Orange Lake Information Thread

BigredNole

DIS Veteran
Joined
Aug 17, 2007
OK, looks like I have enough slots filled at the top. I am definitely not an expert by any means. I have not been to this resort, but will be in 6 weeks. I have found that information is much more limited and takes a lot more searching.

Each of the following posts will be dedicated to a specific piece of information at Orange Lake resort. More can be added later I guess.
 
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General Information
  1. Orange Lake is made up of 4 Villages: North, West, East, and River Island
  2. There are 4 golf courses and 1 golf academy
  3. Each village has a bar and dining facility
  4. Each village has a different pool environment
  5. Each village has different entertainment amenities
  6. Orange Lake is a cashless resort. Everything can be put on credit, debit, or room key cards. Gift certificates can be used as well (not sure where or how to get those yet)
Resort site: http://experienceorangelake.com/

Resort map: http://experienceorangelake.com/pdf/map.pdf

Play Pass: http://experienceorangelake.com/playpass.php

How to rent: https://www.disboards.com/threads/orange-lake-information-thread.3603244/#post-57572462

Entertainment Guide: http://holidayinnclub.com/pdf/VacationNews_OrangeLakeResort.pdf

Dining: http://experienceorangelake.com/dine.php

Shopping: http://experienceorangelake.com/shop.php

Golf: http://www.orangelakegolf.com/

General Medical Info: https://www.disboards.com/threads/orange-lake-information-thread.3603244/page-4#post-57738031

Travel Times: https://www.disboards.com/threads/orange-lake-information-thread.3603244/page-6#post-57824516

Resort fees: There is a nightly fee of $7.95 if you book through Holiday Inn. There is no resort fee if you book through an HICV owner (Holiday Inn Club Vacations). There is a $250 room deposit. The deposit will go towards resort charges. Any unused amount will be refunded back to you. If you do not want to put down the $250 deposit, you will not have an active phone.

Check-In: It looks like all resort check-in is done in the West Village. There is supposedly an Elite and Signature Collection check-in lounge if you are eligible. Not sure of any real details about it.

Fishing: There are plenty of lakes and ponds throughout. Some are even specifically designated for fishing. It is not 100% clear whether you need a license or not. However, based on the FL license site, there is an exemption for a lake/pond less than 20 acres on a completely private property. I suppose everyone would qualify for that. I assume everything is catch and release. I think you would be foolish to eat a bass out of one of the ponds. The amount of chemical runoff from fertilizing and bug killing would make me think very hard about it.

General Nature: There is tons of wildlife around from the videos and pictures. One of the big draws are Sandhill cranes (tall grey-ish birds with a red head). This bird is on the Endangered Species list for FL. In other words...don't be stupid. They will not harm you. You are better off not trying to feed them because they will eat what you give them. There is more than enough natural wildlife for their diets. Based on the videos I have seen, they are becoming domesticated because guests feed them. Try not to and definitely don't try to harm them.

This is FL people (I am from there for the first 26-years of my life). There are things that can harm you at almost any turn. Lakes and ponds are homes to alligators. Even the pools at the resort, back of your patio, Snakes are everywhere as well. This may scare a lot of women, but always lift the toilet seat lid before sitting. Snakes have come through the sewer lines and sit in the bowl with the lid down. Most snakes in FL are harmless. However, you have several venomous snakes: Copperhead, rattlesnakes (several species), coral snakes (if you see a red/black/yellow snake, stay away), and cottonmouth/moccasin. The last one is tricky because it is a more aggressive snake. Most will take a defensive position and try to make you back away. When it has space, it leaves. The cottonmouth/moccasin is much different. It may chase you.

Its FL, there are cockroaches. It is nearly impossible to keep them away. If you have a lower unit or ground floor unit, it is likely you may run into one. Bring your own bug spray. Spray around any doors and exterior windows to help prevent them.
 
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River Island
Appears to be the second most active village in the resort for planned activities.

