Vista Cay/Windsor Hills or Sheraton Vistana Villages

[prairiesarah]

We're thinking about a week in Orlando in early April. This trip we are planning to do Universal as my husband and I have never been and DS LOVED the rides there when he went with my inlaws a couple of years ago. We will also plan for two to three days at Disney.

My only experience staying offsite was at Windsor Hills on our last trip with DH's extended family in December 2015.

So trying to decide what to do about accommodations. I was looking at Vista Cay as it is reasonably close to Universal, but the distance from Disney made me think about doing a split stay and moving to Windsor Hills for the second half of the trip.

The other resort I was looking at was Sheraton Vistana Villages which seems like it would be about equidistance to both Disney and Universal.

I am looking for experiences or any advice given our split of doing both Universal and Disney (although will likely be 4 days Universal/2 to 3 days Disney.

It will be DH, DS (12) and I. Looking for somewhere with a reasonably priced but nice 2 bedroom condo or townhouse. Must have a pool, waterpark would be nice, but not necessary. I am also adamant about avoiding I4 when driving to either as last time we were there (albeit Christmas time so the traffic could have been slightly worse due to that) but was way more than I can handle.

 

[ParkHopperFan]

Your biggest problem will be finding accommodations at all being so close to your travel dates. The first week of April is Easter and I think you're going to find most places booked up already. Also you will find traffic and crowds just as bad or worse than Christmas time.

 

[bankr63]

An offsite split stay for a week is a bit of a waste of time IMO. I've split once before on an 11 day trip, and found we lost a good half day of fun time doing the swap. Better to stay at one resort and play all week.

SVV is a very nice resort, and access to both parks is pretty good.

 

[prairiesarah]

Your biggest problem will be finding accommodations at all being so close to your travel dates. The first week of April is Easter and I think you're going to find most places booked up already. Also you will find traffic and crowds just as bad or worse than Christmas time.

Surprisingly a lot of options still available - I've been scouring them the last few days - SVV only has a few, but Vista Cay has a ton of availability as does Windsor Hills. We are looking at Friday the 6th to 13th (so the tail end of Easter week into the next week) or the 13th to the 20th.

An offsite split stay for a week is a bit of a waste of time IMO. I've split once before on an 11 day trip, and found we lost a good half day of fun time doing the swap. Better to stay at one resort and play all week.

SVV is a very nice resort, and access to both parks is pretty good.

Thanks. That's sort of what I though based on how short this trip will be vrs previous trips.

 

[mjhtvchick]

An offsite split stay for a week is a bit of a waste of time IMO. I've split once before on an 11 day trip, and found we lost a good half day of fun time doing the swap. Better to stay at one resort and play all week.

SVV is a very nice resort, and access to both parks is pretty good.

I would agree - I just stayed at SVV in September for 5 nights and it was very nice. There isn't a "water park" but the main pool is excellent and there is a separate "kids pool" with some slides and splash features.

 

[Penmac]

3.