KonaKid7052

Just a note. There are no free shuttles from Marriott World Center/Palms complex to Disney. There are complementary on demand shuttles from the MVCI Palms Villas to the World Center Hotel itself. We just got back from there and had a great time. When you are looking at Taxi fees you have to take into consideration that "close" is a very relative term when you are talking about the size of the Disney parks and resorts complex.

USirritated

Keep in mind that whatever services (many of them anyway) are offered at MVCI properties are at the discretion of the individual condo associations, since MVCI are time share condominium, or interval ownership condominium resorts, with Marriott International having a long term management contract as the ONSITE professional management company, but with the condominium board of directors, as elected by the ownership, having overall management responsibility for the budgets and services offered at each individual MVCI property. Marriott will always have a say, because Marriott always retains some weeks of ownership for their own account, even after sellout, and also because relatively few of the locations, such as Hawaii, actually ever sell out. Even Maui was only 97% sold out when I visited there for a tour. So, if there was a free shuttle, it would be because the board of directors decided to include it in the budget as an item which the general ownership/membership of that particular MVCI property wanted to have as a service. Make sense?

pinniped

That's good, because if Fairfield Inns starting charging resort fees, I think Flyertalk would explode. At a minimum, they'd need to rack a few more servers to handle the rant-fest.

$72 is about what I'd call "average" for a Fairfield Inn. When I was hotel-hopping in the TPA/MCO area for some HHonors bonuses, I did a Hampton Inn along the highway there for $49 - a real, eligible points-earning rate. During another Starwood stay-bonus promo, I did a Sheraton near MCO for around $60 on a weekend.

Only catch with that Hampton: 50% of the rooms faced the highway. Fortunately, HH Gold status was enough to keep me on the "good" side. The Sheraton was simply a depressing property in a cul-de-sac near nothing but a couple other hotels and a Bennigan's. Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on how you look at it), Marriott doesn't do many promos that incentivize hopping, so when we're there we're usually in an MVCI the whole time.

USirritated

Yes, but that particular FI is in a premium location, and it is, on average, nicer than about 80% of the FI's and maybe 50% of the CY's in the rest of the country, so $72 was a great rate for that hotel, and hard to duplicate, except for a truly down season, believe me.

hhoope01

Back in the day, they used to have a shuttle service. Now I guess you can pay Mears $15/person/round-trip if you don't want to drive.

karch

Having stayed at Harbor Lake and Grande Vista in the past 2 years, my vote is Grande Vista. We liked the pool areas, food, and fooms much better.

USirritated

"fooms" or "rooms?" or maybe you meant "flooms" as in a flume water ride?

karch

You got me! I hate posting from my iPhone sometimes!

To clarify, the "flumes" (water slides) were better at Harbour Lake but everything else, including the "rooms" (the suites, not the single rooms) were better at Grande Vista.

USirritated

Now aren't you glad I asked?

Armani

Another reason to stay at the 'Palms' MVCI timeshares is the access to all of the resort facilities at Marriott World Center. The pool and fitness center are outstanding, and our daughters loved the glass elevators 'through the roof'. They enjoyed the resort almost as much as Disney. Imperial Palms has 3 BR units, while Royal and Sabal Palms are 2BR. Although the 2nd BR are slightly smaller, other facilities have been upgraded and are comparable to other MVCI properties. In Royal Palms, try to avoid the building near the busy road.

dchristiva

I second this, though I'll admit my stay there was some time ago. If that was my only knowledge of vacation ownership, I'd have bought on the spot. I was really impressed.

Any updated reviews of Harbour Lake? Those of you with young (i.e. < 8 years old), is the pool area as fun as it looks (I guess you'd have to be < 8 years old to answer that! )? What kinds of daily activities do they schedule for kids?

I've booked a 2 BR villa for 3 nights in late Sept. Hopefully it will go over well with my youngsters. I also made reservations for 1 night at the JW and the Ritz (will have to cancel one eventually). I'm inclined to stay at the JW so the kids are closer to the lazy river pool, but we stayed at the RC a few years ago and I know that would make me and my wife happier! Any thoughts on whether I should stay at the RC vs. the JW. My room reservations at both are for connecting rooms. JW includes rafts and tokens and b'fast for the family. RC includes Ritz Kids for 2 children and all meals for the kids. I guess I have to decide what I value the most. For one night, I'm not sure the meal benefit at the RC is really worthwhile. We may end up having dinner off-property anyway.

tdfxman

Looking for a reply here as well. we are going to HL in October. Reading the TUG site, it seems to be best for small kids. But it would be interesting to see what this board says as well.

tdfxman

Anyone, anyone

Buhler

ExpatSomchai

Are there any decent bars in walking distance of the Grande Vista?

miles_navigator

I don't know about any bars near MVCI Grand Vista.

As much as I want to try the MVCI Grand Vista (the early rates are great and the facility looks really good), I always end up the SPG Swan & Dolphin because of the free Disney shuttle (bus & boat) to the parks and not having to deal with driving and parking. It's just easier for the Disney experience w/ the kids.

Getting into the parks early when they open makes for a better Disney experience with more time on rides and less time in lines waiting. Hence for the flyertalk crowd I'd generally recommend Swan & Dolphin (since we all want our points).

If points (and money) is not a concern then by all means stay at some of the Disney owned properties for the Disney experience.

If Disney theme parks is just part of the week's agenda (2/3 days) in Orlando and you have plans for other parks, e.g. SeaWorld, Legoland, etc then MVCI Grand Vista is probably a good resort to stay the week for the money/resort amenities, and room size.

-miles