Ginn Reunion Resort - Carriage Pointe, anyone ever stayed?

[tripletots]

Hi all,we were going to stay at Cypress Pointe Grand Villa's booking through Hotel Kingdom, but after the last review we have changed our minds. We are a family of 7 and want a spacious place to relax in for 3 days before we move to 2 rooms at POP for 7 nights. Someone mentioned that they cancelled Cypress Point and changed to Ginn Reunion Resorts. I went to the web site and the place is huge and looks beautiful. The section that is in our price range is Carriage Pointe. Is it nice? Does anyone know if you have access to the pools or is there anything there for kids to do for 3 days. We had planned on just swimming in the pool because we won't do that at Disney. Can someone help or recommend a place with a fun pool. Oh,by the way, we aren't going until Aug. 18th. Thanks.

 

[tednvon]

Hi, we stay 3 winter months just south of Reunion. Have driven by hundreds of times and have some comments...

First of all, this is a world class golf developement that will knock your socks off when you see the size and scope of this billion dollar project...

Now, as to your specific needs...The Carriage Pointe condos are their "least expensive" and are in a area completely separate from 90% of the rest of Reunion. They are located in an area with one long golf hole going the length of the condos and one small pool at the far end of the condos and a very busy road separating you from other golf holes. IMHO they are built for golf rentals for 4 people on a golf vacation. The pool sits by itself in what would be a baking hot sun in August and could be a very long walk from many of the condos.

To get to any part of Reunion that would be water parks or other recreation would require car transport in my opinion.

Location is excellent for trips to Disney but that is not in your plan. I would guess that only a few of the condos would be full in August as again they were full of winter golfers when we saw them and these do not have a "family" feel at all.

There are parts of Reunion that are very family friendly and if you call them ask about units close to the winding river and big pool areas, I am sure they will discuss with you and I am also guessing they are much pricier.

If you want 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and big pool for the kids, check out all the references to Windsor Hills, Windsor Palms, Emerald Island, all very nice places with 3/2 and 4/2 condos and nice big pools at the clubhouse.

Hope this post does rain on your parade, but these specific condos would be isolated from most of Reunion, but could very well serve your purpose if you want just a small pool and nothing else around.

Last comment, behind the condos is woods/parking lot and in front or facing the highway is the golf hole...not many places for kids to wander around other than down to the pool and across a very busy road...

Good Luck, ask more specifics if it would help...Ted

 

[5mins2disney]

Reunion is a gorgeous resort, but it's also very expensive. It's really THE place to go stay if you're a big golf nut and want to spend a few days on the championship courses they have there, as the only way you can play them is to stay there. Their pools, clubhouse, etc are also very nice, but, like Ted said, you might be better off closer to WDW in a resort like Windsor Hills, Windsor Palms, Emerald Island. WHR is 1/2 the price of Reunion, and a very nice and super kid friendly resort type atmosphere. The only thing it might be considering missing as compared to Reunion is daily maid service, and an onsite restaurant / bar.

www.windsorhillsrent.com Check it out!

I think I might have suggested Reunion in that other post you're referring to, and the main reason I suggested it at the time, was the person was looking for last minute Easter time reservations (WHR was 100% full for Easter, so was most everything in the whole area!). Reunion still had openings due to the extremely high nightly rates... (some of the places there are $400-500 a night).

Anyhow, if you're looking to spend top $$ and stay in a hybrid of a golf/hotel/private home type of resort ....Reunion is your place. If you want to spend a little less, get a 5* pool home type of accomodation (or condo), you might want Windsor Hills, Windsor Palms, or Emerald Island!

Cheers, oh..and please...whereever you end up staying, don't forget to come back and post a review for us here!

 

[denisenh]

We stayed at reunion resort a few weeks ago....in Carriage Point. It was beautiful. Upper end designer furnishings, a nice floor plan, very quiet. I usually don't use maid service,even at hotels, but it was included and I admit, it was great to come back to a freshened room, beds made, dishes washed, bathrooms cleaned, etc.

We have rented pool homes before as well and have enjoyed that.

I don't think that the location was bad at all. I knew that we would have to jump in the car for a 2 minute drive across the street to water park parking, but there is also a beautiful pool right in Carriage point right down the sidewalk. We wanted to use the lazy river and fun splash pad.

It was beautiful. You could easily spend the day at the water park. We would get there around 11:00, have lunch pool side....servers come to you, and then later in the afternoon we'd have drinks/snacks pool side. The beach entry pool and lazy river are surrounded by banana trees, palm trees, and other tropical folliage. My DD11 and DH used the slide there a lot. My boy crazy DD14 spent her time eyeing one of the life guards (who looked like a singer that I have never heard of). He was very nice...friendly but "professional".
The water park splash zone kept us entertained a good long time...lots of fun.
It is fancy casual, not snooty at all but I have to say that Reunion resort is not full of Disney families. My DD11 had the kids activity staff to herself one day. Another day there were a couple of kids at poolside games.

