Got your ears on?
Just returned from a fun filled, sun splashed week in the Orlando/Lake Buena Vista area. We stayed in the Lakes area of Sheraton Vistana. Here are some of my observations...
Vistana Lakes Area: Much has been said about where to stay at Vistana. We didn't quibble when they assigned us to Lakes. We had requested Cascades based on reviews here in Tug. The check in at 7 pm on a Friday was practically empty. No need for the Diamond Lane.
From what I could tell, all of the Lakes area buildings are 4 story buildings employing the familiar modern design of other similar buildings we've encountered. Many of the newer timeshare properties seem to be using this architecture which has entry doors along an exterior corridor facing the parking area. The opposite side of the buildng has balconies; ours faced a lake and some undeveloped natural forest area. The super high rise Marriot was in the distance.
I would peg these buildings as 10-12 years old. They are in generally good condition with some signs of wear. The elevator floors were kind of shabby and the walls were somewhat marred. Inside the units, the construction is typical of units we've seen in other timeshares. To me, it seems that the quality of the construction is not great. I see mismatched joints and sloppy caulking, but that's me and I notice those things. I long ago concluded that speed of completion is more important to t/s developers than high quality construction.
Lakes Units: The layout of the unit was great. A small entry area with a closet holding the over/under washer dryer unit, small but full kitchen with an eat in bar area, a combo living room and dining room, two bedrooms, two baths, lots of space. I believe it is rated 8/6 on RCI. The master had a nice large closet, huge jacuzzi, separate shower/toilet area with sink, exterior sink and powder/make up area, television, phone, dresser, two night stands, king bed and sitting chair. Second bedroom had a closet, dresser, television, nightstand and two double beds.
Overall our unit was a mixed bag. I liked the layout and functionality. I didn't like the age of the comforters and sheets, which I thought were too old. The carpet was also worn, stained and beyond it's expected life. Kitchen cabinets showed some wear. Shower tile grout was stained in some areas. Certain light switches didn't seem to control anything. The ceiling fan didn't work at all.
Housekeeping could have been better. This is probabaly a management issue as I know the people doing the job are working hard. While clean, the units were not deep cleaned. My belief is there simply isn't enough time for housekeeping staff to thoroughly clean each unit. Therefore, telltale mystery goo isn't wiped off a table lamp, ketchup drips stay on a dining chair, vacuums only reach so far and messy finger prints stay on a freezer door. They conscientous tugger that I am, I simply cleaned up these things myself.
This didn't stop us from enjoying our unit. If it were cleaned better we'd rate it higher, but it only get's a B minus; which could have been a B plus or even A minus with a better cleaning.
I might also mention the master bathroom shower. It is a walk in and very spacious. It suffers from only having a small soap dish and nowhere to place shampoo bottles, razors and other stuff.
Vistana in General: Vistana is truly a full service RESORT;meaning it has all of the amenities you would expect: tennis, 7 swimming pools (all heated, even in February), hot tubs, exercise rooms, basketball, shuffleboard, restaurants, planned activities, etc. We only made spairing use of all of it because we were too darned tired from hopping parks in WDW and Universal each day.
What I did find interesting is that the Resort TV Channel displayed lists of the 2005 Reserve Replacements for each phase of the resort. Under Lakes it indicated that: carpeting, bedspreads, were to be replaced (along with other things too). I meant to call and inquire about this, but forgot. Maybe they meant it was for 2006. Maybe they didn't get to that particular unit yet. Perhaps the unit was one of the so called "RCI" trader units which I've read about that are on a different maintenance/reserve schedule which offer less than what a true "owner" might expect.
We drove around the complex and even the older sections (obvious because they are 2 and 3 story buildings) seem nice. Landscaping is great in the entire complex. Perhaps the least appealing area to me was, ironically, the Cascades section. Least landscaping, tallest buildings, bland.
Weather in February: The wheather was great for park hopping. Days were sunny and in the low 70s. Nights did get cool and long sleeves and jackets were needed. We only swam once, but that's because by the time we got back from the parks it was already dark and getting into the 60s. Beat the heck out of the cold midwest.
