Any tricks on getting new section at Vistana?

[barefootMom]

After reading about the different sections at the Vistana it sounds like I definitely want the Lakes or Cascades. I booked the first week in Oct. by calling Starwood directly. I am wondering if this would give me any more of a chance of getting what we want instead of going a cheaper route and going through SkyAuction or elsewhere. I dont care about the money as much as I care about having a nice unit. Does anyone know how they determine (other than the check-in day of week) where they are going to put people? Yes, I know about the Diamond Lane request form but still wouldn't be able to do that for a while right? As of right now we are a Sat. check-in. If we arrived on thursday or sunday would we have better luck? THANKS!

 

[ttfn3]

IMHO it depends on how many owners will be at VR for your time frame. If it's a busy time, Cascades and Lakes will be taken by owners. We just came back (end of March) after reserving our stay at the sheraton website. We have stayed at the VR twice in the past (mostly recently July 2004), so we knew what location we wanted. We were given a Springs unit that did not meet our expections. (We took a look at it - keeping an open mind - but it really smelled bad!) We went back to the front desk and were given another unit in the Fountains section that was really nice. Ww were very nice to the staff at the front desk and they tried really hard to meet our needs. It worked out great. We actually had a unit we liked at the Falls last summer. Great location right across from the Falls pool.

I do want to say that we have found the staff at the Vistana Resort some of the best resort employees anywhere. We have gotten great service from the activitiy centers, maintenance, front desk staff, etc.

 

[barefootMom]

Does anyone know how busy Vistana is in early October? I think that is supposed to be a slow time at Disney right?