Hehe....I was just thinking back to a fantastic vacation we took to Orlando back in December 2002. Oh it was great! Disney World and Universal Studios were fun, and Capone’s was a great show and dinner. Of course, we also stayed at one of the best resorts in the area, Orange Lake Resort & Country Club.

Why, How, & When I Chose Orange Lake Resort & Country Club

Gee, this is a long story! I own a timeshare room for one week in both Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando (Kissimmee to be exact). We didn’t have plans to use our Orlando timeshare but one day back in June I got a call from RCI. She told me that I could use 30,000 points (from the ‘points system’ that most timeshares have) for a week. She also told me that she would not let me pass up this opportunity because she said, and I quote, “Orange Lake is one of the largest and most beautiful resort properties in the Orlando area.” She told me all about how convenient it is to the parks and how beautiful the rooms are. So, as she said, I did not pass up the opportunity and booked it immediately. After I booked it, I booked the flight through jetBlue Airways which had the lowest fare from Rochester, NY to Orlando McCoy International Airport.

We didn’t stay for the whole week as the RCI customer service agent offered. Instead, we stayed for four days and my cousins flew down a few days before us and stayed the whole week. Since the room was actually three bedrooms, it could fit all 11 of us.

Getting There

We used the website, www.orangelake.com to get the directions from the Orlando McCoy International Airport to Orange Lake. Here are the directions right from the website:

~Exit Orlando International Airport onto North Access Road
~Take the North Access Road to State Road 528 West (Bee Line Expressway)
~You will encounter two (2) tollbooths -- the first for 75¢, the second for 50¢ for passenger vehicles
~Continue on State Road 528 for 10.5 miles to Interstate 4 West
~The two left lanes will merge into Interstate 4 West
~Continue on Interstate 4 for 7 miles to U.S. Hwy 192 (exit 64B, formerly 25B)
~Merge onto U.S. Hwy 192 West and then merge to the two left-hand lanes
~Continue U.S. Hwy 192 West for 5 miles to the stoplight at Orange Lake Boulevard
~Turn Right into Orange Lake

The directions were easy to follow and were right! The total time from the airport to the resort was about 30 minutes.

Property & Area

The resort takes up many acres because of the golf course and because there are so many buildings that belong to the resort. This leads to “harsh driving” on my part. Our room was located right in front of one of the golf courses. Therefore, it was a long drive after entering the property. However, we could cut through since there was an entrance open everyday from 10:00 a.m to 6:00 p.m. This brought us to a few buildings away from our building where the room was located, but it only came handy in the morning since we always left after 10:00 but never came back before 6:00.

The way that we got in was next to a plaza with a supermarket and several stores. The name of the plaza was Orange Lake Plaza and I am pretty sure it is owned by the resort since there were many advertisements for the resort. From the entrance near the plaza, we would have to show our ticket that we kept on our vehicle which showed that we were guests. Next, we would have to drive over five minutes to our building.

The property was beautiful. There were ponds with fountains in the middle, and since it was Christmas time, there were Christmas decorations all over the place. Some of the rooms are located in the tall buildings (like ours). There were many of these buildings and had up to six levels if I’m not mistaken. The other buildings were one and two bedroom that were one level high and were connected in rows of three. The tall buildings reminded me of Old-Italian because the architecture was so rich.

Check-In

Once we finally found the check-in office, I decided to stay in the car while my wife checked us in. Of course, we only needed the room number since my cousins had already checked in. My car sat in a well lighted area right in front of the main doors entering the lobby. Many people were checking-in and it was about 11:00 p.m. My wife came back with coupons to Capone’s and some information that the check-in agent gave her. The check-in building was very large and was decorated with statues of beautiful swans.

Parking

It would be most wise to park in front of the building where your hotel is located. Sometimes the single-isle lot is packed but there is additional parking further back. Parking is free. Also, there are spots for small cars and for larger cars. The parking lots are well-lighted and decorated with palm trees nearby.

Getting To The Room

We were staying on the fourth floor and we were very tired the night we came. Of course, we didn’t want to have to lug all of our luggage upstairs, but we were so tired that we didn’t see the elevators! Instead, we took the stairs on the side of the building which were very tiring since it was so late. The next morning, we found out the elevators were located in the center of the building.

