favorite condo rental

coastiewifern

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jan 30, 2008
Hello I'm a DVC member so I don't have a lot of off site experience. But we decided on a trip to WDW too late to get a DVC reservation. We want a 2-3 bedroom condo that can sleep 4 (2 bedroom is fine is one room has 2 twin beds) and will have a car. Other than Bonnet Creek which condo resorts are most convenient to Magic Kingdom? Look forward to your suggestions
 
Aside from Bonnet Creek, we have stayed at Windsor Hills, Marriott Royal Palms and Sheraton Vistana Lake Buena Vista. I liked the Sheraton unit the best, but we could see fireworks from our 4th floor at Royal Palms so that was nice. You also get to use the amenities at Marriott World Center Hotel if you stay at the Royal Palms condo (accessed by a free shuttle). Very good pools over there.
 
I'm following Thread. My DH and I will be staying offsite for 1st time in over 10 trips. This trip will be visiting Florida with a bit of WDW.
 
Just for clarity, I think @Penmac is probably referring to Sheraton Vistana Resort, a timeshare resort that is in LBV managed by Vistana Signature Experiences (formerly Sheraton, still branded Sheraton, actually owned by Marriott). There is also a Sheraton Lake Buena Vista Resort that is a suite hotel run by the Sheraton hotel chain, also a good property, but not quite the same thing as the Vistana timeshare properties.

For quality and location I would take any of the top tier timeshares that are nearby; any of the Marriott Palms properties, either of the Vistana properties, or one of two nearby Hilton Vacation properties. Wyndham as a chain is generally a step down from that, but WBC is their flagship so is also of equal quality to the 3 top lines. These all have pretty good access to the parks.

Personally I would also probably throw HIVC (Holiday Inn's) Orange Lake resort into the mix as well, but access is a bit different as you are coming onto property through a "back door" near Animal Kingdom. It is probably one tier down from the above resorts.
 


And Marriott’s Cypress Harbour is in close proximity to Sea World and I-Drive in addition to only being 10 minutes away from WDW property.

DD’s BF, who is an accountant for Marriotts’ FL timeshares, ranks Cypress Harbour well above Vistana.
 
And Marriott’s Cypress Harbour is in close proximity to Sea World and I-Drive in addition to only being 10 minutes away from WDW property.

DD’s BF, who is an accountant for Marriotts’ FL timeshares, ranks Cypress Harbour well above Vistana.

Cypress Harbour is my favorite of all the Marriott TS resorts (although haven't stayed at Lakeshore Reserve).
Both CH and Harbour lake are easy drives to WDW. Sabal and Royal palms are closer.
Cypress Harbour has master and the secondary bedroom has full bed and sleeper couch (my kids had no complaints with the sleeper). Sabal has a full and twin bed in secondary bed room. Harbour lake has 2 full beds in secondary bedroom.
 
And Marriott’s Cypress Harbour is in close proximity to Sea World and I-Drive in addition to only being 10 minutes away from WDW property.

DD’s BF, who is an accountant for Marriotts’ FL timeshares, ranks Cypress Harbour well above Vistana.
LOL - of course he does, he works there!

I am really just indicating the tier level of the timeshare SYSTEMS overall.

IMO - Disney, Marriott, Sheraton (Vistana) and Hilton are all top tier. In general Wyndham is a step down from that top tier, although I think WBC is probably a cut well above their average. Wastegate and few others fit in here as well. We actually tend to trade into a lot of Wyndham locations in the North East because they are in places we want to go and we enjoy them.

Marriotts are high class and luxury, but their Mormon background always comes off as stuffy to me. Sheraton is still luxe, but a little more casual/laid back, and that's just like me!

The above is very subjective and represents my opinion; we've only been timesharing for about a dozen years now and still have much to learn and see and try.
 


LOL - of course he does, he works there!

I am really just indicating the tier level of the timeshare SYSTEMS overall.

IMO - Disney, Marriott, Sheraton (Vistana) and Hilton are all top tier. In general Wyndham is a step down from that top tier, although I think WBC is probably a cut well above their average. Wastegate and few others fit in here as well. We actually tend to trade into a lot of Wyndham locations in the North East because they are in places we want to go and we enjoy them.

Marriotts are high class and luxury, but their Mormon background always comes off as stuffy to me. Sheraton is still luxe, but a little more casual/laid back, and that's just like me!

The above is very subjective and represents my opinion; we've only been timesharing for about a dozen years now and still have much to learn and see and try.
:D Marriott does own Vistana and he was a Vistana accountant before moving up. We had our choice of Marriott / Sheraton accommodations after Irma and after looking up each one, we chose Cypress Harbour.

I did a Review in the above Review sub forum. It was a wonderful stay but our only timeshare stay in FL which surpassed the ones we’ve done in Hawaii. I always tend not to overly gush about it because I’ve never been in any others. The BF has toured them all. :)
 
We're currently at Windsor Hills and it's super close. We rented a car from Dollar rental. Do not take the manager special! Bc they have a huge inventory you're going to end up with a compact car. It barely fit our luggage and us. Next time we'll pay to have the correct size vehicle. The drive to MK is like 10 min with traffic.
 
We stayed at Windsor Palms in a 3 bedroom/2 bathroom condo for our offsite trip this year, and we loved it! It took 23 minutes from leaving our front door to parking at the TTC using the Sherberth Road shortcut (put us on property within 6 minutes of leaving the condo, right by AK). I did a more detailed review on the Hotel & Accommodations Reviews, if you're interested.
 
