Vistana Village

[ttfn3]

We stayed at the Vistana Resort for our last Disney visit and are
considering staying at the Vistana Villages this trip. Do they
have a water slide for the kids at the Villages? Has anyone tried
the game room at the Villages? If so, is it nice? How far was your trip
to the Disney "gateway"? I loved how close the Vistana Resort was
to Disney, however, I wouldn't mind a few more minutes of driving.
Are there any particular sections that you would recommend? We're
probably going to reserve a 2 BR.
Thanks!

 

[judyk]

Just curious why do you want VV this time vs. VR like last trip? Right now I am
reserved for VR in May....but I can get a better rate at VV. Are their ammenities
the same? How are the room at VR?? Is VV suppose to be nicer?? How much
further away is it from MK? Still trying to make my decision....thanks.

 

[ttfn3]

JudyK,
The primary reason we are considering V V over V R is the price. We can save $40 per night. That's a lot of money. Plus, we wanted to try something different this time. I'm sure you will be happy with the Vistana Resort. We had a 2 BR at Vistana Resort and it was very roomy. The location is great. It is VERY close to Disney. Make sure you request a section of the resort that is not facing SR 535. The trafffic on this road is pretty heavy around the clock.

The fact that V V is a newer resort also appeals to me. It opened about 2 months prior to our December 2000 trip. We decided not to stay there at that time, since we were afraid that it would still be under construction. I'm just trying to figure out if the Villages do not have anything that the Resort has.

TTFN

 

[sandyneck]

ttfn3, the VV is considerably smaller than the VR. The game room has about 7 or 8 games and is also very small. There are no restaurants on site, but they do have a good deli and store. No waterslides at the pool. We stayed at VV last year and are staying again this year, hopefully, VV is in the middle of having a problem with overbooking and turning guests away that have had reservations. Hopefully this problem will be short lived. Many of us on the boards have already called VV and Hotelkingdom to voice our concerns and Hotelkingdom is genuinely(sp?) concerned and trying to work out any booking problems. The rooms are about the same at both. We love the VV and actually like the smaller size, so I am not saying that as a bad thing, I am just letting you know because some people like to stay at a big resort. Any other questions, just ask!

 

[ttfn3]

Sandyneck,
A smaller resort is just fine with me. How long did it take you to get to the Disney gateway (i.e. entrance to Disney property)? Which way/road did you take? Any suggestions for which building/section of Vistana Village to request?
Thanks

 

[ttfn3]

Can anyone answer my other questions (see above) about VV?
Thanks!

 

[sandyneck]

ttfn3, sorry about that, I had replied with all your answers but I don't see my post, so here goes. Hubby drives so I do not pay attention to names of roads, but there is a back way to get to Disney area that they will tell you about at the front desk of VV. We were there last year in the middle of spring break and never hit any traffic using their directions. It took us probably 10 min to get to the actual parking lot of MK. We stayed in Building 3. It overlooked a small lake and was near the pool, but not right on top of it. 1 & 2 are closest to the pool. We will be staying in Building 2 in 3 days(!!!) so I will let you know if it is too noisy due to the proximity of the pool. Buildings 4,5,6,7 & 8 have views of waterfalls and the pool but you have to cross over a little bridge to get to the pool. They were building other units when we were there that backed up to the street. I would not suggest those. All buildings I listed have waterviews. There are no parking lot views, which is one of the things I liked about the resort. If you can, go with the two bedroom, it is much bigger than than one bedroom and much nicer, although the one bedroom is fine for just two people. Hope I answered all your questions. I will be posting when I get back so I may have more info for you then.

 

[ttfn3]

Thanks Sandyneck! I'll be anxious to read your trip report when you get back. Have a great time!!!

 

[lex.carter]

Hey there everybody,

We just got back from 7 days in Orlando at the Vistana Villages. WOW! They were absolutely beautiful! We had a two bedroom villa and it was gorgeous. The kitchen has mexican ceramic tile floors. The dishes were all fiestawear. The living room was tastefully decorated with very nice furniture. The master bedroom had a wonderful kingsize bed and the two person jacuzzi was luxurious. Beautiful tile work around the tub and in the bathroom. I am REALLY picky about accomodations and this lived up to expectations. I am even picky about the way a place smells! We stayed at a "nice" doubletree on the way down to florida and it had that musty smell, BARF!!! The VV was perfect and it had a lot of room, 1300 square feet, plus a really nice screened in porch. We stayed in building 6 and we did have to walk over a bridge to get to the AMAZING pool, but it was like a 2 minute walk and my 2 year old LOVED walking over the very safe bridge. The people that were staying there were all a very nice mix of family people.
We paid $125 a night thru hotelkingdom. We opted not to do the 90 minute presentation, we passed by people that were sitting through the sales pitch and it looked like the sales people were really doing a hard sell, I was REALLY glad that we opted not to do that. No thanks!!!
I hope this helped.
Have a great time,
Diane

