My parents own a week's stay at a 2-bedroom unit here. When they first bought here in the early 90s, it seemed really great. I have stayed there numerous times over the past 15 years but I will focus on my last stay.
My last stay here was in December 2009, so take this as you wish for an opinion. My parents booked myself, my BF at the time and my 2 daughters to stay there under their week.
Check-in: I had to wait about 20 minutes to check-in. The staff seemed friendly upon arrival, once I actually got up to the front desk.
1st unit: We received our unit number for a 2 bedroom with 1 master bedroom with a king and the second bedroom had 2 either queens or doubles, can't remember which one now(not the one my parents usually get because it was for a different week from what they committed to). The resort has a bar-entry type gate (not sure of the proper term), where you drive up to the bar-gate and either swipe your room key or pull up close to the building and have a staff member raise the bar to let you in. The 1st unit we went to was in horrible condition. It wasn't even made up properly. The beds had all been stripped but none of them had been made up. The 2nd bedroom had some clean linen lying on the bed but not enough to make up each bed. I found some lights didn't work, the bathtub didn't hold water, etc. . .
I called the front desk to complain 3 times in 20 minutes but no one picked up the phone. So I ran down to the front desk and waited another 20 minutes to complain. The staff apologized and offered for me to look at another unit and gave me a key. I looked at the 2nd unit and it was made up and the lights worked so I said we would switch.
The 2nd unit was not much better after we moved in. Little things like the bathtub didn't hold water (again), the dryer didn't do a good job with drying, the dishwasher did not wash the dishes well, some outlets didn't work, just general maitenance issues you see with older properties that don't get updated very well. I did call numerous times to get things fixed that we needed to use but I would say in 80% of my calls, no one picked up.
We were told we could get a free mid-week tidy up with new towels and such and we must schedule it so I did that at the front desk. It never happened. Called to ask what happened that evening when we returned and they apologized and said it would happen the next day, it didn't. Called a second time during the 2nd evening and they never answered so I ran to the front desk. The front desk said they would send over new towels as an apology. That would have been good enough for me but it never happened either.
I felt the front desk did a terrible job. Phones were hardly ever answered, staff offered to fix the problem but they never did and managers were promised to return my call and that never happened. I had to run to the front desk most of the time because no one answered the phone.
Honestly, I am not a complaining sort of person. I only ask for clean and in working order places. I was not complaining about paint chips or unswept sidewalks or not having china plates. I just tried to get the more serious issues resolved and the mid-week tidy up that was promised never did happen. The staff just did not seem to be able to do basic things like calling maitenance or housekeeping for me.
If we had no maitenance issues, I would never have had to use the front desk and probably wouldn't have cared if they didn't answer their phones. But it seemed once there was a problem, no one could help.
Granted, this was almost 2 years ago so maybe staff has gotten better. But the condos just seem to be more worn and need upgrades. Not sure if they are doing that now.
I did vow to never stay there again. My parents have offered me their week for this upcoming January and I said I would rather pay to go somewhere else.
It did seem a little further out from the parks. No mid-day retreats to the property, it was too far. I would say it took us at least 30 minutes to get to the TTC at Disney.
The area itself was not bad at all. Plenty of chain restaurants (McDs, Red Lobster, etc. . .) and I think Wal-Mart was a few miles away.
Hope that helps. I stayed there because it was free (to me) but I don't want to stay there again.