Woo hoo! Won my first SkyAuction RSG! What's next?

[Straitlover]

Lost the one last night by someone who outbid me at 10:59 PM (for shame!!!). Only reason I won today is they added onto the quantity right before the end! Originally the quantity was 2 (I was bidding on 1), but the quantity "magically" increased to 5, so the winning bids were 4@ $51 and 1@ $50. Interestingly, one of the winning bids was the same person who outbid me last night . Was hoping to get it for $40 or so, but I panicked .

OK, I'm not going until October 4, and Orange Lake only has a studio open for then, so I can just wait to see if anything better opens up, right? Right now, the only places w/ a 1 or 2 BR are V V Parkway and Orbit One. A co-worker just told me she has stayed at OL and that it was wonderful, so I'm hoping to hold out for that or maybe Celebration.

Question: we were originally planning on only staying 6 nights. Can you check out early? If not, amybe I can talk my sis into staying until early Sat morning (our original plan was to head back around 6PM Fri and stop overnight in GA somewhere).

I'm excited!!! If for some reason nothing good opens up for october, I could always save this to use somewhere else since it's good until 5/31/04, right? I'm not cancelling my hotel ressie until I get this booked just in case.

 

[DianeV]

I have heard Vac. Villas at Parkway are pretty nice...

 

[bearzabout]

I won the same auction. I made a reservation ahead of time and already received my condo confirmation. I wait until I see the specific unit I want before bidding. This way, I don't have to worry about a unit opening up. I do have to win the auction tied to the reservation or I may loose the chance at the week I want.

You can book a reservation at any time after winning an auction. I would wait for the unit size and location that you want. Availability changes many times a day. In the past, I noticed the units would only become available a few months ahead of time. Condos must not have many bookings for this fall. I was surprised to see so much fall availability was listed on Skyauction.

Do your research now and decide which condo would be best for you. All have advantages and disadvantages.

Orange Lake: Huge size, lots of activites and pools, nice units but long drive to the parks. Most people seem to like it here.

Silver Lake: The units are not fancy but well maintained. It is small complex but very close to Animal Kingdom. It is great for people (like me) who hate to drive very far after a long day at the parks. They may start construction on a new building soon.

Celebration: I hear the 1 bedroom units are nice but small. They may have some construction going on.

 

[Straitlover]

Bearzabout, thatnks for the info.

Do you happen to know if any the resorts you or I mentioned charge the resort fees? I noticed in the auction listing that sentence about some resorts possibly charging a resort fee.

Only thing that turns me off to VV Parkway is them only having 1 bed (not counting the sleeper sofa). I don't really mind sleeping w/ my sister (did it lost growing up! LOL), and we do share a bed when she comes to visit me because I ahve not put a bed in my guest room yet. But, since I live alone, it's hard for me to sleep if there is someone else in the same bed. Sometimes it's hard just having someone in the same room!

 

[bearzabout]

Silver Lake does not charge a resort fee. I haven't heard about the others. You can do a search on the internet for the resort's phone numbers and call to ask if there is any additional fee for time share exchanges. I think the "guest certificates" faxed by RCI to use at the resort is the same as when time share owners exchange weeks.

I would hold out for a 2 bedroom unit. I learned to wait for these after getting stuck in a smaller 1 bedroom lockoff. Do some searches and check floor plans. I'm sure you will agree to try for a 2 bedroom since the price is the same. You have so much time before your October trip. I would think something will come up if you check availability often.