Christine
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Aug 31, 1999
- Messages
- 32,567
Travelers:
Me, 37, Trip Planner and Mom
Grandparents, 57 and 62
DD, age 9, (almost 10)
DS, age 6.5 but acts 3!
Well, a brief history on how we got to go on this trip, which is roughly our 4th trip to Disney but would be our 1st off-site trip. My FIL owns a timeshare at the Vistana and offered it to us for free as he has been out of the country for a year. We were originally scheduled to go in May (our favorite time) but DD was having problems in school and I couldn't justify taking her out. Early in January I tried to reschedule the timeshare to June but was told they were totally booked. When I called back at the beginning of May to cancel, I was then offered either the week of June 23rd or August 31st. I jumped on the June trip, but with much fear and trepidation as I had not planned a thing up to that point thinking I was not going. I was actually not really looking forward to the trip because staying off-site kind of bummed me out and the thoughts of going during peak time kind of scared me. We've always gone in either April or May and it has been perfectly lovely during those months.
I immediately started to book flights. The first problem started when I could not get what I considered to be a cheap flight out of Washington, D.C. Doubling the problem was that we would be returning from our trip the weekend right before July 4th. In order to fly in and out of Orlando I would have had to pay about $270 per person. I finally got a tip (probably here) to try flying in and out of Tampa. This worked although I had to return the following Friday evening versus on our Saturday checkout day. At $149 per person (including all surcharges/taxes) I took this deal. To make the deal sweeter was that we got our flights on United Airlines. This may not seem like a big deal to most, but if you are a peanut allergic person as my DS is, United is great because they serve no peanuts. One less worry.
Both our flights were smooth, friendly, and on time. The rental van we got in Tampa was $230 a week through National with unlimited mileage. It was a beautiful, new Toyota Sienna (I LOVE Toyotas). Car rental time took 5 minutes. Our drive to Orlando was about 1 hour 10 minutes. I do recommend flying in/out of Tampa if you have problems getting good prices/flights in and out of Orlando. While nothing really beats the convenience of the Orlando Airport, the Tampa airport is quite small, MUCH less crowded, and the prices seem better. Our return trip to Tampa took a little longer (1.5 hours) since we were traveling during rush hour and there were some horrendous thunderstorms. Still not bad.
Regarding Vistana--although I still don't know which I prefer--on or off-site, we did enjoy the place. I loved having a large 2-bedroom apartment will a fully equipped kitchen (even though I didn't cook). It was just nice to get up and have a normal breakfast. We aren't really pop-tart/donut kind of people and if I eat that stuff I feel yucky all day. The apartments were decorated very nicely and everything was well maintained. No mildew in the shower--glass doors all very clean, tiled floors very clean. The bedrooms were quite large, each having a TV and there was a TV/VCR in the living area. The dining table easily sat 6 people. The master suite was huge with a soaking tub/jacuzzi although we never used it. The screened in back porch was also nice for sitting out on. The grounds of the Vistana were well-maintained but still don't compare to the grounds at the Disney hotels. The Vistana buildings were all jammed in together with lots of parking lots. It didn't look too pretty as you were driving through; however, each unit backed up to a pond with a fountain so your back porch view was quite different than the other side and was very nice. We were put in the Lakes section which was 3-5 years old. The newest sections were impossible to get into and seemed only to be given to those who might possibly buy a timeshare. My FIL had paid his money long ago so we were out of luck. Complaints about Vistana--the mattresses SUCKED and ruined my sleep the whole trip. I felt like a zombie most of the time. They did not have fitted sheets on the mattress so the bottom sheet kept slipping off and getting real wrinkled up. The mattress pad was not secure and kept sliding around. One of the double beds did not have a top sheet and, despite my pleas, I never could get one. One of the lights in the master suite was out and that never got replaced either. I have read earlier reports on this site that Vistana's housekeeping could be a problem. I have to report that the room was immaculate but housekeeping was NOT responsible to my requests. As a timeshare owner, our room was cleaned only once during our stay, which was fine. I think if you are paying nightly, you get daily cleaning. This timeshare was fine for us mainly because it was free. But if I was paying I would probably go back to Shades of Green, depending on the price difference.
Unfortunately, prior to this trip, I was so busy at work, I never actually got to plan this trip. I made one PS for the Villians Dinner at the GF, but 3 weeks prior to the trip, I heard it had been discontinued so I never showed up. So, we just planned on no-planning. I didn't even have a daily schedule. I was starting to panic because I had planned my last trip down to the second and it had gone very well.
On DAY 1, we arrived in the early afternoon. Our room at Vistana was not ready so we went over to SoG to purchase our passes. We checked in around 3:30, unpacked, and went across the street to Bahama Breeze restaurant that I read about on these boards. What a great place to eat!!! There was a little mix-up upon seating and we didn't get a waiter for about 20 minutes. Not good with 2 kiddies who were hungry and getting cranky. When a waiter finally did come, he apologized profusely and offered free appetizers or desserts. I ordered a salmon special with orzo pasta, Grandma got a Tilapia sandwich with a bowl of Cuban black bean soup, and Grandpa got a pasta special. All were excellent. DD got chicken strips and DS got a pizza. Everyone was happy. We got the Bananas Foster Bread Pudding for dessert. Excellent. I highly recommend this place but beware that it has long waits if you arrive after 5:00 p.m.
Stayed tuned for Part II, which includes a briefer version (I promise) of my park visits, dining experiences while winging it, and my final thoughts. Oh, and some nice tidbits about having one of *those* kinds of children.....