Disney Parks: We had some "leftover" tickets from a prior trip, but needed more. There are many places to buy and we ended up at Walmart on 535 about 2 miles from Vistana. It's a new Super WM with a travel office up front. Tickets are confusing now with all the options. WM was a good deal though and saved $$ from the Disney gate prices.
At Disney we enjoyed all 4 parks and downtown Disney. I even did the Quadrulple Mountain Whammy! Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad.....and.....Expedition Everest. Everest was open for a few hours the day we did Animal Kingdom. It was great!!!
I've been to Animal Kingdom before and found it OK. This time I enjoyed it much more than before. Perhaps because of the cooler temperatures, the small crowds, I don't know. It was just very, very enjoyable. The landscaping alone is a feat of major proportions!! We saw more animals than ever before on the safari. A giraffe was literally an arm's reach from the vehicle.
Unversal Studios/ Islands of Adventure: We had great tickets from the Universal website. 2 adults for 5 consecutive days and two kids free only $200. We only used 4 days but it was great. Don't let anyone tell you that Universal and Islands are second citizens in the themepark arena. They are absolutely great. The rides are great, the shows are great and the experience is fun, fun, fun. It's not Disney, but then again, it's not Disney.
Food: We had a some nice meals on the vacation too. Jungle Jims (great for kids and "older" kids); Tony Romas, Germany at Epcot, Macaroni Grill, Unos, are the ones that come to mind. Having a car we were able to travel to whatever type of restaurant we wanted. While trying to avoid buffets, we did hit the Golden Corral on 192 about 2 miles east of I-4. It was darn good for a buffet.
Shopping: We shopped the outlet mall on International Drive. It has 2 Disney stores and one Universal store with lots of merchandise that is simply being rotated out of the stores at the parks. You can save 30 to 75 percent by shopping there. Do it first before you hit the parks.
Transportation: You need a rental car or your own car. If you stay at Disney you could get away without having one, but we did well and got a minivan for less than $200 a week.
To sum it up, the weather was great for park hopping, Vistana is a good place to stay and the crowds were small at the parks. We're now talking about 2007. I hope we can do it!
AR
Just returned from a fun filled, sun splashed week in the Orlando/Lake Buena Vista area. We stayed in the Lakes area of Sheraton Vistana. Here are some of my observations...
Vistana Lakes Area: Much has been said about where to stay at Vistana. We didn't quibble when they assigned us to Lakes. We had requested Cascades based on reviews here in Tug. The check in at 7 pm on a Friday was practically empty. No need for the Diamond Lane.
From what I could tell, all of the Lakes area buildings are 4 story buildings employing the familiar modern design of other similar buildings we've encountered. Many of the newer timeshare properties seem to be using this architecture which has entry doors along an exterior corridor facing the parking area. The opposite side of the buildng has balconies; ours faced a lake and some undeveloped natural forest area. The super high rise Marriot was in the distance.
I would peg these buildings as 10-12 years old. They are in generally good condition with some signs of wear. The elevator floors were kind of shabby and the walls were somewhat marred. Inside the units, the construction is typical of units we've seen in other timeshares. To me, it seems that the quality of the construction is not great. I see mismatched joints and sloppy caulking, but that's me and I notice those things. I long ago concluded that speed of completion is more important to t/s developers than high quality construction.
Lakes Units: The layout of the unit was great. A small entry area with a closet holding the over/under washer dryer unit, small but full kitchen with an eat in bar area, a combo living room and dining room, two bedrooms, two baths, lots of space. I believe it is rated 8/6 on RCI. The master had a nice large closet, huge jacuzzi, separate shower/toilet area with sink, exterior sink and powder/make up area, television, phone, dresser, two night stands, king bed and sitting chair. Second bedroom had a closet, dresser, television, nightstand and two double beds.
Overall our unit was a mixed bag. I liked the layout and functionality. I didn't like the age of the comforters and sheets, which I thought were too old. The carpet was also worn, stained and beyond it's expected life. Kitchen cabinets showed some wear. Shower tile grout was stained in some areas. Certain light switches didn't seem to control anything. The ceiling fan didn't work at all.
