# Orange Lake



## Keep Traveling (Apr 3, 2009)

I am totally confused.  I am looking to exchange in to Orange Lake, in Orlando.  

However, I realize that they have East, West, North and River lake (I think)

What is the difference between them all.  I have both points and weeks account.

My daughter will be 2 at the time of the exchange.  Can't you use all the amentities of each resort.  

Which is the best.  

I live in Orlando and just want to pretend to be a tourist for a week.  

At this point I only want to go to Orange lake.

Heith


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## Bill4728 (Apr 4, 2009)

Since this is more a question about which areas of orange lake is best. You'll get better answers on the Florida board.


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## pedro47 (Apr 4, 2009)

I also would read about Orange Lake in TUG Resort Database.  There are lots of information about this resort in the resort database section.


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## mecllap (Apr 4, 2009)

It's all one resort, with the different areas you mentioned, and you will have access to all the amenities no matter which section you're in.  You'll just have to drive (or take an internal shuttle bus) to get to the other areas.  There are some extra charges for some of the activities (like tubes on the lazy river, but if it's late in the day, you can usually find some abandoned ones off to the side that you can use).  We really enjoyed our week there (I think we were in the East village).


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## Nancy (Apr 4, 2009)

*Different Areas*

I'm definately not an Orange Lake expert, but will try to answer some of your questions.  I've stayed in the East Village (next to newest area) twice.  Second time with a 2 and 3 year old.  The unit we had the first time was very very nice; the second time it was really showing it's age like many resorts.  I'm sure that by now, that unit has been refurbished.  The 2 pools in the East Village have a zero entry area and the kids really enjoyed that.  Except for the weekends, they weren't too busy.  River Island is the newest area and it has a large pool complex that includes a lazy river.  Think a 2 year old would be too young for that and this area tends to get busier because it is new and the lazy river.  We also enjoyed a large pool (don't know which area, but not a check-in location) when we were there the first time.  

Bottom-line, units at River Island are newest.  Other units get refurbished from time to time, so you don't know their conditions.  I would try to get unit within walking distance of one of the smaller pools with a 2 year old.

JMHO
Nancy


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## gjw007 (Apr 5, 2009)

You can use all of the amenities at Orange Lake no matter what section you stay in.  As mentioned, River Island is the newest developed area and with the opening of the second building at River Island, it will have the newest building.  East Village is the next newest development and since it is still building, some of the units will be newer than the original building at River Island and some will be older.  The next newest development is the North Village, followed by the Tennis Villas in the West Village, and of course, the original Orange Lake is the West Village.

The units at Orange Lake in the East Village, North Village, and the Tennis Villas in the West Village are as pictured on Orange Lake's webpage (www.orangelake.com).  The Golf Villas (original buildings) in the West Village have gone through renovation and I believe have been done already.

The pools at River Island, East Village, and the West Village are zero-entry so all will work great with small children.  The pool area in the North Village has Splash Lagoon which I know when I had my friend with her 5-year old, that was were she wanted to spend time.

As far as which is best, that is subjective because it depends on what you enjoy.  

River Island is the most compact area with the pools, the eateries, etc. and the units all close together.  The buildings are multi-story units with units across the hall from each other.

East Village is in my estimate the quietest as the amenities are a couple smaller pools and the golf course facilities.  There are multi-story units as well but the units don't have units across the hall from them so the units have a front view (entry) and a rear view (balcony).  These units are the same as the Tennis Villas in the West Village.

The North Village buildings are 2-story.  There is a golf course also in the section.  Unlike the multi-story units, you can park in front of your unit.  This is also true for the Golf Villas in the West Village.  There are 1-bedroom units in a multi-story building that are right next to Splash Lagoon.

As mentioned, the West Village is the original Orange Lake.  The Golf Villas have been renovated in the last few years with the renovations to be completed in 2009.  I like this units as they allow me to park my car in front of the unit and that ground level.  There are some other units that are 2-story and the multi-story units at Magnolia Court.  I have never stayed at Magnolia Court so I can't comment on these units.

If I were to live in Orlando and play tourist, at Orange Lake, I would prefer River Island or a unit in the West Village that is close to the Clubhouse.  My rationale is that there are lots of activities in these sections while the other sections may be quieter.  The Tennis Villas are near the Clubhouse but since there is no way to ensure that you get a Golf Villa near the clubhouse or the Tennis Villas, I would recommend River Island.  

River Island has the least amount of units so it may be the hardest to get.  I'm not sure the number of units in the West, North, or East Village but I think the East and West Village have roughly the same number of units due to the continuing construction in the East Village.

If you have any specific questions, I will try to answer.  I will be there May 12th.


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## timetraveler (Apr 6, 2009)

not much of anything I can add to Gary's post.  He has covered each village in depth.

We are heading back down to OL in a few weeks.  I can hardly wait.


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## Abby's Mom (Jun 22, 2009)

*OL with a 2 year old*

The previous poster gave you a great description of the different areas.  We owned in the West Village and now own in the East Village, and my kids are early teens, so we've dealt with the different areas with a 2 year old several times.....

Based on that, I would stay away from River Island -- my thinking here is that it's a really "busy" place, and being in that environment for a whole week might be too much overload for a 2 year old.  Also, it would be really easy to lose sight of your child becuase of the way the place is laid out.  I would be more comfortable with a small child in one of the other pool areas.

The East village is a lot quieter, and we love staying there.  The pools there tend to be not as crowded, and very nice.  Aside from River Island, you'd probably be fine in any of them.  One note, however.  When we stayed in the 1-story west village villa, my daughter tripped coming down the one step in the whole place, hit her head on the coffee table and we made a trip to the ER to get stitches just below her eye-brow -- maybe staying in one of the free-standing villas isn't a good thing is your 2 year old likes to run like mine did!

The pools in either the west village or the north village would be your best bet for a young child; the North village has low height slides and the water fountains for the kids to play in.  You do not need to stay in either of those areas to use those facilities.  The west village pool is fun for little kids becuase it's now a zero entry pool and there is sand on the beach only about 20 yards away, so it's sort of like being at the beach without really being at the beach.

Hope you enjoy your visit....where are you going to tell people you're from?  It could be really fun to invent some place exotic!


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