Sabal Palms and Sheraton Vistana WiFi Issues?

[Kaotica]

Hi! We will going down this July for 2 weeks and was all set to book either Sabal Palms or Sheraton Vistana for the extra space and bathroom. We have never stayed off site. I have been reading online that the wifi and Verizon service is terrible there. If this is the case, this will be an issue for getting the virtual queue and ILL. Has anyone been there recently who can confirm if wifi is really bad? I booked French Quarter as a placeholder for now. I would love to do a DVC, however 2 weeks in a 1+ bedroom villa is out of our budget right now. Thanks! Look forward to hearing your thoughts on this.

 

[HopperFan]

Several recent stays (last was in December) at Sabal Palms. No issues for me. Both DS and I go online on our computers when in the unit and neither of us have any problems. We have AT&T phones but we have had no issues with getting VQ in the morning.

 

[Kaotica]

Several recent stays (last was in December) at Sabal Palms. No issues for me. Both DS and I go online on our computers when in the unit and neither of us have any problems. We have AT&T phones but we have had no issues with getting VQ in the morning.

This is great to hear! My husband would likely need to go online daily to check in on work as well.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

My last few Vistana trips have had Wi-Fi issues and the Verizon cell service is terrible there. I can’t speak to Sabal Palms, however that is quite a distance from Vistana so the Verizon service might be different there.

At Vistana the Wi-Fi is usually really bad at night however. It’s generally been fine in the morning when grabbing Genie+/VQ’s/ILL$.

 

[dioxide45]

We haven't been back to Sheraton Vistana Resort because of the wifi issues. I wouldn't hesitate with Sabal Palms. Sure cell reception may be the same between the two, but we didn't experience any wifi issues at Sabal.

 

[rmclain73]

Hi! We will going down this July for 2 weeks and was all set to book either Sabal Palms or Sheraton Vistana for the extra space and bathroom. We have never stayed off site. I have been reading online that the wifi and Verizon service is terrible there. If this is the case, this will be an issue for getting the virtual queue and ILL. Has anyone been there recently who can confirm if wifi is really bad? I booked French Quarter as a placeholder for now. I would love to do a DVC, however 2 weeks in a 1+ bedroom villa is out of our budget right now. Thanks! Look forward to hearing your thoughts on this.

Just remember though that if you are staying at either of these places you wont be able to book the ILL the same time as the VQ anyways.

 

[HopperFan]

We haven't been back to Sheraton Vistana Resort because of the wifi issues. I wouldn't hesitate with Sabal Palms. Sure cell reception may be the same between the two, but we didn't experience any wifi issues at Sabal.

We have found that cell service can vary greatly in the Orlando area depending on the construction of the building and even the location of your room. I was once first floor middle of a Homewood Suites and it was practically dead for cell service. This has happened at several locations.

Just remember though that if you are staying at either of these places you wont be able to book the ILL the same time as the VQ anyways.

True. If you are not staying in a Disney hotel, you can not book ILL at 7 am, you have to wait until the park has opened.

 

[dioxide45]

True. If you are not staying in a Disney hotel, you can not book ILL at 7 am, you have to wait until the park has opened.

Do most ILLs sell out before the park opens?

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Do most ILLs sell out before the park opens?

Depends on the ILL and the time of year. 7DMT? Nah, usually not except at the most crowded times of year like New Years Eve. The others can if it’s a really crowded time of year like Christmas/Thanksgiving/Easter (that’s probably pretty much it). The on-site benefit of being able to purchase an ILL$ early is an extremely minimal benefit.

 

[Kaotica]

Just remember though that if you are staying at either of these places you wont be able to book the ILL the same time as the VQ anyways.

Thanks for the reminder! you're right, I totally forgot about that.

 

[Kaotica]

Thank you all kindly for your replies. I have decided to stay onsite, since getting the virtual queue and maybe ILL is important to my husband and kids.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Thank you all kindly for your replies. I have decided to stay onsite, since getting the virtual queue and maybe ILL is important to my husband and kids.

You can get the virtual queue offsite at 7 am. The only thing you can’t get at 7 am are the ILL$, and honestly, unless you are going at a really high crowd time, you will likely be able to get the ILL$ at park open without a problem (they just won’t be for a return time first thing in the morning).

 

[Kaotica]

You can get the virtual queue offsite at 7 am. The only thing you can’t get at 7 am are the ILL$, and honestly, unless you are going at a really high crowd time, you will likely be able to get the ILL$ at park open without a problem (they just won’t be for a return time first thing in the morning).

Thanks for this info!

 

[erinch]

We will be at Vistana April 13-27. Will let you know how WiFi and Verizon are

 

[elaine amj]

I’ve been at Vistana Resort 6-7 times over the last couple of years. Occasionally wifi and cell coverage is spotty (seems dependent on which unit and building you get). That said, for all important things like VQ, there’s always a spot inside the villa with good service. Might have to walk around a bit (the units are large and very spacious) but I have never worried about VQ as I just move to a spot with good service.

I do sometimes switch between wifi and data (I use Consumer Cellular which runs on AT&T networks) when wifi has not worked as well.

Be warned that the same thing happens in the parks. Which can be annoying when trying to book Genie+ LLs. Again I switch between data and wifi and also have reconciled myself to occasionally moving around to get good signals.

Florida in general has had way more spottiness than I have dealt with anywhere else. And I have used AT&T, Verizon and TMobile.