Wyndham Cypress Palms, Villas at Summer Bay, or somewhere else???

[pooh136]

This is my first post here on the Dis, but I have found a wealth of info already. We are planning on going to Disney with our 2 girls (one will be just turning 3, the other will be 21 months) at the end of April 2009. Through the Armed Forces Vacation Club we have the option to book one of several condos for only $329/week.

We have pretty much narrowed it down to Wyndham Cypress Palms or the Villas at Summer Bay Resort. Both of them seem to have good reviews here from what I've read, but Cypress Palms has much better reviews on TripAdvisor. Some of the others that are available to us are Orbit One, Orlando International Resort Club, Silver Lake Resort, and Celebrity Resorts Orlando-Resort World II.

We are basically looking for the nicest place that is as close to Disney as possible. We will have a rental car and will be spending 4 days in the parks, the other days will be spent at the resort enjoying the pools, and whatever else they have to offer. I'd like to make this decision soon, as we can save another $50 if we book by the end of this week.

Thanks for any input you can give!

Allison

 

[Grumpy's_Gal]

Hi, Allison -

I can't speak to Summer Bay as we've never stayed there (although I have read both good and bad reviews about Summer Bay on the DIS), but we have stayed at Cypress Palms a few times now, and actually cancelled a week we had reserved at Summer Bay to switch back to Cypress Palms when we found they had an opening for our November trip. We like that it is a smaller resort, and therefore more quiet than some others we've stayed at. Most (if not all, by now) of Cypress Palms has been recently refurbished. We don't spend a lot of time at the resort when we vacation in FL, but when we do, we want a clean, spacious place where we can relax in comfort, and Cypress Palms has always fit the bill for us when we've stayed there. It's also in a great location near shopping and many restaurants. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Lori

 

[sympatico]

I've only stayed at Wyndham Cypress Palms and it was very nice.
The closest to Disney is Silver Lake which is about 2 minutes from Animal Kingdom.
Summer Bay is the farthest away on west end of 192.
On this map I added Cypress Palms for you, it's #160
Silver Lake is #19
Orbit One is #105
Summer Bay is #38
Map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...8.272032,-81.608849&spn=0.068486,0.11055&z=13

 

[kydisneyfans]

We have stayed at Summer Bay.

The kids would love the water park as it is geared more toward the younger set. The drive to Disney is about 15-20 minutes to the gate.

We are staying at Silver Lake in 2 weeks. It looks like a nice resort also.

 

[pooh136]

Hi, Allison -

I can't speak to Summer Bay as we've never stayed there (although I have read both good and bad reviews about Summer Bay on the DIS), but we have stayed at Cypress Palms a few times now, and actually cancelled a week we had reserved at Summer Bay to switch back to Cypress Palms when we found they had an opening for our November trip. We like that it is a smaller resort, and therefore more quiet than some others we've stayed at. Most (if not all, by now) of Cypress Palms has been recently refurbished. We don't spend a lot of time at the resort when we vacation in FL, but when we do, we want a clean, spacious place where we can relax in comfort, and Cypress Palms has always fit the bill for us when we've stayed there. It's also in a great location near shopping and many restaurants. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Lori

Lori,
Thank you for your info on Cypress Palms, I'm pretty sure that is where we'll end up staying. It has been my first choice since we started looking a few weeks ago, but my DH liked the beach/jet-skis offered at Summer Bay.

Do you remember what restaurants/shopping is in the area? Is there anything that is within walking distance? Also, did you use the pools, or have any other info on what there is to do at the resort? We'll have 2 full non-park days, plus our arrival and departure days there.

Thanks again, Allison

 

[pooh136]

I've only stayed at Wyndham Cypress Palms and it was very nice.
The closest to Disney is Silver Lake which is about 2 minutes from Animal Kingdom.
Summer Bay is the farthest away on west end of 192.
On this map I added Cypress Palms for you, it's #160
Silver Lake is #19
Orbit One is #105
Summer Bay is #38
Map:

Thank you so much for the map, and adding Cypress Palms, it really helped to put things into perspective for me. Every place claimed it was close to Disney, but it was hard to figure out exactly how close. Silver Lake only has one bedrooms available the week we're going, so I think we'll be going with Cypress Palms, unless someone else posts to convince me to go somewhere else.

