BusyMomof3
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2001
- Messages
- 117
We got back late Sat. night. Spent 7 nights at Vistana Villages, 4 nights at Port Orleans - Riverside and 1 night at the Polynesian resort.
We were very pleasantly surprised at Vistana Villages. We had read all the reviews here on the DIS, but nothing is like experiencing it first hand. We arrived around 4p.m. and had no trouble checking-in. The only "problem" we had with the whole 7 night stay was that we couldn't get the building(s) we requested. We asked for any building from 4 - 7, but all they could give us was building 9. It was OK, but we would have rather been closer to the pool area. We did not hear any noise from the highway.
The 2-BR suite was very spacious. It was great for our family of 5. DD and older DS shared the 2nd bedroom and younger DS slept on the sofa-bed. There was plenty of room to get around with it pulled out. We had breakfast in the kitchen every morning, and used the washer and dryer almost daily. The screened in balcony was also great for hanging wet rain ponchos to dry overnight.
We did experience the frogs "singing" at night. The first night, DH thought it was the ceiling fan on the balcony squeaking. But when he turned the fan off the noise continued. Then I remembered reading about the frogs. We had a good laugh. The noise did not keep us awake, we were too tired from being in the parks all day. Also, the heavy liner inside the curtains in the bedroom helped to muffle the noise.
We went to the pool a few times, but not as much as we could have because of rain and being at the parks. We did not eat at the deli. We also had a rental van, so we drove to the parks and did not use the resort shuttle.
We were surprised at how isolated VV is. It seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere, but it was only 10 - 15 min. from the parks. There is a new Publix being built just down the street, which looks like it will open any day.
Overall, we really liked VV. We purposefully planned our trip so that we would stay here first and then move on-site, thinking that we would "move up". Staying on-site was nice and we're glad we did it, but we really had a problem justifying the expense of the onsite resorts (w/ no kitchen, no washer & dryer, etc.) compared to VV. We would definitely stay here again.
We were very pleasantly surprised at Vistana Villages. We had read all the reviews here on the DIS, but nothing is like experiencing it first hand. We arrived around 4p.m. and had no trouble checking-in. The only "problem" we had with the whole 7 night stay was that we couldn't get the building(s) we requested. We asked for any building from 4 - 7, but all they could give us was building 9. It was OK, but we would have rather been closer to the pool area. We did not hear any noise from the highway.
The 2-BR suite was very spacious. It was great for our family of 5. DD and older DS shared the 2nd bedroom and younger DS slept on the sofa-bed. There was plenty of room to get around with it pulled out. We had breakfast in the kitchen every morning, and used the washer and dryer almost daily. The screened in balcony was also great for hanging wet rain ponchos to dry overnight.
We did experience the frogs "singing" at night. The first night, DH thought it was the ceiling fan on the balcony squeaking. But when he turned the fan off the noise continued. Then I remembered reading about the frogs. We had a good laugh. The noise did not keep us awake, we were too tired from being in the parks all day. Also, the heavy liner inside the curtains in the bedroom helped to muffle the noise.
We went to the pool a few times, but not as much as we could have because of rain and being at the parks. We did not eat at the deli. We also had a rental van, so we drove to the parks and did not use the resort shuttle.
We were surprised at how isolated VV is. It seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere, but it was only 10 - 15 min. from the parks. There is a new Publix being built just down the street, which looks like it will open any day.
Overall, we really liked VV. We purposefully planned our trip so that we would stay here first and then move on-site, thinking that we would "move up". Staying on-site was nice and we're glad we did it, but we really had a problem justifying the expense of the onsite resorts (w/ no kitchen, no washer & dryer, etc.) compared to VV. We would definitely stay here again.
