Back from Silver Lakes Resort

[tyco]

Well the resort was great! We were there through hurricane Charley - They were wonderful in preparing us for what could have been a disaster - The media was preparing us for death - There was minor damage but we survived (the building is sound!) - The rest of the town was a mess - I would recommend Silver Lakes to anyone looking for more space without a lot of walking (smaller scale resort) Our room was very clean (I'm picky) - I must say it wasn't "brand spanking new" but very pleasant - There were a lot of mirrors but AT LEAST THEY WERE CLEAN - I loved the stay but could have done without the hurricane - I'm taking a break from FL - Charley was very scarey for our kids - They are so glad we live in the Northeast (inland) - We will return in time and probably do AKL again -You can't get better than that! Thats just our opinion - See ya guys - glad to be home safe!

Enjoy your upcoming trip(s) to Orlando!

Sue

 

[DaddyDon]

Glad you are safe and sound back home !Have allways wondered about that resort .Thanks for the post!

 

[cd&kids]

We stayed at Silver Lakes twice and absolutely loved it both times. We always highly, highly recommend it. Can't beat that quick drive to Disney! And the last time we were there, the other "back" gate was not quite open yet....I imagine it makes for a 60-second drive to the property.
We love the 20-bucks-to-rent-all-the-videos-you-want-for-a-week deal! And we really enjoy the cabana. Food was pretty decent....tropical drinks (both alcoholic and non) were fun...and one morning we had their breakfast buffet at poolside which we really enjoyed.
Got some offer in the mail for Vistana Villages and accepted it because the price was really good. That's where we're headed in November....but kids are disappointed...they really wanted to return to Silver Lakes. I've heard Vistana Villages are very good...but they have a lot to prove in our family's eyes!!

 

[tyco]

Glad to hear Silver Lake resort is tops with other families - I would love to stay at the Vistana Villages - I 've heard it is new compared to Silver Lakes but very similar in atmosphere - I bet you will love it - How did you manage to receive an offer by mail? We're always looking for ways to save - We had the Silver Lake resort for $370.00/wk 2 bed/condo - We would love to get a deal again! You can't beat the extra space - I still love AKL!!

Happy trip planning!

Sue

 

[lawgs]

did you get any info on silver lake resort - silver points?

methinks this is the newest section of the resort

we will be there in a 3 bedroom in september ( tyco it was a steal on skyauction.com apporoximately 225$ for the week )

do they have computers/internet available at silver lake resort

 

[cd&kids]

Wow...I'm amazed at those prices....370 for a week...225 for a week!!
About two weeks before we were leaving for Silver Lakes last fall, we got a letter in the mail from Sheraton Vistana Villages. As part of a promotion, they were offering a 1-bedroom condo for 70 dollars a night...4-night max.
With three kids, we need a 2-bedroom, so they charged us a little more....plus we added a 5th night at regular cost. Bottom line....around 400 for 5 nights in a 2-bedroom. (We're from the New York area so for us, that's dirt cheap!!)
Don't really know why we got that offer in the mail....I assume from our two previous stays at Silver Lakes, we got on some sort of "maybe-they'll-buy-a-time-share-if-we-give-them-a-great-deal" list!

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

cd&kids ....silver Lake comes up a lot on Skyauction. I've seen it offered a lot on the "Ready,Set,Go" auctions, also. They usually go for $40-$70 plus the $210 for fees........that's $250-$280 for the week in a two bedroom. Not too shabby.

We received Vistana Resort for $301 (including taxes) and Cypress Pointe Grand Villas for $220. Both are two bedrooms.

tyco ........So glad to hear about this resort. I actually tried to bid on this resort, but it didn't come up on our week. I think it would be great being that close to Disney and all.

 

[cd&kids]

Mom of S, B & BD......
First of all, the Finger Lakes are beautiful! (We live on Long Island and last month spent a week in a lakefront house in another spectacular part of upstate NY...Old Forge.)
Secondly...I see and hear all the time on these boards about SkyAuction. How does it work? That kind of stuff (E-Bay, etc...) scares me! Are there fees? Requirements....restrictions??
Third, we'd love to be your neighbors on Main Street USA!