We did go to Magic Kingdom once and the resort is close to the back entrance Shurberne Road or what ever it is. (DH did the driving)
It is also right down the road from Champions Gate.

Anyway, I'd go back in a heart beat.

 

[tednvon]

Great post from someone who actually stayed in Carriage Pointe and explained the drive to the water park...Sounds like time was either spent in the pool at Carriage Pointe or at the Water Park...Would you agree that there is just golf on one side and woods on the other, and the pool at the far end of the condos?

...Your condo must have been fairly close to the pool...

Might be a good idea for tripletots to request a unit at the far north end of the condos so it close to the pool...

Thanks, Denise, best advice from someone who has actually stayed there vs just driven by and seen the lay of the land...And I totoally agree, it is a beautiful and stunning developement......Ted

 

[denisenh]

Yes, golf on one side and woods on the other. The carriage point pool is walking distance from all of carriage point. The pool is towards the entrance of the street and the town homes are all on the same short street.

If you look at the map, Reunion is huge http://www.reunionresort.com/_files/_pdf/resort_map.pdf Carriage point is closer to the water park than many other sections of Reunion are, but if you plan on walking from carriage point to the water park, it would be a hike. There is a parking lot devoted to the water park and it is a short driving distance from most of reunion.
BTW, 3 bedroom pool homes in Reunion aren't too expensive...as low as $249, and larger deluxe homes up towards $900 a night.

 

[UKDEB]

I'm a Reunion devotee and can't imagine staying anywhere else in Central Florida for the time being (well apart from the odd few nights onsite at WDW - it would be churlish not to as we've recently bought DVC ). A limited number of properties (including some of the condos) are available to rent privately from the owners at considerably lower rates than you'd pay to rent through Reunion. Try Googling "Renion Resort Rentals" and you should find some. There are some listed on VRBO.

 

[tripletots]

I'm a Reunion devotee and can't imagine staying anywhere else in Central Florida for the time being (well apart from the odd few nights onsite at WDW - it would be churlish not to as we've recently bought DVC ). A limited number of properties (including some of the condos) are available to rent privately from the owners at considerably lower rates than you'd pay to rent through Reunion. Try Googling "Renion Resort Rentals" and you should find some. There are some listed on VRBO.

Oh my goodness, I googled Reunion Resort Rentals and got some really good quotes. Most of them were on the vbro site. When I go on vbro.com I get really overwhelmed and confused, but this really helped. THANKS. I am getting ready to reserve a 3bed/3bath for $149. It's in the Center Court Ridge section overlooking the golf course, which my husband will love. We have a car so we will drive to the water park.

 

[UKDEB]

Congratualtions, tripletots - I guarantee you won't regret it, and you'll never look back!

 

[trex220]

Oh my goodness, I googled Reunion Resort Rentals and got some really good quotes. Most of them were on the vbro site. When I go on vbro.com I get really overwhelmed and confused, but this really helped. THANKS. I am getting ready to reserve a 3bed/3bath for $149. It's in the Center Court Ridge section overlooking the golf course, which my husband will love. We have a car so we will drive to the water park.

I'm a Reunion homeowner in the Ginn Reunion Rental Program. It is true that there are some units at Reunion that are rented privately and are a bit less expensive than those rented thru the resort, HOWEVER, you may not have use of all of the resort amenities. If the homeowners are not Club members, all you will be able to use is the pool in the neighborhood in which you rented -- no golf, no water park, no tennis, no on-site restaurants. So, before you rent directly, check with the owners to make sure that you will have use of the resort amenities. Otherwise, altlhough it is a magnificent place to stay, you will be disappointed if you don't have access to all that Ginn Reunion Resort has to offer.

Reunion does have some very reasonable rates for units with all of the amenities and some very good packages. They keep adding more packages all the time.

 

[tripletots]

trexx, the private individual I am renting from is a club member. Because we are there more than 2 days the $50 fee for Houseguest is being waived. The only downside to renting there is the waterpark is free for up to 4 guests and we are a family of 7. We have to pay $10 per person per day for use of the water park. Thanks!

Lisa

 

[trex220]

trexx, the private individual I am renting from is a club member. Because we are there more than 2 days the $50 fee for Houseguest is being waived. The only downside to renting there is the waterpark is free for up to 4 guests and we are a family of 7. We have to pay $10 per person per day for use of the water park. Thanks!

Lisa

Lisa,

I'm really glad to hear that. I just wanted to make sure that you weren't going to be disappointed when you got there. You, and especially your kids, will just LOVE the waterpark -- it's worth the extra money. I could stay in that Lazy River forever!

Enjoy!!!

