Bitten by THE MOUSE

Janette · Mar 30, 2008

We have always loved Disney World and have a timeshare in Orlando. We never realized the difference in staying on Disney property until we traded into OKW two years ago. Last year we traded into Saratoga Springs and had another great experience. With young grandchildren, we decided to buy a few points and just used them the first of March. Our daughter's family always rents at Beach Club so we were fortunate to get a studio the same time they were there. We also got an exchange into Saratoga Springs the week before. We had a week for Grandma and Grandpa to play and then a week to devote to whatever our family wanted to do. Knowing that our other children probably can't afford to rent, we have another contract on our computer, awaiting our signatures. Our first contract was at OKW and the new one is at Boardwalk(Oct use year for both). When at Beach Club, we really enjoyed walking into Epcot. We also bought the annual pass. We have really been bitten!! Everyone needs a little magic in their lives. Thanks for this forum!! What a life-living near HHI and being able to visit Orlando when we wish!! It's cool here today so it's nice to dream!!

Steamboat Bill · Mar 30, 2008

The Mouse has sharp teeth, doen't he?

SDKath · Mar 30, 2008

Yep, and a strange new "disease" emerges after about a month of purchase. It's called "addonitis." Beware because it hits hard and doesn't seem to go away until your portofolio has more and more points in it....

Good luck and congrats. :cheer:

Katherine

laxmom · Mar 30, 2008

A month!? The wheels are already spinnin'! The closing costs for HHI are high because of S. Carolina requiring an attorney so....the next contract may be thru Disney direct. One important thing for us was to get into the system without having to buy 160 points. I am thinking 130 would be a nice number for just the two of us.....for now. With the banking and borrowing, we should be ok at that number but that could change.

Depends on how deep Mickey sank his teeth in!!!

We just went under contract on a small 50 pt HHI contract; a getaway for DH and I. We also have a week at Grande Vista in Orlando eoy and a HHI week also for when we travel with the kids or friends and need a full 2 bedroom. I understand what you are saying about staying on property. I am looking forward to the flexibility of a point system in addition to our Marriotts. I am thinking 2 or 3 smaller contracts should suffice.....for now......

SDKath · Mar 30, 2008

:hysterical: Ok, WHILE you are in escrow, addonitis starts spreading through your body. Sorry. I should correct my above post. Medically incorrect information is bad on the web.

laxmom · Mar 30, 2008

No, leave it! Just amend it to include the caution that it can lead to obsessive compulsive tendencies!

Steamboat Bill · Mar 30, 2008

I have a chronic case of addonitis as I have bought 7 different DVC contracts adn still looking for more.

SDKath · Mar 31, 2008

Steamboat, where do you own and how many points? Are you picking up resale contracts? You must be having fun....

Katherine

JudyS · Mar 31, 2008

Steamboat Bill said:
I have a chronic case of addonitis as I have bought 7 different DVC contracts adn still looking for more.

I have this problem, too, but I am generally able to control it by buying another II-affiliated timeshare to use for trading in! Good thing, because I really can't afford more DVC points!

How bad a "mouse bite" do I have? Well, I was there four weeks ago, and I'm going back week after next!

Janette · Mar 31, 2008

We get e-mails from our resale company almost daily so it's great to be able to look for just the right contracts for our use year. If we have a few extra points we can always go the 13 miles out to the island for a little get-a-way. It is amazing how these mouse bites don't even hurt. I guess watching the epcot fireworks from our room at Beach Club was good medicine for bites.

tomandrobin · Mar 31, 2008

Ah, the lure of Disney, back to the parks.

We go in 10 day, Vero Beach end of May and July 4th weekend!!!

Steamboat Bill · Mar 31, 2008

SDKath said:
Steamboat, where do you own and how many points? Are you picking up resale contracts? You must be having fun....

Katherine

I started with 500 VWL points in 2001 and then added 850 SSR points, I recently sold the VWL points for about a $6,000 profit.

I decided to sell VWL and buy SSR as the annual dues was the lowest and I never book any DVC at the 11 month window as I live 3 hours away and HATE the crowds so I like to go in off season.

My original plan (in 2001) was to use points for DCL, but I have since learned that this is not a good use of points. I end up renting about 1/2 of my points each year and that easily pays for my other annual dues and gives me a free vacations as the resale value on my SSR contracts can all be sold for a profit now.

I buy everything directly from Disney and pay on my credit card (getting FF miles) and pay it off in full in 30 days. DVC is the ONLY timeshare that I know of where you can consistently buy from the developer at normal prices and sell in 3-5 years for a profit. This has been happening since 1991 and is no guarantee that it will continue.

