Warning RE: Sheraton Vistana Resort & Internet / Cell Service

[erinch]

This is good. I am not going until August so will hold fire on looking for somewhere else. I really don't want to change - we really need an apartment style resort. My daughter does not do well in hotels due to sensory needs. Are there any other recommendations?

Wait until I send my report on June 4 or 5. And let's hope for good news.
Vistana would be wonderful for your daughter!!

 

[nicksinger8]

Wait until I send my report on June 4 or 5. And let's hope for good news.
Vistana would be wonderful for your daughter!!

Yes, I went with my wife (then girlfriend) back in 2004. There really isn't anything quite like it for location, quality and cost. We will have short sharp bursts at the parks and then long chill and down times. We need a lot of space. I will wait eagerly for your report!

 

[bankr63]

This is good. I am not going until August so will hold fire on looking for somewhere else. I really don't want to change - we really need an apartment style resort. My daughter does not do well in hotels due to sensory needs. Are there any other recommendations?

If you do feel you need to swap, similar properties nearby include Sheraton Vistana Villages (sister property, about 5 minutes away on I-Drive), Marriott Palms properties (Sabal, Royal, Imperial - next door to SVR) or Hilton Grand Vacation Club - Tuscany Village (beside the Premium Outlet).

 

[nicksinger8]

I was thinking, is there a wired connection in villas? In theory someone could use a laptop to book Uber or use the internet. Thanks.

 

[erinch]

We will check into Fountains 1 this Saturday, June 4. I will report back instantly. IIRC, they killed the Ethernet ports off some time ago, but I will bring my dongle, and check it out, if they are still there.

 

[dioxide45]

I recall connecting our router to one of the wired ports in the last two years. I can't seem to recall exactly what phase it was though, but I seem to recall it being Falls. I wouldn't count on a wired connection and if there is one it may not be live.

 

[erinch]

I am here now! Gorgeous 3rd floor villa in Fountains 1. I am writing this post on my iIPad with cellular data turned off, and on their unsecured WiFi network.

 

[erinch]

And this post is with WiFi turned off and cellular data on. (Verizon). I was able to get jungle cruise LL right at 7 with no issues on Verizon.

The only thing that is flaky is if I have both WiFi and cell data turned on. But that is typical for my iPad. For some reason, the living room is a dead spot, but the kitchen and the lovely screened in porch are just fine.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

And this post is with WiFi turned off and cellular data on. (Verizon). I was able to get jungle cruise LL right at 7 with no issues on Verizon.

The only thing that is flaky is if I have both WiFi and cell data turned on. But that is typical for my iPad. For some reason, the living room is a dead spot, but the kitchen and the lovely screened in porch are just fine.

That is great news, thanks for the update!

 

[nicksinger8]

We had a negative review of the wi fi on another thread. Time for someone in the know to make another complaint

 

[UpstateMick]

We stayed there from June 28th until July 4th. It was our first stay and we loved the resort, but we will absolutely NOT return until the WiFi issue is fixed. DoorDash, Uber, Instacart, Disney Reservations, etc. all affected by this absolutely atrocious issue, and I do mean ATROCIOUS! If you are going to stay at the resort and go nowhere, then enjoy, but if you need service or are traveling to the Disney Parks, please do NOT book this place. It was awful!

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

We stayed there from June 28th until July 4th. It was our first stay and we loved the resort, but we will absolutely NOT return until the WiFi issue is fixed. DoorDash, Uber, Instacart, Disney Reservations, etc. all affected by this absolutely atrocious issue, and I do mean ATROCIOUS! If you are going to stay at the resort and go nowhere, then enjoy, but if you need service or are traveling to the Disney Parks, please do NOT book this place. It was awful!

I’m so sorry to hear this- that is unacceptable.

What section were you in? We have a trip booked- we usually love it there- I’d like to request to NOT be in your section because of your experience- I’ll even call them now and threaten cancellation.

Also, did you try your phone’s data plan for internet? How did that work?

Thanks for the info.

 

[UpstateMick]

I’m so sorry to hear this- that is unacceptable.

What section were you in? We have a trip booked- we usually love it there- I’d like to request to NOT be in your section because of your experience- I’ll even call them now and threaten cancellation.

Also, did you try your phone’s data plan for internet? How did that work?

Thanks for the info.

Sure thing. We were in the Palms section, which we had asked to be in a quieter area away from main pool (Cascades). It was nice…about a 5-7 min walk to the pool and little store. Yes, we tried everything-data plan, going outside, etc. I know when we spoke to others at the pool they were experiencing the same thing, and for a week before the 4th of July it was dead at the resort…they are defiantly feeling the affects. They tried to give us every excuse in the book, but in reality is I don’t think this is getting fixed anytime soon. We LOVED the resort, but you can’t do anything off-site without service, and we didn’t have a car. I had heard before we stayed there about the WiFI but thought “Really, how bad could it be…people must be exaggerating!” But I can assure you it caused havoc with our DoorDash, our Lyfts, our Instacart…it was horrendous.

