over there one evening and had a cookout with the grills there. I think we only went to Disney two days and the kids didn't miss a thing, we could easily vacation at this resort with even stepping foot in the parks.