Time Shares? Need all thoughts!

[DisneySue05]

We stayed at Orange Lake 5 years ago in a two bedroom villa. Although I felt the villa was nice, I wasn't impressed with the clubhouse(felt it was a bit run down), and I didn't like the fact that we had to use the car to get to the pool. The pool itself was wonderful! If I could get a room by the main pool I would consider going back. (I want to stay at WDW the whole time, but DH doesn't)
In saying all that....Has anyone stayed at a timeshare they feel is nicer then Orange Lake? My DH and I would like to be able to go to the pool or get a coffee in the mornings without having to wait for each other. Obviously that was an issue two years ago. Me and dd got left at the pool much longer then we wanted when dh went exploring.
Any thoughts?

 

[spiceycat]

I haven't been to Orange Lake

but the Marriotts in the area are nice.

Sheraton Vistana Resort is very close to WDW and has some nice reviews.

I like it.

you can sometimes get a bargin on
www.skyauction.com

click on USA/Canada
click on FLorida
Click on hotels only

you are looking for 7 days only - these are the timeshares - they are RCI

for II - the Marriotts
www.condodirect.com

in both cases the later the better selection and in II the better the price.

 

[disneysteve]

Haven't been to Orange Lake either so I can't compare. But we spent a week at Orbit One Vacation Villas in November (through Skyauction) and were very pleased. It is an older property but well maintained. We happened to have a first floor unit right by the main pool so we just stepped out the back door and were there. The complex isn't that large so no matter what building you were in, you wouldn't need a car to get to one of the pools.

 

[DisneySue05]

SpiceyCat - I am looking on SkyAuction and have a few questions. Call me "daft" but I am confused about the surcharges and blackout dates. I found a deal for the Radison Parkway. It says

"Choose your length of stay from 2 days to 14 days.

Tax and service charges of $32 per room, per night are additional. SEASONAL SURCHARGE:
December 23, 2004 - December 31, 2005 - $50 additional per room per night
February 4 - April 15, 2005 - $50 additional per room per night
April 16 - December 22, 2005 - $35 additional per room per night
December 23 - 31, 2005 - $50 additional per room per night

BLACKOUT DATES:
December 28, 2004 - January 1, 2005
February 17 - 20, 2005
March 25 - 27, 2005

Accommodations as part of this auction are in a Tropical Courtyard View Room. Rooms will have either Two Double or One King Size Bed.

Ok so does that mean it is $32 plus $50 = $82 before I start to bid if I want to stay Feb 15th. Also if the blackout date is 17 - 20 does that mean if I wanted to stay the 15 - 18, that wouldn't be available...or is it just that you have to check in before the black out.
Sorry this is all very confusing to me.

DisneySteve: Thanks for the reply....that is what I would like...to be able to walk outside and get to the pool. Ahhhhh Vacation
__________________

 

[HappyLawyer]

i use sky auction all the time you can pm me with anything you need will help if i can

 

[HappyLawyer]

This is a loaded question, everyone has their own heir own likes and dislikes i own at lroange lake and i love it, but i also like experineces at other resorts as well, you will never find the one perfect and no one can make that decision for you, it is not logical to ask if some are nicer then others. i like ornage lake, i have read posts where people did not, i stayed at summer bay and loved it, i read posts where someone had an awful time there, you will need to look for yourself and make the decision, it is going to take time

 

[DianeV]

Some of the resorts we have stayed at and liked:

Vistana (but stay away from the Courts building)
Cypress Pointe (regular and Grand)
Embassy Beach
Silver Lake (stayed in the older villas versus the newer highrise which actually gets worse reviews)
Hilton Grand by Sea World (there is a brand new one by the outlets that is supposed to be beautiful - Tuscany or something)
Fairfield at Cypress Palms

I have heard good about Vistana Villages and the Marriott Horizons and Wyndham Palms

 

[dcmbshafe]

Since you talked a lot about the pool, I'll put in a plug for the Sheraton Vistana. No matter where you stay in the resort, you are within walking distance to a pool as there are 7 of them in all. They are each a little bit different, but we've found that each area has different pools that appeal to both adults and children. There are three or four different "activity centers" as well, in central locations to each section of the resort and close to the pools. These usually have game rooms, attached restaurants and bars, places to get towels and other pool equipment, and other features.

We recently purchased a re-sale week at Vistana, but we've stayed there several times through rental. The first time, we used a friend's week at a different resort and transferred in (we paid their maintenance fee + the transfer fee ~$650). The second time we rented directly from an owner after seeing a classified ad on tug2.net ($825). The third time we rented through a broker called vacationsonly.com ($900). We've also seen weeks for rent on eBay and we've seen some on skyauction as well.

Regarding your skyauction observation, the way I would read it is:

base surcharge = $32
+added surcharge = as indicated
+per night bid
=total cost

From your example, if you wanted to stay from February 1st - 5th and you bid $25 per night and win, your total cost would be:

$25 X 5 = $125
+$32 X 5 = $160
+$50 X 2 = $100
= $385 (for an average of $77 per night)

I would also expect that you would not be able to select any date within the blackout period regardless of when you check-in.

 

[spiceycat]

Radision Parkway is a hotel - don't bid on it - you can generally find better rates for this resort on this site.
the home site for the dis

www.wdwinfo.com

I haven't seem any great deals on the hotels because of their surchange - $32 per night is alot extra to pay.

 

[jeff968]

Sue, from my signature you can see that I have stayed at mainy of the timeshares. I also gave Orange Lake ony a fair review. It wasn't that clean, it was too large, and too far off. I liked all of the other resorts I stayed at better. Our favorite was the marriott Cypress Harbor.

 

[Figment1964]

We've stayed at Orange Lake and while it was nice, it wasn't our favorite. We own at Polynesian Isles Resort and like it a lot, but so far, our favorite has been Embassy Vacation Resort at Grand Beach. The units are huge and clean. We had to stay in for 48+ hours during our last visit due to Hurricane Frances and our family of 4 had enough space to spread out and not feel like we were right on top of each other. The 4 tvs in the unit didn't hurt either!