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

[bankr63]

The Publix on Vineland is open until 11:00 pm and is the best nearby grocery IMO. If you are running late, the WalMart Supercenter is open 24hrs.

The nearest Sweet Tomatoes is at the CrossRoads, about a mile North of the resort just under the I-4 on 535. You'll drive right by a Waffle House (literally JUST past the I-4 on the right) as you head to Sweet Tomatoes. Read any one of Gina's trip reports for great nearby dining options. Her boys travel on their stomachs. My crew eats mostly in unit.

You probably don't need to select a section. But if you do, I would probably suggest a lower unit in Spas as a great selection. Good sized units and you can park very close to your door. Uppers in Spas are walk ups, but it you mention mobility issues you should have no problem getting a lower unit. The larger buildings with elevators generally have more congested parking, so if you are home late from the parks you may be a bit farther from the doors.

And don't write off a late dip in the pools or hot tubs. Nothing better to relax after a long day at the parks...

 

[Tricia's mom]

I do think I would use the jacuzzi tub in the unit. I use mine at home extremely often.
What time are the pols open til ? We are usually in the parks til midnight.

I defiantly will check out go as trip reports.
With only 3 of us it is usually more cost effective for us to dine out. Buy the time I buy everything to make a meal for us 3 it's just not worth it. I can defiantly see if you have more people and you have teenagers.
DH is looking forward to starting his day off at the dirty Waffle House. I am actually going to buy him some gift cards for Christmas. We live up north so it's a novelty for us. We usually have Mickey waffles in the resort so this will be a nice option ...plus the Mickey waffles have gone down hill.
Thanks for the advice.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I do think I would use the jacuzzi tub in the unit. I use mine at home extremely often.
What time are the pols open til ? We are usually in the parks til midnight.

The Super Pool (in the Spas area), the Cascades Pool and the Fountains Pool are all open until 1 am .

The Courts, Springs, Falls and Lakes pools close at 10 pm.

 

[Tricia's mom]

I feel like I spent my weekend stalking Gina.
I spent the whole weekend reading her trip reports.... And eating like I was on vacation with her...
Pizza, burgers, fried cheese, chicken fingers, fries..... I need to real it in !!! Lol .

We are looking forward to our April stay at SVR even more now !
DD doesn't know we are going. I still haven't decided how we will tell her.....I am thinking we will go with the last minute surprise ... Like as we are driving to the airport. Those are just my favorite. Meanwhile when she asks when can we go again I tell her that two of her favorite rides are closed for awhile. Soaring and BTMRR. THEY WILL BOTH BE CLOSED when we go in April

I think I am mostly excited about having a washer dryer....that means a pack very little.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I feel like I spent my weekend stalking Gina.
I spent the whole weekend reading her trip reports.... And eating like I was on vacation with her...
Pizza, burgers, fried cheese, chicken fingers, fries..... I need to real it in !!! Lol .

We are looking forward to our April stay at SVR even more now !
DD doesn't know we are going. I still haven't decided how we will tell her.....I am thinking we will go with the last minute surprise ... Like as we are driving to the airport. Those are just my favorite. Meanwhile when she asks when can we go again I tell her that two of her favorite rides are closed for awhile. Soaring and BTMRR. THEY WILL BOTH BE CLOSED when we go in April

I think I am mostly excited about having a washer dryer....that means a pack very little.

Hmmmm.....I thought I felt someone watching me ...... .

Coming home with a suitcase full of CLEAN clothes is really a wonderful luxury, and being able to pack minimally is another perk. The washer and dryer are quite compact (much smaller than the appliances you would have at home) but they do they job nicely nonetheless.

I think the people that can keep trips a secret are amazing. It would KILL me not to be able to talk about vacation plans with the family as the date approaches. Kudos to you for being MUCH stronger than I am!!

