The Sheraton Vistana Resort Thread (key links on p.1)

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I have no idea why these won't post the correct way.....my apologies!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

@Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina either maintenance at the resort has gone WAAAY downhill, or that is the natural pond behind Lakes building 7...

Time to play guess that caption...

(oops - that's for post #2037 not for #2038.)

You are CORRECT!

Would you believe, even after all of our visits, that we never knew that pond was there until this trip?

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Phew! I think that's pretty much all the ones worth sharing. Let me know if anyone has any questions.

Just a quick heads upon regards to a change on the horizon at the Welcome Center. I was speaking with Kayla, the pre-arrival coordinator, earlier this week and she mentioned that the resort is discontinuing Diamond Lane check-in. She expects that program to be phased out entirely anytime. I will let you know if the signs are down when we check in on the 24th.

 

[bankr63]

Phew! I think that's pretty much all the ones worth sharing. Let me know if anyone has any questions.

Just a quick heads upon regards to a change on the horizon at the Welcome Center. I was speaking with Kayla, the pre-arrival coordinator, earlier this week and she mentioned that the resort is discontinuing Diamond Lane check-in. She expects that program to be phased out entirely anytime. I will let you know if the signs are down when we check in on the 24th.

Thank you so much for sharing! Makes me a little homesick. We won't be back until 2021 for the 50th celebrations - like 62 weeks away still! Heading south to Hilton Head in about 10 weeks now though, so there is that to look forward to. We had a hard time getting a taker for our March break week this year; some unrest in the education system here in Ontario has left the teachers wary of spending I guess. Usually pretty easy for A+ to find a fellow teacher who wants a week in Orlando.

Glad to see you got a favorite upper unit. And that swag for "Family of the Week" looks pretty sweet. Not too surprised to see DL going away, maybe a part of the Marriott overlay, but I kind of thought it would disappear when they started doing the VIP check-in. I'll take the link off page one.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Thank you so much for sharing! Makes me a little homesick. We won't be back until 2021 for the 50th celebrations - like 62 weeks away still! Heading south to Hilton Head in about 10 weeks now though, so there is that to look forward to. We had a hard time getting a taker for our March break week this year; some unrest in the education system here in Ontario has left the teachers wary of spending I guess. Usually pretty easy for A+ to find a fellow teacher who wants a week in Orlando.

Glad to see you got a favorite upper unit. And that swag for "Family of the Week" looks pretty sweet. Not too surprised to see DL going away, maybe a part of the Marriott overlay, but I kind of thought it would disappear when they started doing the VIP check-in. I'll take the link off page one.

Kayla has been excellent about fulfilling every request we have made.....this coming trip, we aren't using one of our ownership weeks (we booked a getaway through II) and she's even confirmed she's placed us in an upper Fountains unit once again. We were fully prepared to be put ANYWHERE in the resort, so it was a nice surprise to hear we're still able to be in "our" section.

I must admit, after 3 nights of HHN and a MNSSHP, I was feeling all those stairs to the top floor LOL. Love those vaulted ceilings, though. It makes the villa feel so much more spacious.

Family of the Week was a fun perk, but to be honest, it should have gone to a family with kids. They gave us a ton of free/discounted coupons that we didn't use a single one of. I felt bad that they went to waste. That said, they took a nice photo of us when we checked in and sent it around to all the resort staff, so it was fun to be recognized with such enthusiasm when we stopped at the Marketplace for coffee in the morning. And as part of the Family of the Week entitlement, they gave us a shopping bag at the Marketplace which we could fill with anything we wanted from a large dedicated rack in the store. We tossed a few things in and went to leave when the staff came over and scolded us for being terrible packers . They promptly started rolling up the t-shirts, stuffing in extra wine and snacks, and showing us what other things could fit in the tiny spaces that were left. They literally had us pile stuff right up to the handles (I thought sure the bag would give out before we got it back up to the third floor!). The photo of everything laid out on the table shows everything that filled the bag....retail value was about $150. Everything from the aforementioned wine and t-shirts to a souvenir cup, cell phone holder, hot sauce and spam. They had all sorts of kids toys, candy and gadgets to appeal to little ones as well.

I am not surprised that A's teacher friends are being a tad more cautious than normal. Jake's GF is a French immersion teacher in the Catholic board, and she's concerned that they may also face a strike at some point. I hope you were at least able to recoup your maintenance fees for the week. If you ever have that week to rent in the future, do message me with the specific dates and price as I have several friends with school-age kids who are ALWAYS asking if we want to rent out one of our weeks for their March break.

