New Members - Please Introduce Yourself!

[puppymommo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close puppymommo]

Glad to hear, Bob, that your extended families are enjoying your Bluegreen timeshare. That's the kind of stories we love to hear!

[Lancaster Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lancaster]

Hello,
I'm completely new to timeshares, but after going to one of those presentations in Cancun (my gf and I just wanted the free lunch and the free hotel vouchers), we're now very interested.

Been reading a bit of the forum to learn stuff and so far it's a bit confusing (understatement, lol).
Hopefully I can ask for help if I need it or if not, search for what I need to know.

Thanks =)

[coachb Member Find all posts View Profile Close coachb]

The first and best advice you'll get is to go slow on your purchase (if you purchase at all). It's easy to buy a timeshare, not so easy to sell. Forums like this are a HUGE benefit to consumers. I was lucky, I bought resale. If I knew of resources like this, I would have bought resale for alot less money.

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

Been reading a bit of the forum to learn stuff and so far it's a bit confusing (understatement, lol).

Seconding coachb's advice to take your time. We did end up buying into the first TS we experienced (however we bought resale), but we'd also tried out a number of their resorts by that point through their one year Sampler package. It ended up that our first impression -- that this was a great fit for us -- turned out to be true of more than just the resort we were saying at when we did the tour, and we're happy with our ownership. Well, I'd probably be happier if hubby had held out for the type of ownership I recommended, especially since his supposed bargain ("for the cost of transfer fees") was the average price two years later, but we are hardly suffering.

And remember that your "perfect fit" at one time in life may not be the best fit a few years later. OTOH, some TSers figure that out, then add ownerships for a better fit.

Weeks ownerships have different advantages to points ownerships, then once you decide whether you want weeks or points there are different things to explore within the two categories. We knew from the git go we wanted points, not weeks, but even knowing that we had to figure out if we wanted a big points system or small one; yearly fees that cover everything or smaller yearly fees with a lot of fiddly charges; whether it traded in RCI or II or both and whether you picked your week to trade or the company did, etc.

And of course once you figure all that out and sign on, they'll change the rules on you. Points systems usually require a kind of flexibility that weeks systems don't; weeks systems usually offer a security points systems done. OTOH, if you want to own and use a particular week, some points systems give you that option while some weeks systems have floating weeks and getting that same week can be a challenge. Even in general terms, it's hard to generalize.

You can't get a good grasp of the TS world as a whole in six months, but you can get a good grasp of a few particular resorts or systems that particularly interest you in that time pretty easily. And renting where you want to own will give you way more info, and info of a different kind, than researching online will, which is important with some people and not that big a deal with others. Knowing what you want and need, and will want and need for the next few years, may be as important as knowing how Timeshares work.

Good luck.

[beachbum2 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close beachbum2]

Hello...

Just find this site after owning a timeshare for 25 years.. LOL

[bolton Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bolton]

Introduction

Hi, I'm Chris. I have a pseudo-timeshare. I actually have a "vacation package" where I can stay at any of three resorts that are part of the Midwest Family Resorts (owned by Summer Bay). I got this years ago when we went on vacation down in Florida.

[fantasyjack Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close fantasyjack]

Hello, I am Jack.
I was introduced to TS in 1994 when I was 24.
A buddy of mine and I were lured to a "Free 3 night stay" at Massanutten resort.
With barely enough credit to my name we bought our first white week at The Summit @ Massanutten together for $9000 from the developer. The following year we returned and bought a 2nd week for $8900 againfrom the developer so that when we got families of our own we would each have 1 week and wouldnt have to alternate years.
We spent many years asking ourselves why we were wasting our money paying off the timeshares and these stupid maintenance fees, but ultimately decided that we would never recoup anywhere near what we paid for the 2 weeks we owned and it would be better to pay them off and keep them.
Boy are we glad we did!
We traveled on many vacations with friends, mostly for Ski trips, and played host, which we loved.
When I got married we continued to travel together and I spent a lot of time getting to know the ins and outs of exchanging with RCI.
We have traveled to Poconos 2x, White Mountains of NH 2x, Orlando 4x.
My kids have been on at least 1 family vacation per year since the day they were born. Heck, my daughter has been to WDW 4x before she was 5!
Right now we are in Love with WDW and cruising, but will still visit our home resort every couple of years or so to save money.
It has been one of the smartest investments I could ever have made because of all the memories we have built and all the friends and family I have been able to host on vacation. Also, we never have had to stay in a cramped hotel or motel room, unless we were arriving a day early or leaving a day late.
I am considering buying into DVC, so someone please talk me out of it, it seems very expensive.

