Suggestions for Hotel/Suite/Condo/Timeshare?

[DisneyHoneyMoon]

We've decided that we no longer want to stay at a Disney resort. After dozens and dozens of stays on site, we just don't feel that the "perks" and "theming" are really worth it for us anymore. We avoid the parks that have EMH because of crowds and the DME is more hassle than we want to deal with anymore.

So here are my questions...
1. I understand we won't use our "resort key" as our tickets in the park anymore, are the tickets for non-disney-resort folks the little flimsy paper ones? Any way to mark which one belongs to which member of your family? I saw 2 people struggling to get in the park the other day and it turned out they had inadvertantly switched tickets and their fingers weren't matching up.

2. Best way to get to the parks on non-disney transportation? How much does it cost to park? Are the other busses timely? We waited on average around 25-30 minutes for busses on our trip last week, which in part is what is driving us to look at other options.

3. Is it possible to get a place with a kitchen, if so, will it cost me an arm and a leg? You can probably guess our reasoning but we've reached the point that we're feeling seriously ripped off on the price of food/drink at Disney.

4. Any great pools at any orlando area hotels?

So are there any good websites that we should be looking at when we plan our next trip? Perhaps places to get timeshares that people are unable to use that week or something?

Thanks!

 

[LuckyJC]

Orlando is abundant with timeshares, and premium ones too. There are top name brand timeshares in Orlando such as Marriott, Hilton, etc.

Timeshare condo in Orlando is usually 2 bdrm 2 bath, 1500 sq ft with full kitchen. Luxurious ones have jacuzzi, large screen TV's, etc. Most of them have gorgeous pools. Most people stay in timeshares for the same reasons you are expressing now. I personally prefers the ability to cook simple and healthy meals, I can not tolerate greasy food even if it is only for a week.

I own two timeshare in Orlando, both of them are convenient, one of them is even closer to the theme parks than most of Disney's resorts. My cost per day using my 2 bdrm or 3bdrm timeshares is $100 a day for a 5 star resort. Be prepared to pay $150 a day for the high-end property, more for demand season.

Of course, there is a whole community of timeshares, you can find some veterans at this board tugbbs (please convert to proper website address, this board is not allowing me to add links since I am new)

You can also find great choices for timeshare rentals at bidshares (I have mine advertised there). It is free to use. myresortnetwork is also a good one.

 

[crazelion]

If stay offsite you will need a car to get around. Offsite transportion is bad from what i heard from these boards.

WDW food places does not have inexpansive buffets. The only cheap buffets in WDW is Trails End. The fact I make up my mind 180 days out what i won't eat is unheard of. I have figure out what I want dinner today. Let in advance.

Good sites go is:
www.hotelkingdom.com
www.hotelmartusa.com
www.travelzoo.com

Hotel reviews;
www.tripadvsior.com

 

[rejobako]

We've decided that we no longer want to stay at a Disney resort. After dozens and dozens of stays on site, we just don't feel that the "perks" and "theming" are really worth it for us anymore. We avoid the parks that have EMH because of crowds and the DME is more hassle than we want to deal with anymore.

So here are my questions...
1. I understand we won't use our "resort key" as our tickets in the park anymore, are the tickets for non-disney-resort folks the little flimsy paper ones? Any way to mark which one belongs to which member of your family? I saw 2 people struggling to get in the park the other day and it turned out they had inadvertantly switched tickets and their fingers weren't matching up.

2. Best way to get to the parks on non-disney transportation? How much does it cost to park? Are the other busses timely? We waited on average around 25-30 minutes for busses on our trip last week, which in part is what is driving us to look at other options.

3. Is it possible to get a place with a kitchen, if so, will it cost me an arm and a leg? You can probably guess our reasoning but we've reached the point that we're feeling seriously ripped off on the price of food/drink at Disney.

4. Any great pools at any orlando area hotels?

So are there any good websites that we should be looking at when we plan our next trip? Perhaps places to get timeshares that people are unable to use that week or something?

