florida on bonus time

[BerryQueen Member Find all posts View Profile Close BerryQueen]

when is a good time to go to florida on bonus time I know right now is plentiful but what about in say sept oct?

as well is there deals through bluegreen for disney ticket?

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

I have no idea on the bonus time question. Never used bonus time. Right now, I have more points than I can use, so have never wanted to spend cash when I can blow points for a weekend.

But, that isn't why I am here. When we went to the Fountains couple years ago, BG was not offering anything like that. We did our search for Disney tickets online and found a few decent places that sold park hopper tickets. Just read the fine print carefully to make sure when you compare, you are doing the apples to apples compare.

Just found this site MouseSavers.com - Disney World Ticket & Pass Advice, Tips and Tricks. Since I am not a person to repeat the mouse, I am not looking into it much, but thought it may be of some help.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Bonus time is most available in the off season. Sept and Oct is very good.

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

There is another recent similar thread. It was asking about beach resorts.

I remember looking for them and comparing with RCI, I believe privately - - - off the board - - - and BG had a pathetic selection of lesser resorts; RCI had a much better selection.

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

But what about the better BG resorts vs RCI?

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

But what about the better BG resorts vs RCI?

You mean BG beach resorts? Name some.

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

Solara Surfside, Daytona Seabreeze, Hammocks of Marathon (maybe not technically beach resort??)

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Solara Surfside, Daytona Seabreeze, Hammocks of Marathon (maybe not technically beach resort??)

Via Roma and Resort 66 are Bluegreen Resorts on the Gulf Coast.

I can get into any of the above 5 resorts ANY week of the year. And, these are not "lesser" resorts. They are all actually quite nice. If I want a month in the winter at any of these resorts, I can get it.

Pathetic is RCI. They have the most number of resorts that you can never get. Or, you have to compromise when you want to go to get it. Or, you have to book 1-2 years from check in. That defines pathetic.

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

BB & I have disagreed quite a lot since he started timesharing four or five years ago. (Or has it been longer now?) He has an obvious BG bias, and since this is the BG board, that's cool.

But it's not accurate.

Those Anna Maria/Holmes Beach resorts are comfortable, homey little family resorts, but do not hold a candle to any of a dozen resorts on Sanibel, South Seas on Captiva, a couple or four on Ft. Myers Beach, about the same number on Marco, and a couple on Siesta Key and Longboat Key.

But, what the heck, there's quite a few comfortable, old converted beach motel timeshares on the Gulf Coast, since that's what that dude from Ball State did back in the 70's and early 80's.

We are not uppity folks and because of the time of year we go to Florida, any more we do stay at resorts similar to Via Roma and Resort 66, but . . . Folks really familiar with all the resorts know what I mean.

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

Just to add . . . there are probably three dozen resorts like Via Roma and Resort 66 on the left coast. Probably more. In snowbird season, Christmas through Tax Day, they are very popular with retired northerners, and even Europeans, of modest means. Actually, they are very, very, very popular with that demographic.

This past January at a very similar resort in Englewood, I stumbled into a group of gentlemen from my formative years, guys who had coached and refereed sports in Iowa when I was growing up. They actually know and run around with the guys that coached and refereed me when I played HS sports. They are my parents generation.

We have stayed in Gulf Coast resorts every January for nearly 20 years and they are almost all exactly like that in Snowbird season.

Then there are the nice resorts, the ones that still go for $25-$30K resale, if you can get one of those weeks. We stayed at one on Sanibel in January, after the week at the Plain Jane in Englewood. We had a 1700 square foot unit, with three sundecks and a screened lanai. The master suite was like a separate wing. It was designed to be a 3-bedroom condo, then they timeshared it instead. & it is not even in the top 15 in SW FL.

Whether you can get them when you want them is another topic.

Via Roma and Resort 66 are not in that league.

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

Then there are the nice resorts, the ones that still go for $25-$30K resale, if you can get one of those weeks. We stayed at one on Sanibel in January, after the week at the Plain Jane in Englewood. We had a 1700 square foot unit, with three sundecks and a screened lanai. The master suite was like a separate wing. It was designed to be a 3-bedroom condo, then they timeshared it instead. & it is not even in the top 15 in SW FL.

Whether you can get them when you want them is another topic.

Via Roma and Resort 66 are not in that league.

I believe Boca's point is the oceanfront Bluegreen resorts are actually ATTAINABLE in the BG system as opposed to a wish and a prayer with RCI. You know you got very lucky with that Sanibel unit for when you went. You yourself have remarked constantly on how difficult those trades have become to get over the last 4 years and in that I agree.

