The Sheraton Vistana Resort Thread (key links on p.1)

[Nana2Callie]

Here now. Only super pool and cascade pool open. The Cascade pool was busy yesterday - no social distancing at all. Super pool very quiet. No activities, but we already knew that. For the most part the resort is very quiet. Very strange since mostly everything closes early.

Did you buy groceries? If so, where? Also, were there any places nearby to grab food - thank you.

 

[bankr63]

Did you buy groceries? If so, where? Also, were there any places nearby to grab food - thank you.

The best groceries nearby are at Publix, both locations near SVR are open, or order a grocery delivery via the Publix site. There is a Walmart nearby as well. The Marketplace onsite is open for smaller needs.

Not sure what restaurants in the area are currently open, or open for Take Out. The restaurants and bars onsite remain closed at this time according to the Status Update site: https://hub.vacationclub.com/resort-updates/

 

[mjr0483]

We just booked our first visit to Sheraton Vistana and are going to be in the Falls section.
There are only 5 of us and two teenage girls in the 2nd bedroom so the twin beds are fine. The double beds would have been a little nicer for the girls.

Can anyone give any feedback on the falls?
1. Distance and travel to the Cascade pool.
2. Room updates for Falls section.
3. Is there a shower in the Master
4. What is that yellow highlight in the Master Bathroom, it doesn't look like a shower

Update:
I just watched this video from room 329 which is in Falls and they show a big walk-in shower where the whirlpool tub is and that highlighted area is another big sink.

 

[bankr63]

We just booked our first visit to Sheraton Vistana and are going to be in the Falls section.
There are only 5 of us and two teenage girls in the 2nd bedroom so the twin beds are fine. The double beds would have been a little nicer for the girls.

Can anyone give any feedback on the falls?
1. Distance and travel to the Cascade pool.
2. Room updates for Falls section.
3. Is there a shower in the Master
4. What is that yellow highlight in the Master Bathroom, it doesn't look like a shower

Personally we have not stayed in Falls (never started a trip on a Sunday), but I expect that the walk-through video is accurate. I was kind of surprised to see that the floor plan only showed a whirlpool tub as a shower was included with the current update in the other sections. It is possible that the floorplan (and description) were not updated after the resort was refurbished a few years ago (I know that the Courts floorplans show the updates online, but the reconfiguration was pretty significant in Courts sections with whole walls moved). Note that those single beds are full (longer than standard) length and are the Sheraton Heavenly Beds, so pretty comfy.

As to location, Falls is a pretty good section to be in. It is located on a back corner of the resort, so no through traffic to bother and very quiet. As you see in the video, one side of the section fronts onto the parking garage/lots behind the Marriott World Centre next door. It should be very quiet if not the best view, but there are not a lot of windows on the front anyway, the best views for all sections are from the balcony.

Walking to the Cascades pool is 2-3 blocks depending on your location; looking at the scale on Google Maps, I would say it is about 1200ft from the middle of Falls to Cascades. Note that you may very well walk past 3 other pools to get there. The Falls, Courts, and Spas Super Pools are along the way to Cascades pool (I think only the Falls pool is currently closed of these four). The video showed a brief glimpse of the Spas Super Pool. From the unit featured in the video you would walk along Falls Drive past the Falls pool, Courts Pool, Recreation Centre/Mini-putt/Tennis Courts, Spas Pool, across Vistana Drive and past the Marketplace to the Cascades pool. Sounds like a lot, but it's really not very far at all. If you are a bit further down the Falls section, it is a simple cut through Courts on the walkways to get there.

Hope you enjoy your visit.

 

[blakefamily]

Curious if we were to get 2 , 2bdrm units on rci, could be get rooms next door to each other?

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Curious if we were to get 2 , 2bdrm units on rci, could be get rooms next door to each other?

They won't guarantee room assignments, but you can certainly request it. I would email the Pre-Arrival Coordinator, Kayla Lee, at least 2 weeks before your stay. Give her your RCI confirmation numbers, and ask if you could be assigned rooms next to (or at least close to) each other. If you are flexible on sections, she can more than likely make it happen....or at least keep you in the same building.

