Orange Lake....will never return

Suzyq9241

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 12, 2005
Dear Hubby and I went to Orange Lake (will not call it Holiday Inn -we have been going there since 1985) on July 14 we checked .. around 12:00 pm we spoke with Michael at the desk. He was so nice and helpful until we kept saying NO to the tour... than... he got very cold. I had asked him if our unit was ready he said he will call and find out. Michael gave us our keys, map to the place and ignored us the rest of the time. Did not call and when I asked him again he ignored us. So we took our chances.

We drove to our unit -86261- Great view of the fireworks -Disney was right in front of us.. It was ready.. brought our things in.. and off to go food shopping... very easy access to Publix, Target and there is a Wal-mart about 5 minutes down 192 off of 27. Came back and went to the pools... West Pool.. water in the pool was ok.... North Pool ... a little cooler but River Island very warm... By the way.. Frogs every where ...Road, walkways and even the pool areas...alive and dead.. was not cleaned up.

Everything WAS going good until.... Some one vandalized my new car..It got egged (I guess Security does not drive around much or not at all....) When I went to customer care in the main building, in my egged car (using up my windshield washer fluid) I parked it right under the awning where people park to check in at 9:30 am. I went to the front desk and asked to speak to a Manager I was taken to Customer Care... I spoke with Security and filled out a report..

Customer Care was good until I spoke to the supervisor--N-- (because management was busy, the customer care took my phone and my husbands cell number and was told that management would call us when he got back... but never did so I spoke to ... N...)She was cold said she would credit my account $10.00 to get it washed... I told her I cant see out of my windshield and I did not have anymore fluid to clean it.. so she said she would call someone to clean it for me. She called and the person who was suppose to come could not get up there until around 1:00 pm ... so I was in the main building just waiting for someone to even acknowledge me and tell me they are sorry or even can I get you anything.. Nothing... So mind you the egg is still on my car and it is 90 degrees and getting hotter...(Egg takes paint off of car when sitting) .. While I was waiting a guest came up to me and asked if that happened here and I said it sure did and he said he was going through the same thing door bell ringing and knocking, when he would go to answer the person or people would run away..... also another guest (an OWNER) told me ...while in customer care, she had fruit flies in both of her units... and another guest said she cleaned her own place because they told her that her place was clean and it was not.. she also washed all the dirty towels and sheets and went to target and bought more... she waited for over an hour also.. but when someone who stays at there place all the time and has paid using those they sure bend over to help them out... and gets an upgrade...to Signature..

Anyway...back to my car...while I was waiting for this person to come clean my car the manager came to me and asked what happened .. while I was taking pictures of where all the egg was... roof, hood, windshield and wipers and the whole wipers even in the cracks where the vents where so down inside as well...He said that they were not responsible to what had happened and that they were cleaning the car out of there own pocket and asked be to calm down and relax...He also was a cold person... and went on his way..said he would see me when he got back.. He came back and did not even acknowledge me until after this when I asked to see him again ... after what had happened... Well 1:00 pm came and pass .. N came out of the restroom and said oh your back .. I said back from where I have been here since you told me the person who will clean your car will be here around 1:00 I have not left. She forgot about me... I was so upset I started crying because I knew what was going to happen... egg + heat + car = paint..well a lovely young lady saw that I was crying and gave me some tissue... thank heaven for her. That's when I asked to speak to the manager... I went in to his office and again he kept telling me that they were not responsible for this... I kept telling him it happened on there property so really they are.... Well after I started to cry ... he went out to speak to .. N...and they gave me a certificate to get something eat.. finally after around 5-10 minutes someone came to get my car... around 1:30 pm while my car was being cleaned I went to get something to eat and drink.. still upset.. while I was there a worker at Breezes told me that there has been people breaking into cars there and other things happening there which he could not say but you get the picture...

While I was walking back I get a phone call telling me my car is doubled park and I needed to move it or it will be towed... can you believe this...I saw my car was back and I was told to go check it out... I did and guess what and nice chip in the paint where the egg was... I KNEW IT...and to top it off again they -N and some other women who I never met-...kept telling me that they are not responsible for this...and this other women told me oil was spilled all inside her car which was brand new as well... OK... so anyway N said she would have a letter for me for my insurance so I can get this chip taken care of...

Now ... the next morning.. I get 4 phone calls in a row so on the fourth one I picked it thinking it would be Customer Care... N...Not.. it was them trying to get me to take a tour... I told the girl after what happened yesterday and you want me to take a tour... I laughed and told her everything and also told her how cold the people in this place was... and I will never return....NEVER...

Never got that letter from Security about my car ... so now I have a chip in my car from my vacation...
 
We found OL to be a "dirty" place as well but we didn't have any vandalism problems. Sorry about what happened to you.
 