 

[pooh136]

We have stayed at Summer Bay.

The kids would love the water park as it is geared more toward the younger set. The drive to Disney is about 15-20 minutes to the gate.

We are staying at Silver Lake in 2 weeks. It looks like a nice resort also.

Thank you for your response, after seeing the map I think we're going to go with someplace closer. The water park and beach do seem like nice ammenities though.

 

[sympatico]

Lori,
Thank you for your info on Cypress Palms, I'm pretty sure that is where we'll end up staying. It has been my first choice since we started looking a few weeks ago, but my DH liked the beach/jet-skis offered at Summer Bay.

Do you remember what restaurants/shopping is in the area? Is there anything that is within walking distance? Also, did you use the pools, or have any other info on what there is to do at the resort? We'll have 2 full non-park days, plus our arrival and departure days there.

Thanks again, Allison

There is a Cracker Barrel restaurant on 192 in front of CP, (last building to the left before the trees on the map) maybe a 5 min or so walk. But there's other fast food, buffets and restaurants within a 15 minute walk. Also a Pharmacy as you turn down Scott Blvd. and a donut shop, maybe Krispy Kream.

 

[mommyof3grlz]

We love Cypress Palms. We will be staying there for the fourth time this October! We stayed at Summer Bay in April and it is truly a further drive. It was nice but too far away from Disney for me. Cypress Palms activities building provides big plush beach towels for the pool, free popcorn, board games to check out, and even show a movie on a big outdoor screen poolside one night out of the week. I hope you enjoy your vacation no matter where you choose. One more thing, there are alot of good eating spots near Cypress Palms and Super Walmart is about a 5 minute drive.
Also, if you book Cypress Palms make sure to get either a 2 BR or a 1BR with a FULL kitchen. The 1 BR partial kitchen units are way too small. I stayed in the 1 BR with full kitchen twice with my 3 daughters and we had plenty of space.

 

[pooh136]

We love Cypress Palms. We will be staying there for the fourth time this October! We stayed at Summer Bay in April and it is truly a further drive. It was nice but too far away from Disney for me. Cypress Palms activities building provides big plush beach towels for the pool, free popcorn, board games to check out, and even show a movie on a big outdoor screen poolside one night out of the week. I hope you enjoy your vacation no matter where you choose. One more thing, there are alot of good eating spots near Cypress Palms and Super Walmart is about a 5 minute drive.
Also, if you book Cypress Palms make sure to get either a 2 BR or a 1BR with a FULL kitchen. The 1 BR partial kitchen units are way too small. I stayed in the 1 BR with full kitchen twice with my 3 daughters and we had plenty of space.

Thank you for all the info, we will be taking the first step and booking Cypress Palms tomorrow! We will be getting a 2BR unit, it was one of our requirements when looking for a place to stay. We all need our own space, and will be spending a few days at the resort so we didn't want to be cramped.

Thanks again, Allison

 

[Grumpy's_Gal]

Lori,
Do you remember what restaurants/shopping is in the area? Is there anything that is within walking distance? Also, did you use the pools, or have any other info on what there is to do at the resort? We'll have 2 full non-park days, plus our arrival and departure days there.

Thanks again, Allison

Sorry, Allison! I'm just checking back in now. I see some people responded already, so I apologize if I duplicate anything. There are restaurants within walking distance, but it might be a bit of a long walk if you have any little ones...someone said 15 minute walk and that's probably pretty accurate. The ones I can think of are CVS pharmacy, Pizzeria Uno, Cracker Barrel, Krispy Creme and I think Macaroni Grill too. There's also Orange World, which ships oranges and has a little gift shop with knick-nacky type stuff. A little further away there's a steak place, CiCi's pizza buffet and many more restaurants.

My MIL used the pool when were there and she thought it was very nice. I'll see if I can find a photo. They do have the entertainment room with popcorn and games, and also a hot tub/spa too. There are some organized crafts/entertainment things for the kids too. I think they have different things every day of the week so you'll have to get the schedule when you get there. I remember kids decorating a tote bag one day, and making sundaes by the pool another.

Hope this helps!

 

[ntsammy5]

Through the Armed Forces Vacation Club we have the option to book one of several condos for only $329/week.

We're doing the same thing in November. I'll post back and let you know how it is.