Trade points for timeshare in Calif. area question?

[treloarf]

We're using this week to talk about next year's vacation & Aruba was our 1st choice. Checked airfare - Aruba is out. Since we have family in both San Fran & LA area (only want to visit for a few days each), we are looking to trade somewhere either north or south Calif.

Anyone have any experience with trading into this area - we have 2 kids 7, 10 & of course would want stuff for them to do. Again we just started looking at our options during the late summer timeframe. (Sorry just can't do Disney in the heat & buggy season).

Any info would be appreciated.

 

[downontheBW]

We tried to trade through MS for California coast almost 2 years ago. No matches available so I got on a waitlist, one came up but it wasn't one of my first choices so we didn't take it. Cancelled the request after a couple of months. I put an ad on TUG (www.tug2.net) and an owner of Four Seasons Aviara contacted me. We did a trade this last September - it worked out great!

FS Aviara is in Carlsbad - we used it as a base to explore the area: San Diego by commuter train, LA via Amtrak, SD Zoo Wild Animal Park in Escondido. Lots to do in the area for kids: Legoland is nearby, Sea World, Disneyland isn't too far. Quite a way to San Francisco though. There are other areas to trade into between SF and LA - Avila Beach and Ventura come to mind.

I've heard Southern CA is very popular so it may be too late to do trade through MS for 2003 (good to get on the list early) but you can give it a try. I've had many responses to my TUG ads, on site at WDW is a great bargaining tool. Good luck!