 

[lawgs]

cd&kids

if you check the ready set go auction then use the "Check here" to see where your next vacation will be for availability, you can research different time periods where they have availability in Central Florida

right now they are showing 20 resorts available for the month of november but not all are two bedrooms

there are two silver lake offerings....Silver Lake Resort and Silver Lake Resort - Silver Points ( the latter is the newest section of Silver Lake supposedly and they are probably being offered on skyauction as part of developer surplus )

if you do decide to check out skyauction, do not bid more than 50$ for a ready set go unless you really see something you want...50 seems to be the "going median" bid + 210$ taxes etc bring the one week to 260$ ( sometimes they send out codes that you can use to reduce the cost or you can earn skycash by signing up other people )

with skyauction's ready set go , you can actually "hold" a resort you find in the "Check here" page, thus if you win a bid you know you already have the resort you want, or if you do not know for sure, it is like having a vacation in the bank when you win an auction,

later you can choose from the offerings and dates that are good for you , right now ready set go have to be used by end of june 2005

skyauction is like owning a timeshare without all the upfront costs and yearly maintenance fees and they always seem to have a good selection of resorts in Orlando ( we do own timeshare but supplement them for vacations by using skyauction at prices about half the cost of our annual mainenance fees )

the better resorts in Orlando usually end up as a singular auction with specific dates attached and go much higher ....Vistana comes to mind with auctions going for 300 or so plus the 210$ = 510$ for the week

we have always been impressed with the agents we talk to at Skyauction, they are most helpful with glitches that may occur

they do have a 800# you can call too

hope you can make use of skyauction sometime

 

[Straitlover]

Yes, Silver Lake has computers. They are in the building where the fitness center and arcade are. There were 6 or 8 of them. No printers, though. Mainly useful for checking email.

 

[lawgs]

thanks for the info straitlover

lawgs

 

[cd&kids]

Thanks a lot lawgs...we may check it out next time!!

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

cd&kids................sorry..........I did not see your post until now.

Lawgs did a good explanation of Skyauction. There is also another good one posted by PhotoBear on here somewhere. Skyauctions site is also great at telling you the details........see the FAQ section.

From what I've learned on these boards, the 7 night stays are the best value. They are always your bid + $210 for the taxes and fees.

Our trip was very last minute. I saw an auction for Sept. 4th, at CPGV. That was the ONLY week on the auction. Being that we made up our minds last minute to go, I bid and won at $10. That is pretty low. Most of them don't go for that little. My other auction..........we decided (also last minute) to add another week so I waited to see if August 28th at Vistana would come up(Aug. 15th, Aug. 22nd were already on there). I thought my chances were good. Low and behold, it came up and we were willing to go higher cause by this time we really wanted to go a second week.

It was too funny watching the whole family around the computer 5 minutes before it closed. We were hammering it out with this other bidder. We had the auto bid on (I put it up to $123), so everytime that person put a bid in, my auto bid put a bid one dollar higher. I bet that other person was wondering how high we were willing to go, and we were wondering the same about them. Finally, they gave up at $90 and our auto bid put $91. Whew!!! I thought my 11 yr. old DD was going to have a heart attack! It was pretty fun though. She even liked it.

Sorry this was so long.......I hope it was helpful.

And thanks for the comments on the finger lakes. Yea, we think it is beautiful too. Especially in the fall.

If you have any more questions, feel free to pm me. Glad to help if I can.

 

[lawgs]

forgot about the last minute thingies.....

since most people on here are "planners".....

you often see auctions going for 1$ on a last minute type of date....some day we are gonna try that....when we can just take off on a minutes notice....

but for now, have to plan ahead

happy sky auctioning!!!!

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

Yea, lawgs, that's usually us, too. I have been "planning" for our vacation in Dec/2005 for the last year! It has been fun, though.

We weren't planning on going anywhere this year, and then I saw the auctions. I was able to talk DH into it. It's relatively easy with him being self-employed and me homeschooling.

This is the FIRST time we've ever done this so "spur of the moment". Hope it doesn't backfire on me.

 

[cd&kids]

M of S, B and BD.....now it's me apologizing for taking so long to get back!
Sorry...I must be dumb or just missing something. (Don't let my wife choose between those two!)
I go to Skyauction and don't see any option for the "ready, set go" thing you mentioned.
What's my very first step when I log onto that website?
Thanks again!

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

Glad to help.

When you are on the home page, the easiest thing to do, since you just want to see the "ready" auctions, is to press "search".

Then, where it says "keyword", put in the word ready. That will bring up the auctions.

I see three that are running currently.

When are you going?? Do you have a while yet? (nevermind, I just reread the thread and found out.......Duh! )

 

[cd&kids]

Thanks M of S, B and BD!!
I will give that a try and report back!
Looks like we have more in common than the great state of New York....I just noticed the "Wilderness Lodge" banner you have by your name. That's where we stayed on our first trip to Disney ever (1996) and it was just absolutely fabulous. We have gotten some good time share deals off site and have stayed off property because of that every other time....but our dream is to one day go back to WL. It is the greatest!
And....also just noticed that your countdown is 4 days! Congratulations!! No feeling like it in the world! Crowds should be good...weather should be good....have a great time...and we will look for your restaurant reviews!! (Where are you going??)