[JaneMei Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JaneMei]

Hi everyone,

I have newly joined this community of timeshare forums.
Actually I'm very much keen and interested in the Carribean community, its now a times a most sought after place in the world with regards to the entertainment and travel business. So I would just love to have your ideas and views about the Carribean community and business.

Thanx all

[link deleted, please see Forum rules about signature links]

[ampaholic Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ampaholic]

Me Rick, DW Elizabeth and DD Ashley live in Spokane WA.

Nickname Ampaholic because of my fondness for buying and selling 20th century Orion and Sound Stream car amplifiers.

We have been timesharing for about a year. We have 7 now so the portfolio is full (gotta lose one before I buy one) . I Found this site when it was mentioned on TUG - now I am spending more time here than there.

We own a Resorts West MROP to get our summer vacations along the Washington and/or Oregon coasts every year and a Tiger Trader in Platinum Interchange at Stoneridge in North Idaho.

We also own RCI Points at Meadow View in Montana, Fox Hills in Wisconsin, Resort World 2 in Orlando, VV@P triennial (Orlando), and a Grandview triennial in Vegas.

I am pretty happy with the portfolio except I would trade the Resort World 2 for something out west - my extended family isn't going to Orlando as much as I thought so just the VV@P is enough for us.

[mgood500 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mgood500]

Disney and options

To FantasyJack about Disney:

DVC is for sure the Rolls Royce of timeshares from what I see and you pay for it.
An alternative would be Marriott's and they are in more locations. I have another strategy and that is to buy at a modest place where you can deposit into II OR RCI and trade into Marriott which is what we often do. It is less
expensive and completely flexible. Email me at markgood500@gmail.com if you
want some suggestions.

[BadBarry Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BadBarry]

New York Timeshare

Hello,
I've been reading these threads for a while and finally decided to create an account and join int he fun.
I'm particularly interested in New York Timeshares (i'm considering buying a week from a resale website) and have joined up to ask a few questions and get feedback from others who have bought in NYC before.
Thanks,
Bad Barry

[brother coony Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close brother coony]

Great place to buy,but maintenance fees will be high,there is The Manhattan Club,and Hilton Grand vacation Club, I love them both,
The cheaper resale will be :The Manhattan Club, been around for 14 years,the Hilton is in its 2nd year

[Plummy Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Plummy]

UK member

Hi

I have recently joined this Forum though I have been a timeshare owner since the early 1990s. My first timeshare was/is in Pestana Palms in Madeira - a Gold Crown red time week I use primarily for exchanging via RCI or Pestana's own exchange organisation, and have had some fabulous exchanges including Kenya, South Africa and of course the US. Although just a studio I have managed to secure lots of 2 bedroom apartments in exchange for a small maintenance fee pegged to the UK RPI. It is however, in a great location on the cliff edge so we do go there occasionally.
I also own at La Ermita in Mijas in Spain and Borgo di Vagli in Tuscany, Italy. These 2 timeshares I bought to use but then 3 years ago got married, rescued 2 Leonberger dogs and things got a whole lot more complicated! These are fabulous properties but due to the need to do non-timeshare holidays I don't exchange them through RCI or anyone else, but use them alternate years and rent out one each year. So far this year we have done an RCI exchange to Attitash for ski-ing; a week in our Mijas timeshare which co-incided with Easter and the Royal wedding (extra days holiday for us Brits); an Alaskan cruise; and several long weekends in our touring caravan, plus an American colleague rented my Borgo di Vagli week. That's it for this year - no leave left!
Look forward to sharing stories and learning from this site.
Plummy

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

Hi to all the new members!

I am considering buying into DVC, so someone please talk me out of it, it seems very expensive.

It is expensive, and you put yourself at the mercy of Disney. Some see the new Art of Animation resort as direct competition with people who rent out their DVC points, for example. DVC is also not good for much but WDW or DL. If you or your kids lose interest in Disney (the second is more common), trading is not a wise use of DVC points, so getting rid of it makes the most sense unless you want to rent them out (which many don't). But justifying the purchase in the first place requires using it for years.

DVC units also tend small, at least for Orlando; if we'd bought in we'd have sized ourselves out of it by now, IMHO. Disney and I don't agree on what size unit reasonably sleeps seven. We've stayed in units with the same square footage elsewhere, but it was distributed differently; we like more room in the kitchen/dining/living room area. A lot of condos give you seating for six at any one table when the condo sleeps eight; DVC rarely gives you even six and sometimes gives you only seating for three.

