Are there a lot of TS users that have young kids? I feel alone...

We bought when I was pregnant with our daughter (now 8). She has spent three of her birthdays at various timeshares while we were on vacation. As others have mentioned, when we stay in a "plain old" hotel room it's an adjustment (for all of us, honestly).

I don't yet have a timeshare (looking for just the right one) but I have stayed in a number of TS in the last year. With 3 year old and 6 year old boys, the extra room and kitchen for breakfast and lunches are the only way we want to travel going forward.

We bought our first timeshare 2010 (I think). Between me and my husband we have six kids ages 23, 21, 14, 12, 12, 10. Although my two older boys think they are grown they still love to vacation with us if we have the extra room.

I love Orlando but we had outgrown the cheaper Disney Resorts. We rented a Condo in 2010 and was not very pleased with the condition it was in. We love the timeshares we have visited especially Bonnet Creek. To me it is much cheaper than renting something that may or may not be to the standards we like.

We purchased when our kids were 2 and 4, now 12 and 14.
They are spoiled, just like my wife who grew up with TS. Everytime we use a hotel they are lost and confused. They went with friends to the beach and said dad we had to eat out meals and it was so small. Sounds like a commercial for timeshares to me.

all about the kids.

We were a family of four staying at the Westin Hotel in Hilton Head in 1998, and the cost for one single room was $2,500 for the week. I'll never forget it. And it was the third consecutive year we did this.

I was very frustrated. Upon checking out and leaving on that Sunday in June of '98, we decided to drive around and look at other options. We drove by a place, it looked really nice, so we got out. Had no idea what it was, but we began walking.........someone at the pool said, "No, you have to own here".

"Own here"? What did that mean?

So we knocked on a door, a nice guy opened it, we took a "tour", albeit a quick one, we sat at a table with a bunch of people standing around, and purchased 3 weeks at Grande Ocean....a Gold and 2 Platinum. The sales guy, now a best friend (and sales manager at MOW), almost fell backwards out of his chair---quite literally---- when I said, "OK, we'll take THREE weeks...." Wow.....he still loves to tell that story back to us. So the rest is history.

And now, we pay that annual MF of just over $1000 per week and feel very fortunate. We love our weeks, and because of the whole deal we've traveled the USA and the world.

T/s is not an investment, for sure, but it was a hedge against future vacation costs of the type we had, and it worked for us. (Later that year I discovered TUG.) We would have continued to pay more and more to rent rooms somewhere, but thank goodness we refused. I would have done better to buy resale, but who knew? But no regrets.

Our kids thank us every month of our lives now for the great years we've spent at HH and elsewhere, and we continue to enjoy great trips all the time, above and beyond our original T/S weeks...we've bought more, and we get creative in adding additional trips too. My son in law school just returned TODAY from a 5-night vacation at Hilton Head with fellow classmates, and they had a blast....so busy they couldn't stay a whole week, but they loved it anyway, and needed it.

They also went to Grande Vista for spring break, and had a blast at WDW, etc.....and the trips we give to our two grad-school kids are just golden, and they truly appreciate it. My daughter did the same for Spring Break with her friends. So, the kids enjoy it when they're young, and it only gets better with age. And yes, they're asking questions about the future.......

My daughter is now ten and we've been timesharing since she was two. Our TS has allowed us regular folk to take many more vacations than we would otherwise.

I have a 7 year old, 18 month old and one on the way.

Children

I think it is where you go. I have been to some places that there were very few children and others that their energy was all over the place. The time of year you go is also a factor.

Donna

My boys are now 16 and 11, prior to 2006 we always rented condos for our vacations(my parents back in the 70's would rent condos or we would get 2 hotel rooms if needed, I grew up with the notion it's not a relaxing vacation with 4 people crammed into a hotel room).

Made our first trip to WDW for T-giving 2006, booked a great deal via Expedia for Saratoga Springs 2br. Did the tour while we were there and bought 400 pts after we came home. We now have 650 DVC points, we found TUG and the rest of the portfolio came from the resale market.

