Orange Lake mistake?

[BigPapa Member Find all posts View Profile Close BigPapa]

So I am a little concerned. I recently bought a unit at Orange Lake. I own a unit in the North Village for week 27. I paid $3500 for it. It seemed reasonable. The resort seems to be very well maintained and has tons of things to do. Until last night I have heard nothing but good things about it. But then I found this forum and saw that there are many negative comments about Orange Lake. I am beginning to wonder if I made a bad purchase.

I bought it because it looks like a great resort, and it supposedly is worth 83,000 RCI points. I am still not entirely sure how RCI points work, but from what I have read, 83,000 is a very good trading value.

Any words of reassurance for me? I am new to timesharing.

Big Papa

[Jya-Ning Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Jya-Ning]

Don't worry. It is a huge resorts. There are over 3,000 units. So there will have units that get old, some units may need upgrade. And with its size, some people may dislike one unit or the other. But in general, it is well managed resort.

The bad thing will happen to any big resort, especially when it get busy time and can not move people from one place to another. Last I look, I am pretty sure the resort's management team is trying to make it one of the best one.

Jya-Ning

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

Orlando is really not a great place to buy. Tho I am not a fan of OL, I don't think you have made a major error- after all $ 3,500 is not a bad price for one of the best weeks in an overbuilt area. The points question is another story- converting will probably cost nearly as much as the week and I'm not a fan of points.

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

Concerning OLCC, the lists of positives and negatives are equally long.

There's nothing special about Week 37. It is not a peak demand Orlando week.

[BigPapa Member Find all posts View Profile Close BigPapa]

There's nothing special about Week 37. It is not a peak demand Orlando week.

I have week 27

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

Jim doesn't care- you should see what he would say if you bought a week 41 - one bedroom.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Week 27 is a prime week there. The area you bought is not the ewest but it is one of the nicest IMO. The reason you might have seen negatitive is more so for the people who exchanged into OL. See Owners there get the best rooms so when someone exchanged into the resort and ends up in a not so niice area of the resort they tend not to say the best things here. OLCC has been my favorite in Orlando. You will be happy with your TS.

[Anne1125 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Anne1125]

I really like Orange Lake. It's got everything, including outdoor basketball which my son really likes.

I don't think you will be disappointed.

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

If Orlando is where you want to go you will be fine in the North Village. You got a decent price.

I can't say what kind of trade value you will get on the RCI weeks side as as Tony said the conversion rates are very pricey.

Many people really love the resort for the amount of on campus things there are for a family to do.

[riverdees05 Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close riverdees05]

You did fine, We purchased from the developer and paid three times what you paid for a week 22. We wanted an early summer week since our grandkids get out of school early. We are in the east village and have trade four times, two times back to Orange Lake and used our unit (three times). Now we own 10 timeshares and the rest we purchased resale - learned our lesson. Week 27 should be a fourth of July week some years. Enjoy and have fun. PS there is back route to Disney that avoids a lot of the traffic.

It is hard to please all the people all the time!

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

So sorry for my misreading. It has been a long time since How to Read Numbers 101 at Moo U/Silo Tech.

We have been familiar with OL for 20 years, it being our first timeshare tour the week we bought our first week, and we have been back several times to watch it grow. We've toured five times I believe, all but a RI tour, which will never happen.

We owned weeks 23, 28 and 29 in Orlando for many years, like 15 or so, so I am somewhat qualified on your particular questions.

We have stayed in the North Village, I believe in 3801 if that is the 3-bedroom unit on the lefthand side. Me and mine enjoyed that week and that location. It was very vacation-like and it was convenient that OL placed our own personal golf hole and putting green right outside. (Of course someone had to keep an eye out for one of the white OL vehicles cruising the area--the Golf Cops.)

I mentioned those two lists, the Positives and the Negatives. Here's the way they start:

Positives
1. It is really big.

Negatives
1. It is really big.

In our last couple of visits we have felt that the resort has lost most of the exclusivity that it had in the beginning, the reason many bought, and it is much more wide-open and diverse, guestwise. Like, it is more than just doctors and their wives, etc. The last few times we went there, the make-up of the guests and the feeling was no different than if we had been staying at a public, non-TS resort.

I noticed that those touring, which is typically about as many as guests, is a very diverse group.

Timesharing has changed a lot in 20 years and opening up to all segments of society is one of those changes. In fact, I will go as far as to say that nowadays it is more attractive to the lower end of the socio-economic scale, those who cannot afford full ownership of a vacation property, so just buy a slice.

JMHO

I have week 27

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

We traded into OL last January, got a two bedroom/two bath unit. The decor was very nice, view was good. We had friends join us and they thought the units were lovely. I think you did VERY well. As far as Orlando, I know there are many timeshares there but OL and Vistana are two of our favorites--yours should have good trading value if you want to trade it. As far as points, I hate them! I'm not even sure if I trust them. Perhaps I just don't "get" how one uses them but we almost always want to stay somewhere for a week. We have 6 timeshare weeks. 5 as weeks and one in points. If I could, I'd pull that point one and get another week. I've heard that the point program is an advantage for the timeshares and RCI. Anyone hear that or know why?

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

The obvious would be that for Weeks members, the industry has a captive audience worth 100's of millions of dollars, converting them to Points, as does OL, which is in the process of doing that now, with much confusion.

I've heard that the point program is an advantage for the timeshares and RCI. Anyone hear that or know why?

[gjw007 Member Find all posts View Profile Close gjw007]

I bought it because it looks like a great resort, and it supposedly is worth 83,000 RCI points. I am still not entirely sure how RCI points work, but from what I have read, 83,000 is a very good trading value.

Any words of reassurance for me? I am new to timesharing.

Big Papa

You did fine. I like OLCC - I own 3 weeks there. I like it because it is big and gives me the freedom of movement but as Jim stated, some people also find that to be a negative. As far as RCI Points, I hate to break this to you, but you probably don't have a RCI Points week but a RCI Weeks. Probably all the resale units are RCI Weeks units as the Global Access program only started last year and there are reports that Global Access, which will convert into RCI Points, is not transferable You will do just fine with a RCI Weeks unit. As such, I would concentrate on RCI Weeks exchanges if in fact that is what you are planning to do. I own at OLCC to stay at OLCC.

Your unit is in the summer, prime time, and you will enjoy the resort. You might be interested in this URL, Orange Lake Resort & Country Club, Florida's Premier Vacation Resort, as it provides some updates on activities at OLCC including renovations in the West Village (I like the West Village but most of the negatives seem to be directed at the West Village).

[BigPapa Member Find all posts View Profile Close BigPapa]

Thanks. All that makes me feel better.

I am actually really looking forward to it. I don't need to worry about the RCI thing for a while since I plany on using my first several years at OL anyway.

I know Orlando is overbuilt, but there is so much do do. The beach is just 45 minutes away, it is a great time of year. So I think I will enjoy it for several years. Then I can look into trading for other locations.

I just wish I could have used it for the 2007 season. But oh well. I will just have to wait until next year.

Big Papa