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

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

My certificate says 06 privately, 08 maximum.

So confused now lol

That's good news, actually. That means you should not be in the Courts or Falls sections as bankr63 outlined above. Sleeps 6 privately means 6 can sleep in the 2 bedrooms (2 in the king bed in the master, 2 each in the two doubles in the guest bedroom). Then 2 additional in the sleeper sofa in the living room. That would put you in Cascades, Fountains I or II, Lakes, Springs, Spas, or Palms. I wouldn't think the Vistana would have you move to a different unit for your extra night.

 

[Ima Disnewby]

That's good news, actually. That means you should not be in the Courts or Falls sections as bankr63 outlined above. Sleeps 6 privately means 6 can sleep in the 2 bedrooms (2 in the king bed in the master, 2 each in the two doubles in the guest bedroom). Then 2 additional in the sleeper sofa in the living room. That would put you in Cascades, Fountains I or II, Lakes, Springs, Spas, or Palms. I wouldn't think the Vistana would have you move to a different unit for your extra night.

Oh thank goodness!!! This is why I had come to ask the experts

When I had originally made the extra nights reservation with SVR, I had explained that I had booked a week through a third party company (Skyauction) and reservations at SVR told me they can easily link my 2 reservations together.

I feel better now! Thank you SO much Gina! Super helpful as always

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Oh thank goodness!!! This is why I had come to ask the experts

When I had originally made the extra nights reservation with SVR, I had explained that I had booked a week through a third party company (Skyauction) and reservations at SVR told me they can easily link my 2 reservations together.

I feel better now! Thank you SO much Gina! Super helpful as always

No worries. Nothing is guaranteed, of course...but another good thing to keep in mind is that there are MANY more sections that sleep 8 than there are sections that sleep 6. So the odds are in your favour .

Also, Courts is just for Saturday check-ins and Falls is just for Friday arrivals (if I remember correctly). Not sure when you are checking in, but if its a Sunday, you likely wouldn't have ended up in either of those two areas anyway.

When is your trip?

 

[Ima Disnewby]

No worries. Nothing is guaranteed, of course...but another good thing to keep in mind is that there are MANY more sections that sleep 8 than there are sections that sleep 6. So the odds are in your favour .

Also, Courts is just for Saturday check-ins and Falls is just for Friday arrivals (if I remember correctly). Not sure when you are checking in, but if its a Sunday, you likely wouldn't have ended up in either of those two areas anyway.

When is your trip?

My 7 day pkg with skyauction begins on a Saturday but my extra night I had to add is a Friday. Our dates are May 8-16.

 

[bankr63]

So it sounds like the sleeps 6 information is from your one extra night booked with Sheraton directly, and your Skyauction is in a sleeps 8. That really is good news. If they link your reservations together, there is almost no chance of getting a sleeps 6 configuration - and it's most likely you'll be put in a Friday building. I would try the resort again once you are a bit closer to your date to have the reservations linked and to add a Diamond Lane request for the crib, or call the resort to have it added. They typically won't see your Skyauction reservation until a couple of weeks out if Skyauction is (as Gina suspects) a part of II, so it is probably worth waiting until closer to the date when the resort will have the full picture.

Your dates are outside of peak season as well, so the resort should have a lot more flexibility around placement.

 

[Ima Disnewby]

So it sounds like the sleeps 6 information is from your one extra night booked with Sheraton directly, and your Skyauction is in a sleeps 8. That really is good news. If they link your reservations together, there is almost no chance of getting a sleeps 6 configuration - and it's most likely you'll be put in a Friday building. I would try the resort again once you are a bit closer to your date to have the reservations linked and to add a Diamond Lane request for the crib, or call the resort to have it added. They typically won't see your Skyauction reservation until a couple of weeks out if Skyauction is (as Gina suspects) a part of II, so it is probably worth waiting until closer to the date when the resort will have the full picture.

Your dates are outside of peak season as well, so the resort should have a lot more flexibility around placement.

Great! Thank you for the info! I will definitely call them again closer to my dates.

 

[Ima Disnewby]

Ok, so a quick update!!