Kayla.Lee@sheratonvistanaresortvillas.com

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Well, we are officially less than 2 weeks until we arrive for our next stay. After our April trip was moved to May, then our May trip cancelled, we have been only moderately hopeful that this October vacation would actually happen. Now that we are down to 12 days until arrival, we are crossing our fingers that no new Covid developments (aside from the train wreck that the world is currently in) will nix these plans at the last moment. That said, we are expecting almost anything until we actually get there.

"Our" side of the resort (we own in Fountains) is still largely closed, so I reached out to Kayla (the pre-arrival coordinator) to discuss our options, and the she advised us that the resort is currently allowing north side owners (Lakes, Fountains I and Fountains II) to be accommodated in the south side sections without penalty. So, it appears that we will have the opportunity to try out another section of the resort on this trip, as we have requested Cascades. The rooms are a bit smaller than what we are used to in Fountains, but having had major surgery just 3 weeks ago, we thought it would be prudent to be assigned a villa in a building with elevators while I am still freshly recovering. After this vacation, we will have officially stayed in 5 different phases of the resort: Spas, Fountains I, Fountains II, Lakes, and Cascades. While we would have preferred to be in our home section, we will embrace the opportunity for a new experience while we have that chance. It will be handy to be close to the Marketplace and we will definitely make use of the Cascades and Super pools.

Kayla is currently on reduced hours, but apparently the resort is increasing staff hours as of mid-month so she will be back to a more customary schedule within the next few weeks. For anyone who might be reaching out to her, just be aware that it may take her a few extra days to respond. She seems to be in the office consistently on Thursdays and Fridays right now (or at least, that is typically when I have been receiving her replies).

This is definitely shaping up to be one of the most unusual trips we have ever taken, and I have seriously re-planned our itinerary at least 10 times as various experiences (Halloween Horror Nights, MNSSHP, our Busch Gardens tours, and even our dinner shows) have been cancelled or modified in some way. I guess we should not have been surprised when even our Vistana stay, which is usually the one constant of each vacation, took on a bit of a different spin! But, we will make the best of whatever we are able to make happen and try to enjoy the experiences regardless of what form they end up taking.

If anyone has anything specific that they might want me to check into when we are there, let me know and I'll be happy to get you whatever information I can.

 

[bankr63]

Have a great trip @Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina!

Would love to hear back about how the resort is actually operating in the COVID-19 situation. We are still holding out hope for a trip in March if travel restrictions ease by then. Probably just planning to lie by the pools rather than spend a lot of time at the parks. We'll still be reluctant to attend a crowded park by then I expect, and with park restrictions, I'm not sure that we'll get value for money considering what admission runs these days.

How busy do the pools seem now? Hoping they are keeping enough pools open so that guests can properly distance. I did see one post that indicated pools were crowded on the weekend at least.

Hope you make the best of what you can do!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Have a great trip @Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina!

Would love to hear back about how the resort is actually operating in the COVID-19 situation. We are still holding out hope for a trip in March if travel restrictions ease by then. Probably just planning to lie by the pools rather than spend a lot of time at the parks. We'll still be reluctant to attend a crowded park by then I expect, and with park restrictions, I'm not sure that we'll get value for money considering what admission runs these days.

How busy do the pools seem now? Hoping they are keeping enough pools open so that guests can properly distance. I did see one post that indicated pools were crowded on the weekend at least.

Hope you make the best of what you can do!

Thank you bankr!

We are going in with very managed expectations. The time we spend at the resort is generally fairly minimal (though the shortened park hours may change that somewhat this time around), so I don't expect the reduced amenities will make a huge overall impact on our enjoyment. As long as the villa itself has been deeply cleaned, we will be happy. And honestly.....this whole year has been such a disappointment (with being unable to visit our families for such an extended period of time, and then with my medical issues and surgery on top of the isolation), any kind of magic we can find in Orlando will make the trip seem worth it. I have no doubt the Vistana will be doing whatever they can to give guests a good experience despite the obvious limitations. I will be giddy with joy even if we have a nice view from the balcony!!

