Just back from Orange Lake......

[tdelaure]

We LOVED it! We were in the East Village which is their newest section. Our unit was right on The Legends golf course, the 10th hole I think, and my husband thought that was great. We loved sitting out on our balcony in the morning with our coffee, relaxing before our busy day, and just watching the golfers. Our unit was spotless. The kids loved Splash Lagoon - the pool in the North Village with the slide. There are activities all day long at OLCC, such as tube races, arts & crafts, kids pool games, water balloon toss, etc., which unfortuantely we were not able to attend any of these since we were at the parks each day during the scheduled times. How I wish we would have had more days just to truly enjoy all that OLCC has to offer.

I would go back there in a second and highly recommend this place to everyone. Any questions, feel free to ask.

Theresa

 

[Straitlover]

How was the kitchen stuff? Like were the cutting knives good & sharp, did they have bakeware, decent pots (we plan on cooking most breakfasts and dinners)? What about dishtowels and dishrags? I plan on bringing my own salt & pepper; what about coffee filters, dishwashing liquid and dishwasher detergent?

My sis and I are heading down on 10/4 to our 2BR and I am trying to make a list of what I need. TIA!

 

[lUVTOGO]

How was the drives to the parks?Is is easy to get around?We are arriving Oct 31st and are going to the halloween party at MK that night. I don't want to get lost as we never stayed offsite before. What size unit did you have?

Thanks for any information!
Maryann

 

[Timon]

What time were the pools open till? What about the hot tub? Please say it HAS a hot tub

 

[tdelaure]

We basically just had cereals and snacks in our room, since we were out all day every day. They did have all that you asked about - cutting knives, pots, dish towels, dishwashing tablets, three small boxes of Tide, roll of paper towels, coffee filters (but I'm not sure how many since I brought a box of the coffee singles (like tea bags, but with coffee).

The drive to the parks was easy. Only 4 miles. No problems, hardly any traffic. Just print out the directions from OL's website and follow them for the parks. Trust me, you can't get lost. Plenty of signs to Disney!

I believe the pools were open until 10:00 or 11:00. We did go a couple of nights, but left before closing. We spent most pool time at the North Village since the slide was there and that's what the kids liked, but I do remember seeing the hot tub at the big pool at the West Village. We were in a 2BR unit in East Village.

I called OL the day before I left with any questions I had, and the woman I spoke to was very pleasant and did not rush me off the phone.

The only negative comment I have about the place would be that they need to have some supervision of some sort at the pool with the slide. Some older children were running wild down that slide, right on top of younger ones. Words were said a couple of times by the parents of the younger kids to the older kids. Other than that, it's a great place!

 

[lisam]

Thanks so much for the post. We leave Saturday for OL and will be there for 2 weeks. We stayed there last year for a week and could not enjoy the resort because we were at the parks so much. This time we want to take advantage of the resort too!

I am confused on where to request a room at though. I had been planning on asking to stay in the North area because I have 3 young kids who love that pool but you said you stayed in the East and loved it. We stayed in the older, single story ones on the west end (I think) last year and were happy because we did not know we had another choice.

Are the units on the East end single story or stacked? Do you know about the units on the north side? Thanks for the help!

Lisa

 

[tdelaure]

The building we were in had six floors. In a publication they gave us at check in, it describes the East Village as "Offering panoramic views of the Legends course, each building combines the classic design of the hugely popular Tennis Villas with the dramatic architectural features of the North Village, including arched entrances, decorative bands of color and graceful rooflines". They've also opened a new East Village pool complex, with a 2,500 sq ft freeform pool with spa and deck area which is within walking distance of the new villas, but we did not get a chance to check this out due to again, lack of time.

I also was confused on where to request to stay since I heard positives about both the North and East villages. When I called the day before arrival, I asked if they could tell me which unit I was assigned to. At first she said she could not tell me because I could be moved at the last minute, but she asked me where I would like to be. I told her I would like to be in the North Village or at least in one of the newest units. She did then say that I was down for the North Village but she would make a notation that I am requested a new unit. I guess this phone call could have been the reason I ended up in the East Village???

Hope every thing works out for you. Have a great time!

 

[orlosipher]

From your original post, it doesn't sound like you had to take nap breaks for your kids. Do you think Orange Lake is too far from the parks to do mid-day breaks? We are taking our 2 1/2 year old son to WDW for the first time in February and are hoping to stay at Orange Lake, but we are worried about drive time for nap breaks.

Thanks,
Lori

 

[Local_Girl]

Thank you Theresa for your review! Glad to hear you had a great trip and good experience at OLCC. We are going to OLCC in December and are looking forward to a great stay. Thanks to the info you posted, I'll probably call a day or two in advance and request East Village.

lisam---We will also be there for 2 weeks and hope to be able to enjoy some time at the resort too. Would you post when you return to let us know about your stay? I'd be especially interested in knowing what kinds of activities they have scheduled for kids/families. Thank you, and hope you have a wonderful trip!!

 

[tacobelle32]

Hi ,
I am an OLCC Timeshare owner and I love the resort.Anyone wishing to explore the resore online can go to : Orangelake.com
and tour their resort inside and out.
We have a 2 bedroom villa that we get each time we go.This year we will be there 11/28-12/5. What is cool about the Villa's is the home away from home with your own driveway spot right in front of the door.
Orange Lake shares a border with Animal Kingdom and it is the closest park to the resort. On our last trip I clocked the drive time at 6 min(incredible!) which I happen to think is better than almost ANY DISNEY resort to the parks.
Another nice feature is you can order food delivered from one of the on-site resturants or from outside the resort-where there is SOOOOOO MUCH to choose from.
Sometimes you are just too tired to go somewhere to sit and eat(even if someone else is serving you!).
To everyone who will be making the trip to OLCC-enjoy! We do every time!!

 

[lisam]

Thanks again for the great info....I am still CONFUSED!! It is silly really because I know that which ever unit we stay in we will be very happy. I loved the single story because it was very quiet, very private and we had our own ground floor patio. Plus, the kids could run out the back door and around to the front door as part of their play. Also, no stairs to drag all that stuff up.

That said, I would really love to stay in a newer unit just to compare and because I hear that they have juccuzi tubs! Of course I will probably be lucky if I use it more than once!

Maybe I will let God do His thing and put us where ever we end up.

Local girl....I will be glad to post when we get back. We have 3 kids...8, 5 and 3 so maybe I can help with that info you want. Thanks for all the help!

Lisa

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

Can you tell me where you got reservations? I went on line but all they had was timeshare info. How much is it a night. It sounds somwhat like Wyndham Palms Golf and I loved that. I am trying to keep a log of these places so when one of them comes up on the discount web sites I can snag it.

 

[tdelaure]

Lori,

The parks closed early the week we were there, so we did not go back and forth to the parks each day. Plus, when given the choice of staying in the parks longer or going back to the pool, the pool won everytime. If the parks are open later during your stay, I don't think a break is a bad idea. Again, it is an easy drive from the resort.

We won a bid on skyauction. There are always rooms available, so keep checking until a date is available that works for you.

 

[orlosipher]

Thanks tdelaure for the information! We are going in February, so park hours will be short during our visit, too. I think that we will try taking breaks for the first day or so, and then if they don't work, we'll just sleep in later instead.

I am so excited about our visit! I learned about both OLCC and Skyauction from these boards. I'm so glad I found this place.

Lori