Firstly, As people are saying. They charge you $25 plus tax per night for car parking. I have stayed at this property 3 times before and didn't expect this when checking in. Its nothing more than a scam ...for grabbing more money from you. When I challenged the staff member on reception, she agreed it was a scandal and called her manager to try get it waived. The Manager, a short fat lady was blatantly rude and said its tough. Don't stay here next time. I purposely went out of my way to not spend a penny on site at the Shop, Bar etc. I would have normally eaten and drank here while kids played in the pool. The pools were good as always but the actual room was dated and needs a refresh. Stayed here so may times but will not be returning as I feel like I have been ripped off. Normally when you are being robbed, its by someone wearing a mask. No mask's here.

Sheraton Vistana Villages Resort International Drive Orlando. Avoid this resort with children or young people, the management protects pedophile timeshare owners after sexual abuse. It was actually suppose...d to be a nice vacation for my 16-year-old son, he likes the USA and has had several good friends there for many years. He has already had 4 heart operations, has an artificial heart valve, 2 stents in the narrowed pulmonary arteries for 2 years and also has multiple sclerosis, inflammation in the head and spine. On top of that, he was bullied for almost 2 years by a classmate at his old high school, sometimes with physical violence, without him talking to us about it, despite several inquiries. Since then he has been going to an international online school with children from 36 different countries around the world. This meant that we were able to spend 3 months together on vacation in Orlando last fall. His classes were from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., the rest of the day he was free and could meet up with his friends or spend time at the resort, there were plenty of activities there. We stayed at the Sheraton Vistana Villages International Drive Orlando for 49 days in total, although it was originally planned differently. But because another apartment closer to Universal Studios, where we have annual tickets, was in a really bad and health-threatening condition, we couldn't think of anything better than to go back to the Sheraton Vistana Villages Orlando International Drive with all our luggage and groceries. The weeks before, we had already stayed there in a small 1-bedroom apartment with a balcony and a 1-bedroom apartment with a balcony and whirlpool, in the Bella 3 building on different floors, more on that later. This time, unfortunately, only a 2-bedroom apartment with a balcony and whirlpool was available for 200 USD, but we were exhausted after all the stress of the day and didn't care at that moment. If we had known what would happen with this particular booking, we would definitely not have come back to this resort. This time the apartment was again in Bella, but on the other side of the small lake in building number 6. I will write about my experience with this apartment later. My son had the habit of walking around the resort for about an hour every morning before class and also in the afternoon. Later in the afternoon he usually went over to Key West for bingo, or in the evening for karaoke or a quiz show at the Breeze Bar & Grille restaurant in the main building below the reception. Unfortunately, I only found out everything I am writing now on the night of Friday, October 25th, when my son woke me up at midnight. His three friends and their mother had already picked him up from his apartment that afternoon, straight after class, and were out with him until shortly before midnight, including to Disney Springs. It happened on October 23rd, in the afternoon, after class, at the end of the small bridge, just about 10 meters from the Breeze Bar & Grille, when my son was drawn into a conversation by an older man. He asked him where he was from and how long he was staying. My son is a polite young man, so he answered naturally, not knowing how the conversation would develop. After a short while, the man asked him if he was gay and if he could give him a blowjob. He walked up to my son and touched him with his body. My son is almost 1.86 meters tall, but weighs only 50 kg and is as thin as a line on the landscape. He said I'm not gay and quickly ran away before the man became even more violent. Unfortunately, he didn't come to me straight away, like he did when he was bullied at school. He was ashamed and was totally scared and shocked that something like that could happen to him. I didn't know anything about it. I went to bingo again in the afternoon, not as often as my son. But when I did, we always sat together. That day was different. I was sitting at the front by the entrance, where we always sat, but I didn't see my son. So I called him on the iPad via FaceTime and saw that he was sitting a little hidden on the other side of the pool. He wanted to come, but he didn't come. So I was a little annoyed because I had come especially for him and left. I had no idea what was going on. We didn't speak much that day. The next morning, Thursday October 24th, my son strangely didn't walk around the complex before class as usual. He was also quieter than usual after class and during meals. In the afternoon, however, he went to bingo again and since I was sorry that I had been a bit upset the day before, I wanted to pick him up from there. On the way over to Key West, I noticed three people as I walked past: an older man of about 60, a fairly masculine-looking woman, both with light skin, and a young dark-skinned man. It looked like a family, but somehow didn't fit together. It was about the height of building 3 in Bella, coming from the direction of Key West. But I didn't think anything of it and saw my son coming right behind them. The next morning, he didn't go for a run before class again. I asked him why, but he just said he didn't feel like it. But it was kind of strange. Right after class that Friday, his three friends and their mother picked him up in their car from our building. He wrote me a short message that evening saying that it would be late. Which wasn't a problem, since his friends always have their mother with them. On Saturday night, my son woke me up around midnight and said he had to tell me something, something had happened to him on Wednesday and we should come to reception the next morning, where the sheriff would