Last I read, the only two pools open were Cascades and Spas and no hot tubs were in operation. I think most of the resort activities have also been ceased since the Covid shutdown, as I would expect they would be. Whether or not masks are mandated by the resort, we'll be wearing ours when we are in any public space. We have Discovery Cove booked for our Saturday and we will be at Busch Gardens on the Sunday, so we won't need to worry about any kind of weekend crowding by the pools. And we always have the jetted tub (assuming the Cascades villas have those?) if we feel like REALLY isolating after a day at the parks!

I sincerely hope the world has returned to a better overall place by the time your March trip rolls around. That said, if 2020 has taught us anything it's to have zero expectations. At the same time, my mantra remains......This Too Shall Pass. It's all that's kept me from going crazy as I wait to reunite with my boy and my mom.

 

[erinch]

We were in Springs Building 5 for 2 weeks, leaving yesterday. Absolutely excellent stay. We are getting on the auto train to,Oreos to head home to PA. I will write it up on the trip! It was great.

 

[dioxide45]

We are at Vistana Resort right now. Checked in on Saturday and have a 2BR villa in Cascades. So far we are liking what we have seen. Is has been a pretty overcast day here today. Cascades pool was a little busy. Mostly people in the pool, not many loungers being take up. I counted people at the Spas Super Pool and there were seven, including one employee handing out towels. No bars or restaurants are open except for the Marketplace. All of the pools are open from I think 9am to 9pm. No hot tubs open yet. If anyone has any questions, let me know and I can see what I can find out for you.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

According to the Resort Status website, they now have 4 pools open: Cascades, Super Pool, Falls and Courts. Hours are listed as 9 am to 9 pm for all 4 pools. The Falls splashpad is also open, but closes at 6.

The Marketplace says its open 9 am to 5 pm, Thursday through Tuesday (so, closed Wednesday).

Mini golf is open during the daytime, closed at night.

I'm a little bummed that the restaurants are closed as we purchased a Marriott gift card to use there. Guess that will have to wait for another trip!

 

[bankr63]

According to the Resort Status website, they now have 4 pools open: Cascades, Super Pool, Falls and Courts. Hours are listed as 9 am to 9 pm for all 4 pools. The Falls splashpad is also open, but closes at 6.

The Marketplace says its open 9 am to 5 pm, Thursday through Tuesday (so, closed Wednesday).

Mini golf is open during the daytime, closed at night.

I'm a little bummed that the restaurants are closed as we purchased a Marriott gift card to use there. Guess that will have to wait for another trip!

You might get lucky still with Gov DeSantis removing most (all?) restrictions last week. I guess that was the genesis of my question though. The Resort Status website seems very static and I am wondering how long it takes to reflect the reality of the resort. Also, the site doesn't give any real indication of what the situation is "like" on the ground. Nice to see reports like from @dioxide45 above that gives a feel for how busy things are. Admittedly though October isn't going to be overly busy even in a normal year.

 

[dioxide45]

I was walking around and it looks like they have most people stuffed into Cascades. Lots of cars around those parking lots. Not so much in other phases like Courts or Spa. I haven't been over to the north side of the property to see what things are like over there. Given that Cascades is packed fuller, I suspect its pool to be busier and why the Spa pool wasn't busy at all on a Sunday afternoon.

