Planning a trip to Walt Disney World can be super overwhelming. From choosing ticket to FastPasses to a place to stay, the choices seem innumerable. Narrowing down where to stay can be a chore. WDW has 22+ Disney Resorts and there are 10+ non-Disney resorts on the WDW property. Add to that all the surrounding area hotels and you’ve got a plethora of choices. The best thing about a ton of choices is that there is something for everyone! How do we choose where to stay? Of course, the answer is: that depends! LOL that’s not particularly helpful, but it’s true. Our primary reason for the visit, our travel group, and our need for amenities definitely all play a part in the decision making process. In the past, we have stayed at Disney Resorts, non-Disney affiliated WDW property (read about our stay at the Four Seasons Orlando here), and for this trip we stayed off-property!
The purpose of this trip was technically business (Rebekah had a conference to attend) but we were throwing in a WDW visit too on the front and back end of the travel. Looking at hotels, we decided against staying on Disney property this trip and looked for accomodations that were larger than a hotel room without paying Disney Villa prices. When traveling, we usually stay at the Marriott Family of hotels due a long history of traveling for work and that one time we lived in a Marriott Hotel (temporarily until our house was built). All that led to Platinum Marriott loyalty status, so we try to keep that status going when we can.
When we were searching the Marriott Bonvoy app for a place to stay this trip, we came across the Sheraton Vistana Villages. It caught our eye because: 1. the room setup is like condos/apartments, 2. the price point is excellent, and 3. the Trip Advisor Reviews seemed great. NB Trip Advisor has been absolutely a game changer for us and we love it because it contains first hand reviews and pictures…not just what the hotel websites want you to see.
The condo style set-up of this property is particularly desirable when we are traveling with our toddler. Everyone who has traveled with children knows what it is like to sit in a hotel room in the dark after kids bedtime…trying not to wake them. Haha. Having a separate seating/TV area where adults could be after kid bedtime is golden 🙂 Also associated with kid/toddler travel is the need for kitchen and laundry facilities. They are so invaulable with kids….snacks, meals in between meals, spills, accidents!
Some additional highlights of this property include the following:
- Large property size (over 95 acres)
- 2.7 miles from SeaWorld and 3.6 miles from Walt Disney World
- All villas are 1 or 2 bedrooms and have kitchens or kitchenettes
- 3 large pools, 3 fitness centers
- On site playground
- Pool Bar
- Convenience Store on property
- One restaurant on the premises
- Free Parking
- Shuttle to area attractions (WDW, Universal Studios, Sea World, etc)
Entrance 
Lobby
We chose a two bedroom villa. Upon entering, we noted that the size of the villa was surprising! It had two full sized bedrooms, two very large bathrooms, and a large kitchen with all of the kitchen appliances and most of the utensils one could possibly need.
So often a second bathroom is just a 1/2 bath or is super small…but this second bathroom was large enough for multiple people to be in ther eat one time. The villa size is perfect for even a larger family! The A/C worked really well AND there are ceiling fans in the bedrooms! (FYI…one of us has unreasonable expectations when it comes to room temperature so we are glad when the A/C works and/or fans are available).
One thing we both remarked about several times while we were there: the rooms were exceptionally clean. Often when staying in a hotel one finds areas that are in need of attention upon checking in, but that was not the case in this villa. It was super clean and we felt very comfortable there.
The grounds and pools at this property were beautiful! They were very resort-like and the pools had some Disney quality play areas and water features! Although it was a little too cold for us to swim while there, we did enjoy walking around the property and checking it out. There were nice sidewalks and walking trails around their pond (lake?) areas. If it was warmer any of the three pools would be great to take a swim. There is ample seating around the pools and the loungers were comfortable. The pools have so many activities for the kids…slides, waterfalls, spray areas, etc…
This hotel is conveniently located to many of the major attractions in Orlando. The rooms are family oriented and clean, plus the property is beautiful and well maintained. If you are looking for a nice, more affordable option in Orlando we would highly recommend this resort!
To read more about our WDW visit on this trip, check out our blog here! Or, if you can’t get enough of the Disney Blogosphere you’re interested in a Disney Cruise…check out our Disney Dream Cruise here, here, here, and here!
Lux Travel for Families 