TRex

 

[kpgclark]

I'm glad to read this post! I'm SOOO excited because I just won a vacation here (airfare and all) through our local paper. All I know so far is that we have three days at the Ginn Reunion Resort-- I don't know the size or location of the unit. Do they have any transportation to WDW or Universal? Do they have any packages to go to WDW? We usually stay on site at WDW and have never rented a car before. Is it easy to drive to WDW?

 

[UKDEB]

As far as I know, Reunion neither provides transport to WDW nor packages to include WDW. It is very easy to drive, though. Reunion is two minutes drive from exit 58 of the I-4 and, from there, it's a quick hop to WDW. You could also take Old Lake Wilson to the 192 and enter WDW via the Sherberth Road, but if you're not familiar with the area, you're better off sticking with the I-4.

 

[trex220]

Is it easy to drive to WDW?

We've found that the fastest way to WDW is Old Lake Wilson Road to 192. Right on 192 to the exit for WDW. When are you going to be at Ginn Reunon resort?

 

[kpgclark]

I'm not sure when we'll be going but I probably over Thanksgiving week. What we are considering is staying on WDW property for the first 4 or 5 nights and then the last three nights at Ginn Reunion. I had never heard of Ginn until we won the vacation. It looks beautiful! I still haven't heard what size unit we won but since we won a "family of four" vacation I'm hoping it will be at least a two bedroom. Anything you can tell me about the resort would be much appreciated.

 

[curlyjbs]

trexx, the private individual I am renting from is a club member. Because we are there more than 2 days the $50 fee for Houseguest is being waived. The only downside to renting there is the waterpark is free for up to 4 guests and we are a family of 7. We have to pay $10 per person per day for use of the water park. Thanks!

Lisa

That just turned me off of this resort for any future visits. Sounds beautiful and DH is a HUGE golfer but If I am renting a house or condo for the prices ($$$) stated in these posts that sleeps 4+ then I would expect the "4+" to be able to use ALL the amenties offered. JMHO

~Connie

 

[Disney Freak Numero Uno]

Does anyone know if Reunion finally build the equestrian center they have been advertising? We looked into buying there a few years ago and the salesperson said that the equestrian center would be completed "next year".

 

[5mins2disney]

That just turned me off of this resort for any future visits. Sounds beautiful and DH is a HUGE golfer but If I am renting a house or condo for the prices ($$$) stated in these posts that sleeps 4+ then I would expect the "4+" to be able to use ALL the amenties offered. JMHO

~Connie

If you rent directly from the resort then I believe it's included. Ginn goes out of it's way to make it more "difficult" to let owners rent out their homes directly, VRBO. They do this by making all guests use a prox card to pay for all food, have access to amenities, etc. The only way to get a prox card is to checkin / reserve through them, directly (of course this costs a lot more). If you rent privately from an owner, my understanding is you would need to then use the owner's card, and pay the owner back for any charges incurred. They want to run it more like a hotel style resort then a vacation rental home, maid service every day, room service, most of the homes are the same inside (at least they're all high end!) as you had to use THEIR furniture stores / packages, this sort of thing. They want complete control of the quality of the resort, this is not a bad thing, it's a gorgeous place, it's just expensive, you pay for all of this service and amenities, but if you're a golfer, it can't be beat, it's probably one of the premier golf resorts in the US now.

Of course, you can stay at Windsor Hills and other very nice high end resorts, pay for golf at places like Mystic Dunes and 30+ other courses in the area, and spend a lot less $$, and be closer to Disney. So, the big question is, will it pay off? Will people pay $400-500 a night rent to stay there with all of the housing competition in the area? We have good friends who sold their townhome in Windsor Hills to buy a townhome there, it looks absolutely gorgeous, we're just not sure on how good of an investment it will be for them, time will tell! There's a LOT of very high end golf courses in the area, must like there's a lot of housing, and a lot of high end housing too. Many people have commented they'd rather spend 1/2 the price on a house and take the leftover $$ and go play all of the area courses instead. Others say a Reunion membership is cheap compared to what it costs to join a PGA level country club. One thing's for sure, our friends offered to let us stay in their new Reunion home sometime, and I'd definitely like to take them up on it! hehe

Reunion is really putting a lot of $$ into marketing their resort, ads all over "Golf" magazine, free concerts with bands like Peter Frampton, the Doobie Bros onsite, etc. The question is, will they be able to "sell" this place for top $$ given a big marketing budget? Their target is golf nuts who have families who also want to spend some time at Disney. Their ads say so in as many words.

Also, Disney just announced they're going to tear down the Osprey Ridge GC and put up a Ritz hotel and new golf course, along with their proposed housing developments along the western way, so you definitely can't count them out either.

 

[UKDEB]

Does anyone know if Reunion finally build the equestrian center they have been advertising? We looked into buying there a few years ago and the salesperson said that the equestrian center would be completed "next year".

The stables were completed early in 2006. We were told that it wouldn't be open until all the bridle paths were in. Still no sign of any horses at the moment.