 

[erinch]

Here’s a quick recap. We checked in on Sept 19 and checked out on Oct. 3, 2 weeks. We also stay in Fountains 1 by preference. They said that entire side was closed for renovations, but we didn’t see any work happening. We very much prefer 3rd floor, water/pond view, in one of the low rise buildings, even though it means hauling stuff. Springs was our best choice for a Saturday check-in. We did not want Cascades. I made the Request over the phone, with a very pleasant Guest Services person writing it down, and then called 3 days out to make sure it was listed, whichNir was. It was the same person both times, who said I would not find out location until we checked in. We welcoming from Universal, and wanted to go into the parks till after lunch, but not if it meant ending up where we didn’t want to be, since it was going to be for 2 weeks. I called Saturday morning, and a different person said she couldn’t tell me exact location, but the folio said request fulfilled.

we got there around 2:30, and were thrilled to be assigned Villa 841 in Springs 5. We have very fond memories of the Miami Vice Pink and Turquoise Springs from the late 90s. That is long gone, of course. Room looked like it had been recently renovated and was very clean. We were the only ones in the entire building, for 2 weeks. So we were very grateful for our request being granted. We requested the cleaning allocated when there for more than one week. Housekeeping did a phenomenal job. I called guest services and got directed tot he guest comments voicemail. I left compliments for a few staff members, and got called back 4 times, thanking me for my comments, including by the resort manager, who said it has been a difficult time. I got the feeling maybe it was the first compliment since covid. We had an air conditioner issue, and engineering came out at 10:30 pm, recharged the Freon and replaced the capacitator.

our 25 yr old daughter and her fiancé went to the pool several times. They were sad the poolside bar isn’t open, but took their own happy hours in yeti tumblers with cheese and crackers. Also sad the hot tubs remain closed. We went to the marketplace a couple of times. They have a limited menu. Club sandwich was good. Staff very pleasant. Great trip!

 

[dioxide45]

You might get lucky still with Gov DeSantis removing most (all?) restrictions last week. I guess that was the genesis of my question though. The Resort Status website seems very static and I am wondering how long it takes to reflect the reality of the resort. Also, the site doesn't give any real indication of what the situation is "like" on the ground. Nice to see reports like from @dioxide45 above that gives a feel for how busy things are. Admittedly though October isn't going to be overly busy even in a normal year.

Yeah, it is hard to rely on that resort status website. It is sometimes simply wrong or takes weeks to get updated. I walked some more, we aren't doing parks this week. I did find that the Springs Pool was closed. Though all other pools on the south side are open. I am finding that Cascades lacks all the charm that, so far, the other sections I have walked through seem to have. Springs and Palms are beautiful and I love that they all surround their own little oasis. This is our first time at Vistana Resort. Though we have owned at Vistana Villages for several years and use StarOptions to go to other Vistana properties. We have been to Vistana's Beach Club as well.

I have a lot more exploring to do around the property. This place is HUGE. I don't know if I can get it all done in a week. May need to book a return trip.

 

[bankr63]

We also stay in Fountains 1 by preference. They said that entire side was closed for renovations, but we didn’t see any work happening.

we got there around 2:30, and were thrilled to be assigned Villa 841 in Springs 5.

I'm so happy to hear that you had a great trip, and enjoyed your villa. Building 5 in Springs backs onto one of my favorite bits of landscaping at the resort. We stayed in building 2 the year our unit was under renovation and loved the tropical oasis behind the villa.

I think that "closed for renovation" is just a convenient response, although hopefully they are taking advantage of the down time for maintenance. The resort has been much better about keeping up with updates since the last major overhaul. Owners paid a large special assessment for that, and I don't think owners or managers want that to happen again.

I think a more plausible reason for the closure on of the north part of the resort versus the south is that all of the deeded ownerships are in the south. The first 3 sections of Vistana (Courts, Falls, and part of Spas) were sold as full deeded ownerships. We are in Courts, and our deed guarantees us occupancy in our own unit on our designated ownership week. Later ownerships were sold as floating weeks in a the pool of units of a given type and gave the resort latitude in when and where owners were placed. Because of the deeded ownerships it is much more difficult to close down the first 3 sections, and indeed that is why they are open but sparsely populated. Many owners do not trade or rent their ownerships, having them sit idle during their usage week if they are not able to visit. And I suspect MANY are not visiting at this time. That unit must sit idle for the period because it must be available to owner even if they show up 4 days into their week - we don't have to reserve or notify in advance (although we always confirm anyway).

