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

[dioxide45]

I was there April 20-25th, can confirm that it was terrible. It wasn’t just the wifi, the cellular data service for both verizon & AT&T would crash at the same time the resort wifi would go down so that you had no connectivity whatsoever. I had to drive offsite just to get a cell phone signal in order to cancel dining reservations, make genie+ selections, etc. I made a thread to warn others about it here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/w...-internet-cell-service.3881173/#post-63987683

It’s such a shame too, because other than the internet issues, the resort was spectacular, the accommodations were spectacular, and we had a great trip. However not having internet is just impossible with a Disney trip.

Thanks for pointing this thread out. I don't often check the forums and just follow a few threads of interest here. I really hope they get this working.

 

[bankr63]

What phase were you in?

We own in Courts.

 

[FrankieDplus3]

Checked-in yesterday. Feels so goooood to be back. Weather has been perfect.

Got a 1BR lock-off room (I believe that’s what it is called). The room is huge. Full size kitchen. Dining table is the large rectangular table that seats at least six.

One complaint I have is that there is no pantry in this room, so, we’re storing a lot of dry goods on the counter and in cupboards that don’t have a lot dishes or cups in them.

WiFi is hit and miss, depending on your location and/or time of day.

Cascades pool is open. No renovations at this point.

Here for a week. Will answer questions when/if I can.

FrankieDplus3

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

Checked-in yesterday. Feels so goooood to be back. Weather has been perfect.

Got a 1BR lock-off room (I believe that’s what it is called). The room is huge. Full size kitchen. Dining table is the large rectangular table that seats at least six.

One complaint I have is that there is no pantry in this room, so, we’re storing a lot of dry goods on the counter and in cupboards that don’t have a lot dishes or cups in them.

WiFi is hit and miss, depending on your location and/or time of day.

Cascades pool is open. No renovations at this point.

Here for a week. Will answer questions when/if I can.

FrankieDplus3

Wonderful!! Have a great time, wish I was there too!

When you have a chance, can you please write in and let us know how your cell service data works (if you turn the Wi-Fi off?). And what cell service you use. (Verizon/etc?)

Hoping to go this fall, but definitely need a quick internet connection to do the Genie plus thing!

Have a blast!

 

[dioxide45]

Here is the update I received on the WiFi from my contact

I would like to inform the Wi-Fi has been getting better but
Is still not back to the best it could be.

 

[dioxide45]

Cascades pool is open. No renovations at this point.

As far as I know, renovations to Cascades Pool were completed last year and the information on their website and previously reported here is out of date.

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

Here is the update I received on the WiFi from my contact

I would like to inform the Wi-Fi has been getting better but
Is still not back to the best it could be.

Do you know if they are still working on it?

Thx!!

 

[dioxide45]

Do you know if they are still working on it?

Thx!!

I suspect they are. I wasn't told one way or the other

 

[FrankieDplus3]

Wonderful!! Have a great time, wish I was there too!

When you have a chance, can you please write in and let us know how your cell service data works (if you turn the Wi-Fi off?). And what cell service you use. (Verizon/etc?)

Hoping to go this fall, but definitely need a quick internet connection to do the Genie plus thing!

Have a blast!

Good day,
Sorry. I am from Canada and I turn my data service off and rely on WiFi so I can’t comment on data service.

 

[FrankieDplus3]

I ag

Here is the update I received on the WiFi from my contact

I would like to inform the Wi-Fi has been getting better but
Is still not back to the best it could be.

I agree with this comment.
It really does depend on where you are and the time of day.

We are on the Springs and Cascades side and yesterday afternoon by the Springs pool service was really reliable. However, at night it was really slow and hard to connect at all.

This morning has been pretty good.

 

[disneyjr77]

We arrive in 43 days, when should I reach out to the pre-arrival coordinator? Is it still Joshua?

 

[erinch]

I just now wrote Joshua about a June 4 arrival. His autoresponder says he is back on Monday, May 18. I will let this group know when I hear back. I made the request to link 2 separate "guest of owner" reservations in order to stay in 1 villa.

I asked for Fountains 1, 3rd floor water/pondview (not pool view) and listed my 3 favorite buildings. We will see how much of that list can be managed! I also thanked him for his work and said I hope he enjoys his job!

I do hope the data is working. All that praciticing for Genie + and hoping for a Guardians BG or Ill would be in vain!

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

I ag

I agree with this comment.
It really does depend on where you are and the time of day.

We are on the Springs and Cascades side and yesterday afternoon by the Springs pool service was really reliable. However, at night it was really slow and hard to connect at all.

This morning has been pretty good.

