Holiday Inn Orange Lake

[SwanVT2]

We are looking at the Holiday Inn Orange Lake because friends have timeshare and we could stay by them. We prefer to not rent a car. Mears from airport and maybe Uber to Disney springs or parks for the day. We are looking for recent reviews of this property and any tips for transportation, dining at hotel or nearby, etc. thank you!

 

[GoofyDad_4427]

We stayed there in October. Was not a good experience for us. The space was great, with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, full kitchen, living room, and dining room. Balcony was not screened and there was WAY too many bugs to even consider going out there. The room was run down and even with a second floor unit, we had a few giant bugs scurrying around the place. On the last night my son got sick and threw up on the floor. Since there is no housekeeping during your stay i kind of figured i would have to clean it up, but when i called the front desk they couldn't even provide any cleaning supplies. So i had to drive to the local drug store at 2am to buy a bunch of stuff, then come back and clean it all up. Was not a fun night. The property is also enormous and there are not sidewalks in a lot of places which makes walking difficult.

 

[Brian Noble]

One thing to consider: the property is huge, and there are four or five different phases. They are likely to be on different refurbishment cycles. So, some sections might have been refurbished recently, while others are getting closer to the end of their cycle and are rougher around the edges. It would be worth asking your friends about that. If they own there, they should know what's what.

Personally, I would not stay here without a car, but I also rent a car when I am staying on property most of the time, so YMMV.

 

[GoofyDad_4427]

We stayed there in October. Was not a good experience for us. The space was great, with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, full kitchen, living room, and dining room. Balcony was not screened and there was WAY too many bugs to even consider going out there. The room was run down and even with a second floor unit, we had a few giant bugs scurrying around the place. On the last night my son got sick and threw up on the floor. Since there is no housekeeping during your stay i kind of figured i would have to clean it up, but when i called the front desk they couldn't even provide any cleaning supplies. So i had to drive to the local drug store at 2am to buy a bunch of stuff, then come back and clean it all up. Was not a fun night. The property is also enormous and there are not sidewalks in a lot of places which makes walking difficult.

It's also worth noting that I am Diamond Elite with IHG and have been for more than 10 years. Other IHG properties cater greatly to anything I ask for and I am frequently upgraded into the best possible rooms. Yet this was my experience here...

 

[Upatnoon]

The resort is so large and sprawling it has an internal shuttle system. I would find out where the rideshare pick-up area is before staying there without a car, which would be a hard sell for me no matter what.

When we stayed there it would take several minutes to drive from one area to another in our car. Waiting around for shuttles could eat up a lot of time.

The resort is near Animal Kingdom and there is a Target, Publix grocery and many chain restaurants nearby on 192. It is also close to the Margaritaville resort that has a shopping center in front of it.

So there is lots of stuff nearby, but it's all far enough away you probably don't want to walk.

If you can get rideshare service right to your resort door, it may not be too bad, but it won't be as convenient as just driving where you want to go.

 

[CanucksRock]

I would only stay here with a car. I have been a few times. We prefer West Village in the bungalow style villas closer to 192. We were in a renovated unit last September for two weeks and it was really nice. We ended up at East Village once …and while we had a view of MK Fireworks - it was LONG drive to get out of the resort.

 

[teawar]

I agree with finding out what section your friends are staying in since it is a very large resort. Some of the buildings and rooms are much older than others depending on the village you stay in at Orange Lake resort. It is a timeshare property, so daily cleaning isn’t part of the experience, unless you pay extra. I’m sorry to hear that another person had trouble with housekeeping when their child got sick. We’ve had nothing but great experiences with the staff/maintenance team at Orange Lake.