DVC units are very much geared toward people who spend all days in the parks and never leave WDW, eating only breakfast in the unit; a lot of people who've gone to WDW for years start visiting the other Orlando attractions, at which point they shift from onsite to offsite. Onsite tends to be more intense; offsite more relaxing, which is also a shift a lot of people make over the years.

Have I talked you down yet? If you can go offseason, I think it makes more sense to trade into DVC than to own. If you're tied to the school year, and are sure you and your kids will want to do WDW and stay onsite for years to come, that's when DVC starts making more sense. But, as I said, it's the kids who often change the situation -- some kids, when they hit their teens, want to shift to Universal, and some just lose interest in WDW. Most people I've seen who're unhappy with their DVC purchase, it's the fact that the kids lost interest that made it seem less of a deal. A fair percentage of them were so convinced their kids would want to go forever that they'd bought multiple batches of points so they could pass them on. Then it turns out the kids aren't interested, sometimes even after they have kids of their own..

If you do get DVC, get a resale. There are boards dedicated to DVC and also the Disney boards often have a DVC section where owners can tell you the risks and benefits of owning this or that resort. I personally don't like the fact that you can reserve at eleven months at your home resort and at seven months elsewhere; I see a lot of people fretting and sweating about getting in somewhere else at the seven months mark, and I know some people who own DVC use RCI outside their home resort, because they are more likely to get what they want!

In my points system, you pretty much either get in at eleven months or you don't, so the agony is shorter. And really, barring 4th of July weekend at Big Cedar or some of the affiliate resorts, not a big deal. To be honest I don't think I'd have a problem in DVC, because I wouldn't usually want to stay in the Epcot resorts during food and wine (maybe once, but supposedly that's one where it's easier to trade in through RCI than from another DVC resort anyhow). But people who follow the crowds rather than deliberately avoiding them seem to have a lot of frustrations with DVC when going outside their home resort(s).

Which is one reason a lot of DVC owners have points at a lot of different resorts. DVC is brilliant at motivating people to buy more, gotta admit that. I guess I'd rather deal with a system where they're a little less skilled at getting my cash. Although really it's that we aren't tied too tightly to the school schedule and so could trade into DVC if we wanted to. Except, as I said, once I got a good look at the units I decided I didn't want to, at least until I'm traveling with fewer kids. Still tour some resorts every trip, though -- love the public spaces of all the resorts; not so much for the rooms/units.

You also might look into Wyndham -- I know some DVC owners who think Wyndham's Bonnet Creek is the best "on site" resort going! There was a little triangle of property that Walt and Roy didn't manage to buy up back in the day; that's where Bonnet Creek is, so while you don't get the onsite perks like EMH and the dining plan, you're right in the middle of the action. Bonnet Creek units are larger, though, and there are more pools, as well as true lazy rivers and whatnot, plus of course it's cheaper.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

Hi Plummy,

Welcome to the forum.
So Mijas has TS's? That's interesting. I loved Mijas. What a great place to own a week. I went a year and a half ago. Loved the whole area.

Hi

I have recently joined this Forum though I have been a timeshare owner since the early 1990s. My first timeshare was/is in Pestana Palms in Madeira - a Gold Crown red time week I use primarily for exchanging via RCI or Pestana's own exchange organisation, and have had some fabulous exchanges including Kenya, South Africa and of course the US. Although just a studio I have managed to secure lots of 2 bedroom apartments in exchange for a small maintenance fee pegged to the UK RPI. It is however, in a great location on the cliff edge so we do go there occasionally.
I also own at La Ermita in Mijas in Spain and Borgo di Vagli in Tuscany, Italy. These 2 timeshares I bought to use but then 3 years ago got married, rescued 2 Leonberger dogs and things got a whole lot more complicated! These are fabulous properties but due to the need to do non-timeshare holidays I don't exchange them through RCI or anyone else, but use them alternate years and rent out one each year. So far this year we have done an RCI exchange to Attitash for ski-ing; a week in our Mijas timeshare which co-incided with Easter and the Royal wedding (extra days holiday for us Brits); an Alaskan cruise; and several long weekends in our touring caravan, plus an American colleague rented my Borgo di Vagli week. That's it for this year - no leave left!
Look forward to sharing stories and learning from this site.
Plummy