Westgate Time Share?

[aubriee]

I currently have six nights booked for a preferred room at CBR at WDW and then two nights at RPR over at Universal, both under an AP discount (Oct 27th-Nov 4th). The CBR ressie is a ticketless pkg, because we have the DDP added to it, so if we cancel would be subject to penalty fees.

Anyway, a coworker just called me and asked if I had any WDW trips planned in the next month or two, because she had time share weeks she was going to lose if they weren't used by the end of the year. She offered me 7 nights at Westgate for $400.00. I have never stayed off property. I know we'd have to rent a car, would lose the DDP, and would also have to pay a $200.00 penalty to Disney for canceling within the 45 day limits, (not sure what Universal would charge penalty for canceling one night at RPR). Where is Westgate timeshare exactly? She said they've only stayed there once (usually go to Colorado or Vegas), but she thought it was about 6 miles from WDW. When I tried to look it up online, there are several Westgate properties in Orlando. Does anyone know which are the timeshare ones and which one might be 6 miles from WDW? Would you do it, if she can even get us a unit this late (two weeks from today is our arrival date)? With paying Disney's penalty for canceling, it would be $600.00 for the seven nights.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

You will have to ask your friend which Westgate property your stay will be at (Lakes Resort & Spa, Vacation Villas, Palace, etc.), because they are all timeshares.

If its the Lakes, you can see many pics of the resort (rooms and amenities) here:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2992617

as well as in my August trip report (see link in my signature below).

Me personally, I would keep the onsite at Universal portion of the getaway for the free Express Passes alone. For the Disney portion, it might be worth considering making the switch......but I hate squeezing our family into one small hotel room when we are on vacation, so the space gained (as well as the extra perks like laundry facilities in the suite) are well worth it to me.

Would you have to do a timeshare presentation while you are there? That would also make a big difference in my decision. The Westgate salespeople are relentless and go well over the "90 minutes" they say they will keep you. If you must attend a timeshare breakfast, keep your plan as-is.

What will be your overall savings by switching over to the Westgate accommodations, by the time you also factor in paying for meals out of pocket (with the loss of your DDP) and Disney tickets?

 

[aubriee]

We were able to do a ticketless pkg, adding the DDP to our current room reservation at WDW, because we are AP holders, so don't have to buy park tickets.

My coworker said she would have to book it Sat-Sat, because they come in blocks of a week. That would mean we would still have one night/two days with front of the line pass at Universal. As far as space that's not a issue, as it's just my husband and I. As far as savings, we are currently using an AP discount for the rooms at both CBR and RPR. If I figured it right, the room portion part of our trip is currently costing us $1343.00 ($940.24 AP CBR room and $402.76 for RPR). With my friend's offer, we'd be paying $801.38 ($400.00 renting my friend's timeshare, $200.00 penalty for canceling WDW pkg within 45 days, and $201.38 for one night at RPR, so even paying the $200.00 penalty we'd still come out ahead $741.62 on the room portion.

As far as meals, we are currently paying $618.48 for the two of us to be on the DDP for six nights and then using the 10% AP discount to pay for meals over at Universal. I'd have to run the numbers to see what paying for meals OOP at WDW would be, plus with one less night at Universal we'd be spending one more day at WDW (so six nights/seven days at WDW and one night/two days at Universal).

I've just never stayed offsite before and wondered how far away we'd actually be from the parks and how bad traffic would be?

 

[DisneyMissy318]

We own a timeshare at WG - we always stay at WG Lakes. It would make a difference of which WG property she can get. Don't forget you will have to pay for parking at the Disney parks if that is not included with your passholder discounts (I'm unsure if it is or not).

We stay both on property and off. As your trip is already booked - I believe I would stay with what you have planned. The convenience of doing so would most likely make up for the "unknown". Some of the WG rooms are not quite up to par - although when we get one we don't like, we back out of the door and ask for something different.

As far as your friend - if she is a WG owner - she can ask to have her week "banked" and use it the next year. We have banked and reserved two rooms the same week so family could travel with us.

 

[aubriee]

We own a timeshare at WG - we always stay at WG Lakes. It would make a difference of which WG property she can get. Don't forget you will have to pay for parking at the Disney parks if that is not included with your passholder discounts (I'm unsure if it is or not).

We stay both on property and off. As your trip is already booked - I believe I would stay with what you have planned. The convenience of doing so would most likely make up for the "unknown". Some of the WG rooms are not quite up to par - although when we get one we don't like, we back out of the door and ask for something different.

As far as your friend - if she is a WG owner - she can ask to have her week "banked" and use it the next year. We have banked and reserved two rooms the same week so family could travel with us.

No with our APs, parking is free at WDW.

