Vacation Village At Parkway enjoys a great location close to Interstate 4 just off the 192. They were half way through construction of their final sized resort of 25 buildings. Our sales rep told us you could watch the fireworks at Disney World from some of the buildings.

Three or more seven-story buildings are grouped around a central recreation area of pool, playground and barbecue area. If you walk along the raised boardwalk of the wildlife conservation areas intermingled throughout the complex, you feel as if you are far from the hustle and bustle of city living.

During a good part of our stay, the weather was rainy and not too warm, so there was not much activity at the pools, but judging the prominent signs everywhere about not reserving chairs with towels, I believe it would often be difficult to find a free chair. The pools are not large and situated as they are between the buildings, much of the lounge areas would likely be shaded for most of the day.

There are daily activities like pool aerobics, bingo, scavenger hunts, trivia, and face painting. Over Easter there was an Easter egg hunt for kids under 12--most of the activities could be enjoyed at no extra cost.

We have a two-bedroom lockout attractively decorated with quality wooden furniture and an enormous television. The larger side has a Jacuzzi and each side has its own balcony. Each side of the lockout has a queen-sized bed, sleep sofa, and washer and dryer. Kitchen facilities are ample. We can see the Arabian Knights complex from our balcony.

There are several pools, an activities centre, a playground and a fitness room with a few treadmills, a bike, a Stairmaster, an elliptical and two weight machines. There is an Internet centre and you can actually use it at no cost for 15 minutes.

While on vacation in Orlando, your options of things to do are nearly endless. The Vacation Village at Parkway is central to both the Walt Disney World Resort and Universal Studios; not to mention the many other attractions along International Drive .

You can also take a short drive on I-4 West and go to Bush Gardens Africa in Tampa, or head east to the world famous Cocoa Beach: Home of Ron Jon’s Surf Shop and the Kennedy Space Center .

The Vacation Village at Parkway is conveniently located off Rt. 192 on Arabian Nights Blvd. in Kissimmee, Florida. The village is made up of nine different buildings and we had the pleasure of being assigned to building #8 in the back of the resort.

Check-in was set up in a separate building, which wasn’t hard to find on the right hand side of the street. The check-in process was one of the easiest that we have experienced while exchanging in the central Florida area. The entire process took four, maybe five minutes. There were no lines and plenty of resort representatives to assist guests as they entered the building. I was shocked to find was that this resort did not have a sales staff that had to speak with you after you checked in, and that in itself made the experience even more pleasurable.

From the outside the buildings looked as though they were little seven-story apartment buildings with private balconies. When you first entered the building the hall appeared as it was something you would find in a three-star motel rather than in a gold crown resort. However once you were inside, the split unit condos were not only spacious but very well decorated. The A side of the unit contained a kitchen, dining area, living room, private balcony and the master bedroom; complete with a king sized bed and Jacuzzi. The B side was equally as impressive with a kitchenette, small eating area, living room, private balcony and a bedroom with two double beds. The sofa in the living room opened into a sleeper that would accommodate two extra people. If your kids are anything like mine, they will love the sofa sleeper rather than the double beds.

As I mentioned earlier we originally planned on staying on Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort , so we unfortunately didn’t utilize the activities and amenities that were offered during our stay. Some of the things the resort had scheduled that we missed out on were:

Chess and Scrabble Tournaments

Casino Night

Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament

Family Bingo

Name That Tune Trivia

Face Painting

Scavenger Hunt

and Free Snow Cones

All in all this is definitely a resort we will visit again.

The 1 bedroom unit was great!. It was very clean and modern. Very large bathroom, entry through bedroom and kitchen. Washer and dryer in bathroom. Not a full kitchen. Had a microwave/convection oven combo. Our son visited from college for 3 days and used the sofa bed. He said it was pretty comfortable. Patio area overlooking the pool. Only drawback was that the resort is built around a central pool, creating a canyon-like atmosphere. This allowed for echoing of children's screams. This wasn't a problem during the day, but a bit annoying at 7:30am every morning. There were kids in every day at that time, but no parents in sight. We didn't use any facilities but the pool.

Best Things Nearby:
Restaurants (Smokey Bones), theme parks, and shopping (The Florida Mall and the Orlando Premium Outlets)

Best Things About the Resort:
Location, well-kept, very nice rooms and pool area

Resort Experience:
My husband and I stayed here in April on a free bonus week that we received last year when we upgraded our timeshare. All we had to pay was the exchange fee. That was a plus!

The resort was very nicely kept inside and out. We had a type 'B' unit, which is one of the smaller units, but it was very comfortable for the two of us. I was actually surprised at the size of the unit. I was expecting it to be smaller than it was, based on what I read about in some of the reviews.

It would have been nive to have the 'A' unit with the Jacuzzi and big-screen TV, but this one was nice enough. The unit had a good-sized bathroom, bedroom with full-size bed, living room with couch and chair, and a TV in the bedroom and living room. Kitchenette had a refrigerator, convection oven, and a dining table with four chairs. It had a balcony with a table and two chairs. Our unit was in the middle of the main buildings overlooking the pools and Jacuzzi. We were on the 6th floor. Pools and Jacuzzi looked very nice. We did not actually use them because we were too busy doing other things. The weather was a little chilly at night for the first couple of nights, but after that, it warmed up nicely.

My favorite shopping places were the Florida Mall and the Orlando Premium Outlets.

• Unit Type: 1 Bedroom
• Activities: Very Good
• Amenities: Very Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Very Good
• Family Friendliness: Very Good
• Service: Very Good

Best Things Nearby:
Disney Theme Parks, Univeral Studios

Best Things About the Resort:
Since we were riding a motorcycle, the parking garage was great with the rain.

Resort Experience:
Since we had pre-planned our stay around going to Disney, we did not do anything around the resort. But check-in went well, and the staff was very nice.

• Unit Type: 1 Bedroom
• Activities: Not Available
• Amenities: Not Available
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Not Available
• Service: Excellent