Me, 37, Trip Planner and Mom
Grandparents, 57 and 62
DD, age 9, (almost 10)
DS, age 6.5 but acts 3!
Well, a brief history on how we got to go on this trip, which is roughly our 4th trip to Disney but would be our 1st off-site trip. My FIL owns a timeshare at the Vistana and offered it to us for free as he has been out of the country for a year. We were originally scheduled to go in May (our favorite time) but DD was having problems in school and I couldn't justify taking her out. Early in January I tried to reschedule the timeshare to June but was told they were totally booked. When I called back at the beginning of May to cancel, I was then offered either the week of June 23rd or August 31st. I jumped on the June trip, but with much fear and trepidation as I had not planned a thing up to that point thinking I was not going. I was actually not really looking forward to the trip because staying off-site kind of bummed me out and the thoughts of going during peak time kind of scared me. We've always gone in either April or May and it has been perfectly lovely during those months.
I immediately started to book flights. The first problem started when I could not get what I considered to be a cheap flight out of Washington, D.C. Doubling the problem was that we would be returning from our trip the weekend right before July 4th. In order to fly in and out of Orlando I would have had to pay about $270 per person. I finally got a tip (probably here) to try flying in and out of Tampa. This worked although I had to return the following Friday evening versus on our Saturday checkout day. At $149 per person (including all surcharges/taxes) I took this deal. To make the deal sweeter was that we got our flights on United Airlines. This may not seem like a big deal to most, but if you are a peanut allergic person as my DS is, United is great because they serve no peanuts. One less worry.
Both our flights were smooth, friendly, and on time. The rental van we got in Tampa was $230 a week through National with unlimited mileage. It was a beautiful, new Toyota Sienna (I LOVE Toyotas). Car rental time took 5 minutes. Our drive to Orlando was about 1 hour 10 minutes. I do recommend flying in/out of Tampa if you have problems getting good prices/flights in and out of Orlando. While nothing really beats the convenience of the Orlando Airport, the Tampa airport is quite small, MUCH less crowded, and the prices seem better. Our return trip to Tampa took a little longer (1.5 hours) since we were traveling during rush hour and there were some horrendous thunderstorms. Still not bad.
Regarding Vistana--although I still don't know which I prefer--on or off-site, we did enjoy the place. I loved having a large 2-bedroom apartment will a fully equipped kitchen (even though I didn't cook). It was just nice to get up and have a normal breakfast. We aren't really pop-tart/donut kind of people and if I eat that stuff I feel yucky all day. The apartments were decorated very nicely and everything was well maintained. No mildew in the shower--glass doors all very clean, tiled floors very clean. The bedrooms were quite large, each having a TV and there was a TV/VCR in the living area. The dining table easily sat 6 people. The master suite was huge with a soaking tub/jacuzzi although we never used it. The screened in back porch was also nice for sitting out on. The grounds of the Vistana were well-maintained but still don't compare to the grounds at the Disney hotels. The Vistana buildings were all jammed in together with lots of parking lots. It didn't look too pretty as you were driving through; however, each unit backed up to a pond with a fountain so your back porch view was quite different than the other side and was very nice. We were put in the Lakes section which was 3-5 years old. The newest sections were impossible to get into and seemed only to be given to those who might possibly buy a timeshare. My FIL had paid his money long ago so we were out of luck. Complaints about Vistana--the mattresses SUCKED and ruined my sleep the whole trip. I felt like a zombie most of the time. They did not have fitted sheets on the mattress so the bottom sheet kept slipping off and getting real wrinkled up. The mattress pad was not secure and kept sliding around. One of the double beds did not have a top sheet and, despite my pleas, I never could get one. One of the lights in the master suite was out and that never got replaced either. I have read earlier reports on this site that Vistana's housekeeping could be a problem. I have to report that the room was immaculate but housekeeping was NOT responsible to my requests. As a timeshare owner, our room was cleaned only once during our stay, which was fine. I think if you are paying nightly, you get daily cleaning. This timeshare was fine for us mainly because it was free. But if I was paying I would probably go back to Shades of Green, depending on the price difference.
Unfortunately, prior to this trip, I was so busy at work, I never actually got to plan this trip. I made one PS for the Villians Dinner at the GF, but 3 weeks prior to the trip, I heard it had been discontinued so I never showed up. So, we just planned on no-planning. I didn't even have a daily schedule. I was starting to panic because I had planned my last trip down to the second and it had gone very well.
On DAY 1, we arrived in the early afternoon. Our room at Vistana was not ready so we went over to SoG to purchase our passes. We checked in around 3:30, unpacked, and went across the street to Bahama Breeze restaurant that I read about on these boards. What a great place to eat!!! There was a little mix-up upon seating and we didn't get a waiter for about 20 minutes. Not good with 2 kiddies who were hungry and getting cranky. When a waiter finally did come, he apologized profusely and offered free appetizers or desserts. I ordered a salmon special with orzo pasta, Grandma got a Tilapia sandwich with a bowl of Cuban black bean soup, and Grandpa got a pasta special. All were excellent. DD got chicken strips and DS got a pizza. Everyone was happy. We got the Bananas Foster Bread Pudding for dessert. Excellent. I highly recommend this place but beware that it has long waits if you arrive after 5:00 p.m.
Stayed tuned for Part II, which includes a briefer version (I promise) of my park visits, dining experiences while winging it, and my final thoughts. Oh, and some nice tidbits about having one of *those* kinds of children.....
Cant wait to read more.
