We stayed one week as a family, two adults with two young children (actually are checking out tomorrow; it's raining so I'm taking this time to write my review).

Overall, we are very pleased with the resort as a whole and plan to come back next year. We know several people who own units here and their recommendations sealed the deal when we were choosing a place to stay. We got a few bonuses as Priority Club members, like wi-fi in the room, which was a nice touch.

We did two days at Magic Kingdom, plus an extra day in downtown Disney using the discounted tickets we received from Orange Lake Resort. It worked out to about the same price as the two-day tickets we planned on purchasing, with the bonus of one extra day at a Disney attraction outside of the theme parks, so we chose DisneyQuest in Downtown Disney for the extra day.

So... about the timeshare pitch. I've actually owned a timeshare before and am not against the whole concept. I travel a lot and do see the value in owning, especially when you have all of the amenities of a resort property without the work of the upkeep. As part of the pitch, we toured the Riverside buildings - the newer units - but actually preferred the layout and location of the unit we were in, the West Village. The unit we are in is a single-story condo, whereas the Riverside units are in multi-story apartment style buildings. Here, we have two bedrooms, two baths, a ground level patio, a full kitchen, and it's QUIET. We much prefer the townhouse feel and seriously considered buying one of these.

In the timeshare pitch, we indicated we would be more interested in one of these units, but they are a hard sell for the newer ones, where you get more points. They wouldn't even give us *one day* - or a few minutes - to talk about it together, alone. They took us to a separate building after the tour, away from the welcome center where we had left our children in the supervised childcare center. My partner became very annoyed with the hard sales tactics and the fact they wouldn't leave us for even a minute to talk about it. When I said we would need to at least speak about it privately, the salesperson went and got "The Closer," who sat down and said he had heard we were ready to put down our deposit. Um, no?!? I tried to say we were actually interested and not full of it, if they would only give us time to talk about it. That was met with one of the scripted responses about this being a one-time only deal and couldn't we even afford to put down $100. The deposit is neither here nor there; we are not the kind of people to spend $40,000 on a whim. I said we'd love to get a West Village unit if we could have some time to talk about it. No deal, they said; the West Village units are only part of the offering when you're on tour. Even the next day, we wouldn't be able to get the one we want, we would have to get the Riverside unit.

My partner eventually got fed up and said forget it then, you say you're not about pressure sales yet we've been here two and a half hours and it's been nothing but pressure and direct sales tactics meant to make you feel inadequate and less than a person. Seriously, I work in sales and The Closer might as well have been saying, "Don't you love your family?" it was that high pressure.

They said okay then, we'll let you go. Ah, but you then realize you're in a different building on this huge resort and don't know how to get back to your car. Someone else will be right out to help you, they said. The next guy who arrived TRIED TO SELL US ANOTHER VACATION. After the third sales person, I became angry (it takes a lot) and told the salesperson to take me to my kids immediately, that I'd had enough. That was when we were told to go outside and wait for a shuttle bus. After about 15 minutes, the shuttle came and the driver said on our boarding, "Oh, another set of rejects, eh?"

I guess that's how they see the people who have to wait for the bus to get back to where they started. Nice.

That experience really left a sour taste in our mouths about the whole resort, which is sad because everything else was great. They really need to rethink their sales strategy. I get that you need to sell units. But do you want to sell them to people you trick into it, or those who actually love what you have to offer and won't default on it or sell it in two years? Hopefully some food for thought for management. The property doesn't feel smarmy or low-class; don't make your salespeople be that to make quota.

Tips: Get the PlayPass if you can, tube rental and other pool activities are expensive if you don't. Definitely rent a car if you plan on going off-resort.

We were introduced to Orange Lake when we went on vacation with friends whom own a timeshare there back in 2002. We loved it and have returned on our own 8 times. We did not become owners until this past visit in November 2012. Before we became owners we simply booked through the Holiday Inn website. Having returned so many times we decided we should just purchase a unit.

We have stayed in the West, North and River Island Villages. The west village is the oldest section of the resort but it has been nicely kept up-to-date. We love the North Village as it is quiet and has a great pool but our favourite place to be is the River Island complex. The River Island complex is convenient with the pool complex, restaurants and shops all right there. The River Island Pool is the largest and offers the most activity with water slides, a lazy river and two zero entry pools anchoring either end. The pool complex is massive. There is a sandy play area for the kids to dig and lots of hammocks swinging from palm trees within this complex. It honestly reminds me of an all inclusive resort in it's appearance.

The units are spacious, clean and have everything you need. We stay in two bedroom units which have two bathrooms, full sized washer and dryer, well equipped kitchen and multiple TVs to keep the family happy during down time. Out of our 8 visits we have experienced one issue with a unit which was quickly resolved by the staff who were accountable and apologetic. They not only resolved the issue to our satisfaction but provided us with a lovely dinner at one of the onsite restaurants as part of their apology.

Orange Lake is less than a 10 minute drive to the Disney Parks. Downtown Disney, the Disney Water parks and Disney Quest are less than 15 minutes away. It is under 25 minutes to Universal and Sea World, 45-60 minutes to Lego Land and 60-70 minutes to The Kennedy Space Centre. The two main outlet malls are about 15 minutes away. The Main road with all of the restaurants runs parallel to the front of the resort. Super Target is directly across the street from the resort entrance and a Publix grocery store is on site. Anything you need is right there!

The on site golf courses are well maintained and easy to book. My spouse and son usually golf 3 times during our weekly stay. You can even golf 9 holes under the lights at night.

This resort is gigantic. I would not recommend coming here without a car.

If you are looking for a great place to stay with your family this is it!

Sales people are pushy. I explained everytime they called for this vacation that we couldn't go until my husband got laid off as he does in the winter. At one point I said I would call them. They kept calling. When we scheduled this trip I told them he was going to be laid off at that time. We were told we would have to go to a meeting for about 90 minutes. I agreed to this. Everything would be free and our original money would be returned to us. Well when we went to the meeting and told them we weren't interested, that my husband was laid off. We were then informed we would have to pay for the entire trip at a cost of $900.00. Very misleading on their part. To top it all off they didn't even add the points to my husbands rewards for our stay. Why is that? I feel taken.

Positives:
Proximity to Disney world
Good amount of activities
Spacious rooms

Negatives:
Cleanliness - first room we were checked into had ants all over the carpet. A lot of them. The carpet and furniture was pretty dirty and stained. I could not get comfortable because of the higher factor. Always felt filth - living room mostly. Bathroom and bedroom were fine.
The sales pitches by the staff. They are pushing to sell you on buying into the resort. The impression I got from the stay does not definitely make me want to come back, let alone buy a time share at this property.

Would not recommend.