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Harbor Lake or Grande Vista

jdunn1

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Hello Everyone. If you were going to spend Spring break in Orlando, which Marriott would you pick if you have kids and want the best pool. Grande Vista seems more plush than Harbor Lake but it looks like Harbor Lake might have a MUCH better pool complex and then there is min-golf? Does one resort offer more than the other in terms of things to do at the resort? We wouldn't be going ot Orlando for the parks, just to enjoy the nice weather, the pools and drive to a couple beaches.

Are the 3 bedrooms at Grande Vista anything special or are they just a dedicated 2 bedroom plus a lock off studio? Thanks.

-Jim
 

dioxide45

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Harbour Lake has the pirate pool and a water slide along with the mini golf, but that is about it. I can't speak for the kids activities between the two.

Grande Vista has far better pools in my opinion. There are four complexes and the resort is huge. While both pools at Harbour Lake are zero entry, there is one at Grande Vista with zero entry. There is also an onsite restaurant at Grande Vista as well as two pool bar/grills and a food court.

I would personally go for Grande Vista over Harbour Lake. We don't have kids though but I think Grande Vista still has the edge even with kids.

The 3BR units at Grande Vista are just a 2BR master with a lock off studio. Two bedrooms have king beds and the other has two doubles/queens. There may be a few dedicated 3BR units also. Not sure how they are setup though.
 

brigechols

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We stayed in a dedicated 3 BR at Grande Vista. Single entryway, one bedroom with two doubles, and two bedrooms with a king bed. Never stayed at Harbour Lake so can't compare the two resorts. Grande Vista had a lot of MAZE activities for kids and a campfire on the "beach" each evening.
 

jdunn1

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Thanks for all this information. You guys are GREAT! I think I am leaning toward Grande Vista, but I'm not sold on Orlando for spring break, just yet. Fun thinking about all this, though.

-Jim
 

jme

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Thanks for all this information. You guys are GREAT! I think I am leaning toward Grande Vista, but I'm not sold on Orlando for spring break, just yet. Fun thinking about all this, though.

-Jim

My daughter JUST returned from a Spring Break at Grande Vista two weeks ago. She took 6 friends, all college seniors.....4 guys, 3 girls. They had a 4th floor villa in bldg 81-------overlooking the large pool, and within steps of the BEACH area.... best location at the resort! I provided the villa for them. Great friends, great students---they deserved it.

They had a total blast. They raved about the pool, hot tubs, and beach area, not to mention the gorgeous villa. A couple had never experienced a villa that nice. They played volleyball a lot, and met some other nice kids/families too while hanging out at the beach area. They went to Universal two days, and that's the only time they visited theme parks. They mainly just "chilled".....they are all really good students, and they needed the break, so they welcomed the lazy days at GV.

All of them mailed a thank you note to us, and said it was the greatest Spring Break they ever had, and three said it was "the best vacation they ever had in their life", period. Of course, the weather was perfect all week-----82-84 degrees and clear skies.

My daughter later asked them if they had the choice, would they go back there, or somewhere else, and they all said "go back there". Only one of them had ever seen a Marriott timeshare property before, and believe me, they were impressed. Of course, they saw the very best of Grande Vista.

Are you kidding? Orlando is THE perfect place for Spring Break. Make a list with pros and cons, and then decide. I can only think maybe they would like a beach destination somewhere in the Caribbean as an alternative choice, but then, they would miss the parks, and kids adore that! That was the consensus with them, too. These kids basically had no money for that type of alternative trip anyway, so they were wowed by our gift of GV. That left them money for the parks and for dining out a couple of times in the cool restaurants at Universal.

I obviously had choices of any Marriott property in Orlando, but specifically chose GV because of the large beautiful pool and beach area, combined with the attractive style of the villas. I think that GV has far better pools than Harbor Lake, by the way. Not sure what you were saying about HL pools------those features mentioned are "just OK", imho.

Lakeshore Reserve was also high on the list, the only other serious contender, but I went with GV. I think that any of the "Palms" would be better than HL. They all have access to the World Center Hotel facilities, and those pools are especially impressive. I'm familiar with Harbour Lake, and the concept there when it was first constructed, and it has never impressed me. Seems to be a notch below the others. We also like Cypress Harbour a lot.....it was a very close third. Come to think of it, HL would be my last choice. We've stayed at all of them except HL and Imperial Palms, but we have visited.

I guess I should have just said "Grande Vista". It's a great resort.
 

DebBrown

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Wow, Marty (jme)! It sounds like you love Grande Vista almost as much as Grande Ocean. LOL! I agree that Grande Vista is a lovely resort. My favorite is Cypress Harbour but both are great and I wouldn't turn down either. We were just in Orlando for spring break too and had a great time with perfect weather.

Anyway... Jim, if your family is planning to visit the beach and not the theme parks, I think you might be happier staying at a beach resort on either coast. There's something to be said for being on the ocean. It's a whole different experience than being at a nice pool in the middle of Orlando.

