I never thought I'd post on this board...

[minniesota]

But my sister is an RCI member and wants to take advantage of a week she can use at the Sheraton Vistana Villages. My family has always stayed on site and always at GF, YC/BC. And our two families have always stayed at the same resort (when we've been there together) so the kids are used to having each other to hang with. Her DD is 12; our DD is 12 and DS is 10. So my dilemma is: do we stay off-site so we can be together? Will we be disappointed after being on-site for all of our previous trips? Can we be happy at the Vistana Villages? (We would be renting a separate unit for our family) How convenient is it to get to the parks, retaurants like O'hana's, etc.? I am such an on-site girl -I can't really imagine it! Your input would be welcome.

 

[spiceycat]

My family is staying at the Sheraton's Vistana Resort - it is a little closer to WDW than the Village.

we are however staying at OKW. I don't have kids if I did maybe it would make a difference.

We are also going Thanksgiving week and i know how crowded the parks will be then - so being on-site was a must.

Have you consider renting points from a DVC member and staying at OKW (pretty close to Sheraton's Vistana Village) - OKW is also the cheapest to rent. Or any of the other DVC resorts.

then you have the kitchen and 2-bedroom - which I am sure your sister place will have.

all the reviews I have seem the Sheraton's Vistana Village is a lovely resort.

here is their website

http://starwoodvo.com/resorts/welcome.jsp?resortID=1

 

[Lorix2]

You'd be extremely happy there.

My kids then (10 & 5) loved it. The pool is huge with waterfalls and a volleyball net. You can bring your own floats for the pool too. There is a small arcade and table games, a deli/store and bar. Activities were planned daily for the kids, but they just wanted to swim all the time.

This is a beautiful resort, luxuriously decorated and extremely well maintained inside and out. The lobby itself is just gorgeous and the landscaping is too.

It's located on the south end of I'Drive and you will be under the Disney gates in less than 10 minutes. You'd be diagonally across from SeaWorld. Up on the north end is all the restaurants, shops, groceries, gas, etc..

I have never stayed onsite, because I feel I get so much more for my money offsite, having a 2BR villa with 3 tvs, 2 bathrooms, a living room, patio, washer/dryer and full kitchen is worth every penny and less expensive than onsite, actually.

I just love coming back to the resort and spreading out and being able to have some privacy too. The kids loved having their own room and tv - lots of room to breathe.

Any questions, just ask

 

[BonnieA]

Sounds to me like you have already convinced yourself that you will not have a good time offsite. You either have to go with an open mind or just stay onsite.

 

[monarchsfan16]

From all that I have seen and heard, the Villages are wonderful. It is a very new resort, and relatively convinient. We haven't stayed onsite since '95, and while I miss it somewhat, we've never had a bad trip. You can still go to all the restaraunts, parks, etc that you want, and you may be able to do so without dealing with those disney busses (the downside of staying onsite). We also always manage to ride the monorail multiple times. When you stay offsite you may not get the mickey wake up calls, or soaps, but you can have as much of the magic as you like, depending on what you plan to do.

 

[kalamazoo]

Well it's certainly hard to beat the YC/BC for convenience to EPCOT and GF for convenience to MK or Ohana's.

That being said I also say that driving to any park in WDW from Vistana Villages is probably faster than taking a bus from a WDW resort to a park. At the most it would take the same amount of time since at MK you have to take a tram to the TTC and then ride the monorail to MK. We found that getting to MK by bus from an EPCOT resort (YC and Swan) took at least 20 minutes (not including time waiting for the bus).

Vistana Villages is a very nice resort. Some things not already mentioned are that there is a nice big whirlpool bath in the master bedroom which the kids love and sure feels nice on your tired feet and legs after a day of walking and there is a big basketball court. The screened-in patio is huge and has a 4 seat patio set so you can eat outside if you want. All patios overlook the middle of the resort. There are always ducks around and sometimes ducklings. Though the resort is in a quiet area, about a 2 minute drive away you've got the Premier Outlets. On the negative side the pool has no slide.

Best of all is all the space you have. It is, to use a Disney term, a home away from home.

However, I know a lot of on-site fans just cannot get around the idea that a resort is not on-site, it does not have the "magic" even if it has a lot going for it. If you are really unsure maybe you should split your stay between VV and a WDW deluxe.