be. I was of course in shock and almost had a heart attack from excitement. I said to him, please tell me what happened right now, I can't go back to sleep anyway. My son told me about the sexual abuse and my heart almost stopped beating. I was disappointed and sad that he didn't come to me straight away, like he did when he was bullied at school. I was also shocked that something like that could happen in broad daylight in a resort. For this pedophile bastard, it was probably sexual gratification, for my son it was a terrible experience that he will never forget for the rest of his life. Just like for me, my ex-wife and a friend. My son had confided in the mother of his three girlfriends that evening and of course she made a report to security at the gate as soon as they returned to the Sheraton Vistana Villages Orlando International Drive. My son described the incident and the appearance of the pedophile exactly, and also that he saw the man again on Thursday with a woman and a dark-skinned young man. When I heard the description of the man, I knew immediately that I had seen him the day before on the way to Key West to pick up my son from bingo. Together with the strange woman and the dark-skinned young man. After the terrible news, of course I couldn't sleep again. The next morning, it was Saturday, October 26, 2024, we went to reception to meet the head of security. We were asked to go into a meeting room, and a member of management came with us. First of all, my son had to tell us everything that had happened on Wednesday, where and when it had happened, what the man looked like and what he had said and done. All of this happened without an interpreter and without psychological support, which is not really what should have happened. Then the head of security called the emergency number 911 and asked to be connected to the sheriff's office. My son had to tell us again on his cell phone exactly what had happened. About an hour later, Sheriff Clifton came to the resort and was brought to our meeting room. My son had to tell us the whole thing for the fourth time, again in English and without psychological support. Sheriff Clifton told us a lot, had a thick book with rules and laws with him, we didn't understand everything he said exactly, but we understood roughly. At that point, apparently no one knew whether the wanted man was still at the Sheraton Vistana Villages Orlando International Drive or had already left. Sheriff Clifton listened to everything. What I found a bit strange was that we didn't get a processing number or anything written with his name on it. I thought that was actually common practice in the USA. We then agreed that we would all try to find the pedophile. Before Sheriff Clifton left, he said that if we found the man, he would come back and give him a warning that he would never forget for the rest of his life. He would throw him out of the resort and also alert the other hotels and resorts to him and banish him from Orlando. Someone like that had no business being in Orlando. That was how almost the whole morning was spent; we usually use the weekend for Universal Studios. Now it was more important to find the guy again, if he hadn't left yet. After lunch, my son was picked up by one of his friends with his mother and grandmother. I then set out to find this pedophile. The resort is quite large, with different areas, including Bella Village, Key West Village and Augustine Village, and around 1300 apartments and more than 3000 guests. Despite everything, things went unexpectedly quickly. After I had already made the second circuit around our lake in Bella Village, I saw the older pedophile and the young, dark-skinned man walking hand in hand between buildings Bella 2 and Bella 3. I took a few photos, from behind and from the side, for security and followed the two of them. They then actually went into building Bella 2 and took the elevator up. I was standing on the opposite side and couldn't see from there which floor they got off and which apartment they went to. I sent the mother the photos of my son's friend that he was with and asked if that was the man who sexually abused him. The answer came immediately, he was 100% sure. So I went into the building and spoke to an employee there. I briefly explained what had happened to my son, that the sheriff had already been there that morning and that security was looking for this man and whether she knew which apartment they were living in and how long they had been there. She said a few days, but she was not allowed to tell me the apartment number. Suddenly she pointed downstairs and the young dark-skinned man was just coming out of the building. I quickly ran after him to see where he was going. He was heading towards Bella Pool and was apparently looking for his mother. He spoke to a few people, but seemed somehow awkward and aimless to me. At the same time, two security employees came into the pool area, both of whom I of course knew. I went up to them and explained that I had found the pedophile and that he was in the Bella 2 building, but I didn't know which apartment he was in. I showed them the photos I had taken from behind and from the side, and they took a photo of them. Then I pointed to the young dark-skinned man who was still wandering around aimlessly by the pool and said that was the young man. They could ask him which apartment the pedophile lived in. They spoke to him briefly and said that he was looking for his mother and that he didn't know which apartment they lived in. That was a bit strange. The two of them then went towards Bella 2, and after that I didn't see them again that day. I thought they were talking to housekeeping in the building, but the next day it turned out that everyone had already known who the pedophile was and which apartment he lived in. I then continued to observe the young dark-skinned man. Suddenly I saw him with the woman I had seen him and the pedophile with on Thursday afternoon when I went to pick up my son from bingo. The two of them were walking down by the pool towards the exit. I took a photo of them from the side, from the terrace of the main building, near reception. Then I followed the two of them into building Bella 2 to the 4th floor and now knew that they lived in apartment 2404. Then I went to the front of the reception to speak to security, and after more than an hour two of them finally came. I told them that I now knew where the pedophile lived, namely in apartment Bella 2404. They made