Thanks!

First of all, although I know for many the "Disney touch" is worth the extra expense, I agree with you. We always stay off-site at properties that we think exceed Disney's "home away from home" choices, at a much less expensive cost.

Answers to your specific questions:

1) I don't see why you couldn't just jot down your initials on your tickets. So long as you don't damage the magnetic stripe, you shouldn't have a problem.

2) We don't care for waiting for buses, so we usually choose to drive (but then again, we don't have to fly in, so we don't need to pay for a rental car). I think the daily parking rate these days is about $10 per car at the parks, and I believe that if you drive from park to park, your pass is good at any park lot for the day. There are many timeshares that offer bus transportation to the parks, but I don't think any of them are likely to be more (or less) timely than WDW's.

3) I think you'll be surprised at how cheaply you can get into a full-size condo resort with all the bells and whistles including washer/dryer, full kitchen, balcony, even an in-room jacuzzi tub, etc. Our favorite resort right now is the Marriott Grande Vista. It's about a 15 minute drive at most to WDW, but we believe the units and grounds are as nice or nicer than any Disney property. I just checked expedia.com at random, and you can rent a 2 bedroom condo there for $256 per night, with every possible amenity you could want. You can barely get into a studio unit for that price at Disney's condo properties.

4) Again, most of the upscale timeshare places rent by the day or week to non-owners, and most of them have great pools. The Marriott I discussed above just finished an addition with a zero-entry interactive pool with fountains and water cannons, etc., and the original main pool area is more laidback but beautifully landscaped, including an adjacent kiddie pool with little fountains and even a lap pool for swimmers.

As far as websites, you can get a lot of information at expedia.com, tripadvisor.com, priceline.com, etc., and if you want some more in-depth information on timeshares specifically, try browsing the bulletin board at

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/

Good luck, and welcome to the wonderful world of off-site.

 

[utahkennedys]

I know you said you planned to stay now off-site, but have you thought about DVC resorts? We LOVE OKW and own there because it is so quiet and removed from the parks, but you get all of the perks. We also avoid EMH, and often drive. But, parking is free while you are at DVC. You could rent points and get a 1 BR at OKW in value season for approx. $160/night or $220 for a 2BR -- plus that includes all taxes and fees so it's truly a great deal. The kitchen is great for b'fast and any other meals. I buy stuff to take dd4's lunches in the park like frozen uncrustables sandwiches, carrots, drink box, cookies etc and we save A LOT! DVC is a great value to me. We stayed at Marriott Grande Vista a year ago and loved that too, but it is just as expensive or more, and you lose the Disney "perks".

 

[rejobako]

You could rent points and get a 1 BR at OKW in value season for approx. $160/night or $220 for a 2BR -- plus that includes all taxes and fees so it's truly a great deal.

That's not bad, I agree, although I would suggest the difference is much greater during peak season -- I still prefer Marriott/Hyatt timeshares to DVC as far as facilities/amenities. The biggest drawback is . . . location location location.

I guess it's a good thing that people have different preferences -- otherwise we'd all be trying to crowd into the same place.

 

[littlestar]

Have you thought about purchasing a cheap timeshare resale and trading in through RCI or II to go to Orlando? If you're not talking peak summer weeks or spring break or Christmas, this plan could work out pretty well if you do your homework and investigate and read - maybe visit tug (timeshare users group) and observe and read for a few months and learn. Besides, when you're a member of II, you get access to II's Getaway weeks and those prices are way better for full week stays than renting usually. Just another idea for you to kick around.

We own DVC points, but are also trying to buy a cheap resale timeshare that trades through II to stretch our vacation dollar. Orlando has a lot of supply of timeshares and trading in (especially off season) is doable. I won't completely give up my on-site stays, but we visit Orlando mutiple times a year and I enjoy onsite DVC and especially the Marriott timeshares in Orlando (cypress harbour and Horizons specifically). Grande Vista is too big feeling and spread out for my tastes so it wouldn't be my first choice. Of course, I don't care for Disney's Saratoga for that same reason.