Trying to get the boys to consider a cruise, they look at pictures of the "tiny" cabins and bathrooms and ask do we really need to consider this? They would rather go back to Alexandria,VA and tour Washington DC, go hiking or skiing in Park City UT or Beaver Creek, CO or of course WDW.

We did a 17 day trip to Hawaii 2 yrs ago, flew 1st class(FF upgrade), the boys said they would rather suck it up and fly coach and do 2 weeks in Hawaii then go on a cruise.

We got into timesharing when our kids were in their early teens. Immediately we were sorry that we had not done it sooner. Our kids are both married now and love the TSs and plan to use them with their spouses and future families. As a matter of fact, we will be going on our first TS vacation with our new granddaughter next year. :whoopie:

We have three children 8,10,18. We only started timesharing last year. We had been staying in homewood suites 2 bedrooms as we hated the one room hotel type look. The one time we did stay in one room (at the contemporary in disney world) the kids asked where is our room and that was before we were timesharing. Once we bought (HGVC as we still like hilton and got suckered into spending a weekend/tour of parc soleil) though we overpaid we have enjoyed timesharing. We now pay $300 a week for last calls/extra vacations and have gone on 4 timeshare trips since may of 2011 when we purchased. We went timeshare crazy with (or without) our kids.

Baron

Been staying in TS with my parents since DD was 3 months old (great trip to Pacific NW). Then bought our 1st TS when DD was 5 yrs old and younger kids were under 2. My kids have almost exclusively traveled in TS--to the point that when we had to share a VERY nice Marriott room with 2 DBLs and a roll-away, younger DD said "I really don't like these "little rooms" at all"---LOL!
You will find plenty of kids and lots of family friendly activities at many TS. Most TS in the summer, Christmas and Spring break will be full of kids. Off-season might not have as many kids, as they are in school. Elaine

Wow, thanks for all the awesome replies. i definitely feel better now. It really does seem like the way to travel for families. Extra room, washer/dryer, kitchen, etc. And if you don't buy retail, the MFs plus exchange fee is still less per night than staying at a Super 8 or something.

squierjosh said:

Wow, thanks for all the awesome replies. i definitely feel better now. It really does seem like the way to travel for families. Extra room, washer/dryer, kitchen, etc. And if you don't buy retail, the MFs plus exchange fee is still less per night than staying at a Super 8 or something.

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And the most important part of a TS, another room with a tv, so you don't have to watch Disney, Nick, Cartoon Network for a week!

6 and new born

We bought years ago (22 to be exact) when our daughter was 6 and son was just born. First trip was a drive to across three states in the heat of summer and haven't ever stopped. Had a few more though (timeshares not kids). They are still our kids and still love the timeshares. Now we use them and at times they use them and at times bonus time use by them. We have also given weeks as gifts for wedding presents.
The one bad thing is we are all now spoiled and a hotel or motel is out of the question unless maybe for one night. The kids even have talked about who is getting what when we're gone and luckily they both picked different ones.
When the kids were young we went to all drive to locations which sometimes meant 12 hour drives each way. Now we fly and they meet us at the different locations which we trade into alot. My son at 22 has been to Hawaii 7 times now (the poor kid). When I was growing up it was one vacation as a family by the time I was 22.
Bart

squierjosh said:

Wow, thanks for all the awesome replies. i definitely feel better now. It really does seem like the way to travel for families. Extra room, washer/dryer, kitchen, etc. And if you don't buy retail, the MFs plus exchange fee is still less per night than staying at a Super 8 or something.

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I bought my first timeshare in the late 90's. My two older kids were out of the house and I had one who was in 2nd grade. My older kids had done the hotels with me, but since during their youth I worked for Marriott, we often stayed at Residence Inns or Marriott Hotels. They were spoiled. My youngest is spoiled in a different way because he is used to having his own room and a full kitchen, etc.. He loved when went to our Ko Olina property because he loved the lockoff. As a teenager he brought a friend and he always had fun.

