Time share

[traxxadd]

About a year ago i was traveling to orlando to visit dis.....I decided to try and save some money by doing a time share.....Well i almost bought the whole spill and was almost a new owner of a 2/1 condo Now that i sit back and think about it its a waste of money. You have to purchase it for nearly 60,000.00 and you only get to visit 2 weeks every 2 years, than when you show up you have to pay a whole bunch of fees.....now how stupid is that Why not just save that money and have the trip of your life at one time....Gez. If you plan on doing a time share tour DONT BUY IT IMO. Just walk through and at the end get your tickets and say thanks because in all actuality thats why we all go to those things lol

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

DVC is ok .

 

[DVCajun]

DVC is ok .

Yep! One of the best decisions I ever made. As they say on the DVC board, my only regret is that I didn't buy in sooner.

 

[WDWorBUST]

I would love to own DVC - however it doesn't matter which way I run the numbers - for this value resort family it just doesn't make sense. The deluxe accommodations would be awesome and I could definitely get used to them. But I am not willing to pay the price for deluxe. For what maintenance fees alone cost in a year I can get really close to paying for a value resort for my 8 night vacation. I may someday splurge and stay deluxe (Not anytime soon) - but I can't see that ever being the norm for me. Of course cost is a huge part of it now....I like getting to go every year and could not if we tried to stay deluxe.....but when I have seriously considered it in the past I couldn't bring myself to pay that much more for a bed and shower. The resorts are beautiful, etc...but we spend 95% of our awake time in the parks. Maybe someday if I just have an extra 20 grand laying around

 

[DevilDuckie]

I would love to own DVC - however it doesn't matter which way I run the numbers - for this value resort family it just doesn't make sense. The deluxe accommodations would be awesome and I could definitely get used to them. But I am not willing to pay the price for deluxe. For what maintenance fees alone cost in a year I can get really close to paying for a value resort for my 8 night vacation. I may someday splurge and stay deluxe (Not anytime soon) - but I can't see that ever being the norm for me. Of course cost is a huge part of it now....I like getting to go every year and could not if we tried to stay deluxe.....but when I have seriously considered it in the past I couldn't bring myself to pay that much more for a bed and shower. The resorts are beautiful, etc...but we spend 95% of our awake time in the parks. Maybe someday if I just have an extra 20 grand laying around

Me too! It's in my top 10 "If I win the Lotto" buys but other than that it costs more than my Disney vacation usually does and I sometimes have to opt to NOT do Disney for a year or two. (Hey, if I skip two years of Disney I can have a house AND a baby. It's worth it.)

 

[jbthi]

If you understand how timeshare works and know what you are buying it is a good value. First thing, never buy from the developer. Unless it's DVC, that's a whole other thing.

We own DVC, both Boardwalk and Beach Club. We did buy from Disney because it's not much cheaper to buy resale with their ROFR. At that time there was no closing costs when buying from them.

We also own 6 other TS at this time. (we recently sold 2). The cheapest was $500 and the maintenance fee is $325 per year. We have used it to trade into TS renting for $2500 per week.

With another TS we own we trade into DVC for 2 weeks each year to use along with our DVC points. We trade for 2 bedroom at Saratoga Springs and Old Key West. For the other resorts we can usually just get 1 bedroom.

So if you like vacations and do some research, it really can be a good deal.

 

[mrsstats]

Timeshare is not for everyone. We own - just bought my 2nd EOY in Vegas. We prefer to have the room that timeshare allows, not just a hotel room. We also bought on the resale market. We ran the numbers, this makes sense for us.

 

[hrslvr142]

jbthi...if you don't mind me asking what TS do you own that allows you to get into the DVC? I own through Bluegreen/RCI and have never checked. Having rented points through the DVC, I believe it really does enhance the vacation experience. Thanks for any info you are willing to share.

 

[jbthi]

DVC trades only through II, so you won't be able to use your RCI weeks.
We own 3 weeks that trade in II. One is on Captiva, one on Sanibel and the other is at Lake Lure, NC. When we deposit any of these weeks with II they give us what they call an accomodation certificate. It is limited to certain locations and certain times of the year. With this you can purchase 1 week of a studio for $199, a 1 BR for $249 or a 2BR for $299. (I believe these figures are right, could be off a little.) We use this for DVC usually in November. We also trade our actual week into DVC and this gives us two weeks for our 1 week deposit.