I have stayed at one of the more humble Sanibel resorts, a motel conversion, and absolutely loved it. We were lucky to get it in trade and I had to use a tiger for it.

I would not thumb my nose at Resort 66 or Hammocks at Marathon and am actually considering them for next year's Easter vacation.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

BB & I have disagreed quite a lot since he started timesharing four or five years ago. (Or has it been longer now?) He has an obvious BG bias, and since this is the BG board, that's cool.

But it's not accurate.

Those Anna Maria/Holmes Beach resorts are comfortable, homey little family resorts, but do not hold a candle to any of a dozen resorts on Sanibel, South Seas on Captiva, a couple or four on Ft. Myers Beach, about the same number on Marco, and a couple on Siesta Key and Longboat Key.

But, what the heck, there's quite a few comfortable, old converted beach motel timeshares on the Gulf Coast, since that's what that dude from Ball State did back in the 70's and early 80's.

We are not uppity folks and because of the time of year we go to Florida, any more we do stay at resorts similar to Via Roma and Resort 66, but . . . Folks really familiar with all the resorts know what I mean.

I think where we disagree is what defines "lesser" and what defines "pathetic". I'm okay with you disagreeing, but I don't want people to associate "lesser" and "pathetic" as terms that describe the Bluegreen Vacation Club because they don't accurately depict the Club.

I define pathetic as not being able to get something decent any time you want it. In my definition, RCI is FAR more pathetic than Bluegreen.

I define lesser as places I wouldn't consider staying at more than once. Places that I don't like or don't meet my needs. Gulfstream Manor, a Bluegreen resort fits that definition. So does the Player's Club on Hilton Head Island. Another Bluegreen Resort.

If we are talking about anything less than "top of the line" then I would say that very few resorts fit that category and only 2-3 Bluegreen resorts fit the bill. Bluegreen Wilderness Club at Big Cedar and Lodge Alley Inn fit those definitions to me. So does the Hyatt Coconut Plantation and Marriott Ocean Pointe. Even Mariott Beach Place Tower in Fort Lauderdale is only border line top of the line.

I stayed at Club Regency once and it wasn't as good as ANY of the Bluegreen resorts that are described in this thread. Neither is South Seas Plantation in Captiva. Also a resort I've stayed at. Eagles Nest on Marco island is great and better than most of the resorts I mentioned.

My two personal favorite beach resorts that I can get anytime I want are Bluegreen Solara Surfside and Wyndham Royal Vista. The oceanfront units are fantastic and it's close to all the great stuff to do that we like doing.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Whether you can get them when you want them is another topic.

NO, it IS the topic. A resort is useless if you can't get it when you want it. Otherwise, I would start describing all of the mansions up and down both Florida coasts that are far superior to ANY and ALL timeshare resorts in Florida.

Via Roma and Resort 66 are not in that league.

Never said they were. I said that Bluegreen is NOT pathetic. I said RCI was.

As far as resorts in general are. Using your definition of LESSER, I'd say that most of the resorts on the Gulf Coast of Florida are lesser when compared to the top of the line beach resorts I've been to around the country. I rate Gulf Coast of Florida LESSER in quality than many vacation destinations I've travelled.

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

Ah, there's the rub. I thought we were talking about quality. In that regard, according to the ratings OY, Via Roma and Resort Sixty-Six don't even cut it in just the Sarasota area, coming in at 14 and 16 out of 21.

As I said, the Plain Jane resort we stayed at in Engelwood is right in the gob, at 18th.

No one knows better than me how hard it is to get SW FL resorts in Snowbird Season, but for the BG member who was inquiring recently, there were beaucoup Non-BG RCI resorts available for her timeframe. So, going only BG, and for only 2 Gulf resorts, limited her in both quality and selection.

I don't recall that through RCI I have ever not been able to get a lower-quality resort as far north as Sarasota, but I'd be willing to do some comparative searches, for any time, and see if I can come up with anything better than a 14 out of 21 ranking.

Yeah, like I'm and RCI-lover.

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

I don't recall that through RCI I have ever not been able to get a lower-quality resort as far north as Sarasota, but I'd be willing to do some comparative searches, for any time, and see if I can come up with anything better than a 14 out of 21 ranking.

I took me up on that.

In fact I cannot get anything in the Sarasota area for February or March. So, if you need a place to hang your hat, and it has to be February or March, and you can get something through BG, then do it.

The trade-off in restricting yourself to just BG is the large selection and better quality most of the time.

I think folks know what I'm saying.

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Although there are a plethora of plain resorts, ala the motel conersions of NE FL, I would never want to leave the impression that there are no absolutely wonderful resorts on the left coast. There are some that rival the nicest resorts anywhere. Quite a few actually.