Orange Lake vs. Hilton Grand Vacation (Intl. Drive)

[cd&kids]

You know, I used to hate when I'd see threads like this -- asking people to compare/recommend different places. But, we're now stuck in a dilemma and need help!
Haven't stayed at either one -- both look great -- and need to make a fast decision (like in the next 24 hours) on which one to go. We have the same offer at both places for a 2-bedroom villa.
Would like to hear from anyone who's stayed at either resort -- would LOVE to hear from people who've stayed at both.
Thank you!

 

[spiceycat]

I have stayed at SW HGVC and Loved it.

Also stayed at OL - but the thing I have against OL is not something most people would care about. It is not close to WDW....

for most people it is - but Spicey was at FW - so they required me to drive over to FW 4 times a day - that was alot of mileage not to mention a ton of time....

most people will not do this.

both are nice. HGVC ID is closer to WDW, us/ioa and sw.

I really love the tub at HGVC.

oh by the way at OL you will probably end up on the West side - no whirlpool tubs....

I also didn't like at OL - that there were so few swimming pools. Now this is a great resort if you are going to golf - but not so good for swimming....

since I would rather swim than golf - I would prefer HGVC.

 

[cd&kids]

Big help, Spiceycat -- we are a swimming family all the way -- no one golfs!
But I thought one of the things about Orange Lake was that it was so close to WDW? We've stayed at Silver Lake, basically around the corner to Animal Kingdom lodge -- and for some reason I thought Orange Lake was right by Silver Lake.
Also, the water park/lazy river thing intrigued us about Orange lake. No good?

 

[spiceycat]

it is not open yet - I think it does open this year...

no from OL to FW was around 10 miles - so 20 miles both ways...

oh for fun I went WDW way 22 miles - so 44 miles both ways....I didn't go that way again....

Silver Lake is close - around 3 to 4 miles from FW - might be longer. If is around a 1 miles from AK.

Cypress Pointe is even closer to FW (not the theme parks) - it is around 2 to 3 miles.

FW - Fort wilderness kennel - where Spicey stays when I stay anywhere except CWR.

 

[Suzyq9241]

OLCC..... They have like (soon to open Water park, River Island) Hopefully the end of May.... thats first.... Second... Splash Lagoon -wade-in pool, slides and an interactive fountain that kids or even adults would just love. Third - West Village Pool - there's an Olympic-size swimming pool, as well as other pools -relax in one of two spas- Fourth - Southern Magnolia pool - enjoy a refreshing pool and spa set against a relaxing - and Fifth -East Village pool area their newest pool - there is a smaller pool and spa area for a quiet, relaxing experience.

Beach & watersports

The lakeside beach with palm trees and chairs, and volleyball games.

The watersports: jet skiing, water skiing, fishing and more.

And they play Bingo every day at 2:00 by the Olympic pool.

They even have a movie theater there...

Please I have been going for the past 10 yrs and what a change....
My family loves it ...

My younger Sister-in-law did go the Hilton Grand Vacation and switched over because of all the things that it had offered and she didnt have to worry about her 2 boys.....having fun because they would sleep at night because they were tired from all the activities they had at OLCC...

We are a big family from NJ who goes every years at the same time...... Because we love the place....

 

[cd&kids]

Great answers...appreciate them both. Anyone else??

 

[swilshire]

My family didn't care much for OLCC, but maybe it's because we were in the older section. On the other hand, we very much enjoyed our stay at SW HGVC about four years ago.

Even though the distances are probably similar to Disney, HGVC seems easier because you just turn out of the resort and onto the interstate. On the other hand, traffic at times is slow on I-4. OLCC is quite a haul down 192 with several stop lights. Again, sometimes slow, particularly returning to the resort late at night.

Either resort would probably be fine, but HGVC would be my personal choice.

Sheila

 

[gjw007]

Big help, Spiceycat -- we are a swimming family all the way -- no one golfs!
But I thought one of the things about Orange Lake was that it was so close to WDW? We've stayed at Silver Lake, basically around the corner to Animal Kingdom lodge -- and for some reason I thought Orange Lake was right by Silver Lake.
Also, the water park/lazy river thing intrigued us about Orange lake. No good?