Entertainment/Amenities
  • Giant pool which houses the 1200'+ lazy river
  • Large pool with at least 2 slides
  • Fun Zone
    • The Hippo slide
    • Sand volleyball
    • 2x 18-hole miniature golf courses
    • May contain the rock wall and bungee jump trampoline (waiting for more info)
  • Pool has cabanas that are able to be rented
  • Mussels Fitness Center
  • Treasure Cove Arcade
  • Massage and spa
  • Nature walk
Lazy River - You need a Play Pass to ride on a tube. No noodles or other floats permitted. You can swim the lazy river without the Play Pass.

Rooms
  • Buildings 81000 and 82000
  • Home of the Signature Collection of rooms
  • No studio rooms; all rooms are 1BR, 2BR, 3BR, and 4BR units
Dining
  • River Island Grilling Company - All you can eat ribs, island dishes, surf & turf, fish, sushi, and salads
  • Swampy and Friends Character Breakfast Buffet
  • Tradewinds Bar & Grill - cocktails, appetizers, and live entertainment
  • Currents Cafe - Starbucks coffee, pastries, sandwiches, wraps, fruit, salads, desserts
  • Anchors - chicken fingers, burgers, salads, wraps, fruit, kids' meals, and casual foods
  • Windward & Leeward Pool Bars - beer, cocktails, frozen drinks, and small snacks
Shopping
  • The Splash Shack - this is where you buy the Play Pass. Not sure what else they have
  • Island TRaders - General gift store with clothes, jewelry, groceries items, resort branded items.
 
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East Village
Appears to be the quietest and most secluded of the villages

Entertainment and Amenities
  • Home to a a more quiet and less chaotic pool
  • Hot tub
  • Fitness center
  • Karaoke Superstar Competition
  • Comedy Show
Rooms
  • 86000 - 88000 room sections
  • Room buildings are more tower like with elevators.
  • Only 2 and 3BR units (need to verify)
Dining
  • Legacy Sports Bar & Grill
  • Wilson Palmer Room (no details yet)
Shopping
  • Legends Golf Pro Shop
Golf
  • The Legends - Arnold Palmer Signature Course
 
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North Village

Entertainment and Amenities
  • Splash lagoon pool - zero entry, water slides, interactive fountains, pool basketball and volleyball
  • Tower Arcade
  • Tennis, basketball, shuffleboard, and racquetball courts (may be closer to West Village)
Rooms
  • 3400 - 3900
  • Rooms are in single story villas and 3-story buildings
  • 1, 2, and 3BR suites.
Dining
  • Paisan Pizza - Pizza, Italian favorites, wings, soup, salads, sandwiches, and Starbucks
Shopping
  • Sun Shop - general pool and sun care place, snacks
  • The Legends Walk Golf Pro Shop
Golf
  • The Legends Walk Golf Course
 
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West Village
It looks like this is where the most action is of all villages

Entertainment and Amenities
  • Swampy's Club Activity Center - age specific activities, arts and crafts, Parents' Night Out, boardgames sign out, sports equipment sign out, ping pong, video game systems, and other season activities
  • The Gatorland Show - Meet live alligator at the show hosted by professionals from Gatorland (fee of $5 per person)
  • Clubhouse movies - check schedule for the movie theater
  • Family and adult karaoke - Breezes Restaurant
  • Sunset Celebration - Breezes Restaurant and Bar, nightly sunset party with live music, interactive activities, and adult beverages
  • 2x 18-hole mini golf courses
  • Water's Edge Arcade
  • Watersports rentals at the Lakeside
  • Tennis, racquetball, basketball, and shuffleboard courts
  • Water's Edge Cabanas - cabana rentals
  • Water's Edge Beach Club - pool, daily activities, hot tub, pool games, etc
  • Water's Edge Fitness Center
Rooms
  • Too many room numbers to sort - generally 2000 - 4300 for villas; buildings are 2500-2600 and 5400 - 5700
  • Studio, 1-3BR units
Dining
  • Breezes Restaurant - Key West inspired menu
  • Breezes Express - quick service around lunch time
Shopping
  • Marketplace - Pizza, quick snacks, Starbucks, ice cream, general groceries, and typical souvenirs and gifts
  • The Surf Shack - swimwear, general pool/beach needs, and resort themed attire
  • The Reserve and Crane's Bend Golf Shop
Golf
  • The Reserve
  • Crane's Bend
  • The McCord Golf Academy
 
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Money Saver Tips (most came from the help of greenclan67)

  • Signature/Elite Owner benefits (pass on to people who they rent to)
    • Check-in at VIP Lounge with free snacks, drinks, beer, and wine
    • 10% discount on all food and beverage purchases
  • Happy Hour from 4-6PM nightly
  • Refillable cups
    • 16oz beer styne for $7, refills are $4
    • Specialty drink glasses are $9, refills $7
    • Soda cup is $17 and reusable for 7-days
  • Pool toys - buy them from Target, Walmart, or other convenience stores nearby. If it is just a quick 1-time thing, the pool stores are fine.
 
