Wishing on a star
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2002
- Messages
- 19,063
We are just back from Orange Lake. We were in the NORTH Village. We had requested it because we thought we wanted something quiet... And quiet was what we got!!!!
Okay... North Village is up next for refurb... having realized this, I was a bit concerned. NO reason!!!! Now, if you need a 42" flat screen TV and granite countertops to be happy on vacation. look elsewhere. ( and pay more). These are available in the River Island village and the renovated West village. We were very happy with our unit... It has been very well maintained and was attractive and clean.
Yes, be advised, that in some sections of Orange Lake. (ones that do not overlook the pools and/or common areas) you will have the feeling of simply being in a 'neighborhood' instead of a nice, tropically landscaped, resort. That didn't really bother me so much. Because we wanted a break from the noise and activities of an Orlando Vacation at night.
We were also concerned about hearing of lackluster customer service at Orange Lake. Again... NO reason!!!!
The lady at checkin was friendly and professional. She did put in effort to honor our request for a quiet unit without another unit/family above us.
(turned out it seemed a little TOO quiet... be careful what you ask for! 
)
On the very first page of our Orange Lake Newsletter that we were given at check in is a piece called "Delighting Our Guest" It seems that management at Orange Lake has become more aware of guests dissatisfaction with customer service. They have launched a customer service initiative... The article reads as follows:
Resort Services has transformed into a 'Customer Care" department.
All team members are provided with extensive empowerment training which includes taking ownership of any opportunity to delight our guests. .....
Here is my example of how this very probably paid off for us.... We were at Tradewinds, the outdoor section of The River Island Grille that provides service overlooking the River Island pools... (Very nice!!!) My son was going to pout and have a fit because we did not want to pay a lot of money to order 'Gator Bites', which we were not sure he would really like. Also, my husband wished that he could have the rice and black beans substituted as a side with his grilled tilapia sandwich (instead of the home made fried potato chips) This dish comes with a price tag of $4.00 as an al-a-carte. Low and behold, our waitress shows up with a little dish of a half dozen gator bites and some sauce for my son!!! And, my husbands sandwich arrived with a small side of the rice and black beans!!! They say that the way to a man's heart is thru his stomach.... Our waitress understood that, and I had two very happy men that afternoon!
Also, our exterior porch light burned out... One quick phone request to the correct extension... It was taken care of that afternoon.
Yes, your unit may not feel like the total resort immersion.
But, I can guarantee you that all you have to do is meander over to one of the common areas, and you will not be disappointed. Our time spent at River Island was the total and ultimate resort experience. Palm trees and landscaping. Music Playing. Pools, lazy river, slides, sandy area with nice hammocks strung onto Palmetto trees. (the actual rope hammocks were replaced with brand new ones while we were there)
Yes, our unit felt more like a neighborhood apartment.
Yes, when we returned to the Tradewinds bar/restaurant after our first stellar experience, we got a waitress who definitely still needed that customer service training...
But, overall, we were very happy, and at times even very impressed with our stay at Orange Lake!!!
Okay... North Village is up next for refurb... having realized this, I was a bit concerned. NO reason!!!! Now, if you need a 42" flat screen TV and granite countertops to be happy on vacation. look elsewhere. ( and pay more). These are available in the River Island village and the renovated West village. We were very happy with our unit... It has been very well maintained and was attractive and clean.
Yes, be advised, that in some sections of Orange Lake. (ones that do not overlook the pools and/or common areas) you will have the feeling of simply being in a 'neighborhood' instead of a nice, tropically landscaped, resort. That didn't really bother me so much. Because we wanted a break from the noise and activities of an Orlando Vacation at night.
We were also concerned about hearing of lackluster customer service at Orange Lake. Again... NO reason!!!!
The lady at checkin was friendly and professional. She did put in effort to honor our request for a quiet unit without another unit/family above us.
(turned out it seemed a little TOO quiet... be careful what you ask for! )On the very first page of our Orange Lake Newsletter that we were given at check in is a piece called "Delighting Our Guest" It seems that management at Orange Lake has become more aware of guests dissatisfaction with customer service. They have launched a customer service initiative... The article reads as follows:
Resort Services has transformed into a 'Customer Care" department.
All team members are provided with extensive empowerment training which includes taking ownership of any opportunity to delight our guests. .....
Here is my example of how this very probably paid off for us.... We were at Tradewinds, the outdoor section of The River Island Grille that provides service overlooking the River Island pools... (Very nice!!!) My son was going to pout and have a fit because we did not want to pay a lot of money to order 'Gator Bites', which we were not sure he would really like. Also, my husband wished that he could have the rice and black beans substituted as a side with his grilled tilapia sandwich (instead of the home made fried potato chips) This dish comes with a price tag of $4.00 as an al-a-carte. Low and behold, our waitress shows up with a little dish of a half dozen gator bites and some sauce for my son!!! And, my husbands sandwich arrived with a small side of the rice and black beans!!!
They say that the way to a man's heart is thru his stomach.... Our waitress understood that, and I had two very happy men that afternoon!Also, our exterior porch light burned out... One quick phone request to the correct extension... It was taken care of that afternoon.
Yes, your unit may not feel like the total resort immersion.
But, I can guarantee you that all you have to do is meander over to one of the common areas, and you will not be disappointed. Our time spent at River Island was the total and ultimate resort experience. Palm trees and landscaping. Music Playing. Pools, lazy river, slides, sandy area with nice hammocks strung onto Palmetto trees. (the actual rope hammocks were replaced with brand new ones while we were there)
Yes, our unit felt more like a neighborhood apartment.
Yes, when we returned to the Tradewinds bar/restaurant after our first stellar experience, we got a waitress who definitely still needed that customer service training...
But, overall, we were very happy, and at times even very impressed with our stay at Orange Lake!!!
