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

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Hi guys
Our trip is in six weeks. Yesterday my 10 yr old ds rolled his ankle at basketball practice and went down like a ton of bricks. He screamed.
He wouldn't put any weight on his foot last night or this morning so we took him to the ER today. Long story short, he has fractured his foot. He's in an air cast and has crutches but we will need a wheel chair for the parks. I can't have him walk on it 8 hours a day when it's only 6 weeks out.

Do you think when I do my diamond lane request I should mention the injury and request one of the sections with an elevator or to be on the ground floor of one of the other units? It would be much easier to not try and navigate stairs a few times a day.

Aw man, that sucks!!! Big hugs to your little guy, he must be disappointed that not only your vacation is affected, but his basketball season too .

Definitely submit your request for a ground floor room or an upper floor in a building with an elevator via Diamond Lane before your arrival (and the reason why). I am sure they will be more than happy to accommodate you .

Here's hoping those little bones knit themselves together quickly and thoroughly . Only six weeks for you now?!?!? Oh my gosh, I am so envious!!! We are counting on you to bring us all back photos of the newly refreshed Welcome Center. I have seen the photos of the proposed design and I'm excited to see the finished product.

 

[pigletto]

Aw man, that sucks!!! Big hugs to your little guy, he must be disappointed that not only your vacation is affected, but his basketball season too .

Definitely submit your request for a ground floor room or an upper floor in a building with an elevator via Diamond Lane before your arrival (and the reason why). I am sure they will be more than happy to accommodate you .

Here's hoping those little bones knit themselves together quickly and thoroughly . Only six weeks for you now?!?!? Oh my gosh, I am so envious!!! We are counting on you to bring us all back photos of the newly refreshed Welcome Center. I have seen the photos of the proposed design and I'm excited to see the finished product.

Yep Gina.. he's going to be out for quite awhile. My husband is his coach and it's a travel team, so ds will be on the sidelines and still be part of the team. Hopefully he can play in the new year.

And I promise to bring back photos if it's done when I am there!! Not long now

 

[sweetnjmom]

Hi everyone!

My family will be staying at the Sheraton Vistana thanks to my uncle giving us a "getaway" week via Interval International. We'll be there the first week of May.

I have a question. Since this is a getaway gift, do we have any way to request a certain area closer to our arrival?

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Hi everyone!

My family will be staying at the Sheraton Vistana thanks to my uncle giving us a "getaway" week via Interval International. We'll be there the first week of May.

I have a question. Since this is a getaway gift, do we have any way to request a certain area closer to our arrival?

All guests can submit special requests via Diamond Lane in advance of their arrival:

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

Our resident expert, bankr63, suggests submitting requests about 2 weeks before you arrive. His suggested timeline has worked perfectly for us so far.

Maybe we'll see you there . We'll be at SVR (in the Fountains) from May 1st to 8th!

 

[delilah18]

Hello

We are at the Vistans right now, and are not looking forward to leaving Tuesday

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Hello

We are at the Vistans right now, and are not looking forward to leaving Tuesday

 

[micheypl]

Hello We are at the Vistans right now, and are not looking forward to leaving Tuesdaydde1e The weather has been beautiful and the resort is wondeful, I just want to say thanks to Gina and all the other helpful people on this board for all your help. We got all our request Ane love our top floor Cascades location we are right near the pool and the Marketplace. We were pleasently surprides with the skylight, love it. We will be returning here again for sure we love it.

So glad you are having a great time and that the weather is good you ... We are going to the vistana for two weeks leaving on December 7 th We were thinking on putting a request for a top floor room at the cascades as well ... Is zimmies still under construction and is it near the highway I just wouldn't want to be somewhere too noisy This is our first time going to vistanas and I don't really know what to expect

 

[delilah18]

Zimmies is still under construction
No it is pretty quiet around here, you can here kids playing in the pool but that doesnt bother us.
I can't recommend this place enough everyone is so friendly and they haven't bothered us for timeshare stuff

 

[keeperof4]

Hi everyone, I'm back!! Just booked for our 2015 vacation. To say the least we missed not having our visit this past year. Just a couple of questions , first of all even though the resort was fully renovated just a few years back they are actually refurbishing many units again in designated sections?(Construction?) Also a pool checkout for the pool towels? So you must return the towel before receiving a new one? And lastly, lounger police that patrol around the pools and if any loungers remain empty for over 15 minutes the towels are removed. The reason for my last question is we normally use the pool area from approx. 10 am til 1 or 2 in the afternoon and obviously having a condo we usually return around noon to have our meal for that half hour - 45 min period ,not to be selfish? we will no longer be able to do this? My thoughts ?this is Villages not Vista Resort.

 

[Daldea]

For submitting diamond lane requests, is it only applicable for guests checking in from Friday through Saturday? I will be checking in Wednesday evening around 8pm, should I bother with the request?

 

[bankr63]

For submitting diamond lane requests, is it only applicable for guests checking in from Friday through Saturday? I will be checking in Wednesday evening around 8pm, should I bother with the request?

Hi Daldea,

The Diamond Lane request can still be used if you have special needs or requests. It is a great way to let the resort know about your needs before you get there so they are not scrambling when you get there.

The Diamond Lane check in will not be open on a Wednesday, but that hardly matters as there would not be any significant line at the front desk on a Wednesday evening anyway.

 

[2neverland]

Hello
My reservation here states crts 62,
I know this is preset and I am not trying to request anything different. Just curious if anyone knows if this is one floor or 2 floors-If it is quit or loud area-and any "heads up" info on this location. Thanks!

