momofEEG said:
he two we are really considering are Orange Lake Country Club and The Sheraton Vistana esort. They also offered us Silver Lake and Celebration World Resort. (1) Which one is nicer as far as the rooms go (2br/2bth)?
(2) What is the drive time from each?
(3) Which one should we choose and why?
(4) Any insight on Silver Lake or Celebration World?
I own at Orange Lake (OLCC) but have stayed at Celebration and Vistana. I don't know much about Silver Lake. I would easily recommend OLCC and Vistana Resort over Celebration.
Vistana Resort is closer but I personally think think this is a wash. Vistana is about 1 mile or so from Disney while OLCC, taking the long route, is about 4 miles. The short route through Sherbeth Road is about 2 to 2 1/2 miles.
As far as choice, it comes down to whether you like to be in a large, wide open resort (OLCC is about 1100 acres) or a slightly smaller resort (Vistana is about 135 acres). OLCC is designed around a golf theme so it is more spread out. Because of this, some activities may be a distance from your unit but many units are also right next to these activities (my unit in the East Village is right next to the pool, my unit in the North Village is a distance from the pools). The age of your kids suggests the North Village for OLCC. They would also enjoy the pools at Vistana. The sections at Vistana have pools more centrally located to each section. Next spring OLCC is opening a new recreation area, River Island, with it, OLCC wins hands down (for adults and older children, OLCC has a full-size Olympic swimming pool - Great!). Both resorts have multiple pools.
Room decor and such are personal choices but I like OLCC (I didn't dislike Vistana) and I think that the OLCC rooms are larger. Both resorts are fully equiped as far as kitchen. I think OLCC is larger but both are nice.
I own at OLCC (2 weeks) but I would consider owning at Vistana. As noted by others, there is some construction on the Western Beltway. I don't believe that it causes any problems in the resort as it has an overpass. The overpass section within the resort was worked on during the night and for guests in the East Village, they kept that gate open during the nights that construction occurred (this occurred last December while I was there). Likewise, going through the east entrance removes potential problems on 192 due to construction of the Western Beltway (because the toll gate is between the main gate and the east gate, trucks did cross 192 at times causing delays especially at rush hour if you used the main entrance). I never experienced a problem using the east gate. The construction inside the resort was going on when I was there in December and most should be completed by now. While it splits the resort, it is not a factor as there had been only the one entry between the sections within the resort and as noted, there has always been two entrances - east entrance and main entrance. In theory, if you believe what the sales people tell you, the Western Beltway (toll road) should speed entry to WDW as just up the Beltway will be an entrance to WDW skipping all potential 192 worries and making the distance roughly equal to Vistana. I think it was suppose to be open this December or next but I'm not sure. Slighly off topic - Sorry. I'll verify at the end of August.
Both Vistana and OLCC have numerous activities although I think OLCC has more. For children of your age range, it becomes a toss-up as I don't think they will use the kayaks, jet skis, etc. at OLCC. Both resorts have a general store, restraurants, and activities for smaller children. Celebration had a pool and I don't recall very many activities (they have the pool, bingo, etc).
Both are nice and are recommended. Which one serves your purpose best depends on what your plans are. Are you plannng to be at the theme parks from dawn to dust - then it doesn't matter as you will not use either resort's facilities. Is spending a lot of time at the pools important? In general, Vistana's units are closer to the pool but it does depend on where you are at in OLCC. An noted, my unit in East Village is right next to the pool. Too damn convenient! I've also stayed in a 1-bedroom unit in the North Village right next to the pool. In my stay in a studio in the West Village, all I had to do was go downstairs for the restraurants, the company store, the beach was just outside the building with the various activities, and the Olympic pool also was right next to the building. It made deciding what to do for the day that much harder.
If you haven't gathered, I like Orange Lake.
), many restaurants, and 7 pools. Vistana claims that their super pool is the largest in Orlando....hmmm? All in all its a great resort to stay at. 
The kids love the pools / activites there, and we like the size / layout / amenities of the rooms. The drawback, as pointed out in this thread, is that there is a very good chance you will get a unit away from the hussle and bussle which will require either a long walk, a ride on a shuttle, or driving to where you want to go within the resort. It's huge and extremely spread out. This resort is the furthest away from WDW, but still only a maximum of 15 minutes away to AK, if you take the back roads.
Our 2x Ds's loved the 7x? pools there, 
