Trip Report #3 - Marriott's Harbour Lake Resort - Orlando, Fl (January 2017)

Excited to be on our way to Orlando!

We booked this trip in January 2017 because we wanted one more getaway before Kim went back to work from maternity leave. Since the baby was only 9 weeks old we decided against a beach trip. We had a five night Marriott certificate to use and after some research we decided on Marriott's Harbour Lake Resort. This is one of their Vacation Club Resorts owned by their timeshare business. All of the Marriott Vacation Club Resorts can be booked through Marriott.com contingent upon availability. Popular resorts may not have any booking windows especially in prime vacation times.  We received the 5 night certificate as part of the Southwest Companion Pass/Marriott travel package deal that is no longer available.  Stay tuned for a future post on my experience executing that credit card deal.

Beautiful resort grounds

Planning:
Believe it or not 5 nights is not a long time in Orlando. There are so many things to do. After researching and remembering that we had a 9 week old with us we decided to do 3 main activities on this trip. Those activities were Disney's Magic Kingdom, Disney's Animal Kingdom, and Seaworld. We had so much fun at each of these places. We are going to cover Disney and Seaworld in posts that will be coming out very soon. In those posts we will cover how we got half off Seaworld tickets and how we used credit card promotions and warehouse clubs to save over 25% on Disney gift cards. Make sure you subscribe here so you won't miss out on these great tips!

Seaworld

Macie's first big Coaster - Animal Kingdom

Flights:
Once again we flew Southwest to Orlando.  We love their nonstop service from Columbus.  I purchased my flight using a southwest gift card.  The Thursday to Tuesday round trip flight was $157.  We used the companion pass for Kim's ticket and the two older kids tickets cost 11,000 points each.

Car:
We used the Capital One Venture reward portal to book our rental Mini-van.  The reward portal is the webpage where you can redeem points when your signed into your credit card account.  The six day rental cost us $189 total.  For some reason Capital One has changed their rental car vendor since this trip.  Since the change, I have not booked through Capital One because the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal has had better deals.

Hotel:
Sometimes staying at a resort off Disney property can provide a break away from all the magic. This past trip, taken in January 2017, we stayed at the Marriott Vacation Club Harbour Lake Resort. This is a big resort really close to Seaworld with lots of amenities and perfect for families. It has two awesome pools, tons of scheduled kids activities, and a daily sundae bar.  You can buy a souvenir cup and get it refilled all week for free.

Yum, Ice Cream 

One benefit you lose from staying off Disney property is the transportation to the parks. This resort does not have busing. We rented a minivan and drove to the parks and paid the parking.

Room:
We stayed in a 2 bedroom villa which comes with a full kitchen and two full baths. As you maybe aware Kim hates staying in normal hotel rooms with 3 kids. At a minimum we try to get a suite. The 2 bedroom 2 bathroom villa is ideal for us. Each kid can be put down in a separate room and the baby can be put in a pack and play in one of the bathrooms. Once the baby gets older we will have to come up with a new game plan.

Kids enjoying the living room

To save money and calories we always utilize the full kitchen - another thing you won't find when you stay on property unless you stay in a Disney time share property. After check in I go straight to the grocery store. There is a Publix within a couple miles of the resort. We try to eat breakfast and lunch in the room, or at the pools, on days we aren't at the parks. The savings add up quickly with a family of 5.

All the furniture and appliances were in great shape and the beds were very comfortable. Another feature of the villa was our own stacked washer and dryer. It's nice not to have to walk to the community laundry area. There is also a screened in balcony with plenty of room and seating. The balcony is a great place to enjoy a drink or two or ten after a long day at the parks.

Dining:
There is a restaurant/bar connected to the lobby and next to the pirate ship pool. It serves bar type foods and very good drinks. We ate and drank there multiple times. They also have a daily happy hour. We were there during the NFL playoffs and a projector screen was set up to view the games. It was awesome to be able to drink a beer, watch the games, and be able to keep an eye on the kids in the pool all at the same time. This area is also where Bingo and some other family activities take place.

Happy Hour

Pools:
This is what we believe sets this resort apart from others. There are two pools both with features geared towards families. One pool is anchored by a pirate ship with slides, water cannons, and other splash features. This is the one we spent most of our time at. The other has a big water slide and splash park.

Pirate Pool

Awesome pools

Other Activities:
The Marriott Harbour Lake Resort also has a mini golf course and dry play ground. We did not have time to try the mini golf but other families were enjoying it.  There were also plenty of scheduled kids and family activities throughout the day, some were free and some were not.

Playground 

Pirate Dinner Show:
I found a Pirate Ship show on Groupon - Pirate's Dinner Adventure. This was a fun interactive dinner show about 20 minutes from our resort. I believe the cost came for our family was about $120 total.  I was surprised at the quality of the food and a beer or two was actually included in the price! The kids really enjoyed it and we brought along their pirate gear to wear during the show. Towards the end, the kids were allowed on board and were initiated into the crew. I would recommend this activity to families if they want to do something other than Disney one evening.

The stage

Macie being initiated into the crew!

ARRRRRRR

As you can tell we enjoyed Orlando and loved this resort! We have already booked another 5 night stay at this resort during spring break 2018. The kids can't wait to get back. When we booked our upcoming trip this spring they were running a special -$250 per night with a $50 food and beverage credit per night. I thought this was a great deal so we jumped on it.  What's really nice about booking directly through Marriott.com is that you can book refundable rates.  If something comes up we can always cancel with no penalty.  Are you going anywhere for Spring Break 2018?

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