do you own a timeshare? with what company? do you like it?

we own DVC - Disney Vacation Club. we just bought it last october and haven't used it yet. we own at the Boardwalk Villas and will make our first trip in june. i can't wait!

we are disney freaks so this is a perfect fit for us.what i like about DVC is the flexibility. you don't buy 'a week', you buy points. and you can use them anytime at any DVC resort (Boardwalk, Beach Club, Wilderness Lodge, Old Key West, the new Saratoga Springs, Vero Beach and Hilton Head.) the amount of points needed for a stay depends on the unit (studio, 1 br or 2br) and the time of year you are going.

you can also trade out of DVC if we want to go somewhere else.

We have timeshare. We own (i think) 7,000 points, which is equivelant to 1 wk (7 days). We own one in WI in Lake Geneva at the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa. We wont ever go there though. We bought it when it was being built b/c it is a highly desireable place, its a 'gold crown' resort and we own 'red time', which is peak season. We also belong to RCI, so we can spacebank our week with them and exchange it for any week of red time with any resort that belongs to RCI (and there are thousands around the world). So far, we've used ours to travel to Colorado and to Cabo. Honestly, at this point in time, it was a bad decision on our part to buy it. Paying the maintenance fee ($350/yr) and the exchange fee ($125) plus airfare, always costs more than the all inclusive packages that travel agencies offer. But down the road....when we travel with our kids...we think it will pay off, since we wont be crammed into a small hotel room and forced to eat out every night.

We bought with RCI in 7 years ago and we really haven't used it much. Our weeks just keep expiring! We bought it with the intention of using it when we had kid/s. Problem is, you really have to plan way ahead of time to use a timeshare and that's just not the way we operate. (I guess that may have to change, huh!)

We really enjoyed it when we used it and I know a lot of people at work who go every year on their vacation weeks.

And oh, RCI does have properties all over the world but some of the listings in the directories may only have ONE room at a certain property. We stayed at the Royal Palm Belize which is an RCI property BUT, we there was nothing available for exchange when we went so we paid regular price. The property manager said that there is only ONE RCI unit there. No wonder we can't ever get what we want! (Note to self: Must plan one year ahead of time!)

We own with RCI. We bought ours while on our honeymoon in St. Lucia. We have 72,500 points per year with ours and while we haven't been back to St. Lucia since our honeymoon (2001) we have used it several other times including Block Island, RI & Las Vegas. We also had points leftover last year that were due to expire so we got (3) 7-day Park Hopper Passes from WDW and I sold one on ebay so I got the cash value for it. Now that Matthew is a bit more mobile we intend on using it a lot more.

I hope this isn't too rude a question (and if it is, don't answer it!) but how much do timeshares cost?

I hope this isn't too rude a question (and if it is, don't answer it!) but how much do timeshares cost?

Sarah~ I was wondering the same thing! I would be so interested in the DVC but I'm curious to know how much it costs.

Phew! I'm glad I'm not the only one wondering! :blush:

It depends on where you buy it and the "standard" of the resort at least in my experience with RCI.

I hope this isn't too rude a question (and if it is, don't answer it!) but how much do timeshares cost?


We paid $12,500 for ours a few years ago. We get 2 weeks a year.
Yearly cost is $400 for maintenance fees, approx $200 for taxes.
$159 for a domestic exchange, $229 for an international exchange.

Thank you for satisfying my curiosity. It sounds like such a good idea...but I think it isn't financially feasible for us right now.

A little OT, but if anyone wants one, we have a timeshare at the Gardens of West Maui resort in Maui.

We'd be willing to sell it for cheap!

DVC is pretty expensive. probably twice as expensive as most timeshares.

like i said, it's a point system. there is a minimum buy in of 150 pts if you buy from disney and only the new Saratoga Springs Resort is available (right now i believe the cost is $89 per point), if you want to buy at another dvc resort, there is a resale market.

jenn, if you are really interested in DVC, check out http://www.wdwinfo.com/dvc/faq.shtml#faq

and the dvc board at www.disboards.com (http://www.disboards.com/)

we were lucky that some Boardwalk Villa pts became available when we we called about buying. we only bought 170 pts because that is the amount of points we could buy with the cash we had. we did not want to finance it.

we also got a 'buyback' offer meaning they took $10 off the price of each point if we gave back our first years points. so we paid $74 a point, or $12,580. yearly dues are based on what resort you own at and how many points you have. our dues are a little over $4 a point so we pay around $700 a year.

as an example, our 170 pts would get us 14 nights in a studio at the Boardwalk during the low season. or 7 nights in a 1 bedroom.

how many points one would need depends on what size unit you'll need and when you generally travel.

we plan to add on more points as the kids get older and we need a 2br unit. we usually travel in the really off season (for disney).

We don't have one so I can't speak from personal experience, but I've heard both good and bad experiences from people. Mary's aunt has one at a condo up in the mountains, and they've been able to trade it pretty easily. They swapped it for a week at a resort in England which they gave us as a wedding present to use for our honeymoon. But I also know some people who have one (I'm not sure where or what company) and they say it's impossible to trade it. So I think a lot depends on which company you but it from.

Dennis

A little OT, but if anyone wants one, we have a timeshare at the Gardens of West Maui resort in Maui.

