Sheraton Vistana vs. Marriott Cypress Harbour (or Mystic Dunes)

[DisMomAmy]

We are visiting WDW April 25th - May 2nd. We will have 5 people for 4 nights & 8 for the last 3 nights. We will be staying off-site at a timeshare condo exchanged through Interval International. I'll be making the exchange at the end of February as a "Flexchange" sixty days from our check-in date.

Currently it looks like the nicest options for a party of 8 are Sheraton Vistana Resort, Sheraton Vistana Villages, Marriott Cypress Harbour or Mystic Dunes. We stayed at Marriott Grande Vista in 2007 and thought it was beautiful.

Where would you stay if you had the above options? We want to be as close to the parks as possible, have enough space for 8 and enjoy the pool(s) with the kids.

 

[Detailor]

We are visiting WDW April 25th - May 2nd. We will have 5 people for 4 nights & 8 for the last 3 nights. We will be staying off-site at a timeshare condo exchanged through Interval International. I'll be making the exchange at the end of February as a "Flexchange" sixty days from our check-in date.

Just a note that inventory that you see now may not be there at the end of the month. To get the property and size of villa that you want you may be wise to do an exchange now if the inventory is there.

Currently it looks like the nicest options for a party of 8 are Sheraton Vistana Resort, Sheraton Vistana Villages, Marriott Cypress Harbour or Mystic Dunes. We stayed at Marriott Grande Vista in 2007 and thought it was beautiful.

I don't know the Mystic Dunes resort but it looks like a good location and I've considered it in the past. The Sheraton Vistana Resort is nice but there are sections that are older and on the schedule for refurbishment while other sections have been completed. If you select Vistana Resort I'd suggest that you call the resort and/or use the Diamond Lane request form at their website to request a refurbed villa. That resort would be a perfectly acceptable place for me and my family.

Where would you stay if you had the above options? We want to be as close to the parks as possible, have enough space for 8 and enjoy the pool(s) with the kids.

Cypress Harbour is a really nice resort. A bit older than Grande Vista, the resort has recently had a villa refurbishment completed and it right up to date with the high Marriott standards. While it's in the same SeaWorld neighborhood as Grande Vista, it's really close to an entrance to I-4 so a little closer to Disney. Nice pools and the same Marriott activities programs as GV.

I like the Marriotts better than the Vistana Resort and would choose them despite the fact that they're a little further away from Disney than that Sheraton resort area. With that said, though, it's only two or three miles further away. The only drawback that I'd see for CH, with your party of eight, is that the second bedroom will be a little tight with the sofabed pulled out. It houses four people okay but there isn't much walking space available when that bed is opened.

Dick Taylor

 

[DisMomAmy]

Thanks for the info Dick! Unfortunately the only way we can trade into the Marriotts & Sheratons is through Flexchange. Our home resort doesn't have good enough trading power to get it now. I've been following what's available through Getaways and so far so good. Based on my experience over the years, most of those Getaways will become available to us at 60 days. I've gotten up at/stayed up until midnight to get the best possible exchange. I know they may not all be available by the end of the month, but I figure if I do my research now, I can have a wish list and then we'll see what happens.

Luckily our week is a week later than most of the other school vacations - the two weeks before & after Easter have had NOTHING available that would accomodate our group for a while now.

So all of the CH 2nd bedrooms are one bed & a pull out? Do you know about the 2nd bedroom at the other resorts I mentioned? From what I've read, I'm guessing that Vistana Resort could have a variety of different layouts in the 2nd bedroom based on which area you are in.

 

[Detailor]

You made me look. On II, I see exchange availability to those three resorts for April 25th plus a few other options...
Oak Plantation - OKP - 2BR 6/8
Sheraton Vistana Villages - SVV - 2BR 6/8
Westgate Lakes - RYS - 2BR 6/8
Star Island - VBR - 3BR 8/10
Star Island - STR - 3BR 8/8

Of those additional resorts I think that Vistana Villages is the gem, I suspect better than Vistana Resort. I don't know about the Star Island resorts but the added bedroom might be nice.

I am quite certain that all of the Cypress Harbour villas have that same second bedroom layout with a queen bed and a queen sofa bed - in addition to a queen sofa bed in the living room and a king bed in the master bedroom.

You're correct that several of the phases of Vistana Resort have different configurations. I look, briefly, to see if I have anything on which phases would be included in the 6/8 configuration but couldn't find anything. I think that the newer phases are set up that way but can't say for certain.

I'm guessing that with all of those resorts available for your week that something, indeed, will still be around in a few weeks.

Good luck!

Dick Taylor

 

[DisMomAmy]

You made me look. On II, I see exchange availability to those three resorts for April 25th plus a few other options...
Oak Plantation - OKP - 2BR 6/8
Sheraton Vistana Villages - SVV - 2BR 6/8
Westgate Lakes - RYS - 2BR 6/8
Star Island - VBR - 3BR 8/10
Star Island - STR - 3BR 8/8

Of those additional resorts I think that Vistana Villages is the gem, I suspect better than Vistana Resort. I don't know about the Star Island resorts but the added bedroom might be nice.

I am quite certain that all of the Cypress Harbour villas have that same second bedroom layout with a queen bed and a queen sofa bed - in addition to a queen sofa bed in the living room and a king bed in the master bedroom.

You're correct that several of the phases of Vistana Resort have different configurations. I look, briefly, to see if I have anything on which phases would be included in the 6/8 configuration but couldn't find anything. I think that the newer phases are set up that way but can't say for certain.

I'm guessing that with all of those resorts available for your week that something, indeed, will still be around in a few weeks.

Good luck!

Dick Taylor

The extra bedrooms at Star Island do look tempting but we've stayed at one of the affiliated resorts (Resort World) a couple times before we discovered Marriott Grande Vista and it was just OK. I remember a LOT of traffic getting to & from the parks. Although there was a Krispy Kreme right on the corner.

The sleeping arrangements won't be as tight as you would expect because we are bringing two twin air mattresses that our two boys will sleep on in the master bedroom once our other family members arrive at the end of the week.

I'm sure something good will still be available for us... next year will be another story when our school vacation bumps up against Easter. We may have to visit in February.

Thanks for taking the time to look at some of this stuff for me!

 

[Detailor]

next year will be another story when our school vacation bumps up against Easter. We may have to visit in February.

Late February isn't a bad time to go. I believe that a lot of New Hampshire schools have that last week of the month off for winter recess this year and if that's the case for your school district in 2010 then you should have decent weather for the week. Going earlier - like during the Presidents' holiday week that a lot of eastern Massachusetts has off from school can be a little less predictable, weather-wise.

Dick Taylor

 

[DisMomAmy]

Late February isn't a bad time to go. I believe that a lot of New Hampshire schools have that last week of the month off for winter recess this year and if that's the case for your school district in 2010 then you should have decent weather for the week. Going earlier - like during the Presidents' holiday week that a lot of eastern Massachusetts has off from school can be a little less predictable, weather-wise.

Dick Taylor

Yes - Our "February vacation" actually starts Feb. 28th next year so we'd miss the Presidents' week rush & hopefully have nicer weather.