Orlando S.E. / Lake Whippoorwill KOA

Unless you are right on the lake, this is not where I would camp again. To many negatives, the neo-​con missionaries, no shade, a lot of signs and rules and the location is not close to downtown or anything else. Speaking of location, BE AWARE when the wind blows from the northeast or early in the morning, an Orange County land fill near Curry Ford Road north east of the campground produces a foul «sewerage» odor that will permeate your Travel Trailer/​RV and have you running for your car to get out of there quickly. Management consistently dodges the question about the source of this terrible smell as it doesn’t happen every day, just the days that it does! If the landfill doesn’t bring you down, then the ultra tight, pack ‘em in sites will test your spirit. The campground is clean, pricey, good security and the employees efficient which would normally mean a good campground, but I know better choices are available in the Orlando area.

As others have mentioned, the campground is very cramped, no trees, etc. but no one mention that the campground is affiliated with missionaries. There is a large mission building looming over the place that can be seen from anywhere on the campground; the buildings on the campgrounds are marked for missionary use and purposes; and there is a poster on the wall of the recreational room building that shows the sect’s focus on converting people of other faiths. Made me very uncomfortable and I couldn’t leave fast enough. If you are a Jew, a Buddhist, an atheist, a Muslim, or a more moderate Christian this is NOT the place for you. We’re staying at the Kissimmee campground next year.

This review is based on a three month stay here in a 5^th wheel. Here’s a simple list of pros and cons:
Pro:
— Scenery: It’s by the lake and the lake is nice, with a couple docks and a short walking trail.
— Laundromat: Nothing special about them but worked as they should.
Cons:
— Layout/​Setup (and this one’s huge): Incredibly poor planning on whoever decided the layout of this place. We’ve stayed in a lot of campgrounds/​rv parks but this was the tightest. It’s like they didn’t care and just wanted to fit people as close as possible, with little to no parking, to make more money. I can’t count how many times our neighbors (and us) had trouble backing in (like someone as I type) because everyone and their vehicles were so tightly packed. One of our neighbors was pissed because the spots are so tiny. All they have are concrete for the wheels and he had just a Class C and it couldn’t fit on the pads. So he told me he was going to complain and see if he could get moved (the spot they gave him wasn’t even listed on the map).
— Customer Service: I felt a bit more like someone they were processing through instead of a resident. When I did make one complaint about parking the guy chuckled at me instead of at least apologizing. I’ve been asked at least a dozen times to move my truck (from my spot in front of my fifth wheel, since it’s the only real place for us to park our vehicles — in front of our RVs) so that someone could fit in one of the spots next to us. And let’s not forget the older guy worker that drives around with his dog, looking like he’s on his death bed, always smoking and spitting. He was the one that ‘helped’ us back in and even admitted that he’s not good at helping (and no he wasn’t, which made the back in process that much more stressful).
— Bathrooms: Most of the time clean, except the occasional dirty pad on the floor and crap they leave behind. My husband’s biggest gripe (and I agree) is whenever he goes over to take a shower they are cleaning them. They list cleaning hours on the front and don’t keep to those hours at all. And the showers don’t turn all the way off and take a while to heat up (except the first one after the handicap one).
— Location: Waaaaaaay too far from anything in Orlando. We travel full-​time and have been to many campgrounds and this was the worst for location. Really anything we regularly do was, on the map, 30 minutes but normally 45 with traffic and lights. Not a good location.
— Shading: Absolutely none. Count on constant sun beaming down on your already thin RV walls. Hello electricity bill.
— Wifi: About as average as any other campground. The expected slowness and in and out of it.
— Price: And with all of that said above, not worth the high ticket price, the highest price we’ve paid at an RV park. You have to expect high prices in Orlando and in the winter months but when you’re not getting what you paid for, it’s an issue.
I’m writing this just a couple days before leaving and am so tired of this place and of Orlando. Excited to leave and head to our next stop, Charleston.

We enjoyed our camping stay here. They are located on a beautiful lake in the Lake Nona area. The campground sites are pretty tight but very sufficient. They have a very nice dog park here that was great fun for our 2 dogs. Their are excellent bike lane on Narcoossee Road that will take you for miles in either direction. You are adjacent to all of Orlando, but also very secluded and quiet out here. We did encounter the grumpy smoking employee another reviewer mentioned. We had a little issue with him about parking and extra car. But he warmed up a bit after that and all was fine.