One thing all of my kids have come to understand is the cost of a vacation. Now that they have families, except the youngest, they realize that they had a privilege. This summer I had the best time with all of my kids and grandkids being together on vacation for the first time. I cannot tell you the joy everyone had. The room in 2 two bedroom villas the could accommodate everyone comfortably, the seven pools, the barbecue grills, the playgrounds, and the game rooms on the Desert Springs Villas resorts were a perfect place to reunite my ENTIRE family. We will do this everyother year at a resort near one of the kids' homes.

Timeshare is for kids, for families. If you don't see many kids, it's probably because of the location, the time of year and/or quality of the facilities.

I bought my timeshare week in 1985 during my Freshman year in college. Well, actually, my parents bought it for me with money my great grandmother left me. They handled the purchase but my name is on the deed. Now I'm married and have two kids (13 & 15). I've traveled all over and have had much better vacations than I could have afforded otherwise. I'm now shopping for another timeshare to add to my portfolio. My parents went timeshare crazy...they now have 11 or so different properties and love them all! Sometimes they get the whole family (children & grandchildren) together for big vacations (Mexico, Lake Tahoe, Maui 2x, next up the Grand Canyon). So fun!!

squierjosh said:

I have a 3 year old and will have another one this December. We have family in FL, which is why we decided go with the TS route. But hearing some people's stories on here, and some advice, it seems there's not many owners that have young kids like me. Is this the case?

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I'm in the same boat as you... Three kids age 5 and under. Timeshares arw perfect for little ones!

Strange, but I've started to think everyone who owns a timeshare has children. They always end up directly above my unit and run constantly!

Yes. Kids!

We have owned timeshares since 1997/8 well befor kids in 2003. It's an ideal way to travel. We love the space and amenities, although sometimes miss the full serve of a hotel. We go the traditional hotel route sometimes and go retail, but the beauty is that we just rent our weeks to offset. It's been a perfect arrangement for us and we are so very fortunate....at Crystal Shore right now in 3 units....two with DC points and one with owners discount....love it...as do my 3 kids, ages 8,5, and 5!

We jumped into TS this year and we have 4 kids ranging from 16 down to 2. We will take our first vacation in January as a family. For now, the other TS we purchased on ebay is being used for my daughter's gymnastics travel (airfare and resorts) because we have so many points. She only has two more years before college and after that we'll be able to take vacations with that TS. For now it is DVC =)

We have three children at home and have been TS owners for about 4 years. I spent the 2 years before purchasing researching timeshares feverishly and figuring out what made sense for us.

The only glitch with children we've seen is dealing with school schedules. Timeshares are not as flexible as cash reservations and so it's making it less convenient to use them during the school years - esp during middle school and highschool.

But I know we will especially love having them when we have an empty next and then experience retirement and grandchildren someday.

WE bought when kids were long grown but hoping that they would come with grandkids That has yet to happen - imagine turning down free vaca. But we've visited 5 resorts thus far, Canyon Villas, Grande Vista, Ocean Pointe, Royal Mayan and Royal Haciendas and each time, there were many families with kids of all ages. It makes us long for our grandbabies and we are still hopeful.

DW and I purchased our first TS a couple of years before getting married - it was a spur-of-the moment event, you know the kind were the person on The Strip (Vegas) asks if we want to see a free show, blah blah blah It was our first venture into owning property jointly and we loved the idea of traveling in a fully furnished condo at a good price, LOL. We have since gone on many vacations and to places we would have never dreamed. When the kiddos came along (two now 8 & 10), we added to our 'vacation portfolio'. We do not regret our ownerships; on the contrary, we look forward to our vacations every few months. Since we are paying for it, we tend NOT to let it go to waste ! Our kids last year on their respective reports at school claimed one of their family TRADITIONS was 'to go on vacation' - hmmm, I wonder how they got THAT idea

We own timeshares and have enjoyed them with our kids and now with our grandkids. The kids love timesharing and especially when you trade into one with a great pool and children activities.