Just back from two weeks, staying at 206 Viola Drive, Aviana.

I was a bit nervous about the resort, having read some of the reviews, however overall the rental was good value for money. Only some of the villas are affected by the train, we could hear it if we were outside at the pool. It's obvious the developers had big plans for this site before the downturn hit, and because of this there's a lot of unfinished work around. Having said that, it's really just an issue as you come in and go out - the villas are well finished.

We had a problem with the drains in the first couple of days, but once we'd reported this to the local contact they had a plumber out that evening who fixed the problem and cleaned up the mess.

The local area is generally undeveloped, but we always felt safe in the property and on the resort. The local supermarkets (there's to Publix about 5-10 minutes away) have everything you need.

Fantastic accommodation and location and highly recommend. It is within a gated community, and the Vila itself was well equipped for both inside the house and for when visiting the parks e.g push chairs, maps, hints & tips, car seat. The pool was a favourite and frequently used day and night. It is within easy reach to many locations, with a good supermarket just 5 minutes away. We were a party of 9 and there was plenty of space for all. With 3 bathrooms we were never queuing! The house was also very clean and tidy, and freshly decorated. I would definitely recommend and hope to go back soon! One last thing to add, it was very easy through-out the whole process in terms of booking, staying and receiving the security deposit. It made a lovely holiday location - thank you!

Before we left I read the reviews and was a little anxious of what to expect given the polar opposites of them. The reality, as always, was somewhere in the middle. I have tried to organise my thoughts a little below
1. Key collection
This is not a good way to start a holiday. You travel for 11 hours and then drive 40 minutes to get a code for a lock box found at the property and then drive another 30 minutes to the property. Couldn't the code be emailed to you?

2. Aviana Resort.
This isn't a resort, it is a gated community. Yes there is a central pool area, but nothing else; unless you count 3 running machines and a table tennis table. As all properties have a pool this all seemed a little redundant. Maybe a bar or restaurant would be a good future development. The gates were broken during our stay and the codes expired so not too impressive. We found this out on our return from Disney at 11pm (when all staff had gone). Luckily a resident arrived just behind us and opened the gate. She was kind enough to let us use her code. Two days later we got a new code. It was the same as the “borrowed” one!


2. The Property
The property gave a good first impressiion.
4 bedrooms, 2 with ensuite bathrooms. Cable TV in main area and 2 bedrooms. Airconditioning, WIFI and pool

The rooms were nice and clean. The main area was an open plan style; this was because of the lack of space, but with a pool and kids plays room (converted garage) that was never an issue. We did have problems, noisy pool inlet valve, the toilet broke twice, the cable tv was not working properly in the main area and the air-conditioning didn't function in a consistent manner in the master bedroom. In another review there was mention of a train track nearby and indeed there is. The trains seem to "blow their hooters" as they pass within a mile of the resort, but once or twice a night is not a big deal.

This was still a good enough base for us as Disney is all about 12 hours at a park and collapsing in your bed when you get back!

3. Amenities/ proximity to Disney.
The agents who mange these properties always use the words, “close-by”, “just” or “only”. The facts are these, everything is a minimum of 10 minutes in the car, 7-10 miles away.
- Geography – South of everything Disney or Orlando. The “resort” is close to a lot of trailer communities. It is probably 50% further way from Disney than the majority or properties around
- Closest restaurant - Chillis at Championsgate (great service, food and Margaritas).
- Closest food store - Technically the Dollar store. This is like a large corner store.
Better to drive 5 more minutes to Publix. There are no Walmarts “close-by”.
- Disney World. This is the classic. It is 15 minutes to Disney World which is what is always stated, but that is to Disney World Area boundary not the parks. From there it is 10-15 minutes more depending on where you are going. With the Magic Kingdom there is also the mono rail, so that is 40 minutes travelling in total! Interestingly coming back is quicker, because most of the traffic is travelling in the opposite direction. As it is always advised to get to the parks 40-60 minutes early, this makes for a long day.

Would we stay there again? Possibly in the same geographical area, but maybe closer to Championsgate

Aviana is a neighborhood on the outskirts of Davenport. It is a gated community. Some people live there year round, many of the homes are primarily vacation rentals. The homes are all new appearing, some are better kept than others. Your experience will vary greatly on which home you rent. The home we rented was identical to the pictures of it on the internet. Our biggest problems with the home were the bed mattresses being unbelievably cheap and uncomfortable, and the train that passed a few feet from the pool behind the house. There were only 4 of us in a 5 bedroom house. Non of the 4 twin beds or the one double bed could be slept in. The 2 queen beds were ok, not the greatest. My daughter ended up sleeping on the couch. It was a high speed Amtrak train that shook everything in the house, including the glasses in the cabinets. No one knew when it was coming by, so it was hard to plan for it. Oftentimes it passed by in the middle of the night waking us. We had to call the maintenance company early in the morning to report that one of the toilets wound not stop running, and that a ceiling fan over one of the master suites was hanging by a thread, it really was. How dangerous is that. We went to the clubhouse to find the hot tub out of order, and the main pool freezing. They have sand volleyball but you have to bring your own ball. The location for Aviana is not great, there are many other "neighborhoods" that are better locations for Disney parks. We thought we would try a villa for this vacation, it was a disappointing choice for us. We enjoyed the private pool, though even with paying 120 dollars extra for pool heat the spa never really warmed up.