Timeshare options

[JimC]

Welcome to our little community on the DIS!

Our decision was quality (DVC is Disney at its best), location (you can not get more of the magic than by being on property), value (one bedroom stays for the cost of moderate level hotel rooms), trust (that Disney being behind this was safer way to prepay the vacations).

We are very happy.

That said, if we wanted to trade out we would buy another timeshare that costs less and has better value for that purpose.

Also, we bought resale and direct from Disney - resale is a better value, but a bit more complicated in getting what you want.

Good luck!

 

[Diznut84]

As Dean indicated, don't expect any extra money from Orange Lake rentals. Bragging about the huge rental amounts you can get is one of the deceptive tricks used by timeshare salesmen. Please also note that 2BR Orange Lake weeks can be bought for $2000-$4000 on resale. 3BR units are much more expensive.

Orlando has a major supply/demand problem in timesharing (i.e. although there is huge demand, there is a HUGE surplus of timeshares that far exceeds demand). As a result, both the possible rental amounts as well as your overall trade power within RCI will be low. We travel to Orlando 3-5 weeks per year, and I would never own a non-DVC Orlando timeshare, except for perhaps a summer Marriott Cypress Harbour (about $5500).

Good luck!

 

[umbluegray]

Thanks. That's more good information.

We haven't definitely decided which way to go, we're just trying to analyze the various options.

As far as OLCC, I've found a 2 bedroom for $4,500 thru resale versus the $14,900 the developer wants to charge. (They started out at $20,000 and kept working down)

It's good to know that there's a surplus in the Orlando area meaning the units won't rent for as much as I thought. I should've seen that one from the sales people. That makes a difference.

The non-Disney timeshares say you can rent the unit out and they'll handle it. Does Disney (or II) do this for you, too? Or do you do it yourself?

 

[umbluegray]

Originally posted by tiffany123
Umbluegray

I sent you a pm

tiffany123,

Thanks, and I replied via PM.

 

[JudyS]

Originally posted by umbluegray
We decided we want to purchase a non-Disney timeshare as well as become a DVC member. Unfortunately we can't do both at the same time....We're leaning to buying the non-Disney timeshare first and the the DVC later.....

We thought having a Gold Crown resort as our home resort will give us an advantage when we try to book elsewhere. We also thought having OL as our home resort (since it's in the world's number one vacation area) would increase our ability to rent it out when we choose to.

...We thought that, down the road in 2-4 years, we could rent it out and use the revenue to apply toward our DVC payments. In essence we're trying to figure out how to let one resort pay for the other (or at least help pay for the other)....

If you want to buy non-DVC, you really should join the Timeshare Users' Group, at www.TUG2.net The $15 membership will likely for itself hundreds of times over. You can also read and post on the forums without paying the annual dues. (The dues get you access to databases of timeshare reviews and a few other features.)

I joined TUG about 6 weeks ago. I have learned some very valuable things that would be useful in your situation.

1) Most Orlando timeshares are *very* poor traders, especially given their cost. Yes, the developers will tell you that Orlando is "The #1 vacation destination in the world." What they don't tell you is that Orlando has more timeshares than anywhere else in the world. The Vistana Resort alone has something like 100,000 weeks available. The Orlando timeshare market is glutted. Read about this problem here: http://www.tug1.net/tugbbs1/Forum1/HTML/006571.html

(The DVC is a different story -- it trades very well, although DVC weeks are so expensive that it is usually not worth trading them.)

2) Gold Crowns are often *worse* traders than standard resorts. RCI doesn't want people trading down too far in resort quality, because they've had too many Gold Crown owners complain about the low quality of the resorts they receive in exchange for their Gold Crown unit. One TUG member said she was actively searching online for a trade on the weekend her resort got upgraded to Gold Crown status. The day before the upgrade, RCI offered her 22 resorts in the location she wanted. The day after the upgrade, when her resort was officially made Gold Crown, RCI offered her only 6. In some areas (most of Europe, maybe Cape Cod) there are *no* resorts that RCI considers good enough for Gold Crown members to trade into, so you can't get anything at all. This problem is an area of major concern for some TUG members, and is being discussed here: http://www.tug1.net/tugbbs1/Forum2/HTML/007173.html

Now, on the "pro" side of buying OLCC, OLCC is a very nice resort. They are planning to add a "lazy river" to their pool area, I hear. Also, OLCC is a "1-in-3" resort, I believe, meaning that RCI only allows non-owners to trade there once in every three years. For many Orlando resorts, a good option would be buying elsewhere (annual fees in Orlando are very high), and trading into the resort in Orlando that you want. You wouldn't be able to do that every year with OLCC, because it is 1-in-3. However, there are other ways of accessing OLCC weeks. For example, SkyAuction sometimes has them for rental very cheaply. Private owners can rent them to you, too. Also, for $89 extra a year, you and your wife could each have your own RCI account. I *think* this would allow you to trade into OLCC two out of three years. (But ask on TUG first.)

