Best offsite WDW TS that trades with Interval International?

[Clemson Fan]

I’m planning a big family trip to WDW in June of next year. I’m staying on property in DVC. However, there won’t be enough room for all of us, so I’m going to be putting some family and friends up in timeshares off property. I have a lot of deposited timeshares with II that I want to trade with to put people up in.

So, here’s my question: What do you all consider to be the nicest TS’s that are just outside of the WDW property that trade with II?

TIA for any answers!

[jctwizzer]

Vistana is close, as are many of the Marriotts.......they should work fine...may be not up to DVC, but close

[Clemson Fan]

What's the difference between Sheraton Vistana Resort and Sheraton Vistana Villages? There's a whole lot more inventory on II with Sheraton Vistana Resort with very little inventory with Sheraton Vistana Villages.

[jctwizzer]

Vistana Villages is approx. 5 miles further away from WDW--my best guess. But its newer.

[webprinter]

We have stayed at Marriott Cypress Harbor which is my favorite off site II resort. It is very very nice. We also like Marriott Grande Vista and Vistana Villages. They were very nice also. We stayed at the Sheraton Vistana which was old and horrible. It didn't even have a balcony. I would definately not recommend that one. They do have some nicer redone units but they don't give those to exchangers or renters, at least that is what they told me when I complained about the unit we received. The worst part is that my husband's company spent a lot of money for it. If I had paid, I would have requested a refund.

[webprinter]

Originally Posted by Clemson Fan

What's the difference between Sheraton Vistana Resort and Sheraton Vistana Villages? There's a whole lot more inventory on II with Sheraton Vistana Resort with very little inventory with Sheraton Vistana Villages.

Sheraton Vistana resort is larger and older.

[Tink1971]

I think it's important for you to understand our/my background before I give you my opinion about a few places. We own TS (actually Vacation Ownership) in LasVegas at the Suites of Polo Towers and exchange through II often now that we have kids. If you look up our resort in the II directory, you can see what we're used to. (5 star-TS, Golf etc) With that said...

Sheraton Vistana It's a fairly old property, but as long as you stay close to the main pool (request it with an II rep and then call Vistana directly) or close to the "marketing core" of the property the units are renovated and nice. The further you move away from the core - the property starts to look run down. We rented a Surrey Bike and saw how gross some of those outlaying bldgs are. If your home resort is nice, I don't think you'll end up in one of those lesser bldgs anyways. All and all I thought it was a decent property, very close to WDW, several pools but I liked the Marriott properties better.

Marriott Cypress Harbor - Huge rooms, nice screened in porch, furniture could use some updating (very Florida-ish decor), the oldest of the 3 MVC properties that we've stayed at. We stayed in the bldg by the main pools, so we saw the weekend pool evening entertainment from our porch. I think the 2nd bdrm with the full size-pull out couch instead of a permanent bed was a drawback and the other bed I think was just a full size in that room too.

Marriott Grande Vista - Fairly new - Very large room, but seemed smaller b/c of all the furniture. Nice dining table that can sit 8 easily + breakfast bar. Some of the furniture was worn but not bad (nicer/richer fabrics than Cypress). 2nd bdrm is more like a full suite, king bed + a queen size-pull out couch and mini kitchen on that side. Nice property, several pools, yummy frozen drinks at the pool with steel drum band on the weekends.

Marriott Harbour Lake (across the street from Cypress) - about the same age as Grande Vista. These rooms are the smallest for living/dining area but still spacious. This is the only 2nd bdrm with 2 permanent beds and they are both queens - very nice. (this fact puts it top on my list) This one also doesn't have a whirlpool in the master bath like the other 3, but has a dual head shower instead. (the decor is very bright - primary type colors which I think it up lifting) built it dining table with "L" bench and chairs on the other. 2 pools right next to one another. Heated one and unheated Pirate pool for the kids. The Pirate Ship is HUGE but very chilly if your going in the winter.

Liki-Tiki Village My Brother-in-law stayed there and checked out after 1 day but was supposed to be there 1 week. (they own time at Atlantis) In their experience the property was filthy. I do not have any personal experience here.

Calypso Although the pictures of the property are beautiful, it is right up against the expressway - literally and since it's more of a highrise property that would pose a problem for me.

Good luck!

[thumbalyna]

we stayed at Parkway International in 2008 on an II trade and found it to be nice, not sure what you are looking for exactly but they are all 2 bedrooms - one with a king and a master bath and the second with 2 double beds and another bath - large living room with a flat screen and they typical kitchen
we had a first floor so we had a screened in patio overlooking the pool
found it to be a nice small resort and not more than a 5 min drive to the parks

[webprinter]

We've stayed at Orange Lakes also. I had forgotten about that. When we stayed there, we were in the East Village which was brand new at the time and very nice. I think they have done some renovating since and I have heard that it is very nice now. However, I would still choose Marriott's Grande Vista and Marriott's Cypress Harbor before Orange Lakes. Orange Lakes did have a lot of things to do compared to the others.