 

[bankr63]

Hi everyone, I'm back!! Just booked for our 2015 vacation. To say the least we missed not having our visit this past year. Just a couple of questions , first of all even though the resort was fully renovated just a few years back they are actually refurbishing many units again in designated sections?(Construction?) Also a pool checkout for the pool towels? So you must return the towel before receiving a new one? And lastly, lounger police that patrol around the pools and if any loungers remain empty for over 15 minutes the towels are removed. The reason for my last question is we normally use the pool area from approx. 10 am til 1 or 2 in the afternoon and obviously having a condo we usually return around noon to have our meal for that half hour - 45 min period ,not to be selfish? we will no longer be able to do this? My thoughts ?this is Villages not Vista Resort.

Hi Keeper, and welcome back.

Your final line has me a bit confused; are you staying at Vistana Villages this time, or Vistana Resort?

Renovations: Vistana Resort will not be doing major refurbishment on the units themselves for many years. Like most timeshares, each unit is generally taken out of rotation for one or two weeks each year for major maintenance. These major refurbishments (which cost the unit owners a LOT of extra money!!) are a rare thing. That said, Vistana Resort does continue to renovate a lot of the common areas still. The new reception centre and redone Zimmies are due to open soon. Haven't been to Vistana Villages in several years, but I hear they are still renovating the older buildings in the resort. Maybe someone else can fill in if that has been completed yet.

Towels: Gina indicates from her recent trip that they are now only using the towel cards during the busiest periods, so you may not be impacted. Many resorts use these cards, but I don't really find it that much of an inconvenience. I do think it is a waste of owners fees as the people needed to run the program are probably more expensive than the towel loss they prevent. Of the several Sheraton run timeshares I have visited, Vistana Resort is/was the only one NOT using towel cards; Vistana Villages has always used the towel cards.

As a family we generally try to leave a smaller footprint on this earth, so we always keep our towels until they are dirty anyway. I hate the thought of just how much laundry we cause by constantly swapping out towels. For us the card really doesn't make it any more difficult. Hand in the card at the start of the stay for your towel. Hand the towel back at the end of the stay to get your card back. Maybe a swap mid week if a towel is looking particularly shabby. 10 minutes tops.

Lounger patrols: this would be news to me. It IS true that guests are not supposed to reserve loungers for long periods, and yes a lot of other guests are inconvenienced by those who hold them for hours while they go out and see the sights. I have yet to see ANYONE from Vistana pick up a towel and move it except at the end of the night when they are resetting the pool. I have on the other hand seen guests move other guests reserved spaces. And with the towel cards in effect, the towels they are taking are your effectively your property (you traded a card for them), so I think there would be a lot of outcry if they started this. Fifteen minutes would also be a ridiculously short period of time - you can barely grab a drink or snack at the poolside bar in that amount of time.

 

[bankr63]

Hello
My reservation here states crts 62,
I know this is preset and I am not trying to request anything different. Just curious if anyone knows if this is one floor or 2 floors-If it is quit or loud area-and any "heads up" info on this location. Thanks!

First of all, be aware that if this is an II or RCI reservation, you will not necessarily be in the unit that shows as your assignment. RCI has gone a long way to try to prevent you from seeing this assignment (but it seems to still get through on the very first confirmation message they send you). The resort actually assigns units to exchangers as run of house. If you are renting from an owner, and that is their week, then yes that is your unit assignment.

Going from memory here but I am pretty sure that ALL of the upper (larger) units in Courts are even numbered; so yes it should be a 2 story. It should also be a "sleeps 8/6" rather than a 6/4 (lower). Courts 62 is in building 22; we own a week in unit 58/building 23 right next door. This is certainly a quiet part of the resort, but you are just around the corner from the Falls/Courts/Spas Super Pool complex and the tennis courts. We love the location.

 

[got4boys]

For Courts - the ground floor are the smaller units and each two bedroom villa numbers ending in 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11. The two bedroom townhouse units with convertible den numbers ending in 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, so if your number ends with an even number, it is a townhouse unit.

 

[2neverland]

Yep its rci so will just have to go with the flow then Hoping for peaceful sleep location

 

[chalee94]

...this is Villages not Vista Resort.

you might want to check out this thread for info on the villages:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2854036

 

[keeperof4]

Thanks bankr63 Of course we will be returning to Vistana Resort, it was most likely reviews some where that I read about the towel police and cards.We keep our pool towels for two or three days,unlike some guests we?? understand that that is exactly what we are! I have also seen many claim the loungers(cabanas) and then not arrive until we are leaving around mid day. We are so thrilled that we will be able to return in Feb. We have been treated by staff just likely family since we contacted Vistana Resort a few weeks back,we booked directly and to say the least we are very happy with the rate given.We were offered a discount stay not once but twice next door to attend that free breakfast?? I am sure its probably a lovely resort too, also offered a free week down off 192, no way that we would considering staying any where else the way we have been treated by the Vista Resort family to date.Friends visiting Disney for the first time want to take our children with them for the day,blessing for me , Hope they know what there getting themselves into LOL.

 

[pigletto]

Thought I would come in and do a quick update because you were so helpful with info when I was trying to plan for my son the other day. We saw the specialist today.. and the ER doctor read the X-ray wrong!!! There's no break in his foot.. it looked like one but was a growth plate. So he will be healed by our trip (it's still a foot sprain) and we won't need a wheelchair or a special room assignment. Now I can go back to my regularly scheduled trip planning and excitement!!

 

[micheypl]

That's so great to hear ...