I vacation in Orlando at least once a year and I was considering a Timeshare purchase (Vistana, Westgate, Orange Lake,etc.). The reviews here have cooled me on the idea. I was hoping to get input as to a preference of either a hotel or a timeshare.
Timeshares vs. Hotels
Hi there vic2426
We as a family have stayed at Orange Lake in 2003 . We stayed in a 2 bedroom condo , it was very well equiped for a family to stay in . The year before we had stayed in a Hotel at the bottom of international drive (Villiage Premier) . Altough it was a nice house we found with young children that we was going to bed at the same time as them and not having anytime to relax after a day at the parks. At least when we stayed at Orange Lake we where able to put the children to bed, shut the door and have some time to our selfs.
Orange Lake is a very big estate with about 4-5 pools dotted around a 2-3 mile estate, the condo%26#39;s have eveything most needed,small kitchen,diningroom,2 bathrooms. Personaly before you buy one of these places try it out for a couple of weeks before signing on the dotted line.
Hope this helps with your decision.
The Webbs
Timeshares vs. Hotels
It%26#39;s so hard to make that decision or give advice since it really depends on your needs, your use and your vacation schedule. It%26#39;s worked out really well for us, but we try to vacation a couple times a year, like to bring along friends and go to different places. You do get spoiled to the fact there%26#39;s a living room instead of just a bed to sit on and a fully equipt kitchen is way too nice. But lots of hotel chains have caught on to the idea and are offering more suite arrangements. Just try to be confident in the decision - no matter what.
The concept has changed quite a bit in the last few years. We attended the Sheraton Vistana Village presentation this past June. You buy the one or two bedroom condo (w/ kitchen, etc. )...and buy into the high or low season. You get a certain amount of ';points'; per year which can be used at ANY Starwood resort throughout the world. Certain resorts cost a certain amount of points per night. Hotels cost less than resorts (in points). We pretty much we told the the total points equal one week at a 5-star resort....and you could get in about 2 weeks at a hotel. The following is what messed things up. A 2-bedroom condo costs 16,000 low season.....21,000 high. OK....figure over 20 years.....that%26#39;s not too bad. But every year you have to pay over $1000 in maintenance and property taxes. Now you are up to around $2000 per year....and the yearly maintenance can increase.
This does not make financial sense. Of course there are additional incentives....extra points here and there....but for that kind of money...I%26#39;ll pay as I go.
Good luck.
Thanks to everyone for the great advice. Since it%26#39;s just my wife and I, I think I%26#39;ll stick with hotels for now. Looking forward to my first time staying on-site at Disney in 06%26#39;.
If it%26#39;s just you and your wife now, will there be children in the future? We bought our timeshare here in Va beach right after we were married and it%26#39;s probably the only reason we still get to go on an awesome vacation every year.
We must be grandfathered in because we don%26#39;t deal with the point system. Just call and say we want to trade our week and off we go to the Vistana in Orlando, Lake Tahoe, skiing in Pennsylvania and this year to Vermont - a week%26#39;s stay for $150.
I think the trick is to find a resort that doesn%26#39;t cost a fortune in maintenance fees, has good ';trade value';, and doesn%26#39;t necessarily have to be a place you want to stay. We%26#39;ve never stayed in ours, just taken advantage of the parking at the oceanfront, the pool and hot tub!
Timing is everything and it was right for us. We easily got our money%26#39;s worth after the second trip to Tahoe!
If Orlando is the only place you want to vacation, then the time share probably won%26#39;t save you much with all the deals that are to be had in that town. But if you want the flexibility to travel anywhere...you might want to keep looking.
My husband and I have looked into timeshares and decided it doesn%26#39;t work for us. However, we have talked to his uncle, who sells them in Las Vegas, and he said (off the record) that the best deal is to buy your timeshare resale if you are going to buy one. I put in ';Orlando timeshare resale'; on Yahoo, and there were many sites with many timeshares available, including Vistana. They also have timeshare rentals at a discount.
If you don%26#39;t mind wasting a couple hours of your trip, go to a presentation. You save big time$$ on your stay and you can make up your own mind. Personally I agree with bluepoint that with fees and stuff, it doesn%26#39;t make sense. But my husband and I have sat through many presentations to get a spanking good rate at some pretty nice places.
I think it is best with a studio and to buy resale. We got lucky because we got ours (studio) for 4th July week in Destin. If we do not go anywhere, we usually sell it and make money off of it. The maint. fees on a studio are not bad. Ours are about $180 per year but we look to exchange and still come out cheaper than if we had gotten a hotel on our own. Plus, you get all you need with a kitchen. You can also look to upgrade to a larger size unit when you trade if avaliable, which I do not believe to be much of a problem. With the lower maint. fees I believe you can always come out ahead. I think it is well worth it if you choose to exchange or if you buy in an area where most will want to buy your unit for a week if you do not use it.
Plus the more years you buy in membership for exchange the cheaper the exchange rate.
IMO (and we bought a timeshare last year), if you are going to go on a vacation once a year; regularly, the timeshare is the way to go. As mentioned, you get all of the amentities, separate bedrooms and bathrooms, full kitchen, ect . . . with a timeshare and some of the ones I have stayed in have almost been as big as my house!!! I love having the extra space and many times, will travel with other family or friends and each share a bedroom (and the cost!). Some don%26#39;t like the idea of a maintenance fee, but I look at it this way . . . For example, we went to Scottsdale, AZ last year and bought off of hotwire.com to stay at a resort. It was nice and all, but for $90.00/ night (which was a great deal compared to the regular price) all we got was a basic room with 2 queen beds and a bathroom with a small fridge and small microwave. So, for way more than my maintenance fee (to stay 9 nights), I didn%26#39;t get the extra bathroom, bedroom, full kitchen, washer and dryer ect. . . And especially with kids, like someone mentioned, it%26#39;s SO nice to put them to bed, shut the door like you are at home and not have to go to bed when they do or be really quiet because we are all in the same room. I would suggest looking at ebay.com for timeshares. That is what we did and we own on the big Island of Hawaii. I wouldn%26#39;t buy any other way and plan to buy in every other even year in the future.
We stayed at a timeshare this summer (first time) It was so much more roomier than a hotel- we had 2 bedroom, 2 balcony, 3 tv%26#39;s. There is only 3 of us, so we had plenty of room. We stayed at the Marriot Grande Vista which was gorgous! The thing is, we purchased it off of e-bay for $650.00 for the week! At that price, we%26#39;ll keep buying weeks every year instead of purchaseing, at the Marriott people staying there said their maintenanc fees are around $800.00 a year. Unless we live to be a hundred, for us it%26#39;s better to rent one every year.
