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lock off fees for Horizons?

abdibile

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Hi,

I read that Horizons have higher lockoff fees than "normal" Marriotts but could not find a number.

How much is it to lock off a Horizons Branson or Orlando?

Are there any big drawbacks in purchasing a Horizon for trading purposes? I did not find too many on the board...

Thanks a lot!
 

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I locked off my Orlando Horizon's this year and it was $75. I don't know what the going rate is at other Marriotts, however there is no premium for a lockoff in the purchase price. Another words, there is no purchasing of a lockoff unit or non lockoff unit at Horizon's Orlando. If you so desire a lockoff, you just request it at the time of reservation and you can have it for $75 if one is available for the time you are requesting.

Horizon's Orlando tends to be slightly cheaper as far as puchase price goes, but I haven't seen the maintenance fees($807)to be that much cheaper than say Grand Vista or Cypress Harbor even though the units are a bit smaller with "lesser" furnishings. I do love the resort with the kids and it's very desirable for families with young children. So far they've been giving out AC's for the summer weeks where most Orlando Marriotts have not. But I think Grand vista might get better trades... not sure. Right now the resort is still small so not as many units come up for trade. They are only about a quarter to one third done with the resort. There are plans for 900 units or so, so eventually, the deposits will be more abundant and I'm sure the AC's will go away. It may not end up being a very good trader, especially out of Orlando. I bought because I enjoy coming to the resort.
 

ocdb8r

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WHAT??

Wait, I just purchase a re-sale at Horizons and was told I was purchasing a lock-off unit. Does this mean now I am NOT guaranteed a lock-off when I reserve (or more important, I compete with ALL Horizon's Orlando owners for the SMALL pool of lock-offs)?

Should I be concerned? I purchase to be able to USE the 1bdrm and RENT the studio to pay Maint. Fees. I also considered being able to split and reserve 2 different weeks (which seems unlikely if all the lockoffs are gone).

UGH!
 

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Was it in writing ??
yes, it's far from a done deal getting one

Wait, I just purchase a re-sale at Horizons and was told I was purchasing a lock-off unit. Does this mean now I am NOT guaranteed a lock-off when I reserve (or more important, I compete with ALL Horizon's Orlando owners for the SMALL pool of lock-offs)?

Should I be concerned? I purchase to be able to USE the 1bdrm and RENT the studio to pay Maint. Fees. I also considered being able to split and reserve 2 different weeks (which seems unlikely if all the lockoffs are gone).

UGH!
 

ocdb8r

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Yes, it was in writing. Now to figure out if I should back out of the deal, I have not received the deed yet.

How difficult is it to get a lock-off?

C.
 

dioxide45

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Lockoffs can be requestes at time of reservation based on availabliltiy. If you book 12 months out, you shouldn't have a problem locking off your unit. All units have the ability to lock out, but not all can actually be locked out. Not everyone will want to lock out either, many families go to Orlando and need the space a 2BR offers, so they would not be locking out.
 

cigarboo

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I don't think it is very difficult to lock off or to make a reservation at a peak week as long as you call around the 12 month period. People always say how over built Orlando is which is not great for trading, but because there is so much availability, there isn't as much of the mad rush to call at 9am, right at 12 months to get the week you want. Even now, there is availability in all weeks including President's week and Easter week 2009. The lock off is a good option but many families do not want to lockoff anyways. As for me, I would rather have a non-lockoff if I was not trading, because I have young children who sleep in the second bedroom and I do not want a door in their room that goes right to the outside. I had no problems locking off the past 2 years. Incidentally, I just got back from Horizon's using my 2009 studio lock off to trade back into Horizon's 2 bedroom. It was during flexchange, so it can work very nicely. I think the new buildings will have some lockoffs, so as more buildings go up, the proportion of lockoffs will increase.
 

lprstn

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Just so you know, my co-worker owns at the Marriott in Williamsburg, and trades her 1 bedroom Lockoff for Horizon's every year.
 

abdibile

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Thanks for the answers!

$75 looks like the normal marriott lockoff fee, so the information I read regarding it being more expensive at Horizons resort was probably wrong.
 
Last edited:

Dave M

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Some Horizons weeks, especially the most popular school vacation weeks, will be good traders. However, Horizons weeks are generally just "okay" traders within the Marriott family. If you want a reasonably priced pretty good trader, a Platinum Horizons might fit your needs.

If you want to have a better chance of exchanging into prime Marriott weeks elsewhere (e.g., a mid-summer week on the beach in Hilton Head or a February week on the beach in Aruba), you might want to consider a more expensive and better located Marriott.
 

thinze3

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Some Horizons weeks, especially the most popular school vacation weeks, will be good traders. However, Horizons weeks are generally just "okay" traders within the Marriott family. If you want a reasonably priced pretty good trader, a Platinum Horizons might fit your needs.

If you want to have a better chance of exchanging into prime Marriott weeks elsewhere (e.g., a mid-summer week on the beach in Hilton Head or a February week on the beach in Aruba), you might want to consider a more expensive and better located Marriott.

Getting back to the OP's question about Horizons at Branson. All weeks at Branson are already being offered AC's for summer '09 (mid May thru mid August).

This is more than is being offered at many Marriott resorts, including Manor Club, BeachPlace, Grande Vista and Ocean Pointe for the same time period. Do you think this is an indication of Branson's trading power? I would think it is at least an idication of supply vs. demand.

What do you think?
 

Eric F

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The MVC Horizons Orlando has the exact same exchange demand index and I.I.'s Premier resort rating as the other MVC resorts in Orlando. Some Tug members think that the family friendly water features make it a higher demand resort than other MVC Orlando resorts during school holidays.