 

[Lorix2]

Welcome back lex.carter!

so happy to hear you enjoyed your stay there. We'll be checking in April 19-28th. I can't wait! Do you mind answering some questions? Here they are if you don't..

My oldest is asking if the tv has a vcr included in the 2nd bedroom?

Did you find the bed comfortable?

What time of day did you check-in and was there a wait?

Thanks for posting and hope to hear back from you soon.

Lori

 

[lex.carter]

Hey Lori,

We checked in after a day at Magic Kingdom on a Sunday at around 5pm. There were two people in front of us checking in so it didn't take long at all.
There were tvs in all of the bedrooms but the only one with a vcr was in the living room.
My husband and I both have back problems and the bed was very comfortable and I didn't wake up with a backache!! The 2nd Bedroom has two full size beds and an armoire for the tv.
ALSO, we thought that we wouldn't be getting full maid service and we did get full maid service, beds made, dishes washed, new towels etc.
I hope you enjoy your trip, the place is really lovely.

Take care,
Diane

 

[ttfn3]

Diane,

Thanks for posting the info about V V. I'm glad that you had a great time. The place sounds great! How was the traffic getting to/from Disney? Did you notice any particular buildings to avoid (due to traffic, noise, etc.). Thanks!

TTFN3

 

[Lorix2]

Hi Diane,

Thanks for your response, another satisifed customer of the Vistana Villages - I'm so excited.

could you describe the "amazing" pool so I may tell my kids what to expect? I heard there is a waterfall...that's all I know..

thanks alot!

Lori

 

[lex.carter]

Hey Lori,

There are actually two pools and two hot tubs right next to eachother. One is a smaller pool that is a "quiet" pool. The other is huge and curves around with a waterfall in the middle. The pool doesn't get deeper than 5 feet. The waterfall is a lot of fun. They allow floats and I wish that I would have picked up one of those huge alligator type floats at walmart for around $10 bucks. I didn't know that you can have those in the pool and they rent them for $5 an hour, absurd. But my 10 year old saw kids floating into the waterfall with them and playing and he had to have one, so I rented it for an hour. At one side of the large pool it becomes very shallow, a little past your ankles, and it has an "oasis" in the middle with fountains of water that the kids can run through. My 2 year old liked that one. There is an Eckard drug store that you'll pass on the way to disney from the hotel that sells noodles and such, so we bought a noodle for the pool. On the other side of the curve in the pool its around 3.5 feet to 4 feet and they have a volleyball net in the water and a game always gets going. My 10 year old liked that too.
Gotta go.
Diane

 

[lex.carter]

Hey ttfn3 ,

No traffic problems at all. This part of Orlando is very quiet with no congestion. Also, there aren't a lot of restaurants right in the area. You have to drive a little ways to get to one. We ordered pizza and had it delivered. Broadway Pizza. It's real NY pizza. Very good. We ordered pasta to go with it and it was terrible.
Take care,
Diane

 

[baileybrad]

but we did the timeshare presentation at VV and what we experienced was definitely NOT a hardsell. I think that in the interest of balance that I would be remiss to not mention this based on what another poster "observed". Frankly, I have never understood the high pressure that some experience when going through any kind of sales experience. Just say no. That goes for anything that someone is trying to sell you that you have no interest in or just don't think is right for your family. The $100 gift at VV was the easiest money that we ever made.

 

[bigs1923t]

The Villages are a very easy drive from Disney. You just head south on I drive (usually deserted 6 lanes divided in that area) down to the end where it curves into rt 536. Follow that for a couple miles and it runs right into Epcot Center Drive. Never had any traffic problems.Another travel tip is if you are going back to Epcot at night for Illuminations go to boardwalk and tell them you are going to get something to eat. They will direct you to a self park lot. Go into boardwalk and out the back of the lobby onto the boardwalk. Walk to the right and it leads to a rear entrance to epcot. After the show you miss all the rush to the front of the park. Just walk back to boardwalk, enjoy the area and then head back to your resort.