Sheraton Vistana Resort Questions

[yummymummywales]

Oh no - gutted to hear the Super Pool and Zimmies are going to be closed! We are due to be at the Sheraton Vistana from 13-28 Sept for the first time and were looking forward to relaxing by the pool with a cocktail. Is there anywhere else that serves alcohol?!

We have been told we can request a section/floor. We are 2 adults and 2 girls 5&8 - can anyone suggest a good place to request? Any help gratefully received!

[bankr63]

Originally Posted by yummymummywales

Oh no - gutted to hear the Super Pool and Zimmies are going to be closed! We are due to be at the Sheraton Vistana from 13-28 Sept for the first time and were looking forward to relaxing by the pool with a cocktail. Is there anywhere else that serves alcohol?!

We have been told we can request a section/floor. We are 2 adults and 2 girls 5&8 - can anyone suggest a good place to request? Any help gratefully received!

Not to worry Mummy, there are 6 other pools in the resort, and 2 with liquor service.

Opinions on the which section to request are about numerous as the guests at the resort. There are several posts on this thread about how to choose what's best for you; but there really aren't any "bad" sections, just different. Spend a bit of time reading back through this and you should quickly get a feel for what is right for you.

[Tinky624]

Originally Posted by yummymummywales

Oh no - gutted to hear the Super Pool and Zimmies are going to be closed! We are due to be at the Sheraton Vistana from 13-28 Sept for the first time and were looking forward to relaxing by the pool with a cocktail. Is there anywhere else that serves alcohol?!

We have been told we can request a section/floor. We are 2 adults and 2 girls 5&8 - can anyone suggest a good place to request? Any help gratefully received!

Sorry to hear about the Super Pool and Bar, but it does need a bit of updating. We were just talking in June about how long would it be before they started renovating the pool. With that said I can't wait till June.
I would suggest requesting either the Cascades or the Fountains. We prefer the Cascades pool and bar. We have a little one and it's perfect for them to play in the shallows with the water jets that shoot in the air. Also, the bar service is very friendly and when we were there in June they brought back the poolside service which had been lacking in previous years. They will bring food and drinks right to your cabana or deck chairs! AWESOME! The Fountains has a larger pool along with KFC, A&W and Pizza Hut being right there. There bar is inside and has a walk up window. The atmosphere at the Cascades is better for us. Hope that helps. Have fun!

[FrankieDplus3]

Super Pool update: Pool is closed until Oct 26th. Zimmies bar (outside) is also closed.

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[cookiesandcoffee]

Hello!
I am new to DIS boards,not new to Disney, but new to the Vistana! We purchased from an owner at SVR and got a confirmation for the Palms unit 602. We have a family of five and from the pics the Palms only has seating for four. We all love to swim. Our kids range from 10 to 23 and we don't drink so we don't care about a bar. My husband works in the hotel industry and is very particular. This make travel planning stressful! He needs a clean, fresh room to relax and enjoy himself. I've read a lot about how great the Cascades are. Should we request the Cascades?

[Tinky624]

Originally Posted by cookiesandcoffee

Hello!
I am new to DIS boards,not new to Disney, but new to the Vistana! We purchased from an owner at SVR and got a confirmation for the Palms unit 602. We have a family of five and from the pics the Palms only has seating for four. We all love to swim. Our kids range from 10 to 23 and we don't drink so we don't care about a bar. My husband works in the hotel industry and is very particular. This make travel planning stressful! He needs a clean, fresh room to relax and enjoy himself. I've read a lot about how great the Cascades are. Should we request the Cascades?

As of last year all the Original units (Courts, Falls, Palms, Spas) have been completely renovated inside and out. These units are "fresher" than the Cascades. These units also have more room than the Cascades. Your only a short walk away from the Cascades pool which we love only second to the super pool. You should have a nice time no matter which room you request. Hope that helped.

[bankr63]

Originally Posted by cookiesandcoffee

Hello!
I am new to DIS boards,not new to Disney, but new to the Vistana! We purchased from an owner at SVR and got a confirmation for the Palms unit 602. We have a family of five and from the pics the Palms only has seating for four. We all love to swim. Our kids range from 10 to 23 and we don't drink so we don't care about a bar. My husband works in the hotel industry and is very particular. This make travel planning stressful! He needs a clean, fresh room to relax and enjoy himself. I've read a lot about how great the Cascades are. Should we request the Cascades?

FWIW - Palms 602 is a nice unit. Sunday Checkin, middle floor, easy walk to most of the South Side amenities, 4 pools within about 1.5 blocks. You mention seating for four, if you need an extra seat for the table, just call concierge when you arrive, or you can add to a request.

Note that you may not be able to request a change. If you rented from the deeded owner (Palms, Courts, Spas have lots of deeded owners - we own a specific unit/week in Courts) then changing can be difficult. If the unit was a float or exchange unit, changing can be easier. It's still worth trying if you think you won't like the unit (but I think you will probably find it very satisfactory), just not sure that a request will get you a change.

[cookiesandcoffee]

Originally Posted by bankr63

FWIW - Palms 602 is a nice unit. Sunday Checkin, middle floor, easy walk to most of the South Side amenities, 4 pools within about 1.5 blocks. You mention seating for four, if you need an extra seat for the table, just call concierge when you arrive, or you can add to a request.

