Vistana Villages was Great!!

[ttfn3]

We just returned from 7 wonderful nights at the Vistana Villages (followed by 4 days/3 nights at Sand Key near Clearwater Beach). The Vistana Villages was a great resort at a great value. It's very beautiful and on a section of International Drive that isn't very developed (yet). We had a 2 BR in Building 4 on the 5th Floor (top floor). It was a corner unit. It was very nice. The room was very clean and fully equipped. We had 6 people there for 2 nights and there was plenty of room for everyone. IMHO any of the building would be fine except for building 10. Building 10 is along International Drive. Our building looked out over a pond and then the pool. it was VERY quiet at night.

There are 2 separate pools. There's a smaller adult only pool and a jacuzzi is located here. The main very large pool had beautiful waterfalls, a water volleyball area, and a separate zero entry/very shallow area with fountains for young children. There was even a pool table and table tennis table set up on one side of the pool (supplies are free to use). Lots of free towels available to use at the pool. We brought a collapsable, soft sided cooler so we mainly took our own drinks to the pool. There was also a small arcade and kids activity by the pool (tho. these were sporadic). Oh, there's also a small playground but it was too hot for our son to try it. Plus, he was too interested in swimming in the pool.

The V V was an easy 15 minute drive from our parking lot to the Magic Kingdom Parking Lot (TTC).

The closest grocery store is a Publix on Palm Parkway. They'll give you directions to it. It's very close to Sea World - which may be a 5 minute drive from the V V. There's also an Eckert Drug store next to the Publix. They are building a Publix/shopping center near V V on International Drive - but it probably won't be open for several months.

If anyone has an particular questions, let me know.

I would stay at this resort again in an instant - and with the deal through Hotel Kingdow (buy 6 nights, get 1 free), it's an incredible value!!

 

[Cinderella0616]

Hi,

I'm staying there in Oct for 2 weeks.. can you tell me if they offer a continental breakfast? How late are guests able to use the pool at night? How was housekeeping? Sounds like you had a wonderful time! I'm so excited to get there!

 

[ttfn3]

The only free continental breakfast that we were offered was part of the timeshare tour. The food was pretty good for a continental breakfast. They do offer breakfast foods for sale in their little store. We just bought our breakfast items at Publix and ate in the room each day - except for one breakfast at the MK.

The pool was open late - maybe 10 p.m. or so. I'll check my literature tonight and post a reply. We never made it over in the evenings.

The housekeeping was good. We had daily maid service. They brought fresh towels, made the beds, cleaned, loaded and ran the dishwasher, etc. They came early a couple of mornings on our off days (around 9:30) but they were very accomodating when we asked them to come back later. Of course, they do have a do not disturb sign to put out. We were always up by then.

You will love the resort. It is very beautiful. I was very surprised how easy the drive was to Disney and it was nice to get away and relax when we weren't at the parks.

 

[BusyMomof3]

ttfn3-

Thanks for the review. We will be there in 3-1/2 weeks and are really looking forward to it! We had requested a waterfall view when we booked (through Hotel Kingdom's great deal), but not sure about what building #'s would have that view. Any suggestions? We are planning to call and confirm the reservation about a week before we go and maybe request a specific building.

 

[ttfn3]

I'm not sure which building would actually have a waterfall view. The waterfalls are in the front area of the large pool and the only direct view in my opinion is the Main Clubhouse. We had requested building 2 or 3, but didn't get either building. They stated that these buildings are normally reserved for timeshare owners. We were in Building 4, which was fine with us. Our son is 5 and we had no problems walking over the bridge to the main pool. Our view was of the pond (some may call it a lake ;-) which had a fountain in it (it ran during daytime hours only - off by 9 p.m.??). And then we could see parts of the pool. We were in Room 501 which was a top floor corner unit. It was VERY quiet. (Our unit was a 2 BR). The only "bad" building location I could see was Building 10. This building runs adjacent to International Drive.

I actually think it worked out best that we didn't get building 2 or 3. They would have probably have been a bit noiser since they were closer to the pool. Plus, our number one priority was a top floor room. And, yes, they do have elevators.

Have fun. You'll love this resort!! It's a great value and very beautiful.

 

[zaxmom]

We were there at the beginning of May and had a very nice stay. The bathtubs and shower were not as clean as I would have liked, but my husband said that is about as good as they ever get in a hotel. I gave them a quick cleaning myself. The resort is great. The pool was wonderful for my 2 and 4 year olds. So much space in the room. More than everything I needed in the kitchen. The pool was open until 1 am. The pool bar and deli were only open until 10:00. I thought that was too early. We ended up in building 10. It was a long walk to the pool, but I did not hear any noise from the street. But, I have a 2 and 4 year old so only 2 things keep me up at night. There is an outlet mall almost across the street and it has a Disney World Outlet store and a Universal. Most things they have are half price. Housekeeping was good. They pretty much just replace the towels, load the dishwasher and make the beds. It was about 15 mins door to door to the Ticketing monorail station. It is a nice drive. Heck of a lot better than boarding a bus, in my opinion. A really good deal when booked through Hotel Kingdom.

 

[bigs1923t]

We stayed at VV in March, bld 3 with the fountian pretty much right in front of our room. An earlier post said they turned off the fointian at about 9pm. I am up a few times during the night always. It was on 24 hrs when we were there, they might turn it off at other times of the year. The units are well soundproofed. The fountain is pretty noisy with the slider in the bedroom open at night but if you close the door you cannot hear it at all. I dont think highway noise would be a problem in bldg 10 if you ended up there.

 

[ttfn3]

We stayed in Bldg 4 and they did shut the fountain off in the pond in front of our building. I just can't remember the exact time. It was either 9 p.m. or 10 p.m. They turn the fountains back on around 8 a.m. And, yes, I do now remember the frogs. We travel/sleep with wave machines, so it didn't bother us at all (we have barking dogs in our neighborhood - so we bought wave machines years ago to combat this problem - and we travel with them).

 

[vmkids]

Sound machine is a great idea! Nver thought of getting one and I have a hard time sleeping in any hotel. I am going to check them out right now. I thank you for this idea!

 

[Boots]

Sounds like a wonderful place to stay. Thanks for the imput!

 

[mskani]

Thanks for all of your help. We are all very excited about our trip which starts exactly one week from today. I am in the process of packing the suitcases and I thought of another question for you:

Is there a VCR in the unit? I've already told my ds that he may not bring that darn light saber, so he wants to bring his favorite video (Disney of course) instead.

 

[MiniMissMinnie]

Hi !!

YES - there are VCR in the suites. There's also a possibility to rent videos in the small store/snack-store. But it costs about 6-7 dollars....

Marie

 

[bigs1923t]

Our unit (1 bdrm) had a TV, VCR & stereo with radio & cd player in the living room. There was aslo a TV in the bedroom . Both TVs were about 26" screens