Unlike Grande Vista's lock-off gaurantee, Horizons has fewer lock-off units and is request lock-off availability based. The lock-off fee is the standard $75 option.

Eric
 

abdibile

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Getting back to the OP's question about Horizons at Branson. All weeks at Branson are already being offered AC's for summer '09 (mid May thru mid August).

This is more than is being offered at many Marriott resorts, including Manor Club, BeachPlace, Grande Vista and Ocean Pointe for the same time period. Do you think this is an indication of Branson's trading power? I would think it is at least an idication of supply vs. demand.

What do you think?

Great info!

How can mid August weeks already be offered an AC? Are there already weeks reserved for August 2009?

I thought you could only reserve 12 to 13 months out?

Or how do you know about the ACs?
 

dioxide45

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The MVC Horizons Orlando has the exact same exchange demand index and I.I.'s Premier resort rating as the other MVC resorts in Orlando. Some Tug members think that the family friendly water features make it a higher demand resort than other MVC Orlando resorts during school holidays.

Would this not go for all premier resorts in Orlando? The II demand index is region based geographically. Not different from one resort to another. In the II book there is only one demand index for Orlando. Though we all know some resorts are in higher demand than others and likely get a different ratting internally by II.
 

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We were thinking of buying a 2BR Platinum EOY Lockout at Branson as a trader; if people are getting ACs then maybe this is the way to go.....any thoughts?
 

thinze3

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Great info!

How can mid August weeks already be offered an AC? Are there already weeks reserved for August 2009?

I thought you could only reserve 12 to 13 months out?

Or how do you know about the ACs?

Though those weeks couldn't be reserved for most owners, AC's have been offered for Waiohai thru August for months now. I called II this morning and ask them about Horizons at Branson. They said "yes" thru mid August for 2009.
 

Eric F

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Would this not go for all premier resorts in Orlando? The II demand index is region based geographically. Not different from one resort to another. In the II book there is only one demand index for Orlando. Though we all know some resorts are in higher demand than others and likely get a different ratting internally by II.

Because of the regional "demand index" every MVC Orlando "Premier" quality category and the non-MVC "Premier" category resorts in Orlando all trade the same. I did reconfirm the exchange power of Horizons Orlando in a conversation I had with a VP from I.I. about a month ago. The I.I representative insisted that there isn't an "internal or secret rating within I.I." They say it is simply supply and demand for exchanges.

Eric
 

bookworm

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Getting back to the OP's question about Horizons at Branson. All weeks at Branson are already being offered AC's for summer '09 (mid May thru mid August).

This is more than is being offered at many Marriott resorts, including Manor Club, BeachPlace, Grande Vista and Ocean Pointe for the same time period. Do you think this is an indication of Branson's trading power? I would think it is at least an idication of supply vs. demand.

What do you think?

We are excited to be new Marriott owners at Branson (platinum annual resale) and hope to get our account number by the end of June. This will be our only Marriott week and I'm hoping to call exactly 12 months out for a lock off unit in July through early August. Any thoughts on my chances of getting one of these? Do they disappear very quickly?
Thanks.
 

m61376

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We are excited to be new Marriott owners at Branson (platinum annual resale) and hope to get our account number by the end of June. This will be our only Marriott week and I'm hoping to call exactly 12 months out for a lock off unit in July through early August. Any thoughts on my chances of getting one of these? Do they disappear very quickly?
Thanks.

You should be able to get one of the weeks, esp. since you are flexible wrt the dates. What I would suggest is trying to get the first week, even if you'd prefer a later week; if you are successful and would prefer an August week, for example, you can always try again for the preferred week and, if successful, pay a $29 change fee. That way, you have at least secured a week in case the later week isn't available.

What happens many times is, for example, someone really wants a mid-August week and gets closed out, and at that point there are no earlier summer vacation weeks left to book which leads to a lot of frustration with the system. If you have already booked a back-up week you are guaranteed a second choice because it is already reserved.

Those who are more flexible are generally much happier owners.
 

thinze3

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I agree. Horizons Branson has a very long platinum period, (equating to many platinum owners) and most experienced traders there will try to book good summer weeks.

This is exactly what TugBBS is about. Timeshare owners sharing experiences and ideas with others. :)
 

bogeygolf

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We are excited to be new Marriott owners at Branson (platinum annual resale) and hope to get our account number by the end of June. This will be our only Marriott week and I'm hoping to call exactly 12 months out for a lock off unit in July through early August. Any thoughts on my chances of getting one of these? Do they disappear very quickly?
Thanks.

Just to share my input, I'm also a soon to be Horizon's Branson owner awaiting closing and transfer with Marriott. As soon as my ROFR waiver passed on Aug 25, I immediately email the current owners to make a 2009 reservation for me. Next day I got confirmation from current owners for my 1st choice of July 4th week and also found out that most summer weeks were still available.

This tells me that some of this probably has to do with supply vs. demand. I don't think most Branson owners are "tuggers" thus my guess is II had very few deposits and was offering AC for most of summer weeks.
 

JimIg23

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I reserved my first week at MHZ, mid-June 2009 and locked off ($75). Traded that for June 2009 2 bedroom Cypress Harbour and a 1 bedroom Ocean Pointe for the week after. Hopefully I will be able to trade up to a 2 bdrm OP during flex period. I thought it was a good trade! For the price I paid for the EOY, it is a good value. However, if I want to trade into a Hawaii Marriott, I will probably use my NCV.
 

bookworm

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I was able to get a week at Branson Horizons for check in July 5, locked it off and got the AC for the one bedroom. I'm already seeing some good stuff available so I think this will work out well. I got my choice of week, including the lock-off, about 10 1/2 months out. I was told there was some availability for every week of summer still remaining at that time (mid August).
 
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