Grande Lakes Orlando – New for Spring 2024 | Tasty Chomps: A Local's Culinary Guide

The award-winning resort will offer innovative partnerships, unique programming, and world-class amenities in the year ahead. Read the full rundown at https://www.flipsnack.com/marriottenhancements/grande-lakes-orlando-newsletter/full-view.html

Grande Lakes Orlando, the 500-acre luxury Florida resort in the headwaters of the Florida Everglades anchored by The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes and JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes, is bringing a slate of new experiences for guests to experience in 2024 for the ultimate vacation in Orlando.

Through innovative new events and programming, curated partnerships, enhancements to award-winning amenities and sustainably-minded culinary offerings, Grande Lakes Orlando will continue to serve as a leading Orlando resort and vacation destination this year.

New Dining Experiences
2024 marks the 10^th anniversary of the signature Southern-inspired Highball & Harvest, where the restaurant will unveil exciting activations throughout the year. Kicking off the celebration on February 25^th, the restaurant will host Brunch at Birdie’s, a special brunch where diners can enjoy unique cocktails, live entertainment and bring their dogs to socialize.

The MICHELIN-recommended PRIMO will introduce new interactive classes exclusive to Grande Lakes Orlando, including an Art of Pizza Class, where guests will begin by touring the onsite garden to collect ingredients and then prepare their own fresh pizza. Additionally, PRIMO will offer a Primo Mixology Class where visitors can learn the tools of the trade and make cocktails with fresh ingredients.

Throughout 2024, Grande Lakes Orlando will continue to showcase its commitment to culinary excellence and sustainable cooking concepts across its 12 world-class and award-winning dining concepts, including with the recently introduced Green Menu at the One-MICHELIN-Star Knife & Spoon. The resort also prides itself on showcasing rotating seasonal menus and specials to showcase seasonal flavors, local Florida businesses and originative culinary experiences for guests and locals alike, utilizing fresh bounties from the on-property, organic Whisper Creek Farm.

Unique Partnerships
Grande Lakes Orlando encourages guests to take advantage of its recently introduced partnerships across the sprawling property, including the Fifth Avenue Club at The Ritz-Carlton Orlando in partnership with Saks Fifth Avenue. The Ritz-Carlton is the only luxury Orlando resort with an exclusive Club Lounge featuring food and beverage presentations and access to special occasions, including opportunities to get a first look at Dior and Bottega Veneta’s latest lines during the Club Lounge’s “Thursdays with Saks” events.

Additionally, guests can enjoy the range of new experiences at the award-winning Ritz-Carlton Spa—voted #1 best hotel spa in the US in USA Today 10Best’s 2023 Readers’ Choice awards—as part of the resort’s new partnership with Swiss beauty brand, The Valmont Group. As part of the partnership, the spa offers signature treatments including the Energy of the Glaciers and Luminosity of Ice facials using Valmont products, among other treatments.

Grande Lakes Orlando also encourages guests to immerse themselves in aquatic adventures through its recently introduced partnership with Coastal Wake, the luxury wake-sport charter tour, which provides active water experiences including wakeboarding, wake surfing, tubing and more throughout the resort’s natural waterways. Additional new experiences through the Grande Lakes Sports program will be announced soon.

Planning Ahead for Signature Seasonal Programming
Guests are encouraged to begin planning their spring, summer, fall and festive vacations with Grande Lakes Orlando and get excited for the resort’s beloved annual programming. With spring just around the corner, the property is already planning Easter activities including a dazzling egg hunt, Cotton Tail Tea, giveaways and more.

Easter at Grande Lakes
Featured Events

GRANDE EASTER EGG HUNT
Join the hunt for hidden treasures at the largest Easter egg hunt in
Orlando. Search high and low for colorful eggs scattered throughout
the Da Vinci Lawn. Sunday, March 31st, from 10:00am to 12:00pm.
Exclusive to overnight guests.

GOLDEN TICKET
Children arriving at The Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott Orlando over
the Easter weekend will be welcomed with a special chocolate bar
(while supplies last). Five of the bars will have the treasured Grande
Golden Ticket! The five lucky Grande Golden Ticket winners from
each hotel will be honored at 12:00pm on 3/31 in the Citrus Garden.
They will receive an Easter-themed gift and a shipment of
50 pounds of chocolate from the Easter Bunny.

SPRINGTIME FESTIVAL
Hop into the joy of spring with
our enchanting Easter-themed
festival on the Valencia Lawn.
Interactive games, crafts and
more! 3/29 & 3/30 from
12:00pm to 5:00pm.

ART OF PIZZA CLASS
Master the art of pizza making, guided
by our chef’s at Primo. Begin your class
with a tour of our on-site garden, collect
ingredients to craft your fresh made
pizza and learn the techniques of dough
kneading, pizza stretching and our secret
to the perfect tomato sauce. 2/17 at 11:30am

Turning to summer, travelers can expect the return of GLO Summer Nights with spectacular weekly fireworks displays and exciting summer activities for children and adults. Visitors can expect an exciting Fall event complete with seasonal treats and festivities. Lastly, Grande Lakes Orlando will celebrate the November and December holidays in traditional epic fashion with Winter Wonderland programming which includes abundant festive culinary experiences, larger-than-life gingerbread house creations and the hotel’s second iteration of a holiday market right on property. More details about 2024 seasonal programming will be unveiled throughout the year.

Travelers are encouraged to take advantage of the resort’s popular overnight packages available all year for an ideal Florida vacation getaway, including the “Grande Escape Package,” which provides a $50 daily resort credit and complimentary parking and the “Family Escape Package,” which includes connecting rooms for large families and complimentary parking.

For more information about Grande Lakes Orlando and to book a stay at one of its two hotels, please visit www.grandelakes.com.

About Grande Lakes Orlando
Hidden in the heart of Orlando, Grande Lakes Orlando sits on 500 lush acres at the headwaters of the Florida Everglades. The resort features a 582-room AAA Five Diamond Ritz-Carlton and 1,010-room JW Marriott hotel, which were voted the top two hotels in Orlando by Conde Nast Traveler and the Theme Park Respite winner by Good Housekeeping. The resort is home to USA Today 10Best’s Top Hotel Spa, the 40,000-square-foot Ritz-Carlton Spa, and The Ritz-Carlton Golf & Tennis Club, which features an 18-hole Greg Norman-designed championship course that hosts the PNC Championship every year. A dozen celebrated dining venues throughout include One MICHELIN Star Knife & Spoon, a steak and seafood restaurant led by award-winning chef John Tesar, and MICHELIN Recommended Primo, Mediterranean/Italian fare by multiple James Beard award-winning chef Melissa Kelly, a leader in the farm-to-fork movement. Grand Lakes Orlando restaurants source fresh ingredients from Whisper Creek Farm, an on-property 18,000-square-foot working farm, as well as on-site apiaries. The resort features a wide array of additional activities: kayaking, eco-tours on Shingle Creek, falconry, mountain biking and fishing school. Conference and meeting attendees have their pick of meeting space options located across 150,000 square feet plus more than 100,000 square feet of outdoor space. Grande Lakes is located 15 minutes from the Orlando International Airport, five minutes from the Orange County Convention Center and minutes from the major theme parks.