Deb
 

gnorth16

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Not to derail the thread...

Sorry for the intrusion, but I am going to call to request a building (3BR this Sat check in) and read on TUG that building 81 might be too noisy near the main pool? We will be doing parks 4 or 5 of the 7 days and remembered the pools close at 10pm.

Any tips? We had building 98 down at the far end last year (2BR) and we were happy, but wanted to try something different this year.
 

jme

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Sheraton Bdw Pln x2
ChurchSt/Charleston x2
Wow, Marty (jme)! It sounds like you love Grande Vista almost as much as Grande Ocean. LOL!
Deb

Now, now, Deb, you know better than that. ;)

I was enthusiastically repeating what the kids said and felt about GV, altho I think it's wonderful too. I really get a kick out of doing for others, especially them. I guess I was (what they call) "living vicariously thru them".

'Course when I'm there, if truth be known, I'm really just bouncing up and down to hit the parks. Don't really care where I sleep.

And.....as for Orlando, I was looking at it strictly from the kids' perspective. They've done the obligatory "beach" Spring Break several times previously, and wanted Orlando this time. Picked GV for the whole package, esp beach area. My personal favorite is Cypress Harbour (you have great taste, which I knew), but I like GV just fine too. We've stayed there previously and enjoyed it. Lakeshore Reserve is great too....in fact, headed back there in October....taking my whole staff of 6 girls...parks and all.

I do believe kids think "beach" when in the same sentence as "Spring Break". Hard to separate the two, so you're right. But.......just wanted to share the experience of a recent highly successful Spring Break, where the kids had a very positive outcome.
 

NWL

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My daughter JUST returned from a Spring Break at Grande Vista two weeks ago. She took 6 friends, all college seniors.....4 guys, 3 girls. They had a 4th floor villa in bldg 81-------overlooking the large pool, and within steps of the BEACH area.... best location at the resort! I provided the villa for them. Great friends, great students---they deserved it.

They had a total blast. They raved about the pool, hot tubs, and beach area, not to mention the gorgeous villa. A couple had never experienced a villa that nice. They played volleyball a lot, and met some other nice kids/families too while hanging out at the beach area. They went to Universal two days, and that's the only time they visited theme parks. They mainly just "chilled".....they are all really good students, and they needed the break, so they welcomed the lazy days at GV.

All of them mailed a thank you note to us, and said it was the greatest Spring Break they ever had, and three said it was "the best vacation they ever had in their life", period. Of course, the weather was perfect all week-----82-84 degrees and clear skies.

My daughter later asked them if they had the choice, would they go back there, or somewhere else, and they all said "go back there". Only one of them had ever seen a Marriott timeshare property before, and believe me, they were impressed. Of course, they saw the very best of Grande Vista.

Are you kidding? Orlando is THE perfect place for Spring Break. Make a list with pros and cons, and then decide. I can only think maybe they would like a beach destination somewhere in the Caribbean as an alternative choice, but then, they would miss the parks, and kids adore that! That was the consensus with them, too. These kids basically had no money for that type of alternative trip anyway, so they were wowed by our gift of GV. That left them money for the parks and for dining out a couple of times in the cool restaurants at Universal.

I obviously had choices of any Marriott property in Orlando, but specifically chose GV because of the large beautiful pool and beach area, combined with the attractive style of the villas. I think that GV has far better pools than Harbor Lake, by the way. Not sure what you were saying about HL pools------those features mentioned are "just OK", imho.

Lakeshore Reserve was also high on the list, the only other serious contender, but I went with GV. I think that any of the "Palms" would be better than HL. They all have access to the World Center Hotel facilities, and those pools are especially impressive. I'm familiar with Harbour Lake, and the concept there when it was first constructed, and it has never impressed me. Seems to be a notch below the others. We also like Cypress Harbour a lot.....it was a very close third. Come to think of it, HL would be my last choice. We've stayed at all of them except HL and Imperial Palms, but we have visited.

I guess I should have just said "Grande Vista". It's a great resort.

We spent winter break at Grande Vista with 3, 20 year olds in a 3 bedroom lock off . We all had a great time. The younger ones had the run of the place and loved the amenities. They also made use of a complimentary shuttle ride to the trolley and took the trolley to Universal for a day. They'll do it again in a heart beat if we let them. ;)
 

Paumavista

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Little ones = Harbor Lake

Check reviews on Trip Advisor as well as advice here. Depending on how old your children are will make your decision easier. If they are under 12 I would go for Harbor Lake; over 12 Grande Vista.

The pirate ship pool, spray play area, zero entry, slides, huge hot tubes are all super for little ones. There is also mini golf & the lake to fish in. They have daily activities for the kids and it's a relatively smaller resort that you don't have to worry about "choosing a unit" close to a pool. There are lots of other little kids so you never worry about "bothering anyone". At 5 & 6 my boys chose the pirate pool every day and they met lots of friends.

Have a wonderful trip you can't really go wrong with Marriott.

Judy
 
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