Onsite vs. Sheraton Vistana Villages and Sheraton Vistana resort

[WendyMichaelJohn]

I just saw the discount prices for these two resorts. Am I missing something? It is an incredible deal and would save us literally hundreds and hundreds of dollars. But we'd also be missing out on the magic 24/7. But $109 a night for an 8 person villa???? Is there a catch? Are they just awful or something? They look lovely in the photos.

Has anyone stayed at one of these resorts before? Thanks.

 

[swilshire]

These are both marvelous resorts. We are owners at Sheraton Vistana and stay there nearly every year. What you are seeing is the affects of supply and demand. Orlando has more timeshare units than people wanting to stay in them in September, October and November. Peak months are harder to find at low costs.

As for staying on-site, some people think nothing else will do. I would actually like to stay on-site myself, but have weighed the cost to house my family of six in comfort and elected not to. The magic is not that far away. You can be in the parks in ten minutes or so from Vistana Resort and to Disney Marketplace in five if you hit the lights right. Not much longer from the Villages.

My family really enjoys having a fully equipped kitchen and laundry facilities in the unit. I know some people would prefer not to cook and do laundry while on vacation, but we find it fits our lifestyle. Some of the family members can't do 16 hour days on the run, so we wind up back in the condo cooking simple things or reheating frozen foods. The washer and dryer run while we're hanging out and I don't face a mountain of laundry when I get home. It makes us all happy.

Having two or three bedrooms and bathrooms also gives us the space we need to get along for a week or so on vacation. The three or four TVs save a lot of arguments. The pools and other facilities aren't as nicely themed as Disney's, but are still very nice.

Sheila

 

[MiaSRN62]

But $109 a night for an 8 person villa????

This is definitely an awesome price. Haven't stayed at the Villas before but my friend has and loved it. The main Vistana is a larger resort with more onsite amenities such as restaurants, workout rooms, kids clubs, more pools etc. The only problem with the main Vistana is that some people find some of the sections of the resort to be outdated and a little worn. There are 9 different sections at Vistana (like seperate little villages sort of) and they range from being built pre 1980, to be almost brand new (and alot of variance in between). The newest sections are the Lakes and Cascades and most people seem most impressed with these. I own in the Fountains I & II and we're very happy with the accomodations. Just not sure how picky you might be about your digs. Some people have stayed in the older sections and stated they're never going back again, while others felt it was a terrific bargain. It's pretty subjective. Here's a link where you can see pics of the main Vistana resort : http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=4287948459
The Vistana Villages is a smaller resort but newer (as is the Cascade section at the main resort). Never stayed here as I mentioned, but you can see some pics here : http://www.starwoodvo.com/resorts/welcome.jsp?resortID=1 (click on "villa features" to see pics of the rooms). I believe this resort has a snack bar of some sort but no full-serve restaurants and has 1 pool (unless they have built another one ?). I'm going by what my friend told me and she visited in 2002 or 2003. The Villages is not quite as close to WDW as the main resort is, but maybe another 10 min further drive I'm guessing. If you don't want to take the chance of getting an older unit at the main Vistana, you might want to stay at the Villages. I'm not sure who you would be booking through from your post, but see if you can reserve a newer unit at the main resort first.
Oh, and you'll def need a car for these resorts. I know the main resort offers shuttles, but they're costly $7/person and don't run on a very frequent schedule.

 

[calgarygary]

We stayed at the Villages in 2002 and the resort is great. We would definitely be going back there this year if it wasn't for the free dining plan. The suite looked exactly like the photos.

 

[DISFANSHAN]

OK, where are you getting a $109 rate? Please share with us!

 

[MiaSRN62]

I know this site has some discounts :
http://www.allearsnet.com/acc/faq_svistana.htm

http://www.allearsnet.com/acc/faq_villages.htm

 

[dizneekim]

We stayed at Vistana Resorts last Feb and are now offsite converts! (Thanks, MiaSRN62 for your helpful posts to me last year )For all of the reasons swilshire mentioned, I think it would be painful to squeeze the 5 of us back into an onsite room, even a deluxe. We were VERY pleasantly surprised with the commute! It took less than 10 mins. The Disney parking staff waves you right into your space, the tram picks you up at the end of your row, and drops you off at the gates. I believe it is actually faster than most onsite transportation, other than the monorails. Have a great trip!