Thank you.... I am over it now ... but still...I will be staying at the vistanas from now on...
 
We stayed at Orange Lake in 2005 in a brand new unit at the time. This was our first time staying in a timeshare/condo sort of place and we all thought it was beautiful (I think we were at the West Village). However, things quickly turned sour when we started to have concerns about security. On our first evening we went out for some shopping and returned to find our door wide open and workmen in our unit. They said we had reported some lights being broken but we hadn't and also (I know it was wrong of us) we had dashed out for shopping and hadn't put our valuables away safely. With the door being open anyone could have come in and got past the workmen. Also, even though it was holiday accommodation just imagine if you had come home to find you front door open and two strangers in your bedroom. At this time the West Village area was very quiet, almost isolated and dark at night. We would often drive in to Orange Lake and see large groups of "rough and rowdy" looking people walking around. We later found out that some of these people were not staying at Orange Lake but were using the pools etc. Having a similar experience at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes we found that people were targeting the pool area to steal peoples belongings when they were in the pool. We went to a timeshare presentation early on in our stay thinking we would get free Disney Tickets. We were "kept prisoner" for 5 hours, intimidated and felt we had to buy a timeshare to get out of there. We didn't get the Disney Tickets despite buying at River island (which had not yet been built). After looking at the terms and conditions and getting a chance to read the small print, my Dad decided to take advantage of the "Cooling Off Period" and back out of the timeshare deal. It was his right to do so but we were treated like criminals. First we put it in writing then we were all taken to an office and interrogated again and it was made clear that they felt we were doing something wrong - it was downright scary! For months after we were plagued with phonecalls back at our home in England all coming from Orange Lake.

Anyway, after a week we were moved to another unit (don't know why, they just said our unit was booked :confused3). This time inside the main building. It was dark, dingy, dirty, small, old and just horrible. It was also noisy. We were paying the same amount of money as we had before but yet we didn't have a full kitchen or separate bedrooms or dining/living areas - it was like a motel room, just horrid. We felt that some of the people staying in this area were "rough" and we felt intimidated by some of them. As we didn't have any washing facilities my mum had to use the laundry room one evening. When she first went down to put some clothes in, she felt this man staring at her in an intense way that she didn't like. He continued to watch her as she loaded the washing in etc and she felt very uncomfortable as the room was quite isolated down the hall and there was no one else around. She returned to the bedroom whilst the laundry was in the machine as he made her feel so uncomfortable. Much to our later annoyance, she never told us what happened and so when she went back she went alone. First, she was shocked to find that the washing cycle wasn't finished when it should have been (she had planned to grab the stuff and run!). Next, the man appeared out of nowhere and got her into a corner where she couldn't move. He was a large man and he started sniffing her neck and saying "mmm you smell real good". She was petrified and there was no one around to help. He couldn't see behind him and my mum looked past him and shouted my dad's name as if she had just seen him so the guy turned around to look then she ran out screaming and crying while he stood there laughing. She had just turned 60 at the time so she was understandably shaken. My Dad had to go back to get the clothes from the machine and the man had gone. We think the man had also re-set the machine so that my mum would have to wait in the room with him. For the rest of the time of our stay she never left the hotel room until we moved out. We felt the place was far too isolated and easy for crime to be committed. The problem as well was that in the cheaper accommodation, they were offering people free holidays in return for attending a timeshare tour and as a result all sorts of "undesireables" were staying at Orange Lake. They didn't care who they took in as long as beds were filled and money was coming in.

Anyway, how is the car now? Did you write a formal letter of complaint because I think it is important they know what you went through. Like you, I will never go back there and especially when I have kids I will look for where is the safest place to take them!
 
Thank you so much for writing about your experiences at OL. My DH and I had been considering staying there in February with our 2 young daughters. I am now crossing it off our list permanently. I am so sorry about what you had to go through but very thankful that you are spreading the word about what it is truly like there.
 


I still have the paint problem... and a weird smell when I use my ac in the car... so I was waiting to see if the smell went away after a week or two ... but as of today ... it is still there... so come Monday I will send out that letter ... It is at work on my computer...

I hope everyone gets that picture of how OL is now since Holiday Inn took over....
 
well it was build by the same person who owned Holiday Inn. that was on the TV when we stay there.

did not like it because of that darn traffic light on US 192 have better things to do than to sit at a traffic light for 10 minutes.

although the area around it is dangerous - though OL was still in a good area.

can't believe that OL could not have take a hose and just washed off the egg instead of making you wait for hours. they don;t have hoses - that is insane of course they do.

so even it has gone to the bad area. definitely write them and complaint to RCI or II which ever exchange company you use.

can't believe you pay cash for OL and they put you in one of their studios. Would have been complainting big time over that. You paid for a 2-bedroom not a studio. so unless they gave you some money back you did not get what you paid for...

we were in the West side too - it was nice - but strange. the only timeshare ever been where the timeshares were separate houses. strange.

so glad you got out of their contract.
 