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

Sure thing. We were in the Palms section, which we had asked to be in a quieter area away from main pool (Cascades). It was nice…about a 5-7 min walk to the pool and little store. Yes, we tried everything-data plan, going outside, etc. I know when we spoke to others at the pool they were experiencing the same thing, and for a week before the 4th of July it was dead at the resort…they are defiantly feeling the affects. They tried to give us every excuse in the book, but in reality is I don’t think this is getting fixed anytime soon. We LOVED the resort, but you can’t do anything off-site without service, and we didn’t have a car. I had heard before we stayed there about the WiFI but thought “Really, how bad could it be…people must be exaggerating!” But I can assure you it caused havoc with our DoorDash, our Lyfts, our Instacart…it was horrendous.

That is terrible. I’m really sorry to hear that. We’ve been going to Vistana for years and love it there, but Wi-Fi or cell service is a necessity. Like plumbing.

I will be calling this week. Thank you.

 

[UpstateMick]

That is terrible. I’m really sorry to hear that. We’ve been going to Vistana for years and love it there, but Wi-Fi or cell service is a necessity. Like plumbing.

I will be calling this week. Thank you.

Agreed! I’m glad I could help. I wish someone would have warned me. It was our first stay at Vistana and we loved the resort as well. If you weren’t leaving site, it is pretty much a non-issue, but with us not having a car and going to the parks, it was a rough time, but we still had a great trip otherwise, just because we made the best of it and didn’t let it ruin our trip! All about the mindset Best of luck! Let me know what they say…I’d be interested if it was the same “spiel” they gave me.

 

[nicksinger8]

What about leaving the resort and trying to pick up Uber or lyft nearer the security gates? I am astonished that the whole area is a dead spot for both wifi and 4g. Never heard anything like it. Maybe that time of year the network gets overwhelmed - I'm guessing the approach to 4th July is one the busiest times for vactions in the US? I had had heard many more positive reports of late

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

Agreed! I’m glad I could help. I wish someone would have warned me. It was our first stay at Vistana and we loved the resort as well. If you weren’t leaving site, it is pretty much a non-issue, but with us not having a car and going to the parks, it was a rough time, but we still had a great trip otherwise, just because we made the best of it and didn’t let it ruin our trip! All about the mindset Best of luck! Let me know what they say…I’d be interested if it was the same “spiel” they gave me.

Just talked to front desk and asked for the deal. They told me that it is true that construction completely knocked out the Wi-Fi for a period of time earlier this year. She said it came back but it is “spotty” and they are trying to rectify it. She said she has not heard complaints about cell plan data for internet usage.

She said they are working on improving the Wi-Fi but no updates.

 

[nicksinger8]

Just talked to front desk and asked for the deal. They told me that it is true that construction completely knocked out the Wi-Fi for a period of time earlier this year. She said it came back but it is “spotty” and they are trying to rectify it. She said she has not heard complaints about cell plan data for internet usage.

She said they are working on improving the Wi-Fi but no updates.

Can't say I'm very reassured about the wi fi. Seems vary variable though. I have looked through lots of trip advisor reports. I take the view that you are more likely to get a complaint than a positive review on balance. That is to say a higher % of people unhappy complain than happy people write a good report. It is split, but with most not mentioning wi fi. I am guessing that most people have an adequate experience but there seems a minority who have a disaster. I was still surprised to see the 4g or 5g out too. That doesn't make sense that this popular area of Orlando is a dark spot for 4g and 5g too. The wifi yes - if it has been ruined by construction work. I sort of feel disinclined to cancel - availability and price are not great for my dates at the moment (for suitable like venues at least).

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

Can't say I'm very reassured about the wi fi. Seems vary variable though. I have looked through lots of trip advisor reports. I take the view that you are more likely to get a complaint than a positive review on balance. That is to say a higher % of people unhappy complain than happy people write a good report. It is split, but with most not mentioning wi fi. I am guessing that most people have an adequate experience but there seems a minority who have a disaster. I was still surprised to see the 4g or 5g out too. That doesn't make sense that this popular area of Orlando is a dark spot for 4g and 5g too. The wifi yes - if it has been ruined by construction work. I sort of feel disinclined to cancel - availability and price are not great for my dates at the moment (for suitable like venues at least).

Agree. For those that this Wi-Fi And cell data disaster occurs, it’s a doozy. I think we will keep our dates there as well, hope it gets better, and come up with plan B in case of emergency (finding a place on site I can get a signal for those necessary arrangements)

 

[mystcjohn]

just in case anyone comes to this thread to see if they are still having issues, they are. the wifi is insanely bad. we were getting 3mb service in the room from the hotel wifi. when we called and complained we were told that the wifi is complimentary....its not a "right"

since we are owners, they came and put a verizon hotspot box in our room. this is ok...SOMETIMES...but not all the time. most times its less than 8mb service, unless you are getting on late in the evening (after midnight til around 8 in the morning) and at that time its ok....20mb or so. i think what is happening is that the resort might have verizon access points for phones in the resort, which are running off the hotel wifi, which is horrible.

I was able to tell that they are using spectrum for internet, which apparently in orlando, spectrum has a lot of issues with downtime due to network issues they know about but will not fix because they are hardware specific which would cost money. they just do a system reset which fixes the issue for a short time.

I cannot recommend this resort at all until they fix the wifi, unless you do not care at all about having wifi access between the hours of 8am and 11pm. its been this way now for multiple years and shows no sign of getting better, and the resort team really does not care about it