 

[dmc6469]

So 2 weeks from Sunday is our check in date. Somewhere back through all these pages, I recall something about Diamond Check In or something like that. My sister (who is the timeshare owner and booked it all) said she has never heard anything about this. So does everyone do that check in? We are so confused and want to be sure that we do our first trip correct. Any info anyone can give would be great.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

So 2 weeks from Sunday is our check in date. Somewhere back through all these pages, I recall something about Diamond Check In or something like that. My sister (who is the timeshare owner and booked it all) said she has never heard anything about this. So does everyone do that check in? We are so confused and want to be sure that we do our first trip correct. Any info anyone can give would be great.

We always submit our Diamond Lane Check In form to request a top floor villa in a building as close to the pool as possible (we already know we will be allocated to Fountains as that's the section we own in).

DL can be used by any guest. If you have any specific requests that you want met (top floor, ground floor, specific section, etc.) its probably good to send in those requests in advance so they have the best chance of being able to accommodate you. You can find the form here:

https://www.mystarcentral.com/services/diamond.jsp?propertyId=01

 

[dmc6469]

Thanks. This is our first trip so what do you think are the best buildings? We don’t want to be close to the freeway and hear all the cars and don’t want to be too far from the car with all the suitcases.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Thanks. This is our first trip so what do you think are the best buildings? We don’t want to be close to the freeway and hear all the cars and don’t want to be too far from the car with all the suitcases.

The "best" buildings and sections always come down to personal preference. My favourite area is different from that of our fearless leader, bankr63. Some sections only accept check-in's on certain days (Spas, for example, generally only takes guests arriving on Fridays) which complicates things a bit more. And some buildings (even in sections which accommodate guests arriving on various days of the week) are also set aside for certain check-in days.

For a first stay, I'd leave it up to fate. Request a quiet building, away from the I4 and 535, with easy access to parking. Then see where you end up . Parking will be generally right in front of your building entrance in most cases, with Cascades and Lakes being the exceptions (being more apartment-style, they have larger lots for the bigger buildings which may mean you park a little further from your villa door). That said, they are also the only sections with elevators....so you won't have to navigate stairs with the luggage if you happen to be placed on an upper floor.

 

[Conway733]

I'm baaaaaack. Well, I've been back for over a week now, and just now am able to type those words without getting too sad. We LOVED the Sheraton Vistana Resort!! We didn't love the new Fastpass+ system at Disney...but that is a whole other story. As far as SVR goes, we ended up in the Fountains section (which I guess I should have figured since it was printed on my Skyauction certificate) room 1547 - we requested a top floor at check in because we wanted the skylight and not to have people above us - the stairs and being on the third floor was not an issue for us. We never heard a word about our Diamond Lane request, so I guess they didn't get it, or it didn't apply to our reservation because we used Skyauction, I dunno. I didn't ask about it either, because I just wanted to get checked in, and get on with the vacation! It didn't really matter to us though because we were never there before, so we just went with it. We definitely can't wait to go back, although, we'll probably go with the Universal parks. I have a couple of pics of the room, but I'll have to post them another time, when I figure out how to do that.

 

[Conway733]

Love everyone's photo entries .

We are staying at SVR end of April . We just traded through RCI .
It will be our first time, it will also be our first time staying off property in YEARS. We always rent a car because I don't have patience for WDW transportation so that won't be any different . We are usually in the parks from open to close . So I don't think we really will spend much time in or at our room .
We do have one rest day .
I do have a few questions if anyone could answer :

We get in late (9:00) I like to stop and get a case of water and some fruit and such . Which store is my best option this late at night ? Walgreens has terrible fruit .

How far is there a Waffle House ?
My husband loves the Waffle House.

And my daughter and I love sweet tomatoes - how far is that ?

We will mostly eat in my the parks - and we will never cook in our room .
What other dining suggestions may you have ? Not really interested in the ones in the resort it's self .

