Do you take part in the resort activities?

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

Many resorts offer some activities (either free or for a fee) at the resort.

Do you usually participate?

Which type of actvities do you like to join in?

When they have someone speaking about the area tours, restaurants and attractions, we'll go to those. We've come away with some good info by attending talks designed to aquaint us with the area and all it has to offer. I'll go to the non-sales owners updates that Marriott offers to keep up to date on the latest information without wasting a salesmans time trying to sell me another timeshare.

Otherwise we don't usually participate in resort activities. We're usually off on our own exploring the area. Our kids are grown so the family activities are wasted on us and we're pretty self sufficient at entertaining ourselves.

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

We rarely do...occasionally an orientation or welcome meeting to tell us about area activities, and once we played bingo, but that's about it.

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

I wish more resorts would do a welcome or orientation meeting. We've been to a few that offer this service and it's great. Sometimes it's the only way to find out what activities are offered (onsite and offsite). It's also a great way to meet other people. We've done wine tasting, some very interesting side trips (by chartered bus) and, when the kids were younger, some great kids-only activities.

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

You have a great list here of trying out things.

As for the beading....I am intrigued....what about the activity got you now hooked on that? Is it jewelry only or clothing and other items that you do?


Yes, the get acquainted coffees are fun to do, to get oriented to what is available.

I am more curious about the types of resort activities that the resort makes available, like these that you have put in your list.

Scheduled things, like "on Monday at 3 we have an ice cream social" or "Wed at 6 join us for the barbecue."

Our experience has been that these type of activities do not have sales folks around, it is just to create an atmosphere of fun.....but in some resorts, the morning coffee often had sales crews seeking fresh meat.

Well I guess I don't mind the "scary" salesmen because I happen to also be a realtor so I find it entertaining. As a matter of fact I went on a "tour" about 3years ago and when the guy started asking me about how long I had owned my timeshare, when I told him I bought it on ebay he laughed and asked me if I just wanted my $100 now. I told him "no", I want to hear the shpeel. I actually made him do the shpeel so I could learn more about RCI and II.

Of course that was before I discovered the forums. I do forbid my Mom from going on the tours because she has absolutely zero sales resistance and then I have to go thru the cancellation process for her. She's on a very fixed income and cannot afford the fees which is annoying because she is 73 and probably should not be sold a timeshare at her age. She is always up for "FREE BREAKFAST". Don't shoot me down now but honestly she is getting to a point where she can't travel solo. I've got to go with her so I do think this is an abuse by the sales staff.

With the jewelry thing, I got hooked because I already sell jewelry on ebay for fun and so this is an outlet for me and Mom to be creative and also sell what we make. So I'm in the process of creating. It gives me something that I can do with my Mom who is an artist but we have no more walls left and also a way to supplement her income with her creativity.

As for the socials I find them usually not to have any sales staff except for Marriott's wine & cheese mixer at Custom House. They can be fun. At St. Augustine on the 4th of July they did a huge bbq and we got leftover food for the whole week so we didn't cook anymore. I do think most people think they are a trap by the sales staff so they are not well attended.

I just figure we are paying for this so I might as well get something in return.

[barndweller Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close barndweller]

Not usually but we have done a few. We liked the choice of activities at Wyndham Kona Hawaiian Resort and did several. That resort had the best activity line-up I've ever seen with several free or low cost things that appeal to a wide variety of interests and age groups. The orientation type thing is sometimes useful but usually just a dozen vendors selling their tours. We always attend the Tuesday wine & cheese social at our favorite little resort in Palm Desert because it actually is a "social" and we meet lots of other owners. Sedona Springs has some nice family activities our grandkids enjoyed, ice cream social and the like. We plan to do the winery tour when we go to San Luis Bay Inn in October.

I'm not really interested in poker or bingo or movie nights or making cheesy craft souvenirs. I agree the social gatherings that involve food are the best. Especially if they are free or really cheap. I think most of those are disappearing along with mid-week tidy service and such. That's okay since I'd rather keep the MF down and for-go some of those so called freebies.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

It depends on time constraints. Bingo and Karaoke are definitely on the not-to-do list. Table tennis tournaments almost always get me and sometimes I'll play tennis. Area walking tours that interest us usually get the yes nod and it's hard to resist a wine and cheese or breakfast meeting.

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

We really like to take part in resort activities. Some of the things we have done are:

Iron Chef competition
Casino night
Hot balloon rides
Arts & crafts
Movie nights
Pancake breakfasts
Mininature golf
Card games

We enjoy doing these so we meet other owners/travelers. It's a lot of fun!

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

DS8 was able to do scuba at International Drive. He's hooked.

We've done the dive in movies by the pool and some pool side games. Lots of kid friendly no time commitment things in FL.

HI seems to have 1/2 day and whole day things for kids where I'd rather have a pick and choose option.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Whenever possible I like to participate in the hot tub swimsuit disintegration event.

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

I like to join in unless I'm doing something (like Disney)

I like the orientation where they bring in reps of the different tour companies. We won sev tix in Branson.

Bingo is fun, esp when it's held by the pool or the beach.

The funniest thing I ever did was in Cancun when I was chosen to be a chicken and had to lay a egg in a bucket Don't ask, suffice to say I was "cut off"

shaggy

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

Generally NO, as it would require us to violate our cardinal rule against schedules. Sometimes we will attend a special event like the Mexican Fiesta but not very often.

[Icc5 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Icc5]

Sometimes

Years ago we did attend a lot of Resort activities because our kids were young and most things seemed to be for young kids.
We now do orientations if at a new resort location for us. We have done :
Wine tasting/cheese
Breakfast/orientation
beading
art projects
ice cream social
gardening exhibit and lecture
movie/popcorn nights
kids sports tournament

Bart