Sorry, drifting there. I am sure that they want to keep part of the resort closed to reduce staff/housekeeping/maintenance costs as they are probably still not anywhere near capacity at this time. As bookings start going up again, I am sure that the north part of the resort will kick back into gear.

@dioxide45 I agree about Cascades (and Lakes) lacking a bit of charm. What we really like is the smaller scale and more spread out feel of the older sections with their lower profile buildings and small ponds behind many units.

 

[dioxide45]

I wasn't able to get into the north section yesterday when I drove up to the gate. Said it was closed for renovations. I did try to look back in there when we drove past it this evening and there were at least three large trailers parked at the north side that I could see along the side of Fountains II. I suspect perhaps a lot of furniture or something? No other reason to have big trailers in there unless they were delivering or removing items. No trucks with the trailers, just the parked trailers.

 

[erinch]

a few more details: When we checked in I asked about the hot tubs. Which are closed. Josh, who was charming in check-in, said the rumors were circling about re-opening them, but they kept pushing it back. They look maintained but roped off.

I suspect that if they opened the north side, another big issue is more pools to maintain. It takes a lot of staff. My hubby and I went for a walk around 9 one evening, and I was peeking over the gate at the super pool. At least 3 staff members approached to ask if we needed anything, and to explain the pools closed at 9.

we were also pleasantly surprised to see how the foliage has grown around the mini-golf place since it went in, when it looked sparse and tacky.

on that same walk, we saw some very drunk young adults climb onto the surrey bikes, which were chained up, to ride them away. Security materialized and set them back on their loud and unsteady feet and sent them off.

the marketplace was cheerful and not very efficient. The only register going was at the food counter. To buy anything, you needed to wait until people putting food orders in finished. They have a small menu for breakfast and lunch. We ordered a club sandwich to split and it was fresh and good. There was a big 75% going on. The manager told me that they had so much inventory stacked up that they needed to move some out. I got a pool cover-up for $7. Meant to go back! They have a lot of off-brand cheap wine, but also a few nice vintages which are not marked up any higher than our state store in PA. They had chocolate turtle brownies in the deli case that were better than anything at Disney. I’d go back right now for one!

we used Lyft a lot to go to the parks. We found especially for DHS that that edge of not having to park made all the difference with the insane crowds. Of course, we were someone else’s crowds. Lyft and Uber jUst need to give building and villa numbers to security and you don’t need to call security.

we needed to check out at the end of our 2 weeks, because Marriott said no availability. They need to fix that, as there was NO ONE in our building. We rented points and went to Old Key West to try it out. I was surprised to discover how much we prefer the Vistana. OKW was papering forced cheer over crowded buildings, paper thin walls, and a general dispiritedness.

 

[dioxide45]

So we have returned from our first stay. We hung around the resort a lot, checked out the different sections and the pools. While the Spa pool is big, I am not really sure why the call it a "super pool". It is just a big pool. I have seen bigger at other resorts in Orlando. On Thursday a kid pooped in the Cascades pool and they were shutting it down. Literally, everyone out and it was taped off. Be sure your kid has proper swim diapers on. One accident and everyone loses out. It was confirmed it wasn't a Baby Ruth candy bar.

The resort is beautiful with very mature landscaping. I do like the oasis like feel of the Falls, Spa, Springs and Palms phases. It seemed like they were putting almost all the guests into Cascades except perhaps those that actually owned and were staying on their ownership weeks in the other phases. Very few cars around some of the other phases.

The pools did seem busier after our first day there. There were quite a few people in the Spa pool on a weekday afternoon. Exiting the north end of the resort through Meadow Creek Dr is great since there is a stoplight there. However it seemed that the last night of our stay the light was malfunctioning. It would never turn green for those turning out on to FL535. One could easily sit through several rounds of light changes for people turning left off of 535. We ended up having to turn right and do a U-turn.

Overall, a great resort and we hope to get back there soon. Hopefully they will have the north side open on our next trip back.