vistana villages/ which buildings, etc?

[andychris14]

We will be staying at the vistana villages for 4 nights in august before moving onto disney property. I have never stayed at the vistana villages before.We are going with another family and have 4 kids in total,ages 3 to 7. I would love to be close to the pool. A central location.
\1- which building should I request?
2-Is this resort close to Universal? Do they have complimentary shuttle service to universal? I believe they do for disney.
3-Is there a website tht I can look at this hotel and get a hotel map?

Any other info on this resort would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Disney Fool]

I am an owner at Vistana, and all the buildings are located around the grotto pool. There's a store on sight for limited items. There's also a 7-Eleven down the road on the left. Vistana Villages are located at the end of International Drive. When you exit the parking lot, turn left and at the end of the road turn right and keep going straight until you see the Disney signs. You're about a mile awayy. If you turn right out of the parking lot, Sea World is down the street, and if you pass by Sea World, you'll come to Universal. Great location. Oh, yes, the entrance to the new Designer Outlet mall is across the street. Entrance road is quite long so you can't see the mall stores from Vistana. And, yes there is shuttle service--check at desk when you arrive. There are also children's activities at the resort. Hope you have a great vacation.

 

[Disney Fool]

If you want to see a pciture, go to this website: www.starwoodvo.com Hope this helps.

 

[markski]

Just got back from VV yesterday. You're gonna love VV. Not it's not quite the same as staying on-site. With three kids, the extra space was better than on-site!

For an aerial view of VV got to Mapquest.com and enter the address 12401 international drive. Click on aerial view and enlarge to the next to largest zoom. VV is the complex in the bottom left corner of the picture. You can recenter and zoom further. The buildings are numbered 1-10 starting next to the pool on the left going CCW. None of the buildings except maybe 10 seemed to have a long walk to the pool.

As for travel, I had a rental and could get anywhere faster than waiting for a Disney bus. Fifteen minutes max from loading kids to getting out of the van at any of the parks. (Traffic was pretty light last week.) Hope you have a great trip!

 

[6_Time_Momma]

Uh-oh...that Mapquest link didn't work for me. Can you give specifics as to how to get to that point via the mapquest site? Thanks!

 

[ttfn3]

Buildings 1,2, 3 are closest to the pool. However, these buildings are normally reserved for timeshare owners. We were in building 4, which was across a pond from the pool. We walked across a bridge to get to the pool. I would think building 4 or 5 would be fine. IMHO the only building that didn't look good location wise to me was Building 10.

V V is close to Universal. It's maybe a 5 minute drive to Sea World. They do have a free shuttle service for renters (not timeshare owners), however, IMO the times aren't very good. We used our rental car so we could be flexible about our time. It's a very quick, easy trip to Disney. 15 minutes to the TTC Parking lot!

I'm not aware of any online hotel maps. Maybe someone else can answer this question for you.

My DS (age 5) LOVED the pool. It's a beautiful resort. I'm sure you will be pleased.

Have fun!

 

[vmkids]

Just went to Vistana Villages May 4-11. We liked the place. It is huge and not far from the Disney parks. One mile away is COWS in a field my kids laughed at that. WE were in building 5 and I have to tell you the first night we weren't sure about it. The water fall gets shut off then then the weirdest sounding frogs start! They sound like geese or something and they never shut up. They did this every night and seem to bounce off the fall right into our room. (second floor) After the first night we got use to them and was sooo tired from the parks that we slept sound. The girls in the front bedroom never heard them and neither did my son on the pull out couch in the living room. Just the master room got this music at night! If you are a light sleeper may be a problem for you!

 

[mskani]

Thanks for the heads up. I can harly wait.

 

[mskani]

Okay typing too fast. I can HARDLY wait.

 

[bigs1923t]

We stayed at VV in March, the week before easter. We loved it. Stayed in bldg 3 3rd floor. It was right in front of thr fountian in the lake. I could lay in bed and see the fountian which ran all night. Very relaxing! The place is beautifully landscaped and very well kept. If you go to Universal exit the resort and turn right on to International drive. Follow this down to the fork in the road (at FOA Schwartz toys) take the right fork which is Universal Blvd. This bypasses behind International drive which is very busy. Also if you take I drive to the right when you come to central fla pkwy if you turn left it is the entrance to sea world, if you turn right and go about 1/4 mile there is a Publix Supermarket . We would stay at VV again in a heartbeat.

We did hear some stories about them overbooking the resort & turning people away that had ressies. Tell them you do not want this to happen to you.

 

[Lorix2]

vmkids - that's so funny you mentioned the cows! We were there April 18-28th and my kids were surprised to coming from NH where you see them everywhere to seeing them at "disney".

The frogs too! I thought I was the only one who thought the noises were quite unusual and loud at night. I slept with the tv on just to be able to fall asleep.

We were in Bldg 8 and thought it was great, no noise from the pool or the road, etc...just overlooking the pond and seeing the ducks.

Did anyone notice the really big turtle in the pond? We saw him alot by the footbridge.

I would definitely stay here again - the locaton of this resort is fantastic, loved the short drive to the parks, groceries, restaurants, shops, etc.

 

[vmkids]

I would also like to warn anybody that is having small children sleeping in the livingroom... you better turn off the monster in the kitchen! My son was sleeping in there and all of a sudden there was a huge growl from the kitchen... in our bed he flew. My DH being tired went and tolsd my two older girls to stop scaring their brother... about that time the growl happened again! Figured out it was the ice maker dropping ice on the empty ice bucket. WE all laughed and shut it off at night but that night the big kindg bed was nice cause DS stayed with us.

 

[Lorix2]

oh your poor DS! LOL! My kids will not sleep without their lights dimmed since coming back from FL. They had no problem sleeping, but I think some of the rides (like HM and witch inside JTA at SW) are still in their minds - my DD10 screamed and cried hysterically on JTA!? Even after we were off the ride! My DS 4.5 went right back on with DH though, he loved the drop.

I never noticed the ice maker actually, but the dryer was pretty loud even with the door closed (the kids would yell PUHLEEZE turn it off and put it back on in the morning!) LOL!