Who is a WDW snowbird????

[chalee94]

Just a note: you can make any deed "expire" when you do. Simply will it, or Trust it, back to the timeshare management co or to a charity.

pretty sure this is NOT true. you can't simply convey property to someone who is not willing to take it.

most charities are very picky about what timeshares they are willing to take at this point and some charities require a couple of thousand dollars along with the timeshare in order to pay them for finding someone else to take it. some resorts will accept deedbacks but many do not, as it can increase costs to the other owners at that resort.

marriott and hilton probably would take weeks back for free at this point but you never know in the future...if not, the estate is usually responsible for the timeshare until a willing taker can be found.

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

It sounds like it would be ideal... Does Disney hire snowbirds??????

Obviously they must. This couple said they've been doing it for 9 years, originally they said they were only going to do it for the first year but they said they loved it so much they've been doing it ever since. Like I said, she only does it two to three days per week.

 

[Mtnman44]

You are probably right. In that same sense, I also don't think there is any requirement that heirs have to take over paying dues on a timeshare you own. After death, couldn't it simply be abandoned?

pretty sure this is NOT true. you can't simply convey property to someone who is not willing to take it.

most charities are very picky about what timeshares they are willing to take at this point and some charities require a couple of thousand dollars along with the timeshare in order to pay them for finding someone else to take it. some resorts will accept deedbacks but many do not, as it can increase costs to the other owners at that resort.

marriott and hilton probably would take weeks back for free at this point but you never know in the future...if not, the estate is usually responsible for the timeshare until a willing taker can be found.

 

[a742246]

I think I remember another post about non-expiring deeds, and I believe that the estate would be responsible for it. I don't know much about it, I guess
the best way to go to other timeshares is to rent. Which isn't a bad idea.

Now for Disney, I still believe it is better to buy. If Disney goes down the tubes, the rest of the country will go down with it.

 

[Simba's Mom]

It sounds like it would be ideal... Does Disney hire snowbirds??????

Come to think of it, I've met a few also. I'd totally forgotten. They're retirees who live in an RV park. Disney comes to the RV park to recruit for people to work a couple days a week part of the year. The people told me that they just Email Disney when they're going back up north, then Email them in the fall a couple weeks before they'll be there to work again. I remember one retiree telling me very confidentally "If you're considering it, Animal Kingdom is where you want to work." Why? Because lots of times the employees have to work until at least park closing (and remember if the park closes at 9:00, it's 11:00 before everyone's gone). "Any other park, you may not get home until midnight, and at our age, no one wants to drive that late. At least at Animal Kingdom, you're at the earliest closing park."

 

[dmoore22]

We've also been exploring this option since my DW will be able to retire in a year. I'm already retired. We read an interesting book entitled "The Four Hour Work Week" by Tim Ferris. We were inspired by one of the chapters on "mini-retirement." We've considered doing seasonal work at Disney. Before we would make a long term commitment we would probably lease a furnished unit for 7 months just to see if Disney and living in Florida would be compatible with us. A kind of try before you buy.

 

[a742246]

We've also been exploring this option since my DW will be able to retire in a year. I'm already retired. We read an interesting book entitled "The Four Hour Work Week" by Tim Ferris. We were inspired by one of the chapters on "mini-retirement." We've considered doing seasonal work at Disney. Before we would make a long term commitment we would probably lease a furnished unit for 7 months just to see if Disney and living in Florida would be compatible with us. A kind of try before you buy.

I hope you go for it!!!

If I didn't love where I live (Deer, eagles, bob cats, minks, think of WVL ) I would be out of here. Vermont is a great place to live for 8 months out of the year. Something about 4 months of cold (-20 below), cloudy (80%), dark (4:15 sunset) weather that is starting to get to me. I too will probably never fully retire, but I want to have my roots here for those other 8 months.

I am hoping that a 6 week retrieve in the middle of the winter would be enough. If I hear of a condo that has possibilites I would consider it. But
so far I believe Disney may be the way to go, and as funny as it sounds the cheapest way (if you want to live with excitement).

PS I plan on having dog(s) all my life, 6 weeks I could probably find someone to watch. A condo would have to accept a mid size dog.

Thank you for the reply.

I appreciate all your responses.

 

[arthur06]

I guess that I must be in the minority here. If you went the first 6 weeks of the year (for 2011) Jan 1 to Feb 12, a 1br at OKW would be 1008 points. I am only 31, so any place with a 2042 exp. date would not work as I would only be in my early 60's.