A few months ago, I was in the same situation. I had $10,000 (Dh's 10th anniversary gift to me!) budgeted to spend on DVC. But, I couldn't find a BWV resale with banked points in the use years I wanted. So, I got frustrated and bought a non-DVC timeshare! Fortunately, that non-DVC timeshare cost me less than $1,000 to buy, and has just $340 a year in fees. It's a 2 bedroom in New Mexico, fixed week 26 (July 4th most years.) I also found a small OKW package (65 points) that I plan to buy for $5,000. (I wanted BWV, but small resales there are hard to find.) This is enough for 6 consecutive nights in an OKW studio each year, with $240 in fees. So, I can stay in a studio each year at Disney, and also get a really nice one-week trade for my non-Disney vacations with my NM week. Plus, I have $4,000 left over (which I will probably spend on more timeshares!)

So, unless you decide to just buy DVC, you really need to go to TUG and check out your options more.

 

[rocketriter]

Our frequent trips to WDW began even before we had children. We were already addicted to staying on the grounds at deluxe accomodations (Poly, BC, YC etc.) before our first was born. Now, with kids of different sexes approaching puberty, we realized that maintaining that standard of luxury and convenience was going to require suites, which can be wildly expensive at these hotels. So DVC gave us a way to stay posh, stay close and keep coming every year or two. The occasional trip outside on points is a bonus; points are getting us roomy accomodations in Hawaii that will cost much less than if we stayed in a suite at a first-class hotel ($1000/night at the Royal Hawaiian!). But there are other ways to travel that are more economical (renting a condo, trading out from a different time-share and so forth). For that reason we consider trading out to be a secondary benefit. The primary benefit is a great location with lots of space on the grounds at WDW.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by rocketriter
points are getting us roomy accomodations in Hawaii that will cost much less than if we stayed in a suite at a first-class hotel ($1000/night at the Royal Hawaiian!)

Rocket, I agree with your overall post. I found this part to be contradictary though. First, comparing staying in a hotel room in HI or a timeshare (or condo) to a suite is apples and oranges and a world apart. For non DVC stays, the pertinent comparison is what would the same (or a similar) option cost for cash vs points. Then one must decide if that's the option they want and if it's worth it to them to use either cash or points. I agree it's nice to have options even if they are not the most reasonable ones.

 

[bwvBound]

Originally posted by jekjones1558
Any suggestions for those of us in Minnesota? We are not fans of Wisconsin Dells or Branson. We LOVE Door County, Wisconsin but in my little bit of research have not found any affordable options there. Any advice appreciated!

I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the area(s).

On the "any advice" level ... I'd suggest browsing through both RCI's and II's Resort Directories (available w/out membership). Search by region and begin making lists of resorts to consider. You might want to rank your resort choices by reading TUG's Resort Reviews (TUG membership required).

One that struck me as "oh, ah" was Little Sweden. The TUG reviews mention "day use" as an option if buying directly from the resort. The resort's FAQ page mentioned an alternative route to ownership through Shell Vacations Club. Resales on Shell Vacations Club are pretty common.

Just ideas ... ?

 

[jekjones1558]

bwvBound

Thanks for suggestions! We are very familiar with Little Sweden (lovely), go to Door County at least once or twice a year, even sat through a presentation there when it was being built. It was pricey, but the resale market might be better and I didn't know about Shell. I joined TUG and Redweek and am keeping my eyes open there. Have not familiarized myself with RCI and II websites yet. Using Fairfield group on Yahoo. Wow, am I on overload!

 

[ralphd]

Originally posted by Dean
OLCC is a nice facility. Still, it's one you can exchange into with ANYTHING almost any time of the year. I'd also seriously doubt the wisdown of expecting to rent it out for a downpayment, you'd be lucky to get enough to pay your maint fees.

I agree Dean! We just traded a one bedroom South African week ( Mount Amanzi ) for a two bedroom OLCC week. The Orlando weeks are very easy to get thru RCI.

ralphd

 

[Dean]

There are few people that should own in overbuilt areas such as Williamsburg, Branson and Orlando. Or that should own off season at seasonal resorts. Here are the situations that come to mind:

• When it's a fixed week or at least a floating week for the time of year one will use every year.
• When one needs a difficult to get unit size, like a 3 BR or larger.
• When the resort itself is very difficult to get, like DVC.

These are the only ones I can think of, there may be others. Basically one should determine their likely usage patterns and determing if belonging to an exchange company is worth the extra costs. For one unit week per year, that adds about $200 a year to the equation. That's likely close to break even if one wants the same resort and season or week every year. So for some to go to Orlando ONLY, it may indeed make sense to own even if there are other good options. OTOH, if one plans to belong to an exchange company anyway and trade part of the time, might as well buy something cheaper like SA and trade in. Even if you can't get the same resort every year, there are always good options for Orlando if you plan more than a year out.

One should run the numbers and see what's best for them. Remember Orlando doesn't trade that well so if one wants to trade anyway, that may not be a good place to own although Marriott tends to do better than non Marriott. And DVC is an enigma to timesharing in general.