If you are doing more Orlando then WDW, we stayed at Vista Cay which is right off of Universal Blvd back in 2015 and really liked it. We are staying this coming trip at Storey Lake, which is a newer property off Osceloa (sp?).
 
We've stayed at WBC and Vacation Village at Parkway. We usually choose VV@P because it is a much less expensive option for us without sacrificing condo size, decor or closeness to WDW. VV@P is literally 5 minutes from the WDW gates on World Drive. WBC is a little more resortish with the lazy river, pirate pool and a restaurant, but VV@P has plans to build a lazy river, has many beautiful pools and children's splash pads, plus Publix and many restaurants are right across the street.

You would need to book an A and a B side together to get two bedrooms, a small LR with pull out sofa and a large LR with pull out sofa (sleeps 8). The two units are connected by a locking door with a vestibule off the building's interior hallway.
 
We've stayed at quite a few of the ones mentioned and they are all nice. I'd say that our favorite is probably the Sheraton Vistana resort for two little reasons that many might not care about, but we do: (1) water views from almost every patio or balcony -- The landscaping is such that they have put in little man made ponds all over. We sit out a lot and really appreciate the nice views. Some other fabulous timeshare properties have parking lot views. (2) We are a tennis playing family and the Vistana has tons of lighted tennis courts. They have clay courts too, which I always enjoy.

The pools at the Vistana are open later than most of the other timeshare places by an hour or two, which our older kids really liked, as they could close out a park and still come back for a swim.

Despite our love of the Vistana (and we have stayed there are lot), there are so many good ones and for variety (we get to Orlando pretty often - almost annually), we like to change things up and try different places.
 
Also try Oakwater Resort - best searched via home away, airbnb, or vrbo. They have a number of 2-3 BR units. It's a smaller property, os usually the pool is not as crowded. They are walking distance to the new Walmart on Old Lake Wilson Road. Closer than windsor Hills (by about 1/2 mile or so) and generally less expesive than Windor Hills.
 
I’m interested in hearing opinions on this topic too!

We have had really great experiences at Wyndham Bonnet Creek, Sheraton Vistana Lake Buena Vista, and Sheraton Vistana I-Drive (which surprised us when we saw how nice it was!) I’d spend a happy week with the family at any one of those resorts any day and be very happy!

We have found great deals with Vacation Strategy for Bonnet Creek, and directly with Sheraton prior to the Marriott merger. Lately both of those routes seem more pricy (still reasonable, just more than last year) so I’ve been looking at other properties.

Part of me says just stick with those 3 as the quality and value is excellent for the price. I’m interested in this topic to help me know if I’m right that these options are the best value/quality for the price? Or are there other properties that offer similar quality for similar prices that are worth a look?
 
I’m interested in hearing opinions on this topic too!

We have had really great experiences at Wyndham Bonnet Creek, Sheraton Vistana Lake Buena Vista, and Sheraton Vistana I-Drive (which surprised us when we saw how nice it was!) I’d spend a happy week with the family at any one of those resorts any day and be very happy!

We have found great deals with Vacation Strategy for Bonnet Creek, and directly with Sheraton prior to the Marriott merger. Lately both of those routes seem more pricy (still reasonable, just more than last year) so I’ve been looking at other properties.

Part of me says just stick with those 3 as the quality and value is excellent for the price. I’m interested in this topic to help me know if I’m right that these options are the best value/quality for the price? Or are there other properties that offer similar quality for similar prices that are worth a look?
So you can't go wrong with the 3 you list, but there are lots of other really good timeshare resorts in the area, and lots of not quite as good timeshare resorts. The really terrible timeshare resorts in the area don't generally stay open due to the competition, but there are some of those too. Best bet there is to stick to the name brand resorts and ask lots of questions (here or other forums) about the ones that aren't name brand. As mentioned above, the Marriott and Hilton timeshares near Disney are also very good. For the smaller more independent resorts I personally like Silver Lake Resort as well.

You can also consider HOW you go about renting one of the timeshare villas to get a better deal. Directly from Sheraton is probably the most expensive way to get one of the Vistana Resorts. The cheapest path is usually skyauction.com, but prime weeks may not be available and you need to pay attention to the fine print for each auction; many dates will have a surcharge above your bid price; but a $100 bid for a week with a $400 surcharge is still a week for $500 - not too shabby. You can also rent directly from the timeshare owners via Redweek, TUG, or even eBay for most any area resort.

A lot of the other recommendations here are for privately owned villas (homes and townhomes) in nearby communities. This is a slightly different vacation type, and the amenities are different, but they often require a little more "effort" (both in researching, booking, and staying at) than a top name timeshare. Some provide excellent value for money (probably better 'value' than timeshares depending on how you define value), but each and every one is really like a single villa hotel with different ownership (although most are managed by a handful of property management companies in the area). The decor and quality often varies with the tastes and effort of the owner and with the quality of the management company they hire. If you get a line on a good one, go with it.

Feelings about amenities can be different; some people like having their own private pool in the yard because it is theirs alone and the deck chairs are always available. I like having a resort pool where I just show up and jump in; I don't have to worry if it is clean, chlorinated, or if the heater is working, and I don't mind sharing the pool (although I don't like it when resorts are short on deck chairs, or allow chair "hogging"). Some people really like having housekeeping to tidy up the villa and keep things stocked; these same people might likely bristle at having to grab some rolls of TP from Walgreens, or stripping the beds at the end of their stay.
 

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