Orange Lake-anyone stayed there?

Me, my husband, our 2 sons (ages 6 & 8) along with my in-laws will be staying at Orange Lake Resort-off property. I believe it is a time share, but we are renting our condo. Has anyone stayed there? My in-laws are paying for the resort stay, so we had no say as far as where we were going to stay. I have never stayed off property, and honestly, I am afraid it is going to take away from the vacation! We live in NJ, and my in-laws are Florida residents. Any input good, bad or otherwise would be greatly appreciated!!

I haven't stayed there before but here is the website if you have seen it already: http://orangelake.com/tour_our_resort/home.html

This will at least you a tour of what the resort looks like and what to expect. Hope that this helps.

The resort appears to be very close to property. You'll have the advantage of being able to spread out a bit after spending "quality time" with the whole family. You may really enjoy having more of a home atmosphere to crash in each evening rather than going back to a hotel room. The hardest part of your day will be getting back to 192 when leaving WDW. I take the wrong turn every time. You'd think after a while, I'd be able to start eliminating the wrong turns and start taking the correct one.

We stayed off property and right off of 192. We didn't have too many problems getting on and off property as we just tried to follow the signs. (Okay- I didn't drive one time so I can't take credit for this!)

We enjoyed being able to spread out and have a kitchen! That saved us some great money. We were able to swim and relax after a long day at the parks. It was nice but it wasn't where you are staying. Good luck and enjoy your trip!

I stayed there in the late 90's and it was really nice. They had a lot of things to do around the resort.

It will be nice to have that extra space during your trip, but honestly, I'm not a fan of staying off property. Even though my biggest complaint with Disney right now is the transportaion efficiency, it still beats having to find my car and wasting all that gas every day. You also get to take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours if you are on property (if that matters to you).
I've stayed off property before and the biggest thing for me is that it really feels like you miss out on the magic a bit. Whenever we go to Disney, we typically don't leave Disney property for the duration of our trip, and whenever we leave and are back in the "real world," it's definately a shock to my system. It's hard to explain, but I think it's something you will notice when you're there.

Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, but I just wanted to give you a different perspective on it. But hey, I think the biggest thing here is that you will actually be in Disney World - you can't complain about that!

Thank you everybody for your input! I know I can always count on you guys!! We leave in 2 weeks, and are very ready!!!! I would prefer to stay on property, but if the choice is no WDW or off property-I'll take the off property! We are already talking about next year's trip---that will be ON property-I guess it's all about compromise!!!!!!
Thanks again!!:mickeykid

So, we went to WDW and stayed at Orange Lake Resort, like my in-laws wanted to.......I will never stay off property again. To top things off, the tickets that my in-laws purchased for them and my kids were not park hoppers. :wow: So, of course we did not have extra magic hours, we couldn't go back and do any attractions that we missed, and as if that was not enough.......I had pneumonia:no:......I didn't go to any dr's down there, I waited until I got home and went, and ended up being out of work for 2 weeks, and went back, in my opinion, a few days early.
We are going next October, the 2nd to 11th, I believe, and we will be staying at Pop Century!!!

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Originally Posted by ginarella

So, we went to WDW and stayed at Orange Lake Resort, like my in-laws wanted to.......I will never stay off property again. To top things off, the tickets that my in-laws purchased for them and my kids were not park hoppers. :wow: So, of course we did not have extra magic hours, we couldn't go back and do any attractions that we missed, and as if that was not enough.......I had pneumonia:no:......I didn't go to any dr's down there, I waited until I got home and went, and ended up being out of work for 2 weeks, and went back, in my opinion, a few days early.
We are going next October, the 2nd to 11th, I believe, and we will be staying at Pop Century!!!

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Wow, I have friend at work that loves it there. They go back every year & stay at that resort. I myself love Disney properties and don't think I will ever stay anywhere else. Sorry you had a bad time.