vistana advice please

[disfanRN]

I have been offered a 2BR villa at Sheraton Vistana Resort for 4 nights at $199 total, plus sitting thru the 90 timeshare gig. I have the following questions:
1. how painful is the presentation?
2. any area special I should request?
3. how far from disney?

I am nervous because I've never stayed offsite before, thanks for any help you can offer!

 

[snoopy]

Wow, that is a good price!

I never went through the timeshare pitch, but I understand its one of the more low keyed.

We were in the Lakes section. The Lakes and the Cascades are the newest sections of the resort. We liked the Lakes section because my youngest likes a zero entry pool, and it had the only one on Vistana property. The villa itself was very pretty, with a balcony overlooking the lake. Very quiet and serene. The Cascade section is the newest, and closer to the front of the resort and the main activity area. Its also the most coveted area to stay, so don't bank on getting a villa there. What we did was signed up for Vistana's Diamond Lane (on Vistana website) and made our request there to stay in Cascades or Lakes, then called a couple of days before to confirm. When we arrived, we were able to use the Diamond Lane check-in and avoid the long lines to check in, and were assigned a Lakes section room.

Vistana is very close to WDW, about 10/15 minutes door to parking lot to MK, Epcot and MGM, a little further from AK. We really like the resorts on 535 as opposed to 192, and never encountered any traffic, even when we stayed there in high season.

 

[zalansky]

We just got a 3 night offer in a one bedroom at Vistana Villages, and that includes 2 adult tickets to either Sea World, Universal or Disney. We paid $199 and have to do the presentation too.
Is it true the Villages are newer and nicer than the Resort?

 

[Cyndiu]

The Villages are newer, but it depends on your needs to determine if they're nicer. Vistana Resort has more pools and restaurants, so if that's important you want to be at VR. If not, I'd opt for VV.

 

[Scotfan]

If you go to the presentation tell them right from the start that you have no intention of buying, but if you did you know it is far cheaper to buy a resale off the internet.
They soon lose interest!

 

[erinch]

we went through the presentation last summer. They were mostly trying to sell Vistana Villages, and Gold Crown points rather than actual weeks. We indicated we weren't buying; she was a hustler and didn't want to waste too much time on us. But once she's done with you the manager has to come over to "make sure she treated you well" and then just happens to have a "buy today and you'll get these extra points" one-day special offer (laminated). We held firm, collected our disney dollars and got out. Viewed it as a little window on a subculture. The food (breakfast) was absolutely nothing to remember or even to bother to eat.

 

[Disneymomma]

How are they contacting you for these good deals? We would really like to stay there.

 

[luvdisney14]

I would also like to know how you got this deal. We would like to stay there next year.

 

[erinch]

a place to find out everything there is to know about timeshares is the TUG (timeshare user group) which can be accessed at tug2.net.

The type of deal where you get a great rate for a few nights at a timeshare can often be done through an owner referral--and tug is listing one for vistana.

In order to access that part of the board, you need to join, which costs $10 annually. If you think you might ever want to rent a timeshare offsite, this is a very wise thing to do, as those folks can help explain the ropes.

 

[luvdisney14]

disfanRN

Where did you get that offer, that is the cheapest I ever heard of. Do you have any information you could give me. Also, did you end up signing up for the offer. We have done timeshare presentations in the past and didn't think they were that bad.
Thank you for any info.