Orange Lake owners

[armrecsys]

Hi any Orange Lake owners , have any iformation on Orange Lake trying to
use points with weeks. I call the owerns service and they told me that they
are talking about it, nothing has come of it.
Thank you
Linda

 

[riverdees05]

In the last news letter there was an spot that owners could go and take a survey. If you haven't you may want to look at the website and take the survey.

 

[gjw007]

Hi any Orange Lake owners , have any iformation on Orange Lake trying to
use points with weeks. I call the owerns service and they told me that they
are talking about it, nothing has come of it.
Thank you
Linda

Linda;
I believe this discussion has been going at OLCC for sometime. I had talked to some sales people a few years ago and it had been a topic of discussion. Personally, I hope it doesn't go to a points-based system. I like it just the way it is! I have a RCI Points account through Vacation Village at Parkway and while there are some advantages, there are also advantages to the weeks system and for my vacation style, the weeks system works better.

 

[timetraveler]

Discussions like Gary said, have been going on for awhile. I haven't discussed it here, as I don't think it's for a public internet forum.

By that I mean, this particular decision, as well as any other within the resort that involves owner financial consideration, are topics that directly effect OL owner's only.

 

[armrecsys]

In the last news letter there was an spot that owners could go and take a survey. If you haven't you may want to look at the website and take the survey.

Thank you for that informtion, I found the survey and sent it in.
Linda

 

[rickandcindy23]

I hope OLCC does not go to a points system because it will be more expensive for points owners to exchange into the resort.

I have to tell you that weeks for OLCC in last-minute availability (for points)has been plentiful. The other day, I checked availability for Orlando. I could have picked up any week until mid-June for 7,500 points. OLCC was the only GC listed there, the rest were not even Silver Crown. I guess there are lots of last-minute deposits, or it could be that OLCC is just so big that weeks will be available anytime at the last minute.

Our cost for a week at OLCC at 7500 points would be about $219 total, with the weeks exchange fee.

 

[timetraveler]

I have to tell you that weeks for OLCC in last-minute availability (for points)has been plentiful.

We're the largest timeshare campus in the world. That's not surprising. You can get rooms in the mega resorts in Las Vegas last minute as well.

So we say....come on down......we have lot's of stuff to keep families entertained!

 

[rickandcindy23]

Well, we just got back or we probably would take advantage of the low cost weeks.

The weather was great while we were there. We were lucky. It was drier than usual and only two days were over 90, most were low 80's. Nary a drop a rain fell the entire trip.

Pirates closing until July and the issues with IOA and the studios "Express Yourself" were disappointing.

I am going to look into an extra two days in a Universal hotel next trip so that we can ride ahead of everyone. Very upsetting to wait in line for an hour while these people cut in line ahead of you.

I wonder when Universal is going to start selling timeshare like Disney? Maybe exchangers will benefit by skipping lines.

The extra charge for the "Express Yourself" passes is only good once for each attraction. What a rip off! I want to ride MIB twelve times in a row!

The units I was pulling at OLCC were both two bedrooms and one bedrooms (studios?). I was just suprised to see it.

 

[JLB]

As I posted Over There a few minutes ago, there have been discussions of cheap rentals, availability through Extra Vacations, 7500 point and $200 total cost exchanges to OL here.

I never did quite understand the $200 exchanges, but assume it has to do with the cost of points (exchange fee plus $50 worth of points, or something like that).

 

[rickandcindy23]

When you are within the 45-day window, you have to pay the weeks exchange fee of $149+ your cost per points= about $219.00 for us to use our PFD weeks.

 

[timetraveler]

We travel alot within the 45 day window. It's a great opportunity. Of course, not everyone can travel on such short notice, that's the down side. And airfare is substantially higher as well.

Las Vegas is a prime example. You can book fabulous rooms for a fraction of their normal cost. Spa destinations are another one. We have used RCI's last minute, extra vacations, etc many times, for some fun vacations.

 

[gjw007]

The units I was pulling at OLCC were both two bedrooms and one bedrooms (studios?). I was just suprised to see it.

