Disneyworld

Best Things Nearby:
Disney World is right around the corner, although it took quite a long time to get there. It is about a few miles, but took about 15 minutes to get to a parking spot. Sea World and Universal are all within a short driving distance from the condos. There are also a plethora of restaurants very close.

Best Things About the Resort:
The timeshare was very spacious. That's about it.

Resort Experience:
Sheraton Vistana Resort has everything. There are pools in every section, games rooms, and a variety of activities thru out the week. They even have a Mary Kay lady come to show you some makeup techniques.

The resort is pretty huge. A few of the sections are divided by city streets.

Check-in seemed to me like on of those timeshare presentations. No one was pushing the timeshare, but the atmosphere seemed to be. Across from the check in location were five guys lined up waiting behind maybe a 25 foot counter for prospective timeshare owners. A few were just munching down boxes of popcorn that they were giving away in front of the building. Later in the week I had gone down to the counter to get some Disney World timetables and was passed to another person because he didn't want to lose his turn.

I called the resort's number on our exchange sheet to make some room and section requests, and was transferred twice before someone told me that RCI does the requests. I then called RCI and was told their computer wasn't capable of making requests. So I called RCI again and was helped my someone more helpful, who then called the Vistana with me on the line. He helped me with the diamond lane check-in, but he said that I couldn't request anything since I was a non-owner. In the meantime, I had emailed the resort about check cashing policies because someone I talked to at the resort told me that she didn't know what the policy was and that I should just bring traveler's checks ($50 per day check cashing). I was then able to get the phone number for customer service, who was very helpful and put in my requests. When I emailed I had also made the section and room requests. So emailing thru the starwood website or directly to the front desk (407/239-3310) will get you to the right person.

We requested the Cascade Section, which is the newest, but got the Fountains. From what I heard the Cascades are hard to get into and Falls would be the next best section. We requested a non-smoking unit, which there isn't any, so they said they'd put us in a unit with some electrostatic air filter. The Courts are supposed to be one of the older sections, but I heard that they just got remodeled. There are also two-bedroom units there with lofts. We did get the top floor, which was the third floor. The top floor of the Fountains have vaulted ceilings, which made the unit seem even more spacious. Some sections have five stories. There are no elevators.

The unit was pretty dirty and not kept up very well. I called the front desk to have them check out the dishwasher since it didn't go past the dry cycle. No one came the whole week we were there. It does have a stackable washer and dryer in the hallway closet, which I liked since we have two small children. The only problem was the dryer took three hours to dry a load of laundry. I ended up hanging the clothes overnight.

The rug was totaly dirty. I had to wash my kid's feet, as well as mine, multiple times during the day because they were just filthy. It was kind of gross after a while walking around barefoot and feeling that grunge on the bottom of my feet. The bathrooms were very bleached. They had a strong smell and I got a chemical burn leaning on the whirlpool bath in the master bedroom. I had to rinse the outside and top of the tub, so my kids didn't get burnt. I was really disappointed with the unit. I would expect that the Sheraton provide cleaner units.

The unit that we had was a two bedroom. The master bedroom was very spacious. It had a king bed and a sliding door out to the balcony. The second bedroom had two queen size beds. The living room had another sliding door to the balcony. The balcony was covered and enclosed by netting. I figured there must be a bunch of mosquitos there! Many of the houses that I saw driving from the airport had these net enclosures on their patio. Some looked as big as 50 feet long.
There were three TVs, not the best quality, but they worked. There were two bathrooms, a living room, kitchen, and eating area. It had an open floor plan. The kitchen had two tall barstools, so you could eat on the counter. The kitchen had a minimal amount of cookware and tools, but there were about a dozen ashtrays!!! The cabinets were old and the floor wasn't very clean. The nonstick frying pan was very worn.

They supplied a few packets of dishwashing detergent and extra paper towels. There was no laundry detergent. The bathrooms had bar soaps. Housekeeping supplied fresh towels and made your bed on the third day. I read that there was a $30 charge if you want to reschedule cleaning for a different day.

I signed up for the diamond lane check-in, but it was so slow! There was one lady in front of me and a whole line of people in the regular line. The other line had about five people behind the counter. The regular line definitely went faster, but I'm sure the diamond lane is usually a faster check-in.
The website is here.

Also, we traded over a year and a half prior to arrival, which was a mistake. There are soooo many bonus weeks as well as timeshares available for Orlando. We will definitely not stay here again.

