Recommendation for Orlando Location - Disney w/ Kids

[kyaustin]

Hi all,

I recall seeing a post similar to this a little while back, but I can't seem to find it through the search function. We will be going next Summer to Orlando and taking our two nieces (ages 13 and 9) for their first trip there and visiting most of the Disney resorts. What are good locations we should look into, either using Pts or we could trade a week with Interval. I think my primary wants are: Location to Disney, Kids activities/pool, niceness of the resort/rooms.

 

[DAH6696]

HGV Max resorts we have used are Grand Beach (10 minutes from Disney Springs) has 1-2-3 bedroom suites. Mystic Dunes (south of the park) is about 10 minute drive from park. Offers 1-2-3 bedroom suites. Both have decent amenities and excellent staff. HGV also offers Tuscany which is close to Disney Springs. You have to book 7 days. News, lots of activities, very busy.

 

[Mlvnsmly]

I would say Lakeshore is the nicest, but also the furtherist away from Disney. Its still not a bad drive. For activities, we like Cypress Harbour. They have a very large activities center there and a boat shuttle between the activities center and the main pool area which is fun. You can also rent some smaller boat type things. They have a small Pitt putt as well.Cypress Harbour is also a bit closer than Lakeshore.

 

[jwalk03]

There are tons of threads on here discussing the various pluses and minus of the Orlando Marriott resorts. You should be able to find some via search. No one location is the perfect answer so it really depends what you value the most. If close to Disney is your top concern than the Palms resorts at the Marriott World Center complex are the closest.

 

[bnoble]

We will be going next Summer to Orlando [...] What are good locations we should look into [...] we could trade a week with Interval.

Perhaps surprisingly, summer is not all that busy in Orlando-area timeshares.

If (a) you are reasonably flexible about dates during summer and (b) own a good-to-very-good trader that (c) is not based in Orlando, you have a better than average shot at getting a 2BR in either DVC Saratoga Springs or DVC Old Key West. You will want an ongoing search, and may as well list all of the DVCs for the full range of dates you would consider, but you are most likely to match one of these. I like them both--a lot--for different reasons. I would hold out for a 2BR given your travel party.

If for some reason this doesn't come through it is very easy to get a last-minute exchange into several different Marriotts or the Vistanas (Resort or Village) in the summer. You might even get a good deal on a getaway, particularly at Vistana Resort.

 

[bnoble]

Well, it's not that surprising...

 

[Pamplemousse]

Hi all,

I recall seeing a post similar to this a little while back, but I can't seem to find it through the search function. We will be going next Summer to Orlando and taking our two nieces (ages 13 and 9) for their first trip there and visiting most of the Disney resorts. What are good locations we should look into, either using Pts or we could trade a week with Interval. I think my primary wants are: Location to Disney, Kids activities/pool, niceness of the resort/rooms.

I read a lot of posts asking about closest/ good location to the theme parks. They really are spread out and there is always going to be driving and traffic.
Rather than concentrating on the address of the resort I would take a good look at the features and room layout and consider what you want from the resort.
I have never stayed at Lakeshore, but we have been at all the other MVCs visiting Orlando every other year for the past 15 years with kids from grade school through now college grads.
Things to consider-
Do you need a 3 bedroom? Consider Imperial Palms and Grande Vista.
Do you want the timeshare near a Marriott hotel for dining options and other amenities? That’s The palms and Lakeshore. With the palms there is a food court at Marriott World center that is handy.
If the kids were little Harbour Lake with their pirate ship pool would be great.
For kids in your age group I would pick Cypress Harbour or Grande Vista. They have room to roam, several pools, lots of activities. But note that Cypress is all 2 bedroom units and the 2nd br has 1 bed and a pull our couch (which when opened lives very little walking space). Grande Vista has 3 different 2 br configurations.
Marriott.com is a good place to research the resorts- you can read about the amenities, different units and even see the floor plans.
Also if you go on YouTube destination timeshare has videos of many MVC resorts so you can see them got yourself.
In the end you can’t go wrong- all the MVCs make for great vacations.

 

[dioxide45]

Hi all,

I recall seeing a post similar to this a little while back, but I can't seem to find it through the search function. We will be going next Summer to Orlando and taking our two nieces (ages 13 and 9) for their first trip there and visiting most of the Disney resorts. What are good locations we should look into, either using Pts or we could trade a week with Interval. I think my primary wants are: Location to Disney, Kids activities/pool, niceness of the resort/rooms.

Just doing a search ot the term "Orlando" in the title of threads in the Marriott forum turns up tons of results. Here is a pretty good thread I found through the search.

Which Orlando resort should we choose? Need Pros and Cons

We are wanting to go to Orlando in late April (not to do parks) Just 2 adults. We are looking at a 1 Bdrm for April and we are trying to decide between Sheraton Vistana Villages Sheraton Vistana Resort Harbour Lake Grand Vista (FYI- we will be staying here over Memorial day weekend) Can you...

tugbbs.com

 

[Dean]

Hi all,

I recall seeing a post similar to this a little while back, but I can't seem to find it through the search function. We will be going next Summer to Orlando and taking our two nieces (ages 13 and 9) for their first trip there and visiting most of the Disney resorts. What are good locations we should look into, either using Pts or we could trade a week with Interval. I think my primary wants are: Location to Disney, Kids activities/pool, niceness of the resort/rooms.

Review the thread Jeremy posted. It comes down to personal preferences of location, qualify and amenities. You may consider an exchange to DVC, that would be my preference, esp if one would not have a car.