Marriott Horizons which sections? pool bar?

[rapunzal]

I have a 8 and 11 year old...what area should I put a request in for? What kind of food to they serve at the pool restaurant? Can we eat dinner there too? Are all the pools heated? I am having a tough time not booking a Disney hotel and taking Magical Express. We leave on Wed. and I am still debating going to Disney...I just love it! We are going to just relax by the pool and maybe do Sea World this time to keep some costs down.

 

[maciec]

I wish that I still had my resort map. Being that you have older kids I would request a room by the Pirate Plunge pool. Buidlings 28 and 29 are closest, followed by 10, 13,12,14. Building 15 is the closest to I-4 and it connects with building 14. Buildings 13, 12, and 14 are the closest buildings to Horizons Harbor which is the pool with the pirate ship and the Grille. We stayed in building 12 on the first floor and we were equi-distant to both pools. The resort is small so it's not like you are going to be walking forever to get to either of the pools.

As far as the pools being heated, I am not sure. When we were there a few weeks ago they were warm at night. The temperatures were just right.

As far as the Grille at the pool, they serve basic easy foods....salads, fries, onion rings, wings, steak subs, chicken salad, hamburgers, fish sandwiches, wraps. I think that the heaviest thing on the menu was the hamburger. You can eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner there. It is all outside seating. You order at the bar and they either call you up to get your food or if the bartender isn't busy.

We did 1 day at AK, 1 night at MNSSHP, and 1 day at Sea World. This was not really a Disney vacation for us so it was no big deal for us not to be on site this time. We were very relaxed. Check out the review section of this board and you will see 2 good reviews/compare & contrast to Grande Vista written by myself and another DIS'er. I also have a link to my pictures at the end of my review if you haven't already seen them.

Here's a link to the Resort Map click on it to get a bigger picture

 

[littlestar]

Buildings 28 and 29 are the newest buildings. If you have a studio or 1 bedroom, you'll definitely be in one of those buildings, as those are the buildings with the lock offs. There are 2 bedrooms in Buildings 28 and 29, too, though. If you definitely want new, I'd ask for one of those (call the resort and put in a request).

Horizons is very compact, so you won't be far from the pool bar/snack area. It serves hamburgers and french fries I know (because I just had it a month ago!). But you'll be close to many restaurants. You'll be close to the outlets over by Dixie Stampede and there's an Outback steakhouse over there.

Horizons is a sweet resort - we usually stay there at least once a year when we're not staying on our DVC membership. Give it a try and enjoy a different experience. We liked it so much that we ended up purchasing a resale Marriott Horizons Bransons (every other year) week to go along with our DVC points.

Here's a link to my pictures:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/pictures?a=67b0de21b339407405f4&sid=0CbOGThs5YsXGA