phone calls for a while, I don't know who, and then said that the head of security would come to our apartment on Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m. to speak to us. On Sunday morning at around 6:30 a.m. I had a strange feeling that I would see the pedophile. So I walked around the lake between the Bella buildings and sure enough, I saw the guy in the dark, sitting on a bench between Bella 2 and Bella 3, with his back to me. He was doing something on his cell phone, and I briefly considered whether I should sort things out with him myself. But then I decided to leave it to the sheriff. After what we experienced later, I should have beaten him up instead. So I went to the front desk and asked for the head of security, and was told again that he would be coming to her apartment at 7:30 a.m. So I went back to the apartment and we waited, but nobody came. So just before 8 a.m. we went back to the front desk and asked for the head of security. An employee took us back to the meeting room where we had been the day before. She called the emergency number 911 again and my son had to tell the lady from the Sheriff's Office the whole story again, since we hadn't received a processing number or report number from Sheriff Clifton the day before. Then we waited for more than an hour for the head of security, who was actually supposed to come to our apartment at 7:30 a.m. By now it was almost 2 hours later. We didn't know him, he was a different person than the day before, I didn't like him from the start, I don't know why. He also had my son tell him the whole story again. As if that wasn't bad and embarrassing enough for my son, this was the 7th time in total without ever getting an interpreter or psychological support. We were still waiting for the sheriff and then the head of security dropped the bombshell. He suddenly claimed that the man couldn't be the man he was looking for because the family had supposedly only checked in on Friday. I had actually seen the people myself on Thursday. My son had described the man in the same way on Friday evening during the report and also said that he had seen him on Thursday with a woman and a dark-skinned man walking from Key West towards Bella. How could he have described them if they had only checked in on Friday? He wasn't even at the resort that day; after class, the mother of his three friends had picked him up directly from the apartment. In addition, the housekeeping employee had said on Saturday that the guests had already been there for a few days and an employee at the reception had said that they were there for a week in total. When he told the head of security that, I almost fainted. I shouted at him and accused him of lying. I was sure that he had spoken to the general manager that morning and that the two of them had made up this lie to prevent damage to the resort and the timeshare rip-off offices down in the main building under the reception. That is probably why he didn't arrive until 2 hours later. My son was in shock, they were now trying to accuse him of being wrong after everything he had been through in the last few days. Then the sheriff finally came in, I was happy when I saw that it was Sheriff Clifton from the day before. At first I was afraid that someone else would come and my son would have to tell the whole story from the beginning. I was sure that Sheriff Clifton would help us and expose this lie. Unfortunately we were disappointed, he supposedly wanted to help but his hands were tied. I repeated several times that this is a nasty lie, I had already seen the people with my own eyes on Thursday. I would never have expected something like this to happen, that a resort would cover up for a pedophile, there had to be something else behind it. I knew from other security staff that Sheriff Clifton often comes to the Sheraton Vistana Villages when there are problems and that he is well known there, I don't want to accuse him of anything. But something wasn't right here. Then suddenly they said it couldn't be ruled out that the guest had been in the resort on Wednesday and Thursday without staying there overnight. My son was devastated, just sad and angry at the same time. He said that if something like that were to happen to me again, I would definitely not tell anyone about it. That was the worst thing that could have been done to him. It's a disgrace to have such management and such security at the Sheraton Vistana Villages Resort Orlando International Drive. I said I would sort it out myself tomorrow with the General Manager, Mr. Vogt, and we left. The next morning I had a long conversation with Mr. Vogt, the general manager, and it emerged that the pedophile had been a timeshare owner for 20 years and was well known in the resort. The young, dark-skinned man is apparently autistic, which also explains his behavior at the pool the day before. We were lied to from the start; everyone knew exactly who the pedophile was and which apartment he lived in based on my son's description on Friday night. That's why no one helped me find him. Then it was all clear to me. I have 15 years of experience with the Hilton Grand Vacation Club, SeaWorld Orlando and timeshare owners. Although I was a regular guest there, staying for over 6 weeks to 3 months per year and a total of over 700 nights in the resort, I was lied to for years by management and security. However, the only issue was smokers in the rooms and on the balcony, but you couldn't expect any help there. With timeshare owners, management has blinders on and turns a blind eye. I am a Hilton Lifetime Diamond Member, with around 2000 overnight stays to date, and of course knew all the security and management staff by name. Every year I brought a suitcase full of chocolates for Christmas and Thanksgiving and that was the thanks I got. But none of that compares to what was done to my son and to me there at the Sheraton Vistana Villages Orlando Resort International Drive. And then you consider that my son was conceived in the Sheraton Vistana Villages Lake Buena Vista in 2007. I don't know how many sleepless nights I have spent since then because I couldn't help my son. I can only advise you to avoid this resort with children. If the pedophile is a regular guest there, he will always come back. He is safe there as a timeshare owner. Your child could be the next victim. My son doesn't want to talk about what happened anymore, he thinks that way he can forget it. Unfortunately, I know that he won't forget it.