time share tours

[marsha123]

we are heading to orlando to go to universal .we are able to leave a day eariler than we though .any tours you know to get tickets to disney or seaworld? thanks

 

[Purseval]

You can do a google search for orlando discount tickets and look for the ones that have a "special offer", usually a WDW Touch of Magic ticket at a heavy discount. Call the toll-free number and ask if they have other tickets if you aren't interested in that. They will offer you Seaworld, dinner theatre, etc. Don't be alarmed if they ask for a $20 deposit that is normal they aren't trying to steal your credit card number they just want to make sure you show up.

If you go to this thread you will see reviews of several timeshare tours, along with payouts and actual time spent then see if it's worth it to you:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2312540

 

[webprinter]

Westgate and Wyndham are the most frequently seen but both are high pressure. There are "discount" ticket booths all over that book the tours. We went to the big "orange" last time and told him what we wanted. He booked us with two tours I think. It is harder for us as we are usually looking for cash. It is very easy to find places to book them if you have a car. Hilton usually has booths but we couldn't find them last time we were there. I think the outlet malls have Wyndham and maybe Westgate.

 

[Purseval]

Hilton recruits out of Universal Studios plus they also ask you for an income range and disqualify you if you don't make enough. Plus, since you are looking for WDW or Seaworld tickets the ones at US/IOA (Orange Lakes, Mystic Dunes, Westgate, Wyndham and Hilton rotate in and out) won't help because they can only offer Universal dollars. It's possible that you can ask a rep inside the park where you can find a rep outside the park but, since they all get commissions, they may not be very helpful. And if they tell you that you can switch gifts once you get to the tour they are lying.

You also are supposed to have spent the previous night in an Orlando hotel so if you are trying to take a tour the day you arrive make sure you have a hotel name. Speaking of hotels, they also typically have someone trying to book you for a tour so you can call in advance and ask the front desk what resort tours out of the hotel. If it's something good you can wander in early and sign up.

 

[AZMyers]

IMO those presentations are NOT worth the free tickets. They are such high pressure. I left feeling sick about how I wasted 3 hours of my life. DH said he would never ever do one again either. Just my opinion.

 

[Purseval]

IMO those presentations are NOT worth the free tickets. They are such high pressure. I left feeling sick about how I wasted 3 hours of my life. DH said he would never ever do one again either. Just my opinion.

It depends on what you got and how long it took. I post that in my reviews. Pressure, schmessure, after a while you just tune it out and even start critiquing the delivery.

My stepdaughter, her husband and their 2 children are coming to Orlando for the first time next March. Not only do we have their tickets and our tickets to Disney, we have their tickets to Universal and enough Universal dollars to pay for one night at a Universal onsite hotel while we are there, which will give us 2 days of unlimited front of the line access plus a place for the kids to rest during the day, all paid for through timeshare presentations we did in our spare time.

 

[Purseval]

Westgate and Wyndham are the most frequently seen but both are high pressure.... It is harder for us as we are usually looking for cash.

Westgate is definitely high pressure, Wyndham is low to medium pressure as are most of the timeshares that are owned by hotel corporations. They don't want to give you such a bad experience you'll get ticked off and avoid their hotels.

A typical TS tour offer at either Universal park offers either 80-100 Universal dollars or 70 dollars cash. We always take the Universal dollars but we have a goal in mind. If we didn't we'd take the cash because it's good anywhere.

 

[dioxide45]

I know there are "body snatchers" located in the parking lot of the plaza where Giordano's is on 535. I think we went in to the booth once and they were pushing Westgate. I grabbed a coupon book and quickly made my exit.

 

[Brian Noble]

Different people place different values on their time. But, if you do the math, the "hourly rate" of a timeshare presentation is pretty low. For me, the compensation is not even in the ballpark.

 

[Purseval]

I do the math all the time, it's about $75/hr for Westgate down to about $23/hr if you do a cash only tour of a place like Orange Lakes, divided by 2 if you prefer. If you're a financial consultant making $500/hr odds are you won't be reading this thread in the first place so we'll toss that group aside. For the rest of us it's more a matter of how much your time is worth at the moment because even $11.50/hr is $11.50 more than you make for sitting around watching tv. We do all of our TS tours on dead time, time that if we were not at the TS we would be hanging out or walking around a mall. So for us it's free money no matter how little. On the other hand, if I were down for a 1-week vacation that I had planned for ages and it was my only visit for a long time they couldn't print enough money to make me give up my park time to do a TS tour. It all depends on your priorities.

The OP was arriving a day early so they are obviously considering this as free time and, for them, 3 hours of their time is worth exchanging for about $180 worth of tickets (~$85/day +tax for 1 day 1 park at WDW, 2 tickets). So their "ballpark" is about $30/hr per person.

 

[Brian Noble]

$30/hour is about $58K/year give or take. That's pretty close to the median income of about $52K, and it's less than the typical earnings threshold that a lot of the body snatchers are supposed to stick to (usually $60K).

As an aside, this is one of the things I've never understood about timeshare marketing---anyone who genuinely qualifies for the tour is getting paid less to go on the tour than they do to go to work. And, unless your job really stinks, it's probably more fun than the tour.

Some people do find these to be worth their time, and a few people even enjoy them. To me, vacation time with my family is worth *more* than my time at work---that's why I take vacations rather than go to work.

 

[Purseval]

Some people do find these to be worth their time, and a few people even enjoy them. To me, vacation time with my family is worth *more* than my time at work---that's why I take vacations rather than go to work.

And some other people like to stretch their dollars beyond what they make at work, which is why this BBS has a budget board. The OP isn't looking to buy a timeshare, she's looking for a way to get some free stuff. Maybe sacrificing a few hours with a TS salesman so someone can get to go to WDW is her way of showing that her time with her family is worth *more* than her time at work.

As for myself, my wife *is* my family, everyone else has grown up and moved away, and she likes going to TS presentations so she can get stuff for the kids and grandkids when they come to visit. Call it a hobby.

 

[Brian Noble]

Like I said, some people enjoy them, and do consider them a hobby. You and your wife appear to be two such people. But, if I had to bet whether any random person would find these worth their time, I think the odds would be in strong favor of "no". In my experience---on these boards and elsewhere---most people who have been on one find the process extremely unpleasant.

Naturally, the OP can take the perspectives of everyone who responds, and decide what to do with their own time. But, if they were a friend of mine who was stretching for this vacation, I'd tell them that there were probably other, more pleasant ways of making a few extra bucks.

For example, I'd *strongly* encourage someone to take advantage of "give a day get a day" rather than a timeshare presentation if they wanted WDW tickets. The give-a-day tickets are upgradeable, whereas the timeshare tickets usually are not. And, while give-a-day takes a little more time, you'll feel a lot better when you're done!