Request for 2BR, offered two 1BR...

I.I. called and did not have a 2BR match, but did offer me two 1BR units at Welk Resorts in Escondido.
Can these be placed together to insure that we are all together? Has anyone ever experienced this?
Any downsides, besides possibly not being next to each other? We have two teenagers, so if they are not next door, it is not a huge deal.
I assume just one exchange fee, etc.?

I am really surprised that they offered two units. They never used to have this option but perhaps with the upgrade fees they are now allowed to do it.

You can join two 1BR units at this resort to make a 2BR unit as long as one of the units is a Deluxe and the other is a standard. Those two units would make up the 2BR lock-off units. If they give you two standard units or two Deluxe units then the best you can do is be placed as close together as possible by the resort. Not ideal but with your ages perhaps that is ok with you. Ideally you want one of each type and then ask the resort to put them together.

Also both 1BR's need to be in the same resort phase. The place is massive so if you get a 1BR Mountain Villas and a 1BR Villas on the Green not only can they not be placed together but they will not be anywhere near each other. It would be very long walk to get between the units. You would end up driving.

I wouldn't assume just one exchange fee. I would definitely clarify that point and report back. I also think there is no guarantees about placement. If you aren't looking at peak season, I would imagine Welk would do their best to place you as near as possible but it may not be close enough to suit your needs. Even in peak season, I think the resort will do what they can.

December 30th, so peak season... It is at the same resort though, so I *may* take my chances.
Below is a snapshot
Any idea if amenities are shared amongst the Welk properties?

thickey said:

December 30th, so peak season... It is at the same resort though, so I *may* take my chances.
Below is a snapshot
Any idea if amenities are shared amongst the Welk properties?

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Amenities are shared. We stayed in Villas on the Green two years ago. We could use the facilities of any other section. One day we drove to the Mountain Villas to use the pool there because it has that big water slide.

I am pretty sure you will be fine. There is no reason why they will not join the two units together. They both check-in the same day.

The Villas on the Green is conveniently located with it being walking distance to the shops and restaurants.

For what we are used to all the pools are way too small for how many units they built. It is quite ridiculous but we still had a good time.

FWIW, the resort is far away from anything other than itself. Plan on spending lots of time driving to get to a supermarket, restaurants, outside activities, etc.


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Ken555 said:

FWIW, the resort is far away from anything other than itself. Plan on spending lots of time driving to get to a supermarket, restaurants, outside activities, etc.

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About 15 minutes drive to Escondido for supermarkets, other stores and some restaurants. Also, Safari Park is just outside Escondido. Other activities nearby. It depends on what you are looking for.

We enjoy Welk at Escondido alot. Just don't go to their timeshare sales pitch, their sales tactics reminds me of used car sales lot - their prices will keep dropping when you say "No". "Let me see if we can do better on the price, we have these units that got returned to us and we are selling them at 40% discount." "No." "What about this one, oh this one is the last of the .... and it is even lower..."

My favorite restaurants are at San Marcos Old California Row:

http://oldcalrestaurantrow.com/

Not too far away but you need a car to get there.

We also enjoy their "Farmers Market" on Monday night. Their local onsite theater is darn good too, with Broadway style plays, comedian and magic show.

We love the Welk resorts' location in Escondido but prefer the two bedroom villas and would continue to try and get one of the dedicated two bedrooms.

We even drove to Disneyland from there a few times, and with the carpool lanes, it's not half bad to drive anymore; however, Christmas through New Year's Day is not a good time to go to Disneyland.

Thanks, y'all.

Here's the key to getting two adjoining units: Make sure to ask as soon as you make your reservation.

I once asked for a ground floor unit the week before we were scheduled to arrive. Welk very nicely explained that they had already put us into a ground floor unit, but that at such a late date they would have difficulty fulfilling any special request like that. They prefer that we ask as far ahead of time as possible.

Lesson learned. The next year I reserved two Resort Villas for a family reunion. I called as soon as I'd reserved them (through II), explained family reunion, small children, check-in date, etc. and requested two ground-floor adjoining units. The Welk customer service rep literally went through everything she had available until she found precisely that set up. Suddenly she said, "Oops," and realized that one of the units was a fixed-week, owner occupied unit and she couldn't give it to me. She continued her search, found a combo that worked for me, and "saved" them for me. We had a wonderful family reunion, and I owe a lot of that to her!

So call as quickly as you can, keeping in mind what Saintsfanfl said: Make sure both units are the same section (Mountain Villas OR Villas on the Green) and that one's a large one bedroom and the other a small one bedroom.

BTW, it is possible that this may have only one exchange fee, as the two halves of the lock-off may have been deposited as a single unit. Be sure to check your fees with II before you book.

Enjoy Welk! It's a great place to be in December.

The phase of the resort would be either
Villas on the Green and 1 br full kitchen next to a 1br limited kitchen. (VLW, VL2)
or
Mountain Villas with the same 1 br full next to 1 br limited. (WMX)

Mountain Villas are at the top of a hill, the newest phase of the resort, and are more upscale.

