Stay st Sheraton Vistana?

[danceteachermom]

Looking for a spring break Orlando location but do not plan on more than a day in the parks. I have never stayed offsite before with kids.

There seem to be two Sheraton resorts that look good? What is the difference?

I do not know all of the abbreviations on the offsite properties but many also talk of Bonnet Creek.

Has anyone tried both? My kids will be 5 and 13. We want an adult bedroom with a door that shuts so my DH and I get to stay up later than the kiddos...

We are looking for a place with great pools, maybe kids activities, a playground, and other things to keep the group entertained. We plan to visit downtown Disney and maybe a day at a watermark or Discovery Cove. My DD would love to at a place with others her age.

Any help would be appreciated. We need to stay in Orlando because we need to be by MCO because my DD will join us half way into the trip and will fly alone from MI to FL...we need to be where our airport will fly direct as we do not want her to change planes and she is familiar with MCO.

Booked a Residence Inn at Seaworld as back up but the Trip Advisor reviews and comments are scaring me....I want to upgrade but can't go more than $300 a night.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Looking for a spring break Orlando location but do not plan on more than a day in the parks. I have never stayed offsite before with kids.

There seem to be two Sheraton resorts that look good? What is the difference?

I do not know all of the abbreviations on the offsite properties but many also talk of Bonnet Creek.

Has anyone tried both? My kids will be 5 and 13. We want an adult bedroom with a door that shuts so my DH and I get to stay up later than the kiddos...

We are looking for a place with great pools, maybe kids activities, a playground, and other things to keep the group entertained. We plan to visit downtown Disney and maybe a day at a watermark or Discovery Cove. My DD would love to at a place with others her age.

Any help would be appreciated. We need to stay in Orlando because we need to be by MCO because my DD will join us half way into the trip and will fly alone from MI to FL...we need to be where our airport will fly direct as we do not want her to change planes and she is familiar with MCO.

Booked a Residence Inn at Seaworld as back up but the Trip Advisor reviews and comments are scaring me....I want to upgrade but can't go more than $300 a night.

There is sheraton vistana resort and sheraton vistana villages. We have stayed at both SVR and WBC. I liked WBC better. It was newer and so close to the parks!(really on WDW property.) I have heard that SVV is a newer resort and smaller than SVR.
There is a thread on this forum called Sheraton Vistana- good info.
Somebody I know is staying in a 2 bdr. at WBC for $120/nite!!!!

 

[chalee94]

There seem to be two Sheraton resorts that look good? What is the difference?

vistana resort is closer to wdw and older but recently refurbished, as compared to vistana villages.

i stayed at vistana resort in may and enjoyed it but can't compare it to bonnet creek.

here is the forum with a lot of reviews on these resorts (check the second page as well):

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=126

 

[danceteachermom]

Thanks for the link to the forum. I am having IPad issues and could not use the search function.

I just reserved another "back-up" at Mariott Grand Vistas....

Going to keep looking however at what may be the best option or the family. Looks like WBC may be least expensive for what you get but I have only been researching a few days.

At first I thought renting DVC...then I thought just go cheap and big...now I am looking for a place in between those thoughts.

 

[ttfn3]

My family has stayed at both. We have actually been to the Vistana Resort several times, and hang out most of the week at the resort. There's a lot to do at the VR - and plenty of activities for kids of all ages (even the adult kiddie :0) The newly renovated units are FABULOUS. We stayed in a newly renovated top floor unit in the Fountains area in March 2012. The 2 bedroom condos are HUGE. The 2 bedrooms are separated by 2 bathrooms (separate ones for each bedroom) - so very private. Check out the Accomodations reviews section of the offsite hotel thread, and you'll see lots of reviews & info for the Sheraton Vistana Resort (including my review from our March visit).

 

[gcarney]

Looking for a spring break Orlando location but do not plan on more than a day in the parks. I have never stayed offsite before with kids.

There seem to be two Sheraton resorts that look good? What is the difference?

I do not know all of the abbreviations on the offsite properties but many also talk of Bonnet Creek.

Has anyone tried both? My kids will be 5 and 13. We want an adult bedroom with a door that shuts so my DH and I get to stay up later than the kiddos...

We are looking for a place with great pools, maybe kids activities, a playground, and other things to keep the group entertained. We plan to visit downtown Disney and maybe a day at a watermark or Discovery Cove. My DD would love to at a place with others her age.

Any help would be appreciated. We need to stay in Orlando because we need to be by MCO because my DD will join us half way into the trip and will fly alone from MI to FL...we need to be where our airport will fly direct as we do not want her to change planes and she is familiar with MCO.

Booked a Residence Inn at Seaworld as back up but the Trip Advisor reviews and comments are scaring me....I want to upgrade but can't go more than $300 a night.

We stay at the Marriott Grande Vista at least once a year. There are several kid friendly activities through out the day, 7 days a week. They do arts and crafts, camp fires, games at the pool, they bring in reptiles etc. I would HIGHLY recommend them. They are about a mile from Sea World and what I like about SW is you buy one day get 1 free. Good Luck!

 

[Beth D]

We've stayed at SVR almost every year and love it. Lots of activities for kids, the pools are great, and the location is close to everything.

It is much better since the refurb. The 2 BR in the Cascades have a king room with jacuzzi tub and separate bath with shower, only accessible from the bedroom. There's also a decent TV in here. The other bedroom has 2 doubles, with a door to the kitchen and another to a bathroom with a tub (very important for kids).

Some of the activities include - tennis, renting trolley bikes or bikes, mini putt putt, video arcades, basketball court, workout rooms, a zoom flume type inflatable water slide, and lots of other stuff. There is also organized crafts and other games and things daily with the staff like water aerobics, etc...

Also, once you get used to having a kitchen and laundry inside, you'll not want to stay in a regular room ever again!

 

[swilshire]

We have been to Sheraton Vistana Resort many times and Bonnet Creek once. Vistana has more activities for the kids and is more scenic. We usually stay in the Fountains where most of the units have patios or balconies overlooking water. Our Bonnet Creek unit overlooked a parking garage. The balconies at Bonnet Creek are close together and were often noisy.

I would return to either one, but if all else was equal, I'd choose Vistana. Many of the buildings there are only two stories, unlike the highrises at Bonnet Creek.

Sheila

 

[Detailor]

I think that you're on to four nice resorts.

Wyndham's Bonnet Creek is closest to the Disney parks but only by three or four miles compared with Sheraton Vistana Resort.

The WBC resort was built after SVR but the full-resort refurbishment at SVR makes that property pretty close to being just like new.

Sheraton Vistana Villages and Marriott's Grande Vista are both a few miles further away on the lower part of International Drive. SVV is the newer of the two Vistanas and has a very new section of the resort - the St. Augustine section that was built in 2010-2011 - and the Key West Village was just completely refurbished in November/December 2011 and that's quite nice. There's lots to do on site at all of these resorts and any one of them would be, in my opinion, a very satisfactory choice.

However, if I were selecting between these four resorts I'd choose Marriott's Grande Vista. While this one is the furthest of the four from the Disney parks (about a 15 to 20 minute drive depending on the park) I think it's the nicest of the group. The resort has also been recently refurbished and offers a very nice childrens' activities program, onsite tennis, onsite golf, a traditional sit-down restaurant and several less formal meal options ranging from a deli to take-out to the Copa Loca bar and grill, two large central pool areas and two smaller and more remote pool areas. As I'd noted, I think that any of these four would serve you well but if you're only planning one theme park day and lots of days at your resort then this is the one I'd pick.

Have fun.

Dick Taylor