Nicest Marriott Resort in Orlando

[BocaBoy]

We have stayed at all of the properties except Sabal Palms. Our favorite of course is Grande Vista, @BocaBoy doesn't know what he is talking about .

I guess you are saving the best for last.

 

[mdurette]

I am going to Grande Vista for Thanksgiving, and we are very excited to spend some time there. We are staying 9 nights. We plan to go 1 day to Animal Kingdom at Pandora and 3 days to Universal. I need your advice in renting a car. Should i rent or just uber ? My friends are going to have a car, but we will not fit in that car.
Parking at the parks is about $20-25. I am thinking that is how much a uber ride might be?? any advice?

Thank you,

I would rent a car - Orlando is fairly cheap and even T-day week if you watch you should be able to find a small one for around $200-$225. this way if you need to take a quick run to Publix you have it.

 

[dioxide45]

Why do you think you prefer Sharaton Vistana Villages? I've seen it whenever we're at Grande Vista. Our son and his wife stayed there once and said it was almost comparable to GV but didn't think it was as nice.

Perhaps it is just the newness, to us, factor. Not sure what it is. It is comparable to Grande Vista on a slightly smaller footprint. I suppose that Grande Vista has more activities since they have the lake that you can go out on. They have a lake at Vistana Villages too, but no activities on it. We always request the Key West Villages section at VIstana Villages, it is secluded from the hustle and bustle of the larger Bella and St Augustine pools. Much like the quieter Clubside Village section at Grande Vista. The villas have all been completely refurbished and are in great condition. The only downer now at SVV is that there is no stoplight at the entrance like they now have at Grande Vista. We will be at SVV tomorrow but will be visiting Grande Vista Monday for the Board of Directors Meeting.

 

[Eli Mairs]

We have stayed at all of the Orlando resorts except for Royal Palms and Harbour Lakes.
We love Cypress Harbour and have stayed there several times over the years. It was our favourite until Lakeshore Reserve. The townhouses are awesome, especially the ones with a view of the water, which we have occupied a couple of times
We were at Grande Vista a few weeks ago and had a lovely two bedroom unit on the lake.
We stayed at Sabal Palms this past February, and to our surprise, we loved it - our new favourite. It is small, older, but the units are large, renovated and most have a nice view of the golf course.
We have two reservations there in 2019.

 

[topmom101]

We are at Grande Vista currently and love it!!!! We are in building 92 which has been recently renovated with all new furnishings and have a lovely pool/golf course view. We don’t have kids with us and love the tranquility of our pool but love to see the young families play and splash in the main pools. They have awesome activities, including Oktoberfest every Thursday night. So much fun.

 

[Pompey Family]

We tried the Uber thing a couple of years ago. Most resorts are a decent time/mileage distance from the parks - this isn't NYC we're talking about - so even baseline pricing is going to be $10+ from most places. On top of that if you're going to the parks around when they open (like most sane people do) you're going to get hit with surge pricing.

We found it cheaper to just drive and park. Now, if you're needing Uber because you drank your way around the world in Epcot...

We were at Grande Vista this August and my eldest and I didn't want to visit the parks (I hate theme parks!) so my wife and our youngest took an Uber early every morning to get to the parks for opening time. The average ride was $14. I agreed to go to Universal once and Volcano Bay once (that was my ultimate limit) and I think parking was about $25 each time so factoring in fuel it was pretty much on a par. The only downside was some of the Uber drivers and the state of their cars, hygiene, driving!

 

[icydog]

LakeShore Reserve-- without kids, absolutely!!!

 

[cbyrne1174]

JW marriott has the best pool for adults (lakeshore reserve)
World Center has the best pool for kids (sabal, royal and imperial palms)

 

[ocdb8r]

Was just going to say that I think Lakeshore Reserve still provides access to the Ritz and the JW Marriott which makes it the winner for me on an adults only holiday. Grande Vista is a close second in the Marriott family.

If we go and don't want to rent a car, we often stay at Sheraton Vistana Resort which is very close to Disney. Uber/Lyft to the parks round-trip ends up costing the same or less than Disney's parking fees and drop of for the Magic Kingdom is closer than the TTC.