Which Marriott Vacation Club resort is the best one in Orlando for a family?

[LadyAndTheTrampLover]

There are many Marriott Vacation Club resorts in Orlando. Which one is most family oriented and has the most to do onsite while being centrally located to all the attractions?

 

[maciec]

Hold old are the kids? We love Harbor Lakes! They are the only ones I believe with a slide at the pool. It’s not the most luxurious of the Marriott’s in Orlando, but I believe it the most family friendly. My kids (9 & 17) love it there

 

[littlestar]

Marriott Lakeshore Reserve has a slide and a lazy river - beautiful resort. Harbour Lake is great for younger kids (pirate ship zero entry pool, splash pad area and a pool with a platform slide, and mini golf.) The Marriott World Center Vacation clubs of Sabal, Royal and Imperial have access to the World Center pools and are very convenient to the Disney parks.

 

[Upatnoon]

We went Harbour Lake a few years about and it was great for kids, especially younger kids.

At the time, our kids preferred the resort to the parks so you can save a lot of money on theme park tickets by staying there.

The location of Harbour Lake is excellent for Sea World and OK for Disney and Universal.

 

[happymommy]

If you want to go to the Disney parks, Sabal Palms, Royal Palms, and Imperial Palms are closest for driving there. I’ve stayed at Sabal Palms, and loved the location, the large villa (they’re the first Marriott built and larger than any others). Parked right near the villa, gas grill right in front (used it a few times).

I’ve stayed a few times at Grande Vista, on Interval Getaways, and while the price was great (under $350 for a week in a 2 bedroom over spring break even), it’s not my favorite. The complex is huge, and it’s further from Disney parks (one night hubby was back there and I took a cab from MK back and it was over $50). Rooms were just okay, not great.

Harbour Lake was great when we stayed there. My kids were little, and it’s nice for little kids, plus a small resort. We were going to Sea World, which is super close, as well as Discovery Cove. I wouldn’t go back now that my kids are adults.

I’ve never stayed at Lakeshore Reserve, but it’s the most upscale MVC resort in Orlando.

 

[dioxide45]

Our personal favorite is now Marriott's Cypress Harbour. We have stayed at them all except for Marriott's Sabal Palms. Lakeshore Reserve is the most upscale and by far the best grounds with the lazy river and access to JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton. However, looking at even recent videos, the villas haven't been updated in years. They are starting to look tired. We own at Marriott's Grande Vista and Marriott's Harbour Lake. THough we don't have kids and don't like Harbour Lake. The pools are way too small for the resort. They are great for kids with the water slide, pirate ship and ever breaking down waterpark. We were there for a week and they were repairing it at least twice.

Grande Vista is just that, Grande. Very large with lots of activities and a lot of pools. You can find a quiet pool or be in the thicke of the action. We prefer to stay in the Club village. In fact on one trip, we never left that area and always used the pool there. We have also stayed in West Village and love the pool over there with the restaurant and bar.

The three Palms resorts (Imperial, Sabal & Royal) are all colocated with the World Center Marriott. They probably have the easiest access to Disney property being right outside the gates. Though even once on property, it can still be a long drive to any of the parks. We have found that we can avoid I4 no matter what Marriott resort we stay at.

If you are interested in seeing any videos on some of these resorts, the names above have been linked to a number of videos I have put out for each of these on YouTube.

 

[GoofyDad_4427]

The Marriott World Center Vacation clubs of Sabal, Royal and Imperial have access to the World Center pools and are very convenient to the Disney parks.

What is the approximate walking time from these resorts to the World Center pools? Are any of the 3 closer than the others? Thanks!

 

[BarlowFamily]

Looks like you're already getting similar opinions to mine...we love Harbor Lake for DS5. He loves the pool and they have great activities planned throughout the week (pre-covid). We'd love stay at Lakeshore Reserve or Sabal/Imperial/Royal Palms for the World Center Marriott pool. We just stayed at Grande Vista and didn't like it. Too big and the pools weren't as kid friendly. Perhaps when more activities/boat rentals are open we'll give it another try.

 

[littlestar]

What is the approximate walking time from these resorts to the World Center pools? Are any of the 3 closer than the others? Thanks!

Sabal is walkable to the World Center. The other two you would need to take the shuttle or drive probably.

 

[mbethel]

We stayed at sabal palms a couple years ago. Nice accomodations, very updated I thought and nice to park in front of your building. The outside didn’t look amazing, very plain, but the inside made up for it. It was maybe a 10 min walk from our villa to the world center pool which was beautiful! You couldn’t bring any food or drinks in which I didn’t like but they had a big slide the kids liked (They were 13, 10, and 8) and also a laser light show at night which was cool. Super easy access to Disney-loved that part.

 

[Monykalyn]

Do check out Dioxide’s videos. He does a walkthrough of every resort.
we’ve stayed at all the MVC except Lakeshore.
Palms ones can’t be beat for Disney Access. We were in a building close the path to World center at Saba Palms and was6-7 minutes walk, faster than hopping the shuttle. This villa does have a “step down” into living areas level where master is located too. It’s been several years since we’ve stayed at Imperial Palms- but I remember the villa being huge.
Harbour Lake has tons of stuff- my older teens liked some of the sports courts and mini golf. The activity by Pirate pool is fun too (bingo-free) for small prizes. Ice Cream social daily (small charge but can buy an unlimited refill bowl)- smaller resort. My five year old grandson loved the pirate pool! I’ve stayed here only in more “offseason” times precovid and even then parking can be a challenge. This past June (in what should have been high season) though was a dream with super low occupancy.
Grande is a huge resort and you can be quite far from feature pools, but usually not far from A pool. Husband loved going to hit golf balls on driving range from course attached to resort (small fee). Depends on when you go on occupancy. This past August was still low, so as non-owner we got a prime location by Copa Loca pool.
Cypress Harbour is my favorite resort too, but that’s probably because it is a bit less family-with-small-kids oriented. Big feature pools, mini golf, soccer field, etc. Will be heading back over Thanksgiving so can’t yet speak to what activities may have restarted. Probably the one resort I’ve never had issues finding loungers, or parking or even feeling “crowded”, we’ve been over summer season -and this will be 2nd thanksgiving week for us.

We always have a car and are comfortable driving around the area, something to keep in mind depending on where you want to go/location of resorts to parks.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

I have only stayed at the vistana on idrive.
We really liked it. We had the two bedroom with a balcony.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/the-sheraton-vistana-resort-thread-key-links-on-p-1.3148502/

 

[exchanger]

All are good choices. A lot depends on your kids ages.

If your kids are 11 and under, Harbour Lake would be my first choice. It's very close to Sea World and about 15 minutes from Disney World and Universal.
If you want to be close to Disney then the palms resorts are great and have quite a bit to offer for kids of all ages with access to the Marriott World Center.
Lakeshore Reserve is the nicest.
Grande Vista has good availability and is quite nice. Older kids really like Grande Vista.
Lots of people like Cypress Harbour -- I have never stayed there

Let me know if you have any questions.