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Offsite General Amenities

Grocery stores
  • Publix is at the entrance towards East Village
  • Target is across 192 from the East Village entrance
  • Walmart is about 5 miles west a little off 192
Restaurants - there are a ton right around 192 area
  • Miller's Ale House - I have always had great experiences there.
  • Texas Roadhouse
  • Applebee's
  • Bahama Breeze
Pharmacy
  • Walgreens is just on the other side of 192 from the West Village entrance
  • Publix may have one
  • Target
 
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Only 2 mini putts on site, 1 in river Island 1 in west village, both 18 hole. Pizza is in North Village not in West. Never seen a bungee jump trampoline, could be new. Anchors at River Island, doesn't serve that menu any longer, it is now, more sandwiches, and deli stuff. Boar's head meats and cheeses. North Village, no shuffle board courts, and not all of the buildings are single story, a lot of tri plexes and 3 story buildings.
There is no resort fee if you book through owners. If you book online yes, there is a resort fee.
Signature & Elite, Premier and Platinum all check in at a the VIP lounge, where you get snacks, pop, beer and wine. If you rent through an owner with those status's you also get those perks.
If you rent through an owner you also get the owners discount with your room key card. 10 % off all food and drinks. All the restaurants on site breezes is probably the best. From 4 to 6 pm all bars on site offer Happy Hour. Tap beer and well drinks are $3.00 and $3.50.
Also they have reusable cups, if you order a fancy drink, you get it in a stem plastic glass, first one is $9.00 refills in same glass are $7.00 they also have 16 ozs beer stynes, they are $7.00 first one refills are $4.00 I believe. You can bring these back year after year.
For kids, they have a 7 day reusable, unlimited, soda coke freestyle machine. You pay $17.00 for the cup and you can refill it for the full 7 days. They have a sensor in the bottom of them and after the 7th day become inactive.
You can choose not to put the $250 deposit on your card, but you won't have phone out privelages on your unit phone.
Think that is about all for now.
 
I will make a few updates from your info. The mini putt info came from their site and looking at Google Maps satellite view. It does look like there are 72-holes of mini golf now.
 
Who, what, where, when, and how to rent at Orange Lake?

Who

  • Renting directly from Holiday Inn is the safest and possibly the easiest place to rent. Expect to pay a premium of about 50% for a room
  • eBay - Is usually safe. You have to seek out deals owners place
  • VRBO - Great place to find owners. Sometimes prices are higher or lower. It is a great place to get a ceiling for rental prices.
  • Skyauction - Very safe. Research and read carefully. You may find a great price but inside the details for your week, there is a little section for addon fees for the specific week.
  • Redweek - Very safe and they have two types of ads: Redweek Verified and direct from owner. Redweek Verified is done directly through Redweek. Usually a little bit higher priced than direct. Owners directly is quite safe as well.
  • TUGG - This may be the timeshare Holy Grail website. All info on timeshares can be found there. Here you can find owners directly to communicate and rent through. They have a Market Place to research ads for rent and to place an ad looking for a rental. There is an annual fee, but you will more than make up for it on a single rental. There is some risk and you will get obvious scam offers. Just research the name and phone number. You can quickly find out if it is a scam. This is my go-to site for deals.
    • Inside 45-days, they have a For Rent and Seeking Rental section. The price cannot be for more than $100 per night on those
    • I know this is Orange Lake, but deals for 4BR Pres suites at Wyndham Bonnet Creek pop up for $700 for a week here.
  • Craigslist and similar - I would avoid these completely. The ones above are so much safer and great prices.
  • Renting directly from the owner of the timeshare allows their benefits/perks to pass on to the renter. OLR has a separate VIP check-in and a 10% discount for food and beverages.
When
  • Unlike Wyndham, HICV gives the best benefits for owners much farther out. Wyndham gives the biggest discounts within 60-days.
  • The resort is massive and they have tons of units. Inventory is still quite high for a late June trip right now, so there should not be too many inventory concerns.
How
  • Get to know the owner before sending any money.
  • Try to get a rental contract in place. If something crazy happens, that piece of paper is all that protects you if you have to file a small claims lawsuit.
  • See if they offer a cancellation policy. Some owner's status get free points protection up to 48-hours in advance. You will most likely lose the $59 name transfer fee, but get the money back or a point credit when you want to book again.
  • After getting a confirmation, call the resort to confirm for yourself
  • No safe owner ever wants to have a problem renting. They are usually Elite points owners that rely on renting to cover their maintenance fees. One bad review can kill their ability. You also want to verify and research the owner. TUGG is a great way and Google as well.
Names of renters
  • If there are DIS members that rent, we can put them here. Others can be given through PM maybe.
 