The A/C may not work for everyone because it usually isn't good for the weeks that school is out.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

DVC trades only through II, so you won't be able to use your RCI weeks.
We own 3 weeks that trade in II. One is on Captiva, one on Sanibel and the other is at Lake Lure, NC. When we deposit any of these weeks with II they give us what they call an accomodation certificate. It is limited to certain locations and certain times of the year. With this you can purchase 1 week of a studio for $199, a 1 BR for $249 or a 2BR for $299. (I believe these figures are right, could be off a little.) We use this for DVC usually in November. We also trade our actual week into DVC and this gives us two weeks for our 1 week deposit.

The A/C may not work for everyone because it usually isn't good for the weeks that school is out.

We own 2 weeks at what I'm sure is the same Lake Lure timeshare. We use them and the ACs exclusively for DVC trades. We're on one right now in fact (VWL 1 bedroom). Our dues are $590/year per week. We usually trade for May and Sept. and we usually end up at VWL or BCV, although we did grab an XMas week studio at SSR too. The only downer for us is that the ACs don't trade for Vero. We can usually use ACs for the on-site weeks and the "regular" weeks for Vero, though.

 

[extremesoccermom]

I would love to own DVC - however it doesn't matter which way I run the numbers - for this value resort family it just doesn't make sense. The deluxe accommodations would be awesome and I could definitely get used to them. But I am not willing to pay the price for deluxe. For what maintenance fees alone cost in a year I can get really close to paying for a value resort for my 8 night vacation. I may someday splurge and stay deluxe (Not anytime soon) - but I can't see that ever being the norm for me. Of course cost is a huge part of it now....I like getting to go every year and could not if we tried to stay deluxe.....but when I have seriously considered it in the past I couldn't bring myself to pay that much more for a bed and shower. The resorts are beautiful, etc...but we spend 95% of our awake time in the parks. Maybe someday if I just have an extra 20 grand laying around

That is what we thought also but then I found out about the resale market. We are so happy we bought a 50 point SSR by resale last June and paid cash then we added on another 25 points at AKV in January again paying cash. Maintence fees are around $400.00 for the year and we are able to get a studio every year or a one bedroom every year and a half.
There is only Me, DH and DD since our DS18 is no longer "into" Disney and has not gone with us the last few trips. We are hoping to add another 25 points on at either AKV or KT but we have to see how the finances play out since we don't do credit.
Of course we are older now and do enjoy spending more time at the resorts. We usually take one day off each week as are rest day and just enjoy the programs or spa or pool at the resort and hopping the buses to other resorts to check them out or eat. And DTD is like a park day all in its self.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

I would love to own DVC - however it doesn't matter which way I run the numbers - for this value resort family it just doesn't make sense. The deluxe accommodations would be awesome and I could definitely get used to them. But I am not willing to pay the price for deluxe. For what maintenance fees alone cost in a year I can get really close to paying for a value resort for my 8 night vacation. I may someday splurge and stay deluxe (Not anytime soon) - but I can't see that ever being the norm for me. Of course cost is a huge part of it now....I like getting to go every year and could not if we tried to stay deluxe.....but when I have seriously considered it in the past I couldn't bring myself to pay that much more for a bed and shower. The resorts are beautiful, etc...but we spend 95% of our awake time in the parks. Maybe someday if I just have an extra 20 grand laying around

What we did was buy more points than we needed and we rent out the extra each year to friends and family to pay for the yearly maintenance fees. We used to stay at the All Stars or rent a house offsite before we owned, so we definitely weren't the "grand floridian" or "concierge at contemporary" crowd. We saved up for ours, it took about 5 years...

 

[rangermom]

We bought DVC last July. To us it makes sense. We fell in love with Dinsey and wanted to go back. Based on what our DLH(Nov 2007) and our next trips that we have planned we are almost about to breakeven in couple of years. We are also able to take family on the next two trips. Works well for us.

 

[eliza61]

About a year ago i was traveling to orlando to visit dis.....I decided to try and save some money by doing a time share.....Well i almost bought the whole spill and was almost a new owner of a 2/1 condo Now that i sit back and think about it its a waste of money. You have to purchase it for nearly 60,000.00 and you only get to visit 2 weeks every 2 years, than when you show up you have to pay a whole bunch of fees.....now how stupid is that Why not just save that money and have the trip of your life at one time....Gez. If you plan on doing a time share tour DONT BUY IT IMO. Just walk through and at the end get your tickets and say thanks because in all actuality thats why we all go to those things lol

Time share presentations can be a little over the top. remember they are meant to get you to buy. That's why a lot of times they ask that both husband & wife be present. Some of them can be downright hard sell . We tried one in Vegas simply to get the free trip after 3 hours of meeting "manager" after manager, we felt like we were being held hostage.
We brought our dvc without even going to the presentation. We already knew we were going to return to disney for a very long time and we stay deluxe, so it was a natural fit.