We had family that stayed at Grande Vista last week and they had roaches in their room (not in the newer buildings). Marriott reweatherstripped their door and sprayed twice for the bugs, but it kind of creeped me out. And then we had family friends that had a unit in the very back of Grande Vista (another non refurbished unit) that had fleas. Somebody probably had a dog in the room and caused this (since it was in the back of the resort - somebody had probably snuck a dog in) but my husband and I were not impressed with Grande Vista because of all of these problems going on with our family and friends last week. I have had family that have stayed in newer buildings at Grande Vista and had great trips. But this trip, the luck didn't hold out on a newer building -refurbished unit. That's the trick with timeshares - sometimes you get pot luck. We got lucky last week and stayed in a brand new 1 bedroom unit at Marriott's Horizons resort, so I was comparing older units at Grande Vista to our new unit at Horizons.

Good luck.

 

[Lisa P.]

Most of your questions have been answered already. The best way to get to the parks from ANY offsite location is by car, hands down! We've found it at least as fast to drive from the nearer offsite resorts than to bus from the Disney value and moderate resorts. At timeshares, our car is often parked right outside our condo. We keep a small, soft cooler in the car and bring out cold drinks with a ziploc of ice cubes. Later, it's great to come out of the park without standing in another line, get into our car with our favorite (Disney?) music and a cool drink when running back to the condo for a swim. Most nice resorts have a fee-option for a shuttle bus to the parks but they usually only run 2-4 times per day on a schedule and they often have the last return before fireworks.

Timeshare condos and pool homes (and SOME suite hotels) offer fully equipped kitchen, most with an inroom washer/dryer as well. It's not uncommon to find this offsite for just $100-$150 per night, with 2 BRs, 2 full baths. 7-night, weekly rentals without daily housekeeping service (just weekly, for checkin/out) are usually the best price. We make excellent use of a kitchen (have 3 teenagers, plus their friends) for breakfasts, snacks, some simple lunches/dinners.

The pools at nice timeshare resorts are beautifully landscaped, many with water features, a few with lazy rivers (Bonnet Creek, Orange Lake) or waterslides (Horizons, Calypso Cay, Orange Lake). Some are also lakefront with rental boats or waterskiing. Most have games rooms and/or activities staff.

So are there any good websites that we should be looking at when we plan our next trip? Perhaps places to get timeshares that people are unable to use that week or something?

Try Condo Direct for rental weeks in timeshare resort condos that trade through Interval International. This is an II company.

HolidayNetwork has rental weeks in timeshare resort condos, privately owned condos and homes. This is an RCI company.

RCI & II are the largest timeshare exchange companies. Their weekly rental rates to the general public on webpages like these will run around $500-$1200/week and they do not include daily housekeeping service. You'll arrive to a clean condo/home and they'll clean it after you leave, but you're on your own while there (unless you arrange for additional cleaning service for a fee). These (above) are some of their rental offerings for "excess" inventory or unsold weeks that the developers would like to rent out.

Timeshare management companies may also offer nightly rentals directly from their webpages and these nightly rentals generally do include daily housekeeping service. The rates from the resorts run along the lines of what you've been quoted by others on this thread. Look online for Marriott, Hilton, Fairfield, Sheraton or other recogizable names in the timeshare business to locate these resorts.

TUG Classifieds shows listings by owners of timeshares, offering mostly weekly rentals, sometimes nightly. These are offered directly from individual owners themselves and may offer the best prices (some are also negotiable). It's free to browse here, as well as on the TUG forums. But members of TUG are also granted access to excellent timeshare owner/exchanger reviews and ratings so they can learn what a place is really like before booking a stay. See my sig below for a link to join for the reviews - very useful to anyone who may stay in a timeshare more than once in a year or even make a purchase.