WE LOVE THIS PLACE!!! Beautiful RV spots, right on the lake, clean bathrooms, hot water, and a fabulous dog park! I can’t even begin to tell you how surprised we were. Having turned off the main road after 10 hours of driving, we were not expecting to find such a pretty little lake. We signed in and security (on a golf cart) directed us onto our spot. We hooked everything up (water, electric, and sewage) and took our dogs to the dog park. They provide baggies and a special trash can for doggie disposal. We were renting an RV from Cruise America to take a class in Deland and ended up coming back here. The second time we came, it was after they’d closed the office, but we called ahead while they were open and they told us where to pick up the map and wifi code and asked us to call security to be escorted. All cars have a special tag to hang in the front windshield so they know who’s on the property. It was all very safe. There’s a pool, a hot tub, and a small kid’s playground. The rec center was being used by a camp of 12 – 13 year olds. The gift shop has anything you could possibly need for your RV as well as some beautiful Indian/​Nepali furniture and trinkets for sale. Highly recommend this place!

Well kept campground with a very nice rec area but some of the employees left a BAD taste in my mouth! Example: We park our rv and go for a stroll to familiarize ourselves with the grounds. All of a sudden, an employee– with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth– whips up on a golf cart and asks, «Are you lost?». Ummm… no, we were taking a walk around. Is that okay? Apparently not, because he redirects us to a walking trail. Ummm… okay? Odd. But basically every time you turned around, weirdo on a golf cart was there. Luckily, he mustve been off the next day because this only happened the first day. Since we have a brand new RV, I don’t think we looked like vagabonds but I dunno…
When we checked in and asked about where we could park an extra car, the lady got a little sassy. Other than that, it was nice. The bark park is huge and the pool is clean. The bleach in the hot tub made our eyes burn from fumes but better clean than dirty, lol! There are some funny ducks that wander around.

This is the worst camping experience I have ever had. Construction everywhere. Rude manager. My «lakeview» site has a view of the dumpster. There is no dock. There is no picnic area. I can’t wait to get out of this place.

We spent a week in Orlando at this campground in January. We had visors come visit us and it seemed like the perfect place to chill out. We upgraded to a waterfront space, which had a dock that our daughters enjoyed playing on.
Our space was half concrete pad and gravel, it was very level. My only complaint was that our Class A had to back into our waterfront space, so our windshield faced away from the waterfront.
The RV campground was very quiet although it is very close to the International airport, we heard the occasional airplane but it was only during the day. The other campers were respectful of quiet hours.
This RV park had water, sewer, electric and cable hookups. There was a laundry room, which was clean but more expensive than most. The WiFi was good but not always reliable. There is a dedicated dog walk and a playground, which could use some modernizing.
Would I recommend this park? Absolutely. Would we come back? We would if we are in the Orlando area again.
Informational: We travel in a 36′ Class A RV.

We go camping a lot and usually stay at state parks. We came here on a weekend that the usual places we go were booked up. We were pleasantly surprised. The grounds are kept up and the facilities are clean. The store is reasonably priced for quick items like drinks and ice. Normally a place like this is 50% higher then everywhere else on the planet but not here. The staff was pleasant and helpful I have nothing but good to say

This KOA is close to the 417 exit at Lake Nona.
The RV lots face a lake, with a few scattered palm trees. The tent lots are in an open field between the RV lots and boat storage. Not a single tree in this area. The small pool also in full sun.
Sites are all in the full Florida sun all day long.

There was no friendly staff, ants in the Kabin and cold showers to start the day.
Upon arrival, there was no one to supply wifi codes… which made planning dinner tricky. The next morning, after my cold shower, I finally found a staff member to tell about the water situation. She didn’t believe me… told me I must be doing something wrong… said I had to let it run for a while (more than 15 mins?)…or it could take a while if the place was busy (I was the only one in there at 6:30am.)
After the 2^nd day of cold showers (this time there was a note on the bathroom door, but no signs of repair), we decided to leave a day early. At check-​out, there was no financial discount for loss of basic services, apology or even apparent concern.
Unfortunately, it’s the most affordable way to see Orlando, but be prepared for the worst!