I will add-on in California, Hawaii, and Contemporary resort when they are released and may even sell a SSR contract or two. It depends on the new annual dues at those new resorts.

SDKath · Mar 31, 2008

WOW! They should create an "elite" status just for you! 850 at SSR. Very savvy about the MF issue with so many points too. In your case, even a few cents difference matters.

We only have AKV so far but will add on in CA for certain and more than likely in HI when it goes on sale. The downside for us is that we live 3000 miles from WDW. But DL is only an hour or so.

Katherine

Becky · Apr 11, 2008

Janette,

Congratulations on your purchase and Welcome Home!!! We just returned from an Easter trip to SSR. It was beautiful and so relaxing.

We will be at Disney's Hilton Head the first part of June. Checkin the weekend of May 30 for a week. Come and visit us if you can.

Becky

Janette · Apr 12, 2008

We've never seen the HHI property so we would probably love to come out. I think we'll be home that week. We would also love for you to see our home in Sun City. We'll be in touch. We're leaving in a few minutes for a week on HHI with my husband's mom, sister and brother-in-law. We'll be at Royal Dunes. Unfortunately, the temps are dropping some the next few days. It's nice to have the resort call us when the room is ready and be able to get there in 30 minutes.

RumpleMom · Apr 21, 2008

Welcome Home Janette! The pixie dust is strong.

We have found OKW and SSR to be our favorite resorts so far. We just have BWV left to try. We really love HHI for a beach vacation.

Jollyhols · Apr 22, 2008

We have visited Disney more or less every year since 2001 - we love it and haven't even got any children, though I could do with renting one occasionally as my partner refuses to enter Snow White's Scary Adventures!

I like the idea of staying on Disney property but nothing ever seems to come up in exchange for my Westgate (though Westgate is quite convenient to Disney really) - if anyone has any tips to get such an exchange (through II) I would be interested to know. It's not as if we travel in peak season - we usually go in November.

Lisa P · Apr 22, 2008

Jollyhols, II doesn't permit exchanges between any resort within the greater Orlando region and any other - including Disney's resorts. So your Westgate Lakes is subject to this regional block. Sister resorts are exempted - you may exchange your Westgate Lakes to another Westgate in Orlando or Kissimmee.

Jollyhols · Apr 23, 2008

Lisa P said:
Jollyhols, II doesn't permit exchanges between any resort within the greater Orlando region and any other - including Disney's resorts. So your Westgate Lakes is subject to this regional block. Sister resorts are exempted - you may exchange your Westgate Lakes to another Westgate in Orlando or Kissimmee.

Well it does appear to sometimes though - in November 2006 we exchanged into the Sheraton Vistana in Orlando. And that was only a week apart from our home resort week at Westgate.

Lisa P · Apr 23, 2008

Did you use a Westgate Lakes Orlando deposit to trade into a Sheraton Vistana in Orlando? Or did Westgate give you a deposit from an out-of-area Westgate resort? Or do you also own at another resort outside of Orlando, and use it to make this exchange?

I'm very surprised. Live and learn.

Jollyhols · Apr 24, 2008

Lisa P said:
Did you use a Westgate Lakes Orlando deposit to trade into a Sheraton Vistana in Orlando? Or did Westgate give you a deposit from an out-of-area Westgate resort? Or do you also own at another resort outside of Orlando, and use it to make this exchange?

I'm very surprised. Live and learn.

I used my Westgate Lakes Orlando to trade into Sheraton Vista Orlando via II.
I only own in Orlando, nowhere else. My week is 44 and I think the week we traded into was 43. I didn't realise at the time that there were any restrictions on trading within the same area - I just decided that as we would have to pay an exchange fee anyway (as we had to travel a week earlier) we thought we'd have a change of scenery!

Janette · Apr 24, 2008

We also have traded our Blue Tree week for other properties in the area but never Disney. We were told that Disney has either a 50 or 100 mile block. We weren't told this by Disney but by someone in II. Could or could not be true.

tomandrobin · Apr 24, 2008

Disney has the regional block in Orlando, not all the other resorts.

Bitten by THE MOUSE

Janette

Steamboat Bill

SDKath

laxmom

Tug Review Crew: Rookie

SDKath

laxmom

Tug Review Crew: Rookie

Steamboat Bill

SDKath

JudyS

Janette

tomandrobin

Steamboat Bill

SDKath

Becky

Janette

RumpleMom

Jollyhols

Lisa P

TUG Review Crew: Rookie

Jollyhols

Lisa P

TUG Review Crew: Rookie

Jollyhols

Janette

tomandrobin