I'm sorry, but if that was my car I would have wiped it off with some water and paper towels and taken it to the car wash. On big properties like this they are not responsible for this sort of damage. Just like if it happened on your property or at a Motel 6, it is your responsibility to get it cleaned. If you knew the paint was going to chip I wouldn't sit there letting the egg steam waiting for someone to help, I would be proactive in just getting it off asap.

What you SHOULD have done however was try and find out if they had security cameras showing the kids who did this. I'm assuming they may have security cameras. I mean kids all over the US pull this sort of crap no matter where you are. But unless it was your unit being broken into etc, they aren't responsible.

And I believe that in some paperwork that was sent to us(we're staying there in three weeks) such items are stated.

I agree it sucks that it happened, and it sounds like the week you were there some really dumb kids were messing with people. But that isn't the resort's problem. It's the parents of these kids.

Per the girl in the UK, I'm sorry bad things happened to your family, but that was FIVE yrs ago and everything I have read aside from your two posts has been nothing but positive on this board and TWO OTHERS regarding Orange Lake.

I'm sure they have handled those problems with "undesirable" since 2005. As for the guest/owner with fruit flies, REALLY?? Hell, I have fruit flies in my house sometimes, it happens in summer. And when you buy FRUIT. Be proactive, kill em and wash your fruit.

I just feel that sometimes we have to deal with things ourselves intead of making everyone else responsible for things that go wrong in our world. I'm assuming the reason the staff was cold to you and not responding was because they knew it wasn't their responsibility and tried to tell you that. And you wouldn't accept it.

Sorry if this is cold but I just don't understand slagging off the resort when you honestly could have wiped your windshield off with something and driven it to a car wash instead of sitting there for three hours.
 
I'm sorry you had a bad trip to Orange Lake. We go there every year and always have a good experience
 
Thank you so much for writing about your experiences at OL. My DH and I had been considering staying there in February with our 2 young daughters. I am now crossing it off our list permanently. I am so sorry about what you had to go through but very thankful that you are spreading the word about what it is truly like there.

I know you probably went already, but I hope you didn't cross it off of your list because of her situation. We go to Orange Lake every year and never have any problems. Your daughters will love all the things to do on the resort.
 
ya know, I've been on this board since 1999 and I don't think I have heard more negative reports on a condo place more than this one. Nope, I'm wrong......Westgage....I've heard equally bad stuff on that one. lol

Yes, things happen everywhere and I mean everywhere. Even the deluxe Disney resorts. But it's the quantity of bad reports that I'm talking about. And it's been more than a decade that I've been reading them. Maybe because it's so large, I don't know. Vistana is large too although I don't think as large as OL??? not sure about that. And I've heard many bad stories about Vistana too but it just seems like OL has issues......a lot....of issues.

We were offered OL from an owner for our upcoming vacation but I turned it down. I know many have great experiences there. I just can't shake what I have read for 12 years. Maybe I shouldn't do that but it's my vacation and although I do not expect perfection (and I certainly agree that many things are up to US to take care of) I do expect to feel safe.

I can deal with bugs not so much with thugs. ;)
 
I am so glad that I read this.

I had attempted to make a reservation here using the low price guarantee as the price was lower on Expedia and they denied it claiming the price on expedia was no longer valid. I canceled the reservation and am so glad that I did.

Everything happens for a reason and I found a much better deal elsewhere.
 
We are returning to OL for our 3 trip this fall. I agree that the separate "house" condos are a little strange, but we (nor anyone we know who has stayed there) has ever had any problems. Just say NO to the presentation, and you will be fine (we made that mistake last time). In fact, when we went in 2010, our condo was gorgeous, and we are super excited about staying there again.
 
Now that our trip is over, and I was looking for somewhere online to blast this place - I found this forum. We will also NEVER stay here again.
We found the place dirty, and the staff VERY unhelpful.

There was a GREAT book ahead - pay ahead rate posted on travelocity. We thought we were getting a regular Holiday Inn hotel room - what a shocker.
We got a "regular" room okay - in the basement of the main building next to the pool with the karaoke till midnight party and a nice view of 20 air conditioner units out our window. No maid service. ALL the amenities cost more money. And if we didn't go to the time share presentation - we would have had to pay $30 extra.

The distance and hassle we had to go thru just to get our luggage to the room would take writing a book. Our room door was broken, our safe was broken. Just like someone had broken into the room.

Luckily we had plans outside of the resort everyday and we only slept there.
If we hadn't had already paid and it was non-refundable, I would have walked out the very minute we arrived.
 
So glad for the Dis boards! We were considering a few nights here but now I think we'll reconsider!
 

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