Cindy;

OLCC does have studios in addition to 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, and 3-bedroom units. The studios are in the clubhouse in the West Village. If you wish to be in the hub of all the activities at the West Village, they are extremely convenient for that. I stayed in them once and they were okay. I still like the 1-, 2-, and 3-bedrooms units better as I like the additional room.

 

[gjw007]

I hope OLCC does not go to a points system because it will be more expensive for points owners to exchange into the resort.

To me, that is the primary advantage of my Points account and the reason that I have a Points account.

But switching from a weeks account to a points account may be a loss for the weeks owner. For example, points accounts use different points for each week depending on the time of the year. Using Vistana Resort (or any other Orlando Points resort), you can see that weeks 48, 49, & 50 are among the lowest points requirement weeks while weeks 51 and 52 are among the highest points requirement weeks. Currently a weeks owner of weeks 48, 49, or 50 could trade into weeks 51 and 52 if the trade was done early enough and there was availability. With a points system, the owners of week 48, 49, & 50 would never be able to exchange into weeks 51 or 52 without borrowing points as their weeks (48, 49, or 50) don't produce enough points to cover the points needed for weeks 51 or 52. This would also apply to trying to trade into the summer or even less high demand weeks such as the fall. If they do borrow points from the next year, they then won't have enough points for going on week 48, 49, or 50 without downsizing the unit.

The example I used may be the extreme as I've used the lowest point requirement weeks with the highest point requirements week but it illustrates one of the potential problems.

 

[svoight]

Looking to purchase at OLCC resale. Owners, can you suggest if it is more important to get the week number that we usually travel and not necessarily the size (like studio) or get the size unit we need but any week so that we can trade to the week we need. Either way we would have to trade to get the size and week. Any suggestions.

 

[JLB]

I did not understand your last sentence.

But, the easiest answer, because it is OL, and an easy trade, it would not make much difference what you own if you are just going to trade back in (based on past discussions here). Perhaps you can use the search feature and find some of those discussions. OL is an hourly topic of conversation here, and has been for a long time.

There have been a lot of discussions about OL resales. If you have to own there it is the sensible way to buy, being just a fraction of the $25000 they want for new. Discussions have mentioned even 3-bedroom units in the four figures. 2 bedroom units for as little as a couple grand.

Other discussions have mentioned being able to trade the crappy studios in the West Village Clubhouse for at least 2-bedroom units. If it is an important consideration, owning gets you around the 1-in-3 rule, and supposedly gets youy preferential treatment when trading in, although it is not clear whether they can identify you as an owner if you trade in with another resort.

There is survey currently on the OL website which seems to suggest that OL is considering handling internal trades themselves, rather than letting RCI do, which would give them total control for the purpose of owner preference. The survey also suggests they have something else in mind, perhaps an exchanging alliance other than RCI.

http://www.orangelake.com/

On the other hand, OL is perhaps the easy Orlando trade, with exchanges for as little as $219 total cost having been reported. It's an easy resort to trade up to. There are also beaucoup rentals available, many for about an annual fee, saving you the purchase price and the ongoing committment.

Looking to purchase at OLCC resale. Owners, can you suggest if it is more important to get the week number that we usually travel and not necessarily the size (like studio) or get the size unit we need but any week so that we can trade to the week we need. Either way we would have to trade to get the size and week. Any suggestions.

 

[timetraveler]

Looking to purchase at OLCC resale. Owners, can you suggest if it is more important to get the week number that we usually travel and not necessarily the size (like studio) or get the size unit we need but any week so that we can trade to the week we need. Either way we would have to trade to get the size and week. Any suggestions.

I'm one of those owner's.

1. If your looking to avoid an exchange fee, and need to vacation the same week each year, then look for a resale for that week. If your family needs a 2br unit then I'd suggest purchasing it. This is what my brother and his family did. Their investment is their purchase price and annual maintenance fees. They stay in their units during their weeks.

2. We on the other hand, own multiple weeks, at different times of the year.
We always exchange, because my husband's schedule permits it.

3. Owner's receive prioity request status in unit assignment too, as well as major golf discouts (if you golf), and owner discounts thruout the resort. Owner only check-in desk, etc. Area attraction tickets/pkgs for owner's only, available for purchase at the VIP desk. These benefits are much like gold or platinum status benefits with airlines/5 star hotels memberships.