Room

Each different guest room is blocked off and to go to a different room. Say if you wanted to go from 4564 to 4562, you would have to go through an outside hallway. Of course, I didn’t mind this because the beautiful morning weather in the Orlando area is beautiful! I loved the feel of the cool humidity.

Outside the main entrance to the room is a doorbell. Ding-dong...enter and now for the grand tour...

The main door has a peak-hole for those days that you are just too afraid to open the door and see a water balloon fly into your face! Once entering, there is the main hallway that leads to most of the rooms. The hallway was made of marble tile and had a large mirror, a tissue box, and a large glass table with fine wood on its sides. On the table was a large, green plant.

The main room had an open-up couch that was almost like two couches connected. The couches were basically in the shape of an “L” and were connecting to each other. There was a chair, large plant, and a glass table with several chairs and a booth for eating. The television had five Orange Lake Resort & Country Club channels, a Disney Channel which showed the same thing over and over again (footage of all the Disney parks), and there was also a Universal Studios video. There were two large stools to sit on that were good for eating on the high counter that was parallel with the kitchen.

The kitchen came with soap, dishwasher, dishwasher detergent, sink with hot/cold water, many cabinets, silverware, cups, plates, bowls, towels, oven, stove, microwave, and of course my all-time favorite, the refrigerator! You had to go out and buy your own food, but there was room-service which we did not order since my cousins thought ahead and went shopping before we came!

There was washer and dryer which came with everything you need to operate the machines. This was located near one of the three restrooms. The master bedroom restroom had beautiful tiles, a jacuzzi, shower, toilet, toiletries, and was huge! My wife didn’t mind the built-in hair-dryer. The other two restrooms had the regular things that you would need except for a bathtub. Instead, there was only a shower with soap and shampoo.

There were three bedrooms, all nothing like each other. The master-bedroom didn’t seem like a master-bedroom. There was a queen-sized bed, small couch, desk and chair, television in the armoire, closet, and its own restroom. However, everything except the restroom seemed to be very tight and packed-in. Another bedroom had a television, two twin-beds, and a closet. This was located right next to one of the smaller restrooms. The last bedroom had a queen sized bed, couch, television in a white armoire, and one of the other smaller restrooms.

A Small Anecdote

One day we decided to go to Universal Studios. When we came down, we saw three ostriches. There they were right next to the building making very weird sounds. They were the funniest animals I ever saw! We sat there laughing away as they made sounds like “Aaagh, Aaagh, Aaagh.” They weren’t even scared of us! They just kept on making those sounds like nobody was watching.

Things To Do

Go golfing! The golf courses at Orange Lake Resort & Country Club are one of the largest in the Orlando area. It is located right behind some of the buildings and there are two different courses! The dark green grass looked healthy and sometimes while I was waiting for everyone to get themselves situated, I would go out on the balcony and sit there watching the golfers play.

Go swimming! There is a very large pool there with fountains and water-slides. There are beautiful palm trees surrounding the area and you can rent towels, but the only thing is that rental is free! The tanning chairs are free for use and are located near the tables which have umbrellas on them to shade you. Make sure to bring sun lotion!

Bill

We pay a yearly amount for the amount of points that we get from our timeshare. These points give us days or weeks for different RCI Resorts that we can stay at. Obviously, the more popular or nicer the resort is, the more points it’s going to cost. I would rather keep the price that I pay for the amount of points private since it changes from time to time. However, we did have a bill for phone calls. We had to pay $7 for fresh towels which I think is totally barbaric, but all hotels and resorts have some tackiness! I made three phone calls to my office which cost $2.60 each. Then, there was a $15.04 phone bill for a phone call to Greece (gee, I wonder who made that call)!

Conclusion

Orange Lake Resort & Country Club is a beautiful resort! It is very close to both Universal Studios and Disney World. Seaworld is just a bit further out. The property is large and beautiful, but I wish there were more entrances to the resort since the drive from the entrance to the room is over five minutes long. The rooms are large and beautiful, the location is perfect, and the all-around experience was great. I truly see what the RCI agent was talking about when she called me, and I am truly happy that she did not let me pass up the experience!

If there is possibly anything I didn’t cover, visit www.orangelake.com

Orange Lake Resort & Country Club - From One Green Acre To The Other!

Visit my other RCI reviews at http://www.epinions.com/content_91334086276 and http://www.epinions.com/content_79242694276

Recommended: Yes