Housekeeping could have been better. This is probabaly a management issue as I know the people doing the job are working hard. While clean, the units were not deep cleaned. My belief is there simply isn't enough time for housekeeping staff to thoroughly clean each unit. Therefore, telltale mystery goo isn't wiped off a table lamp, ketchup drips stay on a dining chair, vacuums only reach so far and messy finger prints stay on a freezer door. They conscientous tugger that I am, I simply cleaned up these things myself.
This didn't stop us from enjoying our unit. If it were cleaned better we'd rate it higher, but it only get's a B minus; which could have been a B plus or even A minus with a better cleaning.
I might also mention the master bathroom shower. It is a walk in and very spacious. It suffers from only having a small soap dish and nowhere to place shampoo bottles, razors and other stuff.
Vistana in General: Vistana is truly a full service RESORT;meaning it has all of the amenities you would expect: tennis, 7 swimming pools (all heated, even in February), hot tubs, exercise rooms, basketball, shuffleboard, restaurants, planned activities, etc. We only made spairing use of all of it because we were too darned tired from hopping parks in WDW and Universal each day.
What I did find interesting is that the Resort TV Channel displayed lists of the 2005 Reserve Replacements for each phase of the resort. Under Lakes it indicated that: carpeting, bedspreads, were to be replaced (along with other things too). I meant to call and inquire about this, but forgot. Maybe they meant it was for 2006. Maybe they didn't get to that particular unit yet. Perhaps the unit was one of the so called "RCI" trader units which I've read about that are on a different maintenance/reserve schedule which offer less than what a true "owner" might expect.
We drove around the complex and even the older sections (obvious because they are 2 and 3 story buildings) seem nice. Landscaping is great in the entire complex. Perhaps the least appealing area to me was, ironically, the Cascades section. Least landscaping, tallest buildings, bland.
Weather in February: The wheather was great for park hopping. Days were sunny and in the low 70s. Nights did get cool and long sleeves and jackets were needed. We only swam once, but that's because by the time we got back from the parks it was already dark and getting into the 60s. Beat the heck out of the cold midwest.
Disney Parks: We had some "leftover" tickets from a prior trip, but needed more. There are many places to buy and we ended up at Walmart on 535 about 2 miles from Vistana. It's a new Super WM with a travel office up front. Tickets are confusing now with all the options. WM was a good deal though and saved $$ from the Disney gate prices.
At Disney we enjoyed all 4 parks and downtown Disney. I even did the Quadrulple Mountain Whammy! Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad.....and.....Expedition Everest. Everest was open for a few hours the day we did Animal Kingdom. It was great!!!
I've been to Animal Kingdom before and found it OK. This time I enjoyed it much more than before. Perhaps because of the cooler temperatures, the small crowds, I don't know. It was just very, very enjoyable. The landscaping alone is a feat of major proportions!! We saw more animals than ever before on the safari. A giraffe was literally an arm's reach from the vehicle.
Unversal Studios/ Islands of Adventure: We had great tickets from the Universal website. 2 adults for 5 consecutive days and two kids free only $200. We only used 4 days but it was great. Don't let anyone tell you that Universal and Islands are second citizens in the themepark arena. They are absolutely great. The rides are great, the shows are great and the experience is fun, fun, fun. It's not Disney, but then again, it's not Disney.
Food: We had a some nice meals on the vacation too. Jungle Jims (great for kids and "older" kids); Tony Romas, Germany at Epcot, Macaroni Grill, Unos, are the ones that come to mind. Having a car we were able to travel to whatever type of restaurant we wanted. While trying to avoid buffets, we did hit the Golden Corral on 192 about 2 miles east of I-4. It was darn good for a buffet.
Shopping: We shopped the outlet mall on International Drive. It has 2 Disney stores and one Universal store with lots of merchandise that is simply being rotated out of the stores at the parks. You can save 30 to 75 percent by shopping there. Do it first before you hit the parks.
Transportation: You need a rental car or your own car. If you stay at Disney you could get away without having one, but we did well and got a minivan for less than $200 a week.
To sum it up, the weather was great for park hopping, Vistana is a good place to stay and the crowds were small at the parks. We're now talking about 2007. I hope we can do it!
AR