1000 points for 6 straight weeks, then return home for 46 weeks doesn't sound like fun. I just don't see going only once per year, if it is for 6 weeks at a time. I would rather for for 2 weeks in Oct, 2 weeks in Jan, and 2 weeks in May if I had a choice of 6 weeks a year.

I could also see doing like John does also, mix in weeks all over.

Also, there are some countries that are very popular with fractional ownership of a property. Gaining some steam here in the US too. Those are places that sell "months" typically and you have your choice of months. I could see us doing something like that or going the condo route.

I don't really aspire to have 1,000 points, at least not at this stage of my life. For me, I think about 400 would be a nice number.

 

[locodemickey]

We have thought of doing all of January and 2 weeks in Feb. for retirement, but what is the max that you can stay in one room?

 

[pb4ugo]

i agree with you that vermont is a beautiful place to be for 8 mos and that there is no reason to spend the other 4 months in the frozen northeast!

that's why my husband and i spend the spring and summer at the jersey shore, the fall in new england [bought a home in maine 14 yrs ago] and the winter in florida [bought our house there last year]. we prefer paying the real estate taxes and amenities fees to paying disney maintenance on our points. we currently have 400 pts @ ssr and use them for a couple of trips to the hilton head island resort or we make reservations for our nieces and nephews to go to wdw.

please check out these two sites for more ideas: http://www.thevillages.com/ and http://lylegant.mfr.mlxchange.com/?Page=-1 [this page is for the homes on the historic side of the villages - check out the rest of this site for other less modest homes!]

the villages is about an hour north of wdw and is an easy drive to make. my husband and i often go from the villages down to orlando for shopping - and with our dvc points we can stay overnight if/when we feel like it. it is a golf cart community that many consider disney for adults [do you golf?]. consider taking advantage of their lifestyle preview program and/or taking a short-term or seasonal rental there before buying all those disney points. one cannot appreciate all that the villages has to offer until they have been there. we love disney but we love all that there is to do in the villages, too. and it keeps disney in that special category as something to look forward to. we would tire of disney if we had to spend 4 mos there every year - but we never tire of our time in the villages - especiallly since it is so easy to visit wdw from there.

must confess that i have no business interest in the villages - just our personal interest and our snowbird residence.

 

[a742246]

I guess that I must be in the minority here. If you went the first 6 weeks of the year (for 2011) Jan 1 to Feb 12, a 1br at OKW would be 1008 points. I am only 31, so any place with a 2042 exp. date would not work as I would only be in my early 60's.

1000 points for 6 straight weeks, then return home for 46 weeks doesn't sound like fun. I just don't see going only once per year, if it is for 6 weeks at a time. I would rather for for 2 weeks in Oct, 2 weeks in Jan, and 2 weeks in May if I had a choice of 6 weeks a year.

I could also see doing like John does also, mix in weeks all over.

Also, there are some countries that are very popular with fractional ownership of a property. Gaining some steam here in the US too. Those are places that sell "months" typically and you have your choice of months. I could see us doing something like that or going the condo route.

I don't really aspire to have 1,000 points, at least not at this stage of my life. For me, I think about 400 would be a nice number.

hello artur06, I am glad to have your input. I envy your age. The factional ownership sounds interesting I have to look into that. I am debating if 2 3weeks say November, end of January would be better but only time will tell on that one.

I am in a different age bracket then you, in 2042 I will be in my 80's, old enough to stay in a darken one room home and be happy with that. LOL. But until that time I plan on living life to its fullest.

The condos that I would be interested in are in the 150,000 range. A 1000 point DVC would be about 40,000 - 45,000 at OKW. Maintenance for both would be about the same. A condo would be for 4 months a dvc would be for 6 weeks. I know a condo you will have some equity left in it, but its also has alot of liabilities with it. This is what I am debating right now.

Thank you for your suggestions.

 

[a742246]

i agree with you that vermont is a beautiful place to be for 8 mos and that there is no reason to spend the other 4 months in the frozen northeast!

that's why my husband and i spend the spring and summer at the jersey shore, the fall in new england [bought a home in maine 14 yrs ago] and the winter in florida [bought our house there last year]. we prefer paying the real estate taxes and amenities fees to paying disney maintenance on our points. we currently have 400 pts @ ssr and use them for a couple of trips to the hilton head island resort or we make reservations for our nieces and nephews to go to wdw.

please check out these two sites for more ideas: http://www.thevillages.com/ and http://lylegant.mfr.mlxchange.com/?Page=-1 [this page is for the homes on the historic side of the villages - check out the rest of this site for other less modest homes!]

