Vacation Village at Parkway

[PrincessMomofTwo]

Planning a trip to Disney in March and a friend of mine offered to let us stay at a timeshare through RCI. One of the options was Vacation Village at Parkway. I was wondering if anyone has stayed here and if so what did you think of it? We are a family of 4 with two young children ages 4 and 6. We will have a car.

If there is another timeshare resort through RCI that you think we should look into, please let me know.

TIA!

 

[Brian Noble]

Perfectly adequate. Has a very good location---only one traffic light to the world drive entrance. The "small" 1BR is pretty small. The 2BRs are lock-offs with an entry vestibule; I'm not sure how well that will work with smaller children.

I found it fine, but it's not my favorite RCI location---I prefer Bonnet Creek, the HGVCs, and Vistana now that their resort-wide refurbishment is complete. On the other hand, VV@P is often easier to exchange into than these others, so your options might be limited.

 

[spiceycat]

like
Sheraton Vistana Resort
Bryan Spanish Cove
Grand Beach
Cypress Pointe -
they are all a little closer to WDW.

 

[Strawberry's mom&dad]

Stayed there in June in a one bedroom and it was just fine. Within 5-15 mins of all the parks and hardly any traffic. Would stay there again.

 

[MinnieForMe]

We've stayed before and unless you plan on putting your children to sleep on the pull out sofa, I would pass. My kids are older so we had no problem propping open the doors and allowing them to sleep in the lock out unit but I would not be comfortable with this if I had little ones. The pool was nice and warm. The staff was pleasant. It doesn't have a resort feel like the Vistana but it is still a place I would return too!

With little ones, I would think the Sheraton Vistana would be a better choice. They have plenty of pool choices (zero depth) so kids can splash, mini golf, playgrounds and a huge, blow up waterslide (extra money). I always feel safer at the Vistana too because it is gated.

 

[PrincessMomofTwo]

Thanks for the feedback! The kids will be staying on the pull-out couch. We are just looking at the one bedroom. Since we are going in March during Spring Break, we don't seem to have a lot to choose from. Is it better to book something now or wait until closer to March to see if anything else has come up available?

 

[Brian Noble]

Make sure you are looking at the A side, not B side. The B sides are very small.

March is tricky; that's a pretty high demand time, for RCI. There aren't likely to be tons more things unless you wait until relatively last-minute, and you would need an ongoing search to catch them.

 

[MinnieForMe]

I agree. Make sure you have the A side which has a full kitchen. It is plenty big enough for a family of 4.

I have found the largest inventory in RCI happens around Christmas or the 1st week in January. I believe a lot of people have to deposit at that time but that being said if you are not willing to take the chance of not finding anything better, I'd book it now. Parkway is decorated very nice. We found one of the last buidings on property to be very convenient. It had ample parking and was poolside. That pool was much quieter than the central pool which hosts movie night. It's a short walk through the property if you want to go to the central pool.

 

[LekiaHall]

We are a family of 6 and we stayed at Vacation Village on our 2010 trip. We had a 2 bedroom and we had both the A&B sides. It was great because my older children got the B side and felt like they had their own space.

We really enjoyed it. We don't do a lot of resort activities, so the pool was more than enough for our lazy days.

If you're reserving 1 of the sides, definitely get the A side. We stayed an extra night and only had the B side and it was CRAMPED.

On our next trip, we want to see what all of the Bonnet Creek buzz is about; otherwise, we would go with Vacation Village again.

Have fun!

 

[PrincessMomofTwo]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. As of now only the one bedroom on the B side is available. However a one bedroom at cypress palms came available. What do you think of that place? Can anyone compare them for me? I can't decide because the village is closer to Disney, but cypress palms is bigger. Any advice?

 

[LekiaHall]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. As of now only the one bedroom on the B side is available. However a one bedroom at cypress palms came available. What do you think of that place? Can anyone compare them for me? I can't decide because the village is closer to Disney, but cypress palms is bigger. Any advice?

Have no experience re: Cypress Palms, but under no circumstances would I stay on the B side with 4 people. It really is a small space. Your children are younger, so you may manage okay, but you won't have a lot of leg room to relax.

And you'll only have a microwave, so you'll have to eat out most days. Is it possible to change your days up a bit to see if that frees up availability on the A side?

Hopefully, others here can chime in on Cypress Palms.

 

[rvchat]

we have stayed at both. the one br at cypress is not ok, imo.

it's a couch , inside a kitchen that pulls out to sleep. I did not like it at all, Even for 1 adult and a child. If it were one night, just to sleep, maybe.

Parkway was slightly better, slightly.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. As of now only the one bedroom on the B side is available. However a one bedroom at cypress palms came available. What do you think of that place? Can anyone compare them for me? I can't decide because the village is closer to Disney, but cypress palms is bigger. Any advice?