Note that you may not be able to request a change. If you rented from the deeded owner (Palms, Courts, Spas have lots of deeded owners - we own a specific unit/week in Courts) then changing can be difficult. If the unit was a float or exchange unit, changing can be easier. It's still worth trying if you think you won't like the unit (but I think you will probably find it very satisfactory), just not sure that a request will get you a change.

Thank you for all of the great info. I just won't worry about what room. We leave in two days and there's enough other stuff for me to do with planning!

[TheWhites]

We made a reservation through RCI and it look like we'll be staying in the Springs section. Has anyone stayed in the Springs section recently? Does anyone have any room pictures to share or feedback regarding the condition of the rooms in Springs and how long since they were refurbished? How about the "Super Pool"... does anyone know when that will reopen?

Thanks in advance for any help!

[FrankieDplus3]

Originally Posted by TheWhites

We made a reservation through RCI and it look like we'll be staying in the Springs section. Has anyone stayed in the Springs section recently? Does anyone have any room pictures to share or feedback regarding the condition of the rooms in Springs and how long since they were refurbished? How about the "Super Pool"... does anyone know when that will reopen?

Thanks in advance for any help!

I just spent 2 weeks in Springs, Sept 1 - 15. It was my second stay in Springs. Sorry, I don't have any pictures to share. (The pictures I've seen online are VERY similar to what Springs looks like.)

The rooms were refurbished 2009/2010, I believe? The rooms are beautiful and in excellent shape and we comfortably fit 4 adults and 4 kids.

Use Diamond Lane and request a room near the pool. That's what we did and they accommodated us with no problems.

I love their pool because it isn't very busy. Some days we had the pool to ourselves. The arcade is right there, so the kids were busy all day. Springs also has a nice little park for the kids.

Cascades is real close, so we walked over there a couple times; and other days we walked over to Falls pool ("the Slide Pool").

We noticed a problem with our stove top when we were there (one burner wasn't working). We called the front desk and the stove was fixed the next day.

The Super Pool closed after the 1st week we were there and we were told it was re-opening Oct 26th. Zimmies restaurant is still open; it is also a short walk away.

Enjoy your stay and report back on your experience!!



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[mrsap]

Hey guys! Just wondering if anyone went on the time share tour and if so, did they do anything special just for giving them a try? Thanks!

[bankr63]

Originally Posted by mrsap

Hey guys! Just wondering if anyone went on the time share tour and if so, did they do anything special just for giving them a try? Thanks!

We've done the owners' update once about 2 1/2 years ago. That's basically the sales pitch to existing owners to get you to buy more (after all, we sold to you once already!) We usually avoid this like the plague, but it was just DW and me this trip and we figured we could burn the morning to learn a bit more about Sheraton's latest programs.

At the time, the biggest perk was a discount on tickets - I think we saved around $100 on our Disney tickets. But you have to ask yourself if it is worth wasting a half day of your vacation to save that little. They will probably keep you there for a couple of hours before they agree you've suffered enought to give you the discount, and by that time, the morning's pretty much shot. You've probably paid a lot to travel to Orlando and for accomodation - so think of it as you are already paying to be at their presentation. The free breakfast does NOT compensate.

Sales pitch was fairly low key for us, but our guy knew we bought our unit resale, so we were pretty aware of the actual value of what he was selling (about 1/10th or less of the asking price). Whatever you do, never utter the word "yes".

[robinb]

Hi everyone! I am considering renting one of the smaller 1BR units in Cascades. I see that they have a kitchenette. I'm trying to plan what I can cook in the unit. Is there a cooktop and/or oven? I can't seem to find this information. Also, I see that there are no laundry facilities in the unit. Are there some common laundry facilities in the resort? Thanks!

[FrankieDplus3]

Originally Posted by robinb

Hi everyone! I am considering renting one of the smaller 1BR units in Cascades. I see that they have a kitchenette. I'm trying to plan what I can cook in the unit. Is there a cooktop and/or oven? I can't seem to find this information. Also, I see that there are no laundry facilities in the unit. Are there some common laundry facilities in the resort? Thanks!

Hi,

I stayed in a Cascades one bedroom unit in 2011. In the unit we had, there was a full kitchen with a stove top and oven, dishwasher, microwave.

Yes, there are laundry facilities in the room. With our unit, the washer/dryer were hiding in the front closet (right next to our unit's front door).

If you search for my posts in this thread you'll see some of the pictures I posted.

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[robinb]

Originally Posted by FrankieDplus3

Hi,

I stayed in a Cascades one bedroom unit in 2011. In the unit we had, there was a full kitchen with a stove top and oven, dishwasher, microwave.

Yes, there are laundry facilities in the room. With our unit, the washer/dryer were hiding in the front closet (right next to our unit's front door).

If you search for my posts in this thread you'll see some of the pictures I posted.

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I think there are two kinds of 1BRs, the Premium 1BR and a Standard IBR. They become a 2BR lock-off when the doors are opened between them. I think you had a Premium one. I did finally find the info on the kitchenette: it has a cook top, but does not have an oven. The microwave had a convention oven. I've been in places like this before (in Tampa and Maui) so we can make that set up work. This rental is over Christmas and I just need to decide if I want to stay offsite or onsite at AKV where I currently have reservations. Vistana would save us a ton of money and I could rent out my DVC points to cover the expenses for my whole trip.