We'd be willing to sell it for cheap!

Karly~ I thought I had PM'd you awhile ago about the price of your timeshare. I'd love to hear how much you want for it!

Kim~ Thanks for all the information!

we paid $7k for ours in 2000...and that is 1 wk/yr, sleeps 6, but only 2 privately. we pay $350/yr in maint fee. if i could do it again, honestly, we woulnt buy. we are more interested in traveling to tropical places like jamaica, aruba, etc, where all inclusive is cheaper

I have one in Lake Tahoe and have yet to use it. I bought it 5 years ago! Ugh. I really need to use it or at least trade it. I forget which company we can trade with but I think it is Interval International. Ours is a 2 bedroom, that can be locked into a one bedroom. If you want the 2 bedroom it is one week or you can get the 1 bedroom for 2 weeks.

Has anyone ever rented their timeshare? I think I should maybe try that this year.

:blush1: You are right!!! I'm so sorry! :lol: Anyway, we bought it for $9K in 2000, and would sell it for $5.5K or what we owe on it (which ever is less). I'll have my dh contact them to find out our payoff amount and exactly what is entailed in selling it.

Karly~ I thought I had PM'd you awhile ago about the price of your timeshare. I'd love to hear how much you want for it!

The attorney that I worked for did a TON of timeshare law, so I'm VERY familiar with them... We worked mainly with Fairfield Resorts (it was founded by an older member of the firm), alot of Branson timeshares and some RCI.

That's ok, Karly! I know you've had a lot on your mind lately. I'd love to know what you owe on it and more information on the weeks you have and all that stuff.

:blush1: You are right!!! I'm so sorry! :lol: Anyway, we bought it for $9K in 2000, and would sell it for $5.5K or what we owe on it (which ever is less). I'll have my dh contact them to find out our payoff amount and exactly what is entailed in selling it.

The parent company of the company DH works at (and which I worked at for 5 years before I became a SAHM) owns RCI. I know we get an employee discount so maybe I should look into it... even though right now all we could afford is like an hour at the No-Tell Motel down the street... :lol:

Jenn - Just found out yesterday that we still owe about 5K on it, and we bought it for 9K. We would sell it for 5K.

It's one week, every other year at the Gardens of West Maui resort in Maui.

:)

Thanks Karly. :) Can you tell me what timeshare company it's through so I can research them a little? Thank you!

Jenn - We bought it through Consolidated Resorts, INC. The timeshare is in Kapalua, Maui, HI.

:)

I work for Fairfield Resorts in RCI. I am in reservations, not sales. I worked for RCI Travel before that. I can't answer questions on cost, but I can answer other questions, at least from the point of view of Fairfield's system. Individual details vary by resort company obviously:D

My parents own two RCI timeshares in Florida. We're using a week this March to go to Corpus Christi Texas. Next year we'll be going to the ones they actually bought in April. I know my mom got hers really cheap so it seemed like a good deal....although I won't know until after March what the resort is actually like that we're going to!

We own RCI Vacation Villiage at Weston. Its in Ft. Lauderdale, and honestly I wish we had never got it. We just aren't big "planners" and with RCI you have to plan a year in advanced to get what you really want. We would love to sell it, but the websites I have reseached charge big fees to list them.

My parents are members of Royal Holiday Club and they are fascinated with it.

http://www.royal-holiday.com/?fuseaction=home.main&lg=2

My parents own a timeshare through Interval International. Their home resort is a ski resort in Lincoln, New Hampshire, but they never go there, since their week is a high demand week they bank it and trade it for a week elswhere, usually Florida. :)

We own a timeshare through RCI, we paid $9400.00 for 30 weeks over 30 years and were given 10 bonus weeks. We bought ours through the Melia resorts in Mexico and they have 7 resorts throughout Mexico, Dom Repub and Costa Rica. We can use up to 3 weeks a year (I only wish we could go that much). We have a two room suite which we can split into two. Use one and sell the other (as an example). We can also trade for other RCI resorts for a $179.00 fee which is split between parties. We pay $400/year maintenance fee. We will use a week this fall to go to California and next year, DH and I are going to Costa Rica, without the kids! :banana:

My IL's own RCI and Marriot timeshares (I think). We just get the benefits (condo weeks at various places when we go on vacation!!). My impression is that you have to buy a 'good' week that has a high trade value. They time shares in Padre Island, Tx, somewhere in Virginia, and Boston. They rarely go to those places, but because the weeks are so popular they trade them and use them for weeks skiing in Tahoe during the high season. And we have been to places in Canada, North Carolina, the Sierras (during the summer) and others. I think you have to be committed to spending the time it takes to research switching weeks, trading, looking for places, not letting your points expire, etc. For them it makes sense because they don't eat out when on vacation, so they always want a place with full kitchen. I think in the long run it saves them money (we sure like it!!!) but I know we couldn't afford to buy into one right now....

We own RCI Vacation Villiage at Weston. Its in Ft. Lauderdale, and honestly I wish we had never got it. We just aren't big "planners" and with RCI you have to plan a year in advanced to get what you really want. We would love to sell it, but the websites I have reseached charge big fees to list them.There are a lot of people who sell on ebay.