We have a 2 bedroom checking in on a Friday . I don't mind noise from the pool, or the highway. When we do return at night we will be to tired for the pool . Not sure if I should even bother trying to request a specific room ? It maybe more important
For some one else.
I think close parking would be important for us and no stairs ?
Any suggestions ?

Really looking forward to this trip !
It will be my dd8 12th trip .
Excited to try off property .

Thank you !

I know you already got some answers to these questions, but yes, the Sweet Tomatoes is close. We ate there three times. Crazy, I know, but we love it there. We also ate at the Hurricane Grill & Wings which is right next to the Walgreens and right next to the entrance of SVR. It was very affordable, and I thought the food was good. Now granted, this was after a tiring day at the parks, so we were hungry. I had some chicken tacos that were really good, and the service was great! We did end up eating breakfasts in the room/condo. We had every intention of getting to IHOP for breakfast, but we always ended up eating in the room - don't know if aliens took over our bodies, or what? I really enjoyed eating breakfast out on the screened in balcony. In fact, we actually cooked one dinner there too, now that I think about it! Publix had some great pre-made items - I believe we had Pecan Crusted Chicken and it was really tasty! We shopped at Publix and the Wal-Mart. We thought both were fine.

 

[keeperof4]

Hello again fellow Vistana lovers. Can't believe we are already planning another vacation to our favorite resort. To say the least I am looking forward to a vacation to recover from our recent vacation. My wife and I just returned a couple of weeks ago from Westin Ka'anapali Villas in Maui. Sadly , it was not a memorable experience in the positive sense. Although it is a lovely resort, meters from a magnificent beach, the service and the less than quality room was a real disappointment. Enough said about that. We will be vacationing the first of February this year instead of the end of February/first of March. Looking forward to any positive feedback that could be given to us. Haven't had a chance to really look into construction being done at the resort this year. Any information would be gladly appreciated. Even with the brutal Canadian dollar exchange we are still finding some great deals.

 

[Tricia's mom]

I am from Long Island, NY . We have ihop everywhere - I think it's overpriced for breakfast.Not really a fan.
Waffle House we do not have - I like the fast pace of it, sitting at the counter- and the waffles are good. Yes, you need to look past the filth . Lol.
We do not have a sweet tomatoes and it is one of our favorites. My dd loves Golden Corral . Don't have one of those close by.
We have the usual TGIF, chilies, Buffalo Wild Wings. None of those I care to eat at.

My usual drill is being at the parks at rope drop when it's usually dark still. I run a pretty tight ship on vacation. We do our restful vacation in the summer.
We are doing WDW this time. 3 days in MK and then 2 days at Epcot . 1 rest day. And then there's our arrival day and departure day.
Sometimes we would go back to our resort and hang at the pool and freshen up for dinner. I assume it might be easy to still do this while staying off property ? It's been so long for me.

I am also trying to decide if I should request a specific area ? We arrive on a Friday night . I don't know what's important to us ?? A view of Disney springs would be nice. But, I don't think that's possible.
I've already signed up for the diamond lane.
I think is still have to finish up the last of ginas TR... Last one then I am done...then what will I do ???

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I'm baaaaaack. Well, I've been back for over a week now, and just now am able to type those words without getting too sad. We LOVED the Sheraton Vistana Resort!! We didn't love the new Fastpass+ system at Disney...but that is a whole other story. As far as SVR goes, we ended up in the Fountains section (which I guess I should have figured since it was printed on my Skyauction certificate) room 1547 - we requested a top floor at check in because we wanted the skylight and not to have people above us - the stairs and being on the third floor was not an issue for us. We never heard a word about our Diamond Lane request, so I guess they didn't get it, or it didn't apply to our reservation because we used Skyauction, I dunno. I didn't ask about it either, because I just wanted to get checked in, and get on with the vacation! It didn't really matter to us though because we were never there before, so we just went with it. We definitely can't wait to go back, although, we'll probably go with the Universal parks. I have a couple of pics of the room, but I'll have to post them another time, when I figure out how to do that.