I had emailed Skyauction yesterday after my conversation with SVR to let them know what I had been told. They called me this afternoon and let me know they had called SVR on my behalf and had confirmed I could indeed have 8 guests. They gave me the name of my representative and my res # and told me to call and I would be able to link the 2 together now. I called & they did it for me and also made a note for the crib! So happy!!

The service I got today from Skyauction was great! They also sent me a follow up email with all of the information so I could have a hard copy. Any worries I had about using them are gone

 

[Belly Button Lint]

Hello everyone! Planning our first trip to SVR this April. We have a Saturday arrival in the fountains II section. I know it says somewhere in this thread what color building correlates to what arrival date (on the resort map) but I cannot find it. Can someone help me out? Also, does anyone have a favorite Fountains II Building that is a Saturday arrival building? Thanks for your help! I love this thread!

 

[chalee94]

this is all i have seen:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7177/6866389171_dd4053df44_b.jpg

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Hello everyone! Planning our first trip to SVR this April. We have a Saturday arrival in the fountains II section. I know it says somewhere in this thread what color building correlates to what arrival date (on the resort map) but I cannot find it. Can someone help me out? Also, does anyone have a favorite Fountains II Building that is a Saturday arrival building? Thanks for your help! I love this thread!

There is also this one:

https://www.mystarcentral.com/flash/maps/01/map.html

Buildings in red ar Friday check-in, blue is Saturday check-in, green is Sunday check-in.

Edited to add....bankr63 has another map in post 2....it is the one that says "links outside of the Dis" and brings up a nice PDF that you can print

 

[bankr63]

this is all i have seen:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7177/6866389171_dd4053df44_b.jpg

I would stick with the official Sheraton maps. This one looks like it was done by a while ago by a third party and some of the information is now incorrect since the renovations. Actually some if it was wrong then too, like Spas are 2 AND 3 storey buildings, some of the Cascades buildings have a 5th floor (making 4th floor skylights difficult), references the food court that no longer exists, etc. But it IS a really cool summary of some of the main points of the resort.

 

[Belly Button Lint]

Thanks everyone for your help! Looks like I will ask for any Fountains II Building on the pond. Can anyone describe how busy the resort gets at spring break time? We are arriving April 4.

 

[bankr63]

Thanks everyone for your help! Looks like I will ask for any Fountains II Building on the pond. Can anyone describe how busy the resort gets at spring break time? We are arriving April 4.

The resort is fairly busy over the break by Vistana standards, but it is a big space, so you aren't likely to feel TOO crowded. Our spring break is a few weeks earlier, and we do find the pools get fairly busy but you can still generally find a lounger without too much difficulty. Just comparing to Gina's photos from summer, the pools look much busier over the spring break. The "denser" (Cascades/Lakes) sections may be a bit harder to get parking near your door, but again this isn't a really crowded space for the most part. On the plus side, activities are often more fun when there are more people to participate.

 

[sweetnjmom]

That's good news, actually. That means you should not be in the Courts or Falls sections as bankr63 outlined above. Sleeps 6 privately means 6 can sleep in the 2 bedrooms (2 in the king bed in the master, 2 each in the two doubles in the guest bedroom). Then 2 additional in the sleeper sofa in the living room. That would put you in Cascades, Fountains I or II, Lakes, Springs, Spas, or Palms. I wouldn't think the Vistana would have you move to a different unit for your extra night.

We'll be there two months from today and I also have a room like this... is there an area that is best for a 5-1/2 year old boy who cannot swim yet but loves pools?

Also, do you know if the beds can be moved? It would be better to have a bed against the wall for my son, who has fallen out of beds before.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We'll be there two months from today and I also have a room like this... is there an area that is best for a 5-1/2 year old boy who cannot swim yet but loves pools?

Also, do you know if the beds can be moved? It would be better to have a bed against the wall for my son, who has fallen out of beds before.

The Cascades pool has a shallow section with sprinkler fountains which are fun for the little ones. Your son might really enjoy that pool in particular.

The Falls pool has a small slide that he might find enjoyable, too, if you think he can handle it. Its a short walk from the Cascades pool.

