Vacation Village at Parkway.

[TracyK]

Hi
My friend Has RCI timeshare and is trying to exchange a week. We've been offered Vacation Village at Parkway.
Has anybody stayed here?
Where exactly is it?
How far to the parks?
Do they offer a shuttle service to WDW?
Any other info would be great.
Thanks
Tracy

 

[mommyarewegoingback]

We've stayed there 3 times now. My mother has a timeshare there. We love the location. It's basically as close as you can get to WDW, without being on-site. It's on 192. There use to be some rooms where you could see the fireworks. I think the trees are now too tall. It's a relatively new resort. So the rooms are all nice. These are hi-rise buildings. There are several pools, so that they are near the buildings. However, there is only one playground area, near the main pool. As for the rooms, they are okay. There is an "A" side with a king bed, pull out couch, full kitchen and stuff. And there is a "B" side with a queen bed and I think a pull out couch. This side is much smaller. Weird thing is that they have their tub/whirlpool in the "A" side bedroom, not the bathroom. We have stayed at Orange Lake as well and the rooms are definitely not as large as Orange Lake, but they're good enough. I like Vacation Village because of the location and the newness. Good luck.
-Virginia

 

[lawgs]

if you are not getting a two bedroom....just make sure they are getting the side with the FULL kitchen...

Vacation Village seems to say all units are sorta equal but that is not true....the b sides are of lesser "utility" than the a side one bedrooms

would hate to see an exchange of a 2 bedroom for one of those lesser units ( but they appear all the time in our searches with RCI )

 

[gjw007]

Hi
My friend Has RCI timeshare and is trying to exchange a week. We've been offered Vacation Village at Parkway.
Has anybody stayed here?
Where exactly is it?
How far to the parks?
Do they offer a shuttle service to WDW?
Any other info would be great.
Thanks
Tracy

Vacation Village at Parkway (VVP) has a great location. It is roughly a mile or so from Disney. Very easy drive but then again, once on Disney, it is still a drive to the various activities. You can see pictures of the room layout at this URL http://www.dailymanagementresorts.com/Resort.aspx?resort=5.

I own at VVP but it is not my favorite timeshare (I have some issues with management) but others will rave about it. The units are actually 2-bedroom lockout units split in an 'A' suite and a 'B' suite. If you are getting a 1-bedroom, you really need to get the 'A' side. It is about 1000 sq. feet and does have the oversized whirlpool tub. If you cook, the 'A' side has a full kitchen. The 'B' side is about 500 sq. feet and has what they call a partial kitchen meaning that there is no stove but a hotplate to use to cook food. If you're looking for a place that is bigger than a hotel room, it is okay but not my cup-of-tea. I've stayed in the 'B' side expecting something different and was really disappointed. I totally disregard the 2-bedroom setup for my usage as I don't like the idea of a wall splitting the living room area but the total floorage of it is 1500 sq. feet, so it is a fairly good size unit. As a comparison, I also own at Orange Lake and the 2-bedroom units are between 1200 to 1275 sq. feet but may feel larger due to the living room area not being split in two.

 

[Melynny]

I noticed your other post about Grand Lake, I'd choose Vacation Village at Parkway over Grand lake Hands down. We have stayed at VVP and it was very nice, and yes get one with a full kitchen. I have not stayed at Grand lake, but I'd still choose VVP.

 

[TracyK]

Thanks to you all for the great replies.

 

[jeanyusjean]

My uncle has RCI and we are using his timeshare at VVP. Unfortunately the partial kitchen was the only one left for our check - in date. What do you think the chances are of getting bumped up to a "A unit" at check in?

 

[lawgs]

if you check out tripadvisor there seems to be some people who have been able to get upgrades while staying at VVP

all you can do is ask .....but it seems they all asked at check in .....not before hand

we were just there ....although the B side is nice .....it lacks stove and jacuzzi....plus a few square feet less than A side....

now, if they had been building these units like the ones in Las Vegas (Grandview ), it would not matter what side you "were placed" in ....since the A and B units there are mirror images

 

[sweet maxine]

Love this place! For some reason though, it's not showing up on Govt. travel website any longer. Bummer! It's one of our favorite places to stay.

 

[kidsister]

Stayed there in December and had the 2 bdrm, A and B.....THe A side is definitely much bigger and has a huge bathroom , a jacuzzi, a full kitchen and a big screen tv. The B side has an adequate living room, queen in the bd, average bath and small kitchenette. It has a little balcony too.

The kitchen in the B side is small,b ut there is stil a sink, 2 burners and micro and toaster and coffeemaker..

In my particular unit, both sides had a w/d.

It is really close to Disney...right across from Arabian Knights on 192. (5 minutes to DIsney by car)

I certainly enjoyed having the space! Parking was a bit limited, but everything was clean and cared for in/out of unit.

Of course, as always, say NO to timeshare, unless you want to make some cash during your stay (the longer you say no, the higher the cash offer to tour...I think it was up to $135 before I left.

 

[kml2000]

We stayed at VVP in July 2005 in the B side and enjoyed it. It is just my daughter and myself, so the small space was okay. The partial kitchen is small, full fridge, no stove, but usable. Our AC worked, but we couldn't change the temp. It was 60 the entire time we were there. We called maintenance 3 times, I think it has something to do with the other unit, even thought they told us it didn't.

We travelled with friends that did an RCI exchange for their unit (we got ours on SkyAuction). They were very disappointed with their exchange because they exchanged a 2 bedroom and ended up on the B side also. They were very unhappy and I would have been also!

We tried to upgrade at check in. We wanted an A - B unit so we would be all together. They were full when we asked at check in but said to check back during the week. We checked for a couple of days but then decided we were too settled to keep checking and have to move. We did try to call ahead of time to upgrade and they said you could only upgrade at check in.

I don't remember a shuttle, but you are only about .5 mile from the park. Great location, right behind Arabian Nights. The pools are nothing to get excited about, but they have a pool.

Good Luck!

 

[kml2000]

I forgot to add that we did have a stackable w/d in our unit. I enjoyed that, washed some clothes so I didn't have all dirty clothes when I went home!

Karen

 

[TallyLassie]

We just got back after almost a week stay and really enjoyed it. We had both the "A" and the "B" side. There was a shuttle that ran to Publix, etc., but there was a fee for the shuttle to WDW, Universal, etc.

We stayed in Building 10, one of the newer buildings. Try not to get a bottom floor, we were right by the exterior door, 101, which was a noise issue. The floors are tile, with the exception of the bedrooms. So, there was also noise when folks moved tables, and chairs across the floor above. The table in the living room must be moved to open/close the sofa bed.

Tripadvisor.com has a number of reviews with pictures.