You are correct, OLCC is about a mile or so up 192 from Silver Lake. It's property is on the border with the Animal Kingdom. It may seem longer if you stay on 192 and you happen to hit all reds but if you take Black Lake Road and then Sherbeth Road, you can be to the Animal Kingdom parking lot in just a few minutes. I stayed at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge last December. It is quicker to get to the Animal Kingdom from OLCC than from VWL and about the same for getting to Epcot and MGM. I believe the Unofficial Guide to Disney will also show these times to be better. There are several pools at OLCC (8 I think) plus the new recreation area to open the end of May or early June. The new recreation area is needed as although there is a number of pools currently, it is a large resort and some of the pools could be larger. But I do love the Olympic-size pool in the West Village and my friends kids love Splash Lagoon.

Its funny but even though I've owned in the newer sections, I have been put in the older villas and I like them. A couple reasons that I like them is the living room space is larger. One half of the unit is the kitchen/living room area whereas in the new units, the half of the unit which includes the kitchen/living room also has the second bathroom and the second bedroom. The master beedroom and bathroom are larger in the newer units. I like having the larger living room space. The other item is that the balcony covers the entire width of the unit and not just the width of the master bedroom as in the case with the newer units. Some of the units in the West Village has regular-size whirlpool tubs but I think most don't. The newer units in have an oversized whirlpool tub in the master bedroom. Of course the caveat for any unit is going to depend where it is in the maintenance cycle and there is a stronger possibility that the older units may be nearing the major renovation period. On the other hand, since the resort was opened in 1982 and the major renovations are every 18 years (soft items replaced and walls repainted every 6 years), many of the units also should have had the major renovations done.

Here's the the thing, if you like lots of amentities, they are at OLCC. HGVC has some as well but the biggest thing is that the pools will be almost outside your unit at HGVC and it probably will be a drive at OLCC. I don't driving is a major issue for both as there are positives and negatives for both locations. The main thing is to enjoy your vacation.

 

[luvdisney14]

We are thinking about staying at OLCC. I found out that the unit would be the farthest in the west section right before going to north. My big concern is that fact that we would have to take the shuttle everytime we wanted to go somewhere. Has anyone else had to do this?

 

[Suzyq9241]

My husband and I did it a couple of times until.....

We said we would walk it ....

It is kind of far but for the exercise it is ok....

The shuttles are fine .... Call ahead and find out if you can order it for a certain time.

You can also drive to the front and leave your car there.... and take the shuttle back.... I done that plenty of times ....

 

[spiceycat]

no offense to anyone but OL is not a mile up the road....

It is more like 5 miles at least up the road. and yes I always use black lake and sherbert.

it is around 9.5 miles to FW... It is around 6 miles to AK. Silver lake is less than a mile to AK.

one more thing I didn't like - that traffic light to let you out on US 192 - it has to be the longest light I have been at. It is minutes and mean minutes before it will change. our average wait here was around 7 minutes....
this waiting for that light to change. Now I could understand if US 192 was busy which most of the time it was. but lots of those time - the entire time the light was red - there might have 1 or 2 cars along US 192....

I hate to wait at traffic lights.....

 

[Suzyq9241]

If you don't mind the drive .....

I think the 192 light is long....too!


But if we keep coming back to OLCC it doesn't bother us that much...

 

[jeff968]

We've stayed at both and the HGVC SW was much nicer. Where do I start:

Consistent and newer units - all of the HGVC is new (late 90s), some of OLCC is old, we got stuck in one of those units.
Cleaner - HGVC was well kept and clean. Our OLCC unit had old soxs still left in it from the previous person that stayed. When we checked in at OLCC there were bags of laundry in front of our building. They were there for a day before being picked up. The hallways at OLCC were dirty. The Hilton was very clean and well kept.
Layout - You can walk to the main pool and building at the HGVC. At OLCC, you need to shuttle to everything. the place is huge and you end up waiting forever for the shuttle. We ended up driving.
Location - HGVC is right off of Internation drive, close to many restaurants and DTD. The parks, both Disney and Universal are a close ride and you could walk to Seaworld. OLCC is way down on 192.

I found the pools not as clean at OLCC and the place wasn't organized as well. Our kids took advantage of the programs at both places but the Hilton activities were organized better.

We won't go back to OLCC. The only reason I could see going there was if you were really into golf and even then I would think twice. IMHO.

 

[riu girl]

The shuttles are fine .... Call ahead and find out if you can order it for a certain time.

Have you ever done this? That would be very convenient, but even if the max wait time is only 20 min that would be fine also.