I am so glad you enjoyed the resort!!

Can't wait to see your pics.....it never gets old .

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I am from Long Island, NY . We have ihop everywhere - I think it's overpriced for breakfast.Not really a fan.
Waffle House we do not have - I like the fast pace of it, sitting at the counter- and the waffles are good. Yes, you need to look past the filth . Lol.
We do not have a sweet tomatoes and it is one of our favorites. My dd loves Golden Corral . Don't have one of those close by.
We have the usual TGIF, chilies, Buffalo Wild Wings. None of those I care to eat at.

My usual drill is being at the parks at rope drop when it's usually dark still. I run a pretty tight ship on vacation. We do our restful vacation in the summer.
We are doing WDW this time. 3 days in MK and then 2 days at Epcot . 1 rest day. And then there's our arrival day and departure day.
Sometimes we would go back to our resort and hang at the pool and freshen up for dinner. I assume it might be easy to still do this while staying off property ? It's been so long for me.

I am also trying to decide if I should request a specific area ? We arrive on a Friday night . I don't know what's important to us ?? A view of Disney springs would be nice. But, I don't think that's possible.
I've already signed up for the diamond lane.
I think is still have to finish up the last of ginas TR... Last one then I am done...then what will I do ???

We are back at the Vistana in exactly one month for Christmas in Orlando . By the time I finish up my October TR, it will be time to travel again and then there will be a new one started .

 

[Tricia's mom]

Go finish your report.... I have run out of reading ....

 

[bankr63]

Hello again fellow Vistana lovers. Can't believe we are already planning another vacation to our favorite resort. To say the least I am looking forward to a vacation to recover from our recent vacation. My wife and I just returned a couple of weeks ago from Westin Ka'anapali Villas in Maui. Sadly , it was not a memorable experience in the positive sense. Although it is a lovely resort, meters from a magnificent beach, the service and the less than quality room was a real disappointment. Enough said about that. We will be vacationing the first of February this year instead of the end of February/first of March. Looking forward to any positive feedback that could be given to us. Haven't had a chance to really look into construction being done at the resort this year. Any information would be gladly appreciated. Even with the brutal Canadian dollar exchange we are still finding some great deals.

Sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy your stay at WKVM. I would expect more from Westin certainly!

There actually is no heavy work on the slate at the resort according to the latest newsletter, just regular updates and minor maintenance. Here's what they say:

Resort Updates

Sheraton Vistana Resort will be celebrating its 35th anniversary from November 6 – 19. The celebration will include unique Owner-recognition events, food & beverage specials and festive activities, as well as extraordinary off-site excursions.

As part of our regular resort updates and maintenance projects, the pool slide in the Falls phase has been replaced.

We're enhancing the outdoor grilling stations throughout the resort to feature new gas grills, chairs and tables. This is scheduled to be complete by year's end.

We're always looking to enhance the resort grounds, buildings and common areas. This includes adding electronic visual aids to the pedestrian crosswalks in the Cascades phase.

Villa renovations at the Courts, Falls, Fountains, Fountains II and Lakes phases have been completed and include new duvets, sofa pillows, draperies, lounge chairs, reupholstered chairs, carpet and sofas. Villa renovations will continue through 2016 resort-wide.

Come check out the new look of the Main Activity Center, which has been renovated with hardwood flooring, a fresh coat of paint and updated furniture.

The pool, kiddie pool and hot tub in the Courts phase have been resurfaced with new heaters, filters and pumps installed as well.

New mechanical arms and natural-gas-powered generators have been installed at all three security gates.

 

[Tricia's mom]

151 days til our trip !!!

Normally I would be all consumed with booking dining. For some reason, I don't care this time ?
I hope that I don't regret this decision in a few months.

 

[dmc6469]

12 days until we hit Florida!!

 

[chalee94]

did the diamond lane process change due to the timeshare spinoff for starwood (or something else)? I can't find the website.