When she first mentioned it to me, I asked her if she just couldn't bank her time, but she told me she had banked them last year and had banked all she could and now if she doesn't use them by the end of Dec she will lose them and neither she nor her kids have the time to use them (she is actually going to use some for a long weekend in Vegas in mid Nov).

I'm just curious as to how far the resort would be from WDW and how bad the traffic would be? That $740.00 saved on the room sure seems nice, but wonder if it'd be worth it if the resort is far from WDW and traffic is a pain.

 

[aubriee]

OK, my coworker just called me to say she could get us in to Westgate Town Center. It's about 1 mile from the WDW gate over by Animal Kingdom. Any reviews? When looking at their website they mention a resort fee (think it's like $12.00/day). Do you have to pay this if you are renting from owners or only if you are renting directly from Westgate?

 

[chimilady]

My friend works at different Westgate resorts. She says by far it is the worst resort, and it wasn't even a month ago, somoene was shot at one of the properties. I would stay on property and NOT stay at Westgate.

 

[greenclan67]

My friend works at different Westgate resorts. She says by far it is the worst resort, and it wasn't even a month ago, somoene was shot at one of the properties. I would stay on property and NOT stay at Westgate.

I have read alot of great reviews about Westgate Town center. We are booked there for March for 2 weeks! The only negative I hear is to by no means sign up for the tour, and they can be pushy about it! I will link my questions I asked here as well!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2993008&highlight=westgate+town+center

 

[4kids4karen]

We are a fan of WGL and stay there for cheerleading competitions. They have very spacious floor plans. I would stay in WGL in a villa before a standard hotel room. Pay no attention to a shooting unless there were specifics provided. Most acts of violence like shootings and rapes are not random and... crime happens everywhere. Check with WG to see what their transporation options are. You may not have to rent a car for the entire duration.

I have also stayed on property at Universal. Once. Never again. I didn't care for it other than the location to the parks, where my daughter had a cheer competition inside the park. There resorts are too expensive just to have a close hotel and pass.

 

[4kids4karen]

Why would Disney charge you a cancellation penalty? Is this DVC? All of my on-site Disney reservations have stated you can cancel 5 days prior with no penalty.

 

[softballmom3]

Why would Disney charge you a cancellation penalty? Is this DVC? All of my on-site Disney reservations have stated you can cancel 5 days prior with no penalty.

Most likely they would charge a fee because it is a package with the dining plan and under the 45 day cancellation.

 

[dioxide45]

I've just never stayed offsite before and wondered how far away we'd actually be from the parks and how bad traffic would be?

You have run all the numbers and know what your costs are for offsite at Westgate vs onsite. Considering the dining portion, take in to consideration that you can go and buy groceries and eat breakfast in the Westgate unit every day, saving a bundle of money there. You may only need to eat one meal outside of the unit each day. If you dine off site, you can find significant savings vs on property. Probably much cheaper than what you are paying for the DDP.

I know that Westgate lakes is an easy drive to WDW. You can take back roads to get on property near Downtown Disney. You can also quickly jump on I4 to get to any of the parks. Your not going during peak times, so traffic won't be bad. If you were going for spring bread, Easter, or Christmas my answer would be different. From the Lakes you can also fairly easily get to Universal. There is also a Super Walmart very close by where you can stock up on groceries.

 

[aubriee]

Most likely they would charge a fee because it is a package with the dining plan and under the 45 day cancellation.

True. It was a room only ressie until about two weeks ago when we decided to add the DDP. Because we are AP holders and used the AP discount, we didn't have to add park tickets, but adding the DDP turned it into a pkg. So we'd have to pay the penalty fee for being within the 45 days. I think it's $200.00.

You have run all the numbers and know what your costs are for offsite at Westgate vs onsite. Considering the dining portion, take in to consideration that you can go and buy groceries and eat breakfast in the Westgate unit every day, saving a bundle of money there. You may only need to eat one meal outside of the unit each day. If you dine off site, you can find significant savings vs on property. Probably much cheaper than what you are paying for the DDP.

I know that Westgate lakes is an easy drive to WDW. You can take back roads to get on property near Downtown Disney. You can also quickly jump on I4 to get to any of the parks. Your not going during peak times, so traffic won't be bad. If you were going for spring bread, Easter, or Christmas my answer would be different. From the Lakes you can also fairly easily get to Universal. There is also a Super Walmart very close by where you can stock up on groceries.

Actually we'd be at Westgate Town Center, not Lakes. I believe Lakes is between WDW and Universal. Town Center is about a mile outside the gates, just on the other side of AKL, from what I can see. I hate to change our dining plans, but you are right we could probably eat quite well offsite some and it'd give us a chance to try something new.

 

[dioxide45]

True. It was a room only ressie until about two weeks ago when we decided to add the DDP. Because we are AP holders and used the AP discount, we didn't have to add park tickets, but adding the DDP turned it into a pkg. So we'd have to pay the penalty fee for being within the 45 days. I think it's $200.00.