 

[MiaSRN62]

You're welcome dizneekim Glad you had a good experience and a nice time at Vistana.
I agree about the transportation as well. We can usually get back and forth in the same amount of time to the parks from Vistana as we do when we stay onsite. MK is the noticeable difference because of the TTC/tram/monorail or ferry. The MK is the one park in WDW where I feel onsite is more convenient. But alot of people who stay onsite swear they don't want to be in a "hot sweltering car" is what I've often heard. Yet wdw busses, while air conditioned, can feel very hot because many time (particularily in the evening/night) can be quite packed with standing room only. I highly dislike standing the whole bus ride with my kids being neck to neck with folks. I'd much prefer my car in situations like this. One year, while staying onsite at POR, my youngest got very sick at MGM. High fever, ear ache and it took us just about 1 hour to get back to the hotel from the park between waiting for the bus and the ride. We felt sort of stranded and helpless waiting for that bus with dd being so sick. Had we had a car, we would have been in our room in not more than 15 min. So using the busses isn't all that great imho.

 

[Sillyminny40]

We stayed there and it was amazing. So clean. Great housekeeping and huge suite. I love the in suite jet tub! We had so much room. Loved the washer dryer and dishwasher and full kitchen!!!!

I think we should go back at that price!!!!!!!

 

[Debbie Jean]

We stayed at Vistana Resorts last Feb and are now offsite converts! (Thanks, MiaSRN62 for your helpful posts to me last year )For all of the reasons swilshire mentioned, I think it would be painful to squeeze the 5 of us back into an onsite room, even a deluxe. We were VERY pleasantly surprised with the commute! It took less than 10 mins. The Disney parking staff waves you right into your space, the tram picks you up at the end of your row, and drops you off at the gates. I believe it is actually faster than most onsite transportation, other than the monorails. Have a great trip!

Ain't it the truth? Except for MK which is a pain because you have to go through the Transit Center to get to the park

We have stayed at Vistana Resorts and Cypress Pointe and love the off-site experience for all the reasons others have pointed out... space, bathrooms, washer/dryer, lovely pools and grounds. We love on-site, too, though, so we spit our stay, half on and half off... works perfectly for us

$109 is a great price for VV and what you see in the photos is what you get, so I wouldn't hesitate to book it!

 

[Scottish-Helen]

I've stayed both onsite and at Vistana Resort and Vistana Villages. If I had the choice I would go for Vistana Villages (unless I was going for a deluxe disney property). The 2 bedroom apartment we had there was really beautiful and I loved the jacuzzi in our bedroom! It was just so spacious and really conveniently located to both Disney and the likes of Universal and Seaworld also.

 

[spiceycat]

I have stayed in Vistana Resort in one of the older section - Springs - loved it!!!

Big condo - lots and lots of room!!!

i have also sent a discount on

www.mousesavers.com

I also own DVC - so I stay both on and off site. That say - when I am onsite I generally drive to everything except MK and AK - Mk it is just easier to get there. the buses are a LOT closer to the AK - you do enough walking at WDW why add to it?

however Pop century has some of the fastest buses - we never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus - and we were generally back faster than I could have driven. Given you do sometimes have to air out your car before you can leave. and if I arrived later - WDW tram is not always quick about getting you to your car (especially when they are only running one of them).

the magic - I really love my WDW stays - but I also love my off-site stays.

some people hate offsite others hate onsite.

I like both!!! We love the 2-bedroom I can get thru either RCI (exchanges) or last call or skyauction. I could get a 2-bedroom using my points but they need so many points that I generally get a studio or 2 studios depending upon who is coming....

how you feel will depend upon you.

this is a good deal - so if it will save your money go for it!!!

 

[luvdisney14]

WendyMichaelJohn - I am thinking at VV next year because of the newer villas, how did you get the 109.00 rate. This year we stayed at Vistana Resort, cascades, and loved it.

 

[MickeyMickey]

Vistana Villages it great!