Can I ask, are you doing disney? How is the connection during the critical 6:45 am to 7:30 am time? The nighttime no connection is still really problematic if you want to adjust your next day’s dining reservations or park reservations but I guess not as critical as that first thing in the morning piece of it.

 

[FrankieDplus3]

I did not do Disney this year.

My family drives to Florida, so, we always have a car with us and drive to the parks. We’ve never had to use the shuttle service.

 

[erinch]

Wanted to report back that Joshua phoned me the day he was back in the office. So kind and helpful. He was able to successfully link 2 reservations acquired through different types of exchanges , and although there are no guarantees was very encouraging that we would be able to stay 2 weeks in the same villa, 3rd floor, Fountains 1, water/pond view, which is everything I asked for. We will arrive June 4 and I will report in.

He also said the WiFi seems to be doing better. I will let y’all know about that and cell phone data connections.

 

[disneyjr77]

14 days and counting

We emailed Joshua and put our requests in...Cascades section, buildings 1, 2, 12 and 16 are preferred and we would like to be next to each other if possible, and a water facing balcony.

He said they would do their very best to get us in those buildings. Of course, we know that request are requests there's no guarantees...fingers crossed. He did say he could guarantee water facing though, so i'm assuming all of the balconies face the water?

Does it make it better or do we stand a better chance of getting our rooms next to each other if we check in together? We arrive on Friday, but my friend and her DH don't arrive on Saturday. She thinks we'll have better odds checking in together, and i feel like our rooms will already be assigned before we check in.

 

[dioxide45]

14 days and counting

We emailed Joshua and put our requests in...Cascades section, buildings 1, 2, 12 and 16 are preferred and we would like to be next to each other if possible, and a water facing balcony.

He said they would do their very best to get us in those buildings. Of course, we know that request are requests there's no guarantees...fingers crossed. He did say he could guarantee water facing though, so i'm assuming all of the balconies face the water?

Does it make it better or do we stand a better chance of getting our rooms next to each other if we check in together? We arrive on Friday, but my friend and her DH don't arrive on Saturday. She thinks we'll have better odds checking in together, and i feel like our rooms will already be assigned before we check in.

Rooms will be already assigned, but they can move people around pretty easily. If someone is arriving the day before another, then checking in together won't work. I would tell them what your room and building is so when they get to checkin they can make sure they are still in the same building/room. The problem sometimes is that a room could get given to someone who checks in earlier. Say you arrive at a resort late and they had a great room preassigned, someone checks in earlier and their AC doesn't work or they don't like the view and complain. They get moved to another room, perhaps your preassigned room. Then they have to figure out where to put you. This is why nothing is guaranteed.

And yes, for the most part, all units at SVR pretty much face a small lake or pond with a few exceptions.

 

[disneyjr77]

Rooms will be already assigned, but they can move people around pretty easily. If someone is arriving the day before another, then checking in together won't work. I would tell them what your room and building is so when they get to checkin they can make sure they are still in the same building/room. The problem sometimes is that a room could get given to someone who checks in earlier. Say you arrive at a resort late and they had a great room preassigned, someone checks in earlier and their AC doesn't work or they don't like the view and complain. They get moved to another room, perhaps your preassigned room. Then they have to figure out where to put you. This is why nothing is guaranteed.

And yes, for the most part, all units at SVR pretty much face a small lake or pond with a few exceptions.

We're staying in another hotel on Friday night, and will check in to the Sheraton with them on Saturday. The Sheraton said they couldn't guarantee that we could stay in the room we were in on Friday and may have to move, so i figured if we would have to move anyway i may as well save the money and stay somewhere else the first night. We got a room at the Avanti Resort for only $113 total

Reading what you said, gives me another question. Is checking in before the check in time better, though I know our room probably won't be ready. I thought about it when you said the part about somebody checking in late. They're coming in on the autotrain, so we will (should) all be there a few hours before 4.

Any insight or tidbits would be helpful and appreciated. I've never had to coordinate like this before because it's usually just us, and the last time I traveled with them, we got there at the same time and she took care of everything.

I will say, i am 1002% looking forward to relaxing by the pool with a tasty beverage and then soaking in the jacuzzi tub! I am so ready for this vacay to begin

 

[erinch]

I am here right now! We arrived on the auto train, which was 45 minutes late, and we got here around 12:30 or so.

When I checked in, I had emailed Josh, and then he had called me back to make sure he understood. We are here 2 weeks, and I rented each week from a different owner. Each of them has a different kind of ownership, so the confirmation certificates were very different. Because it had been harder than usual to find owners who wanted to rent through the TUG classifieds, I had made a backup ressie through the Marriott website, which I then cancelled when I got the confirmations.