the villages is about an hour north of wdw and is an easy drive to make. my husband and i often go from the villages down to orlando for shopping - and with our dvc points we can stay overnight if/when we feel like it. it is a golf cart community that many consider disney for adults [do you golf?]. consider taking advantage of their lifestyle preview program and/or taking a short-term or seasonal rental there before buying all those disney points. one cannot appreciate all that the villages has to offer until they have been there. we love disney but we love all that there is to do in the villages, too. and it keeps disney in that special category as something to look forward to. we would tire of disney if we had to spend 4 mos there every year - but we never tire of our time in the villages - especiallly since it is so easy to visit wdw from there.

must confess that i have no business interest in the villages - just our personal interest and our snowbird residence.

Thank you for the feed back. I have to look into your suggestions about the "villages". I value your opinion, since I don't know what else is out there?

 

[SamSam]

Thank you, I like your thinking. Are you staying 6 weeks this year?

I'm sorry, I didn't make it clear...we plan to have enough points to stay 6 weeks. At the present time we have 610 points and with shuffling, we can stay 3 weeks in a 1 bedroom...studios just won't work for us because we work from our computers half days while there.

 

[buzz5985]

Thank you for your reply.We would have a car and we would do alot of "home cooking". We are currently DVC Members so we are familiar with everything about DVC. We are at a "beginning crossroads" so to speak, and we are in the thinking stage right now.
My concern about condos is the worry about leaving it alone for 8 months, and driving everytime we want to do something. I think we would be happier living a fun 6 weeks rather then a longer mellow 3-4 months. We are both active and healthy right now and our family genes looks like we can stay active into our early 80's.
Also if for one year health becomes an issue it would be easier and safer renting dvc points out then a condo.

Like I said we are in the thinking stage right now, and I just looking for input now.

Or you could do what my parents did. As an example - they rented a condo on Marco Island every year - right on the water, granted it's been about 4 years since my Mom died - but they paid about $2500/month for the month of March. They would leave Boston during the 3rd week of February - visit friends on the way down. They ended up meeting people that rent at the same time every year. They always had a great time. On the way home, they would stop at WDW for a week, Myrtle Beach for a week, slowly make their way home and would arrive about midway through April. Sometimes quicker depending on when Easter fell.

 

[tomandrobin]

We have 10-15 years before we retire, but have already put ourselves in position to snowbird part of the winter in WDW. We have over 1500pts, in ROFR for another 250 pts. Plus we own 5 other timeshares that we can breakdown into 10-15 additional weeks.

We wont use all the points and timeshare weeks. We always will rent some to cover our maintenance fees.

 

[a742246]

Or you could do what my parents did. As an example - they rented a condo on Marco Island every year - right on the water, granted it's been about 4 years since my Mom died - but they paid about $2500/month for the month of March. They would leave Boston during the 3rd week of February - visit friends on the way down. They ended up meeting people that rent at the same time every year. They always had a great time. On the way home, they would stop at WDW for a week, Myrtle Beach for a week, slowly make their way home and would arrive about midway through April. Sometimes quicker depending on when Easter fell.

Hi Buzz5985, I hear good things about Marco Island, I have never been there, I will have to investigate it on one of my non-theme park DVC stays. Anyway their plans were similiar to mine. Thank you for your input.

 

[a742246]

We have 10-15 years before we retire, but have already put ourselves in position to snowbird part of the winter in WDW. We have over 1500pts, in ROFR for another 250 pts. Plus we own 5 other timeshares that we can breakdown into 10-15 additional weeks.

We wont use all the points and timeshare weeks. We always will rent some to cover our maintenance fees.

Thank you for your reply, It sounds like you already decided on the WDW route a while ago. Good for you. May I ask, Why did you decide on going the WDW instead of buying a condo somewhere???

 

[locodemickey]

Does anyone know if there is a time limit for staying in one room for DVC? TIA

 

[drusba]

A few years to retirement and have thought about this. We have no desire to live in Florida or anywhere other than where we are. Also we have more or less concluded that WDW in longer bites than about two weeks is a little much. Result is we will likely be doing what arthur06 suggested, about three trips a year for about two weeks each, usually during lower crowd times (Jan, May and Sep). Our likely stays will be at BWV and AKV.

 

[a742246]

Does anyone know if there is a time limit for staying in one room for DVC? TIA

I believe you have to book in 10 day reservations. I don't think it makes a difference on how many 10 day stays you put together. But I am not 100% sure.