Anyone been to or heard about Sheraton Vistana Resort??

[stefplus3]

I went for my initial mtg with the travel agent just to get a ball park idea and for off site hotels she recommened the Sheraton Vistana Resort in Lake Buena Vista. I have never been to Florida so I have no idea??? I would assume b/c they are a good sized travel agency they wouldn't recommend a poor quality resort (i hope). thoughts??? We would have a 2 bedroom suite with full kitchen and washer/dryer. They said the lodging plus tickets (with park hopper option?) would be $2638 for 7 nights. Good? Bad???

Just to clarify, they said that includes the tickets with park hopper option for the 3 adults and 2 kids (the baby will be 2 so she's free they said). We are probably driving down so we'll have a car.

 

[shamrock30]

There's a link at the top of this page to the Hotel Reviews board. I wrote a review on this resort a few days ago. My husband and I didn't love it, but I know it's a somewhat popular choice and many people here like it. For comparison, we paid $109 a night for a two bedroom, which was a special through allears.net. We went in early December, so it was a somewhat slower time.

In my opinion, you probably could get a better price by booking your offsite trip without an agent.

 

[connie1042]

We stayed there a few years ago. It was okay, but not worth the price I paid for it. It is a time share thing, so you may get some pressure to buy. Pool was okay. Very far apart. I think there are better places to stay.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Hi...
I own at Vistana and thinks it's a great resort. Our first family trip to FL back in '94, convinced us to become owners here and we've enjoyed all our yearly stays.

In order to evaluate the cost of your trip, would need to know what kind of passes you got ? How many are in your party ? On average, if you book the vacation yourself, you can usually save money. I know people who have gotten Vistana villas for $100-$150/night through various web sites.

Vistana is a very large resort and I'd highly recommend a car. There are 9 different villages/neighborhoods ranging from older sections that were existing back in 1980, to more modern sections that went up in the late 90's. The resort itself is beautifully landscaped with ponds, waterfalls, bridges, gazebos. Ask your travel agent if she can guarentee you will be placed in either the Cascades or the Lakes section. I own in the next oldest section, the Fountains and love it. Some have issues with it because it is a little older and they have no elevator bldgs, but the Lakes and Cascades do have elevators. The resort has 2 sit-down restaurants that offer room service as well as a Pizza Hut that will also deliver to your room. There are 7 different pools on property so you are rarely far from any one of them. There are usually many activities going on around the resort for adults and kids alike. On any given night, you might have Mexican night, Caribbean night, Kareoke night etc.

Here's some pics of the resort for you to see (I highly recommend a rental car because the resort shuttle is just so-so). You are only about a 10-15 min drive from WDW.

The Lakes master bedroom :

The Cascades master bedroom :

Cascades jacuzzi tub :

Older Spas area :

Fountains area :

My dd's relaxing on a bridge in the Fountains area :

You can view all my Vistana pics here and ask any other questions you might have :
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=4287948459

Connie1042 says : Pool was okay. Very far apart.

Not sure which pool Connie is referring to.....but there are 7 of them. Two are zero depth pools with fountains and those are located in the Lakes and Cascades area. One pool in the Falls area has a slide. The Fountains pool has a waterfall. There are hot tubs at most of the pools. The Fountains, Super and Cascades pools have snack/bar areas close by.

 

[KLAIT]

We stayed at the Vistana last fall and Loved it...we requested the Fountains and were in a 2 bedrrom unit on the top floor facing the Fountains pool...We cannot say enough about it...It was clean, convenient location to Disney, but we did have a car and there was always plenty to do. It is so nice to have the extra room and bathrooms for all to get realy in the morning.

We did have several calls trying to entice us to attend a timeshare presentation, but they were never pushy or rude..usually a no thank you would get us off the hook. Others have recommended that you unplug the phone...

 

[stefplus3]

Thanks everyone. I think I"ll try pricing out the tickets and hotels separetly myself and see what i come up with.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Stef ~
Try some of these links for better rates at Vistana or other villas in the area :
http://www.hotelkingdom.com/

This is an auction site---many have gotten fantastic rates for Vistana here : http://www.skyauction.com/
You can do a board search for "skyauction" to learn more about it. One DIS'er (Spiceycat) knows the ins and outs on using this site and could help you. I believe she's in WDW right now though.

Another place you might find good rates on Vistana :
http://www.vrbo.com/

For park passes, check out these sites for discounted tickets :
http://www.ticketmania.com/
http://www.centralfloridatravel.com/tickets.asp

Check out this site for more info on how to save on a disney vacation : http://www.mousesavers.com/tickets.html

Good luck !

 

[meta]

From what I've read, the Sheraton Vistana has newer and older units. People on the newer units usually have a more favorable response than families staying in the older ones. I believe the actual unit is assigned at check in, so there is no way of knowing which section you'll be in.