If anyone knows the location of the grilling stations onsite, let me know. I will try to mark up a map showing them.
 
If anyone knows the location of the grilling stations onsite, let me know. I will try to mark up a map showing them.
On Southern Magnolia drive. West Village. Where the shhhhh quiet pool is. First right after the guard gate going into west village.
 
Who, what, where, when, and how to rent at Orange Lake?

Who

  • Renting directly from Holiday Inn is the safest and possibly the easiest place to rent. Expect to pay a premium of about 50% for a room
  • eBay - Is usually safe. You have to seek out deals owners place
  • VRBO - Great place to find owners. Sometimes prices are higher or lower. It is a great place to get a ceiling for rental prices.
  • Skyauction - Very safe. Research and read carefully. You may find a great price but inside the details for your week, there is a little section for addon fees for the specific week.
  • Redweek - Very safe and they have two types of ads: Redweek Verified and direct from owner. Redweek Verified is done directly through Redweek. Usually a little bit higher priced than direct. Owners directly is quite safe as well.
  • TUGG - This may be the timeshare Holy Grail website. All info on timeshares can be found there. Here you can find owners directly to communicate and rent through. They have a Market Place to research ads for rent and to place an ad looking for a rental. There is an annual fee, but you will more than make up for it on a single rental. There is some risk and you will get obvious scam offers. Just research the name and phone number. You can quickly find out if it is a scam. This is my go-to site for deals.
    • Inside 45-days, they have a For Rent and Seeking Rental section. The price cannot be for more than $100 per night on those
    • I know this is Orange Lake, but deals for 4BR Pres suites at Wyndham Bonnet Creek pop up for $700 for a week here.
  • Craigslist and similar - I would avoid these completely. The ones above are so much safer and great prices.
  • Renting directly from the owner of the timeshare allows their benefits/perks to pass on to the renter. OLR has a separate VIP check-in and a 10% discount for food and beverages.
When
  • Unlike Wyndham, HICV gives the best benefits for owners much farther out. Wyndham gives the biggest discounts within 60-days.
  • The resort is massive and they have tons of units. Inventory is still quite high for a late June trip right now, so there should not be too many inventory concerns.
How
  • Get to know the owner before sending any money.
  • Try to get a rental contract in place. If something crazy happens, that piece of paper is all that protects you if you have to file a small claims lawsuit.
  • See if they offer a cancellation policy. Some owner's status get free points protection up to 48-hours in advance. You will most likely lose the $59 name transfer fee, but get the money back or a point credit when you want to book again.
  • After getting a confirmation, call the resort to confirm for yourself
  • No safe owner ever wants to have a problem renting. They are usually Elite points owners that rely on renting to cover their maintenance fees. One bad review can kill their ability. You also want to verify and research the owner. TUGG is a great way and Google as well.
Names of renters
  • If there are DIS members that rent, we can put them here. Others can be given through PM maybe.
I dont believe you can post that u rent. Its against board policy.
 
For specific DISer, I think if they post they are an owner, that is fine. People can PM for further info.
 

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