We love Orlando! We weren’t doing Disney this year, but there’s so much else to do there that it’s still one of our favorite places to go. This time we stayed at Westgate Resorts, and the main reason we chose it was the waterpark right on site. Here’s what made it work so well with little ones, and where we ate and explored.
What you’ll get from this post
- How we fit a family of six in a two-bedroom suite
- Why an on-site waterpark is perfect when you have nappers
- The kids’ favorite slides and resort amenities
- What we loved at Disney Springs without going into a park
- The restaurant at Universal CityWalk we’d go back for
A spontaneous start
We had planned a little family getaway, and then Bud woke up with a wild hair and decided we should leave a day early. The kids were so excited.
Our two-bedroom suite
We got a two-bedroom suite, and we fit everybody easily:
- The kids had a bunk bed.
- Theo’s pack and play fit in the kids’ bathroom, which was big enough to hold it.
- The living room had a big pull-out couch. We didn’t use it until the last day, when the kids decided to build a giant fort with it. Forts everywhere we go. It’s a good rainy day activity, though.
The waterpark, and why it worked with naps
The waterpark is Shipwreck Island at the Westgate Vacation Villas resort, and it’s really why we chose this place. At this stage, we have two young ones who need afternoon naps. With the waterpark on site, one of us could take the two little ones up to the room to nap while the other stayed and played with the big kids. Nobody’s fun got interrupted.
The kids’ favorite parts:
- The blue slide, because it was super fast
- The red slide
- The skull slide, because it was so fast it felt almost straight down
- And, of course, the couch that turns into a huge bed
The kids keep asking when we’re going back.
More to do on the resort
Besides the waterpark and the suite, there are amenities right on the property. We enjoyed the arcade and ice cream cones, and honestly, we had a really good time just staying on the resort campus. It’s really pretty.
Disney Springs, even without a park day
Some nights we just ordered food in. Other nights we went to Disney Springs, which is so fun if you’ve never been. The kids love the LEGO store and the huge things built out of LEGOs. The T-Rex restaurant and Rainforest Cafe are big attractions for our kids. We ate at those the year before, but even just going to look at them this year, the kids loved it.
Our favorite Orlando restaurant
One night Bud did some research and surprised me with dinner at Universal CityWalk: Toothsome Chocolate Emporium. It’s now our favorite restaurant in Orlando.
- Lots and lots of sweets and incredibly creative milkshakes
- Really good food. That menu was the best of anywhere we’ve eaten.
- A cool, steampunk, youthful vibe
CityWalk is fun to walk around too. Everything’s lit up, you can see part of Universal right over the fence, and it’s a fun, kid-friendly nightlife vibe.
Would we go back?
There are a lot of resorts to choose from in Orlando: some Disney, some Universal, and some just close to the parks. Westgate was really good to us. Great people, and we’ll definitely be back.
Key takeaways
- An on-site waterpark lets one parent handle naps while the other plays with the big kids.
- A two-bedroom suite with a pull-out couch fits a family of six.
- Disney Springs is fun even without a park ticket.
- Toothsome Chocolate Emporium at Universal CityWalk is worth a dinner out.
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FAQ
Is Westgate Resort in Orlando good for families?
We loved it. The on-site waterpark, two-bedroom suite, arcade and ice cream made it easy with four kids, and we’ll definitely be back.
What waterpark is at Westgate in Orlando?
Shipwreck Island Water Park at the Westgate Vacation Villas resort. Our kids loved the fast blue, red and skull slides.
What can you do in Orlando with kids besides Disney?
We enjoyed the resort waterpark, Disney Springs (the LEGO store, T-Rex and Rainforest Cafe), and Universal CityWalk.
What’s a good restaurant at Universal CityWalk for kids?
Toothsome Chocolate Emporium is our favorite, with creative milkshakes, lots of sweets and really good food.
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Full transcript
Hi we love orlando so we stayed at the westgate resorts in orlando for our vacation this year and it was so fun great so we got a two bedroom suite and it was sweet yeah we fit everybody really easily the actual the living room has like a big pull out couch we never use it till the last day the kids decided to build a giant fort with it forts everywhere we go it's a good rainy day activity though so the kids had a bunk bed
And then we fit theo's pack and play in their bathroom it was big enough to fit it in there without perfect I would say the main attraction would be the water park that's really why we chose the place and it was really fun yeah because we weren't going to orlando this year for disney but there are so many other things to do in orlando that we love so it's still an awesome destination spot for us to go to having a water park on site was perfect because in this stage of life right
Now we've got nappers so we've got two young ones that need afternoon naps yeah so very easily one of us could take the two little ones up to the room and let them nap while the other one of us went out and still played at the water park with the big kids so it's so nice to do it like that you ready to go all right where are we going we're going to vacation we recently planned a little family getaway for this week and then Bud woke up today with the wild hair
And decided we should leave a day early are you all excited okay we just checked into our hotel riding through the resort are you excited great what are y'all doing in there I'm playing bubble man I'm playing bubble baby big boy strawberries what were your favorite parts um about the water park the blue slide yes and it was like super fast yeah I I loved the blue shirt a lot and also the red one a lot um the skull slide because it was so fast
And it was almost like straight down it was like that and the couch that turns into a huge bed foreign all right all right yeah buddy let's go okay three times without myself so the resort had not only this big water park and of course a nice suite for us to stay in but it's also got all the amenities right there on the campus as well we were able to go enjoy the arcade we were able to enjoy some ice cream cones and stuff so we actually had a really good time even just staying there at on the resort campus it was really pretty a lot of fun oh my oh no good catch good job baby yeah cece helping you good job maggie
Hurry baby you want some ice cream for you are you so excited oh my that's a big spoonful is it delicious I might get wet good job so close there you go all right let's go get them so some nights we just ordered food in and then some nights we did go out to disney springs which is just super fun if you've never been to downtown disney it's so fun they just have awesome stores like the lego store that the kids love to go see they have huge things built out of legos the t-rex restaurant
And the rainforest cafe which are huge attractions for our kids we did go to those last year but this year even just going to look at them our kids enjoy that so so one night I actually did some research about the universal city walk and I kind of wanted to surprise Sarah a little something I know we didn't do the t-rex thing or the rainforest cafe this time but we found this big chocolate emporium incredible restaurant where they've got lots and lots of sweets and incredible milkshakes
And really good food and just really cool ambiance in general kind of like a steam punky youthful vibe it was a lot of fun the kids really enjoyed it we of course really enjoyed it and yeah it was really easy to get around and see the places that restaurant had the best menu hands down of anywhere yeah right the milkshakes are really creative too I took a picture of the menu I meant to recreate some but we haven't yet so so good if you get a chance to go to universal citywalk definitely eat at the chocolate emporium
So good and then just the whole place is just really cool to walk around at they've got stuff lit up and you can kind of see part of universal itself it's literally right over the fence so it's just fun to walk around there it's a fun nightlife vibe that's kid friendly do what do you think buddy that's right get the t-rex on your shirt yeah let me see your shirt he rex I have two mouths so I know there's a lot of different resorts to choose from some actually disney some actually universal
And some just resorts are just close to the parks and westgate was really good to us we really enjoyed it we will definitely be back westgate was a lot of fun really good people so really excited to go back see the place and really experience it uh even more so thanks for joining us on our vacation today see you next time