Help! Tell me about Vistana Palms?!

[dizneekim]

I just called Vistana resort to confirm my reservations starting this Friday. The person I spoke with was very curt and hard to understand (accent.) She did not want to tell me what area we would be in. When I pressed, she said, "Probably Palms." The few posts I've found when I searched the boards for Palms were negative. Can anyone please fill me in? I did Diamond Lane check in a few weeks ago and requested "top floor, away from traffic and streetlights." Should I try to make changes now or wait and see when we get there? Please calm my nerves!!! Thanks.

 

[harvey]

When we were assigned in the Falls (they disregarded all three of my preferences) I went back and told them I was unhappy and they switched us. We also did diamond lane check-in and I also called a few days before checking in. HOnestly, there is such drastic differences between the new and old sections, and since you can't pick what you want, we've stayed away from Vistana. The section we moved to was beautiful, but I hate the risk you take by booking there.

So...if you don't like what you get, you can always hope they will switch you. We were there during a low time, so there were units available.

 

[dizneekim]

Thanks, Cindy, for your response. It is amazing that one company would maintain such very different units on one property. We are heading out tomorrow am; think happy thoughts

 

[MiaSRN62]

Thanks, Cindy, for your response. It is amazing that one company would maintain such very different units on one property. We are heading out tomorrow am; think happy thoughts

Just a little history.....
Vistana took over the grounds around 1980. At that time, there was something of an existing apartment comlex/townhouse communtiy (i.e. the Courts). Once Vistana took over, the property, located on only a 25 acre parcel opened in 1980 with 98 units. Vistana was the first timeshare in the Orlando area. They also own Hamptons' Oak Plantation and the Beach Club on Hutchinson Island in southeast FL.
Vistana developers saw the potential there with so much open land acreage and they decided to build, leaving the Courts section as it was originally when they came in. The resort was built up over years with Falls (1982), Spas ('84) and Palms ('87) being the early sections. Then they added the Springs section ('88) as their fixed week timeshare sales took off. The Fountains phases followed next in the early 90's and Lakes in '95. The Cascades were begun in early '97 I believe (possibly late '96) and were still under construction last year when I was there.
Each section is owned and operated by their own association. The association is to whom we pay our yearly dues. Owners vote in their president, VP, Secretary and Treasurer and vote accordingly or send in their proxy vote for the panel to vote. Each section's association has it's own budget and own plans for rehab/replacement. The earlier units were sold as fixed week timeshares, meaning the owner vacationed the exact same week every year. I own in the Fountains I & II and these are floating or fixed. We opted for floating so we can choose from a variety of weeks every year with perhaps 10 weeks of blackout time. Sheraton/Starwood came into the picture around '99-'00 or so (give or take a year). The Cascades were built, introducing a point-based system (more similar to DVC with more flexibility) and I believe Lakes owners were converted/included in this. They may or may not have had the free choice to do this ?
I just wanted to give you an idea of how very different & diversified this resort is. This is why I feel there are such big differences between the various sections. This resort grew gradually over more than a decade and Vistana changed with the ever growing timeshare market. I think most other timeshares built since, grew over a shorter period of time, in one or two phases only maybe a couple of years vs the Vistana's growth over a decade.
Hope I didn't bore anyone , it's just that I see so many comments in regards to the different sections on the resort that I thought I might shed some light on Vistana's history.

 

[dizneekim]

Thanks to everyone's helpful information here, I now have a clue about Vistana. Maria's description of all of the different sections is very accurate. We ended up in the Fountains, and they were very nice. There were maintenance crews out and about every day; the buildings across from us were having new carpet installed. Our decor was a bit dated, but the unit was super clean and huge; we were very comfortable. There were lots of people to be seen, but it was always very peaceful and quiet. I will not hesitate to book there again. Glad to share additional info if anyone needs it.