Prior to arrival, I had emailed Josh asking to be in same unit, Fountains 1, 3rd floor, pond view (not pool view), with a preference for buildings 12, 13 or 16.

Josh had pre blocked the room for us. When I arrived, somehow the backend system had cancelled one of the weeks I’d rented and reactivated the Marriott ressie. The very pleasant young man at checkin went and got Josh, who was working on a Saturday. My problem was that one of the owners had disregarded my last name—Cox-Holmes, and made it for Erin Holmes. Josh had corrected this manually when linking the ressies, but the backend end system had overrides that.

Josh was very apologetic, got it straightened out, moved some things around, and got us relinked. The only downside was the room wasn’t ready then. That was a downside, according to Josh. We were happy and grateful. We went to Disney springs for sunglasses for my hubby, and new Vera bradley backpacks for me and my daughter and got the text at 3 that our room was ready.

Room 1342 in building 12. Spotlessly clean and beautifully refurbed. I’ve made a couple of requests for the porch fan to be fixed, and for more washcloths, and the response was instant. You can now text guest services and don’t need to phone.

I have unlimited Verizon data, which is working flawlessly. I did check the WiFi, and it seems to be working. We got a notice on one day that it was intermittent, and then another a few hours later saying it was fixed.

The ONLY minor downside is the food franchise at the fountains pool is now called Azzula. My daughter and her new hubby went there one evening. They promise artisan pizza, and they said it was pretty bad. The chips and salsa were chips and a plastic Heinz salsa container with a pull off top, and the nachos was a plastic container of cheese with a pull off top. ONLY negative. We got snacks from Publix and take our own to the pool.

The AKL is the resort I love at WDW, but it is amazing to me that we can get a week at the Vistana —this time I paid each owner 1200, which was high—and we get such a beautiful spacious unit, with amazing uncrowded grounds for a fraction of Disney costs. We had dinner at Ohana, and the Poly was wall to wall people . Every inch of the pool was packed. We are so happy to leave the Disney madness at the end of a fun day and head back here.

Glad to answer any questions.

 

[nicksinger8]

I am here right now! We arrived on the auto train, which was 45 minutes late, and we got here around 12:30 or so.

When I checked in, I had emailed Josh, and then he had called me back to make sure he understood. We are here 2 weeks, and I rented each week from a different owner. Each of them has a different kind of ownership, so the confirmation certificates were very different. Because it had been harder than usual to find owners who wanted to rent through the TUG classifieds, I had made a backup ressie through the Marriott website, which I then cancelled when I got the confirmations.

Peior to arrival, I had emailed Josh asking to be in same unit, Fountains 1, 3rd floor, pond view (not pool view), with a preference for buildings 12, 13 or 16.

Josh had pre blocked the room for us. When I arrived, somehow the backend system had cancelled one of the weeks I’d rented and reactivated the Marriott ressie. The very pleasant young man at checkin went and got Josh, who was working on a Saturday. My problem was that one of the owners had disregarded my last name—Cox-Holmes, and made it for Erin Holmes. Josh had corrected this manually when linking the ressies, but the backend end system had overrides that.

Josh was very apologetic, got it straightened out, moved some things around, and got us relinked. The only downside was the room wasn’t ready then. We went to Disney springs for sunglasses for my hubby, and new Vera bradley backpacks for me and my daughter and got the text at 3 that our room was ready.

Room 1342 in building 12. Spotlessly clean and beautifully refurbed. I’ve made a coup,e of requests for the porch fan to be fixed, and for more washcloths, and the response was instant. You can now text guest services. I have unlimited Verizon data, which is working flawlessly. I did check the WiFi, and it seems to be working. We got a notice on one day that it was intermittent, and then another a few hours later saying it was fixed.

The ONLY minor downside is the food franchise at the fountains pool is now called Azzula. My daughter and her new hubby went there one evening. They promise artisan pizza, and they said it was pretty bad. The chips and salsa were chips and a plastic Heinz salsa container with a pull off top, and the nachos was a plastic container of cheese with a pull off top. ONLY negative. We got snacks from Publix and take own to the pool.

The AKL is the resort I love at WDW, but it is amazing to me that we can get a week at the Vistana —this time I paid each owner 1200, which was high—and we get such a beautiful spacious unit, with amazing uncrowded grounds for a fraction of Disney costs. We had dinner at Ohana, and the Poly was wall to wall people . Every in of the pool was packed. We are so happy to leave the Disney madness at the end of a fun day and head back here.

Glad to answer any questions.

What is Josh's email address? Thanks.