 

[swilshire]

We have been timeshare owners since 1996 and wouldn't vacation any other way. My kids are SO spoiled that they complain about even very nice hotels when we stay in one for a day or two. If you have kids (we have four, though two are pretty well grown up and don't always go any more), timeshares can be a terrific way to vacation with lots of space to enjoy. You can also use the kitchen as much or as little as you choose. We don't enjoy restaurants, so cook simple meals and save a ton of money.

In fact, I'm sitting in a timeshare unit right now, waiting for the family to get moving so we can go to the beach. We're in a 3br cottage on Nantucket Island, where rentals are EXPENSIVE. We traded a week we own in Gatlinburg for this one. Our total cost is something less than $100 a day, which is a third or less of what the unit would rent for. Next month we'll spend two weeks in Canada in timeshares. One week on Vancouver Island and another in the Rockies. In October we have a unit booked near Universal Studios that has three bedrooms and sleeps 12. The condo is bigger than our first house.

Our only problem is finding enough time to use all our weeks, since some of them generate extra weeks and one is a lockoff (meaning you can divide the unit up and trade if for two other weeks). We own six weeks, but since I only get five weeks of vacation time, I'm going to sell a couple of them.

I can't tell you all the fun we've had through the years. Last year we used weeks in England, Scotland and Wales. The year before that three weeks in Hawaii. We've stayed right downtown in Boston for pennies compared to the rental costs. It's a great way to go if you buy resale and choose your property wisely.

Sheila

 

[starwood]

For what maintenance fees alone cost in a year I can get really close to paying for a value resort for my 8 night vacation.

We have 185 points at OKW. My maintenance fees are around $750 a year. I use my Disney Visa Reward Dollars to pay toward my maintenance. Last year I only paid $460 out of pocket. From banking points we stayed in a 2 bedroom for one week 2 years ago and this past April. We will also be staying in a 2 bedroom for 4 nights next year.

We bought a 100 point contract resale (to get our feet wet). Then another 35 points and finally 50 points.

 

[swilshire]

For what maintenance fees alone cost in a year I can get really close to paying for a value resort for my 8 night vacation.

Everyone has their own vacation style, but even with only two of our kids along, three days at Pop Century was more than enough time to be stuck in a single room. We tacked on a few days to a vacation we already had planned to try the free dining.

We went from there to a 3br pool house at Summer Bay with two master suites, a third bedroom, and four televisions (no fights over who watches what). I hate staying in a room that doesn't even have a comfy sofa for reading.

Sheila

 

[Muushka]

Swilshire, by any chance are you at Triston's Landing (or close to that name!)? I have seen that TS on TUG for $700 occasionally and drool at the prospect of renting it. I love Nantucket and it it very expensive to stay there. How do you like the place? Did you rent a car? Sorry it is , but have to ask! Thanks.

 

[swilshire]

Swilshire, by any chance are you at Triston's Landing (or close to that name!)? I have seen that TS on TUG for $700 occasionally and drool at the prospect of renting it. I love Nantucket and it it very expensive to stay there. How do you like the place? Did you rent a car? Sorry it is , but have to ask! Thanks.

I am indeed at Tristram's Landing. We've been here several times through the years. $700 would be pretty cheap if it was at all in season. You could probably rent directly from the resort for about that in the off-season.

We always enjoy our stays here. Each unit is a bit different and has a few quirks, but we've never been disappointed. Some of the bathrooms are a bit small and we never get a king size bed (though some of the deluxe units have them I've heard). The roads are rough. There is never anyone in the office. None of this is a problem for us, though.

We usually bring our own van over. It's expensive, but so are rentals. We've also borrowed cars from friends who live here a couple of times, but just prefer to bite the bullet and pay the $400+ to bring our own over. Then we can bring most of our own groceries along and wander at will. You can take the local transit shuttle out to the resort, but I think it just runs about once an hour at this time of year. We usually come in the Fall when it may not even run out here at all. You can easily ride bikes all around but we have a handicapped 9yo, so that isn't an option for us. There are bike rentals shops right on the Steamship Wharf. Gas is pushing $5 a gallon here. We almost made it all week on the tank we brought over, but I think we may have to put a couple of gallons in before we leave on Friday.

If you find a week, by all means grab it. I've always exchanged in, but saw a rental for next week on bidshares.com that really tempted me to stay. I think it was $1400, but I wondered if that would hold this close to checkin date. Unfortunately, I have a busy week at home next week and just can't stay. One week is never enough. Someday I'll come and stay longer.

Sheila

 

[Muushka]

Wow Sheila, thank you for all of the information. I have not been to Nantucket since 1973, but often dream of getting back there. I think if I ever see a week for September or October, I will grab it. I just love that place. Have a wonderful vacation!