The Grove Resort & Water Park Orlando

The honest review

The Grove Resort & Water Park Orlando occupies a useful middle position in the Kissimmee/Orlando lodging market: it's an all-suite resort, not a scattered community of individually owned homes, so quality and service are consistent property to property — but every suite still comes with a full kitchen and full-size washer and dryer, the core appeal of a vacation rental.

The standout amenity is Surfari Water Park, anchored by a FlowRider Double surf simulator that's a genuine draw for tweens and teens who've outgrown the standard resort lazy river. Younger kids get more conventional pools, and Lake Austin on the property adds kayaking and paddleboarding for families wanting something beyond the water park. Three on-site restaurants mean a family doesn't have to leave property for meals even without using the kitchen every night.

Suite configurations run from studios and one-bedrooms at The Terraces tower up through two- and three-bedroom units at The Grove, each with a separate living/dining area and a screened balcony — real living space, not just a bigger hotel room. The property carries Walt Disney World's Good Neighbor Hotel designation and sits about six miles from Disney property, a reasonable drive rather than a walk.

The one line item to budget for: a mandatory resort fee ($40-50/night depending on suite size) charged on top of the room rate, standard for this category of Orlando resort but worth factoring into the total cost comparison against a private vacation home. For families who want vacation-rental space with hotel-level consistency and a real water park, The Grove is one of the stronger options near Disney.