Actually we'd be at Westgate Town Center, not Lakes. I believe lakes is between WDW and Universal. Town Center is about a mile outside the gates, just on the other side of AKL, from what I can see. I hate to change our dining plans, but you are right we could probably eat quite well offsite some and it'd give us a chance to try something new.

Do you have to take a Westgate timeshare? Is your co-worker a member of Interval International? I don't know if they have their time banked with Westgate or with II. I also don't have a lot of experience with Westgate timeshares (we own two Marriott's). If they can exchange through II, they may be able to exchange for another Orlando timeshare. There may be additional fees to do so, but it will open up a lot more possibilities and all of the Marriott properties are great.

 

[aubriee]

Most likely they would charge a fee because it is a package with the dining plan and under the 45 day cancellation.

OK, I just called Disney. I asked if I could move the trip to May and not have to pay a cancellation fee. They let me switch my dates, but charged me a $50.00 change fee, plus a $15.00 administrative paper work fee. I thought that as long as the price went up (which it did) that they waived the change fee). I just told him I had to cancel the Oct 27th-Nov 4th trip and asked to move it to a later date. Oh well, with the money we're saving with the timeshare rental, it was worth losing $65.00 and now if I subtract what the AP discount will probably be for the May ressie, I'll have the May trip paid for too (well everything except tips and airfare). So I'm happy!

Do you have to take a Westgate timeshare? Is your co-worker a member of Interval International? I don't know if they have their time banked with Westgate or with II. I also don't have a lot of experience with Westgate timeshares (we own two Marriott's). If they can exchange through II, they may be able to exchange for another Orlando timeshare. There may be additional fees to do so, but it will open up a lot more possibilities and all of the Marriott properties are great.

I honestly don't know, but she brought me the confirmation to work last night, so I really don't want to ask her to switch anything now. The confirmation says it's a one bedroom, King bed, sleeper sofa, fully equipped kitchen, whirlpool tub, so I think we'll be satisfied. Plus it's only one mile from the WDW gate.

 

[greenclan67]

OK, I just called Disney. I asked if I could move the trip to May and not have to pay a cancellation fee. They let me switch my dates, but charged me a $50.00 change fee, plus a $15.00 administrative paper work fee. I just told him I had to cancel the Oct 27h-Nov 4th trip and asked to move it to a later date. Oh well, with the money we're saving with the timeshare rental, it was worth losing $65.00 and now if I subtract what the AP discount will probably be for May, I'll have the May trip paid for too (at least the room and DDP). So I'm happy!



I honestly don't know, but she brought me the confirmation to work last night, so I really don't want to ask her to switch anything now. The confirmation says it's a one bedroom, King bed, sleeper sofa, fully equipped kitchen, whirlpool tub, so I think we'll be satisfied. Plus it's only one mile from the WDW gate.

I would love, love to hear what you have to say about Town Center when you return. I am heading there for 2 weeks in March. If you could also let me know what the resort fee all includes, and how much the Wifi is, I would be elated!

 

[aubriee]

I would love, love to hear what you have to say about Town Center when you return. I am heading there for 2 weeks in March. If you could also let me know what the resort fee all includes, and how much the Wifi is, I would be elated!

Sure! You may have to PM me sometime after Nov 4th, in case I forget though. I mentioned the resort fee to my coworker and she said she didn't know anything about them or even if I'd have to pay them, since I'm booked as a timeshare owner's guest and did not book directly through Westgate.

 

[weluvdisneyx4]

The location for the TC and Vacation Villas is great!! Right off 192, lots of food options around and very close to Disney property. We own at the Villas and have never had to pay a resort fee even when renting through II, although it has been 2 or 3 years since we've been there.

 

[aubriee]

The location for the TC and Vacation Villas is great!! Right off 192, lots of food options around and very close to Disney property. We own at the Villas and have never had to pay a resort fee even when renting through II, although it has been 2 or 3 years since we've been there.

Thanks! Sounds great! The reason I was wondering about the resort fees is because we are not owners, just guests of owners, but at the same time we are not booking through Westgate, so just wondered if we'd have to pay the fees? More curious than anything.

 

[greenclan67]

Thanks! Sounds great! The reason I was wondering about the resort fees is because we are not owners, just guests of owners, but at the same time we are not booking through Westgate, so just wondered if we'd have to pay the fees? More curious than anything.

I was wondering about this as well. My Aunt reserved our room for us as she is not using her timeshare this year, and she let us use hers. So we are her guest. I wondered if we would have to pay the resort fee on top of everything else. Does anybody know what the internet fee is for. We need it for a 13 day stay because my hubby will have to work for an hour every morning (early) so we will have to pay for that. This is at Town Center! Thanks so much!