In our Spas and Fountains units, each of the beds in the second bedroom was against a wall (one on each side of the room). I would assume you could push both of them together to make one BIG bed, but I personally would be afraid to....I absolutely don't want to know what might be hiding under there from a prior guest . Not that the Vistana is dirty (not at all!) but its still a hotel and who knows what goes on in some of those villas ?

 

[sweetnjmom]

The Cascades pool has a shallow section with sprinkler fountains which are fun for the little ones. Your son might really enjoy that pool in particular.

The Falls pool has a small slide that he might find enjoyable, too, if you think he can handle it. Its a short walk from the Cascades pool.

In our Spas and Fountains units, each of the beds in the second bedroom was against a wall (one on each side of the room). I would assume you could push both of them together to make one BIG bed, but I personally would be afraid to....I absolutely don't want to know what might be hiding under there from a prior guest . Not that the Vistana is dirty (not at all!) but its still a hotel and who knows what goes on in some of those villas ?

I only need ONE of the double beds in the 2nd bedroom to be up against the wall ... I'm thinking of using the extra pillows as a bed rail of sorts. I really don't want to see what's under the beds either! LOL

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I only need ONE of the double beds in the 2nd bedroom to be up against the wall ... I'm thinking of using the extra pillows as a bed rail of sorts. I really don't want to see what's under the beds either! LOL

Here's an idea of the configuration of the 2nd bedroom:

In Fountains:



In Spas:

 

[sweetnjmom]

Thanks, Gina!! I think we'll be fine with those configurations (and I also looked at pics on Trip Advisor and Expedia). I may even use the dining room chairs to keep him from falling out of bed. We went to Washington DC for a weekend and, in the middle of the night, BAM! He fell on the floor and woke up crying. This will be the first trip we've been on that he is NOT sharing a bed with me--good for me... I may actually sleep.

 

[keeperof4]

Well we're back home. What a magnificent vacation. From the time of our arrival until the time we left we were treated like family. Although the weather was a little cool , the pools were kept steaming hot. Sorry I didn't get pictures of the new Zimmie's or lobby. The staff once again was amazing, the property itself was kept meticulous, our two bedroom unit in Cascades was meticulous in fact most of our kitchen utensils including pots were brand new. More than enough shampoo, conditioners and soap was supplied. They are back to the Starbucks coffee but you have to use two of the pouches to get any kind of flavor with the percolator. When we needed extras just told house keeping and they were there within minutes.The market opens at 730 for star bucks where I am still up 530 The new Zimmie's is a big improvement and morning, noon and late evenings it was busy. I ate only one meal there while the family was at Disney , had a steak. It was fine?? but nothing compared to the Outback(Best steaks!!) and Longhorn), just minutes?? away on Vineland. The Cascades was by far the best meals for the children. Children's menu was well priced with good portion,drink and everyday they had a special, such as Caesar Salad, nachos etc. that were well worth the price. We also ate at Tacky Tiki Grill(3) that had great pizzas salads and large burgers that the kids loved. Also free refills on the pops.(sodas in Florida) The resort itself was not busy at all so there was never any problems with loungers or chairs. We received pool cards but we did not have to use them until the last day , the problem that resort is having is that people are taking way too many towels for each person, even days we were at the pool when it was not crowded they ran out of towels by noon. We did notice this year that there were two different departure times for the parks. When I went to get my coffee around 7:30 am there was a large bus(large crowd!) and then again around 11:30am the same large bus would return again.Bus would return 10:30 a night?(full?) Not sure if there is any changes as far as cost getting people to the parks. The only issue that we did run into this year was the amount of drivers who were racing through the resort and not yielding to pedestrians especially the children. In fact on two occasions the first day I was almost hit by two different vehicles. The usual ones not smoking in designated areas? One night students attempted to have a late night party at Cascades pool security was there in minutes!!,I did not see that group again come to think of it? I would have no hesitations whatsoever recommending SVR to anyone looking for a first class location to stay while in the Disney area. Considering the price we paid and what is being asked by far less superior facilities in the area, you can't go wrong choosing this resort for your family. The traffic has even become worse since our last visit so and bear it!

 

[bankr63]

Welcome back Keeper, glad you enjoyed your stay.

We're heading there in just 7 sleeps. I'll try to remember to get some good shots of the new facilities for everyone.