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Good
• Amenities: Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Poor
• Family Friendliness: Poor
• Service: Fair

My kids, ages 2 and 4, are already Chinese Food snobs. They liked the Chow Mein and the chicken dishes. So, they gave this restaurant two thumbs up. It was a little expensive but very good. The waiter was not very excited to be assigned to the table with 2 kids. They didn't even throw food on the floor and were really good. They love Chinese food, so they pretty much scarf good food. He was just not kid friendly.
They do have a koi pond outside that we frequented, while taking turns eating. They open the door for you while entering and leaving and stopped doing it for us after the second time of visiting the pond. They had some music in the bar area as we were leaving. It was pretty mellow, cultural music. The female player was pretty friendly, since I talked with her in the restroom, while changing the toddler.
After the meal, they give you fortune cookies dipped in chocolate, which were really good. My son can't eat dairy, so I had to ask the waiter for a plain one, so he wouldn't feel deprived. Of course, the waiter rolled his eyes, but came back with a few plain ones after a good 5 minutes. I think he was hoping we would just leave.

Jungle Jim's is an animal theme restaurant. They have zebras, elephants, etc decorated all over the restaurants. The bar has stools with just elephant legs. In the front there are a couple of pretty large animals that the kids can climb up on top for pictures. We didn't wait at all and we were pretty worried when there were very few people dining. It was a weekday night in November, so we attributed it to that and all the competition. I'm sure that the number of restaurants available are geared toward the busy season.

So anyways, the food was not spectacular, but good. The food is similar to Red Robin or Chilis. I think this is a chain also, but we don't have them in Oregon. They have kids meals and they put little plastic animals on each cup for the kids to take home as well as play with during dinner. The kids meals come with fries and a drink and are about $5. My daughter had pepperoni pizza and my son had a hamburger. I had a chicken Caesar salad, which the waiter claimed to be his most favorite item on the menu. It wasn't as good as Chili's, but was pretty good when you are starving. My husband had some type of hamburger that I cannot recall, but he said that it was all right.

We swore that we wouldn't eat at Disney anymore (after eating hot dogs and fries for $40 earlier in the week) and only had an hour to get back to see the show at MGM Studio, so it was off to BK. We were able to eat some in the car and bring the rest inside, since Fantasmic at MGM Studios was outdoor seating and there was quite a wait before the show started. BK and MD are restaurants where you always know what to expect and kids love the fries.

The park was opened from 9 until 7 because of the season. It was definitely not very crowded, but seemed to be at times. I would say the longest we waited in line was 20 minutes.

We used the fast pass whenever we could for the more popular rides. The dates they are available are listed in the Disney brochure. The fast pass allows you to get a ticket for the particular ride for another time slot. When your time period comes up, you pretty much are able to walk right in. On the Splash Mountain ride, I had asked the attendant there what we should do regarding getting a fast pass because the line was only a 15 minute wait and she pulled out fast passes for the time we were there, so were able to just walk right up to the front. The attendants all over the park are very helpful and friendly, I would definitely recommend using them as a resource.

We purchased a 5 day hopper and spent 2.5 days at the Magic Kingdom. We purchased our tickets at AAA. For us it was cheaper because there wasn't any tax, being from Oregon. The prices at Disney.com doesn't include tax or shipping, so just shop around. The Sheraton offered tiks also. Also, with purchasing our tickets from AAA, we got a AAA Parking pass. We still had to pay for parking, but the AAA spots were right next to the handicaps, so it was closer. I imagine when it gets busier, the spots up front are definitely better.

At the end of all the rides now, the flow of traffic seems to go thru the souvenir store for a specific them and/ character. I was bothered by this and tried to hurry my kids outside before they started playing with the outrageously priced souvenirs. We did wait until the last day to buy souvenirs and went to the Emporium on Main Street on our way out. I was planning on buying t shirts for the kids, but there really wasn't the selection, so if I were to do it again, I would go to Downtown Disney.

The food was definitely excessively priced and not very good. We spent $40 on hotdogs, french fries and drinks one night. It was just bad planning on our part. Since the park closes so early, we planned leaving early and heading to one of the plethora of nearby restaurants. Drinks and snacks were also pretty expensive. Being that we had a stroller, we attached a small thermal bag underneath it with snacks, juice boxes and water.

The parade schedule is listed in the maps and at disney.com. On the website it also lists the rides that may be closed for repair or upkeep.

Epcot is definitely for the older crowd. Our kids, 2 and 4, were not very enthused about this theme park. We just spent a half day here. There are some rides here, but it is pretty limited. My daughter loved checking out the fish. My son was freaked out about getting into a dark theater, so there wasn't much for him and I to do other than laps around the bushes.

My husband and daughter rode the Test Track. He was really unimpressed with the ride. He especially hated waiting in line for about 35 to 40 minutes for a two-minute ride.

There is a firework display in the evening. The times are listed in the map and on the website. The website is also an excellent source to see clips of shows and rides.

