Orange Lake--Something New

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Orange Lake Resort Complaints

[timeos2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close timeos2]

The mega resorts are in for a rough time

And I though the hatred was focused at Wastegate! Sounds like trouble at the OLCC Paradise as well. Not surprising. It is, as a practical matter, almost impossible to maintain a monster, spread out resort with so many buildings of differing ages and design in any kind of reasonable manner. It is true at OLCC, Wastgegate, Vistana and other mega-resorts. The desire to build and sell simply overwhelmed the ability to operate and maintain. Too bad but its only going to get worse as they age.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

We all have seen a gazillion threads discussing which village is best. Over the last 20 years, I always got the impression that as each village came along, OL promoted it over what was already there, with at least the implication that the new village du jour, what was being sold at any time, was better than what was already there.

Recently I got put in my place OY. I have been mislead all along.

Unofficially, and officially, nothing at OL is better, or worse, than anything else. A three-bedroom in RI is not better than a studio in the WV clubhouse, nor is the studio worse.

There is no better or worse.

What there is is older, newer, in more demand, in less demand, more expensive, less expensive, and different. It is those factors that determine point values, not better or worse.

Officially, when owners get flipped (upgraded) by giving OL more money, what they get is no better than what they had.

[bnoble Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bnoble]

Of course OL promotes the newest thing they happen to be selling as better.

Of course DVC never does this (except they do).
Nor does Marriott (except they do).
Sunterra (ditto)
Festiva (I'm "invited" to convert to points every time I speak with them.)
Wyndham (seen the new Presidential Reserve VIP level?)

There may be many valid reasons to criticize OL specifically. This is not one of them.

But, I recognize that some of us like to have our axes as sharp as we can possibly grind them.

-brian, who has no skin in the Orange Lake game, but who finds the incessant axe grinding a bit, ahem, repetitive.

[timeos2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close timeos2]

New is always etter excapt that it might not be

Of course OL promotes the newest thing they happen to be selling as better.

Of course DVC never does this (except they do).
Nor does Marriott (except they do).
Sunterra (ditto)
Festiva (I'm "invited" to convert to points every time I speak with them.)
Wyndham (seen the new Presidential Reserve VIP level?)

There may be many valid reasons to criticize OL specifically. This is not one of them.

But, I recognize that some of us like to have our axes as sharp as we can possibly grind them.

-brian, who has no skin in the Orange Lake game, but who finds the incessant axe grinding a bit, ahem, repetitive.

Whats hard to believe is that owners fall for the pitches. Is anything you list above worth the thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars they demand to "upgrade". Sheesh.

Yes, OLCC is every bit as guilty as the rest and it is disingenuous of owners to try to claim that OLCC doesn't pitch the newest as "better". They all do.

[willak Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close willak]

I am not surprised at this website. I stayed at OLCC West in February. It was the worst unit that I ever stayed in. The place is just too big to manage effectively.

[shopgirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shopgirl]

Willak, what unit were you in? Was it #2628 on So. Magnolia Ct., in the highrise, fifth floor, with a non-working elevator on check-out day?

Did it have loose tiles in the hallway that you remember to be turquoise (though owners will tell you they couldn't be turquoise because that is not the color scheme of any of Orange Lake units). Was there a regular tub and no oversized jacuzzi tub? Was the grout around everything darkened with age, though white under the sink in the bathroom, giving the stained tile a truly grungy look?

Were there ants crawling around the place and an obnoxious yellow light on the patio that made it look daylight in the bedroom, even with the drapes as closed as they could be? Was there no screen on your patio, allowing the bugs to come right in, every time the door was opened, keeping you away from the area completely? Did you have to walk a long distance from your car because the lot was always full?

Was there a hair dryer in your unit? I had to request one, but was told a few months later that all units have hair dryers.

These are my wonderful memories of that beautiful Gold Crown resort. Hope you enjoy your memories someday.

My first post on TUG was about OLCC, and I was personally slammed by someone there who thought my opinions were not appropriate, for a new TUGger. Ahhh.......such great memories. Fortunately, I don't butt heads with that person anymore.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Orange Lake certainly has had it's nasty defenders over the years, including the nastiest of the nasty. Most people tend to defend their own resorts or resort groups, but after seeing it and even doing it over the past 10 years I've come to the conclusion that no place is perfect and the more one praises and defends their own, the most ridiculous they look to others. I've never stayed at Orange Lake, toured it twice, and really don't have it at the top of my Orlando to stay at list.

[willak Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close willak]

shopgirl,
We had another family stay with us at OL. To be nice we let them stay in the master bedroom. They were not impressed with the blood stain on the bed spread nor the hole in the blanket. Their toilet backed up on the first flush. Their child found broken glass on the floor. That was the first 20 minutes . It didn’t get much better and yes we had ants.

[shopgirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shopgirl]

We had stained furniture, dreary curtains, a broken handle on the stove, the clothes dryer wouldn't work, and on and on and on.......

It was one of our worst exchanges ever! I saw a roach in the bathroom the first night, so we kept the light open all night after that. Rick figured it wouldn't do any harm because the yellow light was shining all night anyway.

These are now the good times we remember about our bad exchanges, so now we are avoiding those memories and stick with the sure thing. It's all good. We even have an exchange right now for River Island that a good friend is going to use. I think the newness will be a good thing and he will have a wonderful time.

[willak Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close willak]

I toured the River Island units and they looked nice. I sure your friend will have a nice time. I don’t think I would ever go back. Even if they let my stay in a 5-bedroom Platinum/Emerald Super VIP Presidential suite .

[genebyer Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close genebyer]

We stayed in RI 2 bdr on an exchange at the end of Feb. The unit was in tip top shape. The parking was quite full, but there was always a place to park. The only problem with our unit, not a big one, was our toaster didn't work. I'm sure your friends should enjoy their stay.

[kntheboys Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kntheboys]

Olcc

Wow -- we stayed in the West Village in November 2006. We had 2 units side by side, and no problems! Everything worked and was clean. We thought they were very nice -- only complaint was we wished the master bath had a jacuzzi. The room was big, but wasted space -- just a basic shower/tub with the vanity outside the bathroom.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Holiday Inn, circa 1980.

PS: For the powers that be who follow me around, checking on these things, this discussion did fine without me . . . there are others who report the truth, also.

The room was big, but wasted space -- just a basic shower/tub with the vanity outside the bathroom.