I'm feeling awfully guilty about our upcoming January visit, now that I'm on an open-ended hiatus from work. Had we known this was going to happen, we probably wouldn't have splurged for that extra getaway, but......well, it's booked and paid for so we are going regardless. If my case is still tied up in US Customs when we return, I'll probably do a trip report when we come home to help pass the time.

 

[JaxDad]

Hi Gina! Great pictures! For some reason, it seemed funny that they gave you a canned ham, but I guess, why not?!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Hi Gina! Great pictures! For some reason, it seemed funny that they gave you a canned ham, but I guess, why not?!

You weren't the only one to raise an eyebrow at the ham . With Steve's diabetes, he couldn't have the cookies....so it was the only snack item he could eat! For the record, he said it was pretty bad LOL.

 

[confetti]

Thank you for the pictures, I am so excited for our stay in 3 weeks. We're hoping to stay on a top floor in the Cascades section. I like the Fountains area and pool, but I really think being closer to the Market and Zimmie's would be easier since we can walk to all those things quickly.

I booked through Costco and put in a request for top floor of Cascades when I reserved. I'm planning to call and request it with the resort too, should I do that a week or two weeks before?

Also, has anyone ordered groceries through Instacart and had them delivered before you arrived? We don't land until 9 pm, so I'm guessing we won't be at the resort until 10:00 at the very earliest, which is outside the delivery window. I sent a facebook message to the resort and they assured me that they would hold the groceries and keep things cold but I wondered about anyone's experience with that.

 

[mckennarose]

I'm planning to call and request it with the resort too, should I do that a week or two weeks before?

I would definitely call to confirm they got the request. I usually call after I make my reservation through Interval (a few months before our trips) and then a week before our reservation to confirm our requests. They will tell you that they can't guarantee your requests, but they really do go above and beyond to make them happen, in my experience.

Have a great trip! My daughter and son in law will be there the first week of February also. The Super Bowl parade looks like it will be in WDW this year (as per the NFL contest) so if you're planning on going to MK on the Monday after the Super Bowl .... be prepared! My kids are planning on going and are excited for it!

 

[confetti]

I would definitely call to confirm they got the request. I usually call after I make my reservation through Interval (a few months before our trips) and then a week before our reservation to confirm our requests. They will tell you that they can't guarantee your requests, but they really do go above and beyond to make them happen, in my experience.

Have a great trip! My daughter and son in law will be there the first week of February also. The Super Bowl parade looks like it will be in WDW this year (as per the NFL contest) so if you're planning on going to MK on the Monday after the Super Bowl .... be prepared! My kids are planning on going and are excited for it!

Thanks, I'll call soon and confirm our requests. I'm not dead set on a certain building but we'd prefer top floor since I hate stomping people above me. For the Monday after the super bowl, we're hitting Hollywood Studios. I'm hoping that the week won't be crazy busy but we're going in expecting some crowds and we'll just do as much as we can in the parks.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Thank you for the pictures, I am so excited for our stay in 3 weeks. We're hoping to stay on a top floor in the Cascades section. I like the Fountains area and pool, but I really think being closer to the Market and Zimmie's would be easier since we can walk to all those things quickly.

I booked through Costco and put in a request for top floor of Cascades when I reserved. I'm planning to call and request it with the resort too, should I do that a week or two weeks before?

Also, has anyone ordered groceries through Instacart and had them delivered before you arrived? We don't land until 9 pm, so I'm guessing we won't be at the resort until 10:00 at the very earliest, which is outside the delivery window. I sent a facebook message to the resort and they assured me that they would hold the groceries and keep things cold but I wondered about anyone's experience with that.

I would message the pre-arrival coordinator, Kayla Lee, with all of your specific requests and concerns. I am sure she will take great care of you. Anytime within 3 weeks of arrival seems to have been the right timing for us in the past.

Her email is:

Kayla.Lee@sheratonvistanaresortvillas.com

 

[confetti]

I would message the pre-arrival coordinator, Kayla Lee, with all of your specific requests and concerns. I am sure she will take great care of you. Anytime within 3 weeks of arrival seems to have been the right timing for us in the past.

Her email is:

Kayla.Lee@sheratonvistanaresortvillas.com

Thank you. Just to be sure, she handles all arrivals no matter how they booked?