When we first got to the park, there were a few characters in the entrance for picture taking: the chipmunks, Rafiki and Tamon. As we were leaving we saw Stanley! He even had his fish.

My daughter was just so excited to get to visit the Animal Kingdom, being a dino finatic. She loved triceratop spin ride. It was very similar to Dumbo, except with dinos.

The Lion King Show was really action packed and fun for everyone! There was Simba, Pumba, Tamone, Rafiki and a bunch of dancers and singers. There was a lot of singing, dancing & entertaining!!! My kids were so excited!!! (After seeing all these exciting shows at Disney, my kids were unimpressed and bored with seeing The Singing Christmas Tree in Portland where the singers basically just stand and sing). You can check out the disney site and see video clips, which is kind of cool for adults as well as the kids. http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/entertainment/entertainmentDetail?id=FestivaloftheLionKingEntertainmentPage

Tarzan Rocks is another entertaining show for everyone. It is in an outdoor amphitheater, whereas the Lion King is inside. The singers were great. They sang most of the songs from the movie and did skits.

We all really enjoyed the Kilimanjaro Safari ride. We got a fast pass for this ride, which was definitely a good plan, since the line was pretty long. The ride puts maybe 5 rows of people into a big jeep-looking vehicle. The rows are pretty long, so all 4 of us were able to fit. I would think that 5 or 6 could fit pretty comfortable. The vehicle is open, so you can take pictures and get the full affect of a safari ride. The kids really loved seeing the elephants and zebras.

The Kali River Rapids is great for a warm or hot day. Being that we were there in November, the weather was pretty mild. You definitely get wet. We were there close to closing, so we were able to ride the ride back to back and the second time my daughter and I were the only ones in the tire.

There are carnival-like games in dinoland, which were pretty expensive. Most of the games were $2 each, so it was basically $4 each game for my daughter and husband. We got her out of there pretty quick and plus there is so much more to see. There is a play area for the kids to explore called the Boneyard.

The Mickey's Jammin Jungle Parade was fun filled. All the characters passed by my kids. The road is pretty narrow, so you can see them up pretty close.

We also did the AAA parking up by the handicaps here. Because we purchased our hopper tickets thru AAA, they gave us a parking pass to park in their designated spots up close. I would call or ask to make sure you would still get the parking pass.

The rides are definitely for older kids, so we didn't go on them. Star Tours is in Anaheim, so we had gone on that ride pre-kids.

Playhouse Disney was excellent. Everyone packs into this room and sits on the floor. My husband was grumbling about how he can't sit on the floor. The kids had so much fun. There is singing and dancing. They blow bubbles for the kids to catch. The line was pretty long. My son and I stayed in line while my daughter and husband were in the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, so it must have been at least a 30-minute wait, but well worth it after you get inside the door.

The Voyage of the Little Mermaid, according to my husband, was kind of dark and spooky. My son screamed while we were waiting to get into the theatre, so he and I beelined outside. My daughter claimed she wasn't scared.

Beauty and the Beast was a great show. It was a little slow at times for my 2-year-old, but my 4-year-old was fixated. She loved seeing Belle, the teapot, etc. It is so exciting seeing the characters in person after seeing them on TV and in books. It was in an outdoor amphitheatre. I think it was warmer this day, but they were selling iced lemonade, which was very quenching, and ice cream.

We took off and came back for Fantasmic in the evening. The show was at 7pm, so we picked up some really fast food and ate some on the way back and while waiting for the show. The show has great effects. Pictures are shown through spraying water. The outdoor amphitheatre was a hike up from the entrance, where we left our stroller unknowingly. Bring your stroller until they take it away! About halfway up the hill, they have a parking area for strollers. On the way out, they provided single and double strollers for free to jot down to the bottom, which was very nice.

We had just been to Disneyland last year and a few other times prior, so we had ridden many of the rides and seen the shows at Disneyworld. The difference we saw was that everything was spread out. At Disneyland there is just Disney and California Adventure, whereas in Florida there are 4 theme parks to spread the rides and shows out. For example Star Tours in California is at Disney, but in Florida it is at MGM Studios. At Disneyland everything is packed into the two theme parks, which we found that we prefer. We were able to take a shuttle down the street to the entrance. Getting to and from our condo was more convenient. We really enjoyed our Disneyworld experience and seeing Animal Kingdom & Epcot, but because of the distance and convenience, we will be heading 2 hours south to California next time.

Another suggestion is when you are heading to the airport, figure out your route. My husband relied on the signs on the road. All the roads lead you to the airport, some take you directly there and some take you to Timbuktu and back around. I think it took us 5 times as long as it should have.

Bug Repellent - definitely a need! There are so many mosquitos.