The Fountains

[Tikicristi]

Hello, we have never stayed off-property at Disney but are considering it now due to the changes of all the perks Disney has taken away for staying on site. We have a friend who has a timeshare at The Fountains and has offered us a very cheap rate for the April week we want to go. The idea of a condo with a kitchen and more room is very appealing, but the reviews I have read are not great. Especially about the hard-sell on the timeshare stuff while you're there and lots of bad reviews that the condos are rundown and other stuff like that.

It's just 3 of us - husband, wife and teenage daughter. We are not ones to stay at the highend hotels as we are really only there to sleep and shower and use the pool on occassion. We are planning to do both Universal and Disney - we haven't been in 5 years due to our past trips being canceled due to the pandemic but now we are ready to go again. We might take one day during the trip to have a resort day and just chill by the pool.

I am just looking to see if anyone has stayed at The Foun tains and what your experience was. Our other idea is to just stay at Cabana Bay at Universal because we just loved it but the cost difference between that and this offer from a friend is huge but I don't know if the cost difference is worth what sounds like a lot of headaches at the resort.

Thanks.

 

[Brian Noble]

I haven't stayed there yet, but the Fountains has a very good reputation on TUG. I took a quick look at TripAdvisor, and most of the really low reviews are people who bought from the developer---and yeah, I'd be bummed if I'd done that too.

The check-in process at any timeshare can be annoying, but if you are firm about saying that you are not interested in spending your vacation time with them, usually they give up and go to someone else quickly. After that, just unplug your phone and enjoy. I think it's worth a try to see if the condo-style vacation is something you'd really enjoy. If you do, you'll find Orlando has tons of them.

 

[Tikicristi]

Thank you! Excuse my ignorance, what is TUG? I actually read the Fountains reviews on their own website but those may feed to TripAdvisor, but yeah, not great LOL.

 

[Brian Noble]

TUG is the Timeshare User's Group.

 

[dreamscometrue47]

We stayed at the Fountains for the first time for 2 weeks back in February 2018. Our 2 bed 2 bath unit was beautiful and laid out very nicely. Looked like it may have recently been redone.
Just say no firmly to the time share beg. Never had trouble again. We are very used to saying no!
They have 2 pool areas, very nice, Starbucks in main building.
I would definitely stay again.

 

[bbak30]

We have stayed at The Fountains several times and we love it. The timeshare people will come at you, but just tell them no and do it firmly.
They have great pools and it's a great location. The Benihana on property is one of our favorite Orlando restaurants. We love to stay on site at Disney of course, but it's really nice to have the extra space and it's very relaxing there. You will enjoy it!

 

[SrBlonde]

You can book there without previously signing up for one of those time share packages, right?

 

[dreamscometrue47]

Yes

 

[RMO87]

I stayed there with my family in 2013. It was my mom's gift (she had a Blue-Green timeshare) to my wife for grad school graduation. They had a really nice pool, I recall.