Offsite Recommendation - 14 & 10 Year Old Boys

[GoofyDad_4427]

Hi Everyone,

We are heading to the Orlando area over Thanksgiving (Nov 23-30) mainly because the weather there is much better than Pittsburgh at that time of year. I have two extremely active boys that are looking for the best pool area to spend our vacation at. Interesting to them would be waterslides, basketball, pool activities, definitely a pool that permits throwing a ball around. I have a ton of Marriott and IHG points, so using them up would be preferred but i am also willing to pay cash if need be. It's been a tough year with COVID and my older son undergoing elbow surgery, so we are looking for the best time possible. We do not plan to visit any Disney or Universal parks, but instead spend some time at the pool, hit Disney Springs, maybe get the Go Orlando pass, play mini golf, etc. Right now we are booked at the Marriott World Center, but i wanted to reach out to the wide depth of knowledge these boards have and see if there are any other options we should be looking at. We are planning to rent a car, so location is not that important. Pool heat is a must! My wife and i will have a great time drinking poolside regardless of where we stay, so we are really looking for something to appeal to the boys.

Thanks!!

 

[Disneyfan754321]

Check the rates at vistana, we prefer idrive location. They have great pools 2 bedrooms , full kitchen, washer and dryer. My boys enjoyed cooking on the grills as a fam. They have one water slide.
there is a thread on here above yellow part

I bought a unlimited pass for funspot on groupon for $44. We ended up upgrade it for $10 so we could go to both parks. It by far was the best thing we bought. They open at 11am so we we to Orlando first. The boys did not wait for one ride longer than 5 mins. They were so good a disinfecting everything. They have 4 go cart tracks 2 of them are muti level... we saw and fed the gators. That night we went to the Kissimmee location for more fun. The boys told me it was better than Disney.

My boys are 10 and 13.. we also have ds23 ds25 ds25

 

[bearzabout]

Call any potential resorts first and ask about pool rules and closures. I heard the hot tubs at Vistana are closed due to COVID. A hot tub is a necessity for me during the winter months since the air temp can be low.

Wyndham Bonnet Creek is my favorite with multiple pools and lazy rivers.

Summer Bay offers lots of activities and a rather expensive water park Open only on weekends.

Margaritaville resort looks fun.

Check out the Marriott timeshare near Seaworld. It may be more kid friendly than a convention hotel and the kids could have their own bedroom. It would be relatively close to funspot.

For activities, head to Citywalk during free parking after 6pm for dinner.

At Disney, try lunch at Sanaa at Disney and enjoy searching for animals. From Disney Springs, take the bus to the Grand Floridian and check out the gingerbread house and Christmas decorations. Ride the boats or monorail. Hop on the Skyliner if you have not been on it yet.

Consider Gatorland or a visit to Blue Springs to see manatees in the wild.

Again, it is so important to call any resort first to make sure you know the current situation due to covid19. Call again right before you leave to see what has changed.

I hope you have a great trip. Winter sure did come early up north this year.

 

[Monykalyn]

Marriott World Center

Check out the Marriott timeshare near Seaworld. It may be more kid friendly than a convention hotel and the kids could have their own bedroom. It would be relatively close to funspot.

I have stayed at all the Marriott vacation club resorts except Lakeshore.
If you have enough points consider the timeshare that is adjacent to Marriott World Center -Sabal Palms, Royal palms Imperial Palms and see if any availability-you will have access to world center amenities - and World center has that AWESOME water slide!!

Marriott Harbour Lake has a slide, and mini golf, activities (including a daily ice cream social-they offer an "unlimited" option for the ice cream sundae for $25 -I think that was the price? We stayed 2 weeks in June). The slide is tamer than World Center though.
Neither Marriott Grande Vista (stayed here in August-they were just starting some activities up again, but they do movies at the big pool) nor Cypress Harbour (heading here for Thanksgiving week-my fave of the MVC's) have slides but both have good pools and activities. Cypress harbour has a mini golf but it is not as elaborate as Harbour Lake. All these resorts have basketball courts, Cypress has soccer field. Harbour lake was doing frisbee golf tournaments.

Might try to see if any MVC owners on TUG or Redweek are offering weeks for rent. The "Palms" resorts at World Center are older, but spacious and extra space to hang out, with full kitchen is priceless. AND all their hot tubs are open

I LOVE the Marriott resorts and their attention to cleanliness/safety during this period has upped even their already high level of service.

Wyndham Bonnet Creek is my favorite with multiple pools and lazy rivers

I have heard so many good things about this resort; we acquired another timeshare week that may be able to trade into WBC-if so it will definitely be on the list to try!