The dedicated 2br units are LWR and LW2. They are very spacious, with the 2 bedrooms in different "wings" and the kitchen/living area separating them.

It's a nice resort with lots of activities. The main pool and Mountain Villas pool each have a water slide.

I think your odds of the request putting the 2 sides together are excellent.

Please report back on whether it was 1 exchange fee or 2. If only 1, that would be news.

Your teenagers might be thrilled to have their own unit away from yours!

Ty1on said:

Your teenagers might be thrilled to have their own unit away from yours!

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I would believe that it is an INVERSE relationship ... more thrilled the teenagers, less thrilled are the parents.

Teenagers can be surprisingly stupid .. when left on their own.

Ty1on said:

Your teenagers might be thrilled to have their own unit away from yours!

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vacationhopeful said:

I would believe that it is an INVERSE relationship ... more thrilled the teenagers, less thrilled are the parents.

Teenagers can be surprisingly stupid .. when left on their own.

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I find it sad you think that way. My job as a parent is to raise my child to be responsible and get her ready for the world on her own. Teenagers need some space to spread their wings at times, and if I smothered my daughter all the time she would never grow. As a parent, I am thrilled when my daughter is thrilled, NOT the inverse.

Kurt

PigsDad said:

I find it sad you think that way. My job as a parent is to raise my child to be responsible and get her ready for the world on her own. Teenagers need some space to spread their wings at times, and if I smothered my daughter all the time she would never grow. As a parent, I am thrilled when my daughter is thrilled, NOT the inverse.

Kurt

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But wouldn't the inverse of what you're saying be that, teenagers who do stupid things have NOT been raised to be responsible by parents doing their jobs?

Having raised two children to adulthood, I feel pretty confident in saying that plain old luck played as much a part in them avoiding stupidity as our parenting did. Teenagers' brains are not developed fully so it's not always, or even mostly, a matter of bad parenting when they do stupid things. Now of course there are degrees of stupidity, and of course there are parents who don't do their jobs correctly. But I found that reasonably limiting the opportunities for teenagers to do stupid things helped them as much as it helped me.

As for putting teens in a timeshare unit alone, I wouldn't risk it unless I knew ahead of time that the timeshare rules allow it (which I seriously doubt.) Others will disagree, but teaching teens that the rules don't apply to them doesn't help them.

For one of my on going searches II offered me a similar thing , two 1 Bedroom units for my 2 Bedroom request and said I would need to pay an additional exchange fee for the 2nd 1 bedroom unit.

Greg

Just for the record, my teenagers are 19 and 16. Both are good kids, and we would not have to worry at all. We just selfishly enjoy having them close by whenever possible.

SueDonJ said:

But wouldn't the inverse of what you're saying be that, teenagers who do stupid things have NOT been raised to be responsible by parents doing their jobs?

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I'm not saying that; I guess I could have phrased it better. Perhaps I should have said "My job as a parent is to do the best I can to raise my child to be responsible and get her ready for the world on her own." My main point was that I strongly disagreed with the premise that the "more thrilled the teenagers, less thrilled are the parents."

Since this off topic from this thread, this is my last post here.

As for putting teens in a timeshare unit alone, I wouldn't risk it unless I knew ahead of time that the timeshare rules allow it

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That is a good question, but just playing devil's advocate here -- what is the difference between having your teenage kids in the lockoff unit verses a unit across the hall?

Kurt

I once gifted a week to a family we know extremely well. He is a Denver firefighter who was on Rick's pumper for 20 years. He is still there, Rick has retired.

Anyway, this couple has three children, two are special needs (extremely) and one is a great brother to his two brothers and helps a lot (though not too much to keep his life as normal as possible). I was concerned it was a lockoff unit, but the boys did well in their own side, the older brother caring constantly for his two brothers for that week. The parents felt like they were on a second honeymoon, away from the stress of their usual routine.

The two younger boys stayed with mom in the hot tub and shallow end of the pool and adored every second of their time, while the older son and dad went to the rest of the resort and enjoyed the ocean.

I have not been able to get them the same kind of accommodations to work with their schedule, sad to say. They would love to stay again, but it's not been possible with school schedules.

They had a stay at another Hawaii resort, but it was not the same. These are parents who know they will be taking care of their sons both physically and financially until they die. This is a brother who knows he will take care of his brothers after his parents are gone. What a great family. I cannot say enough about their dedication to one another. It's a great joy to help them, however I can.

This is what family should be. Sometimes I think we have been so blessed with children and grandchildren who are healthy and happy, but this family is truly blessed as well.

PigsDad said:

... That is a good question, but just playing devil's advocate here -- what is the difference between having your teenage kids in the lockoff unit verses a unit across the hall?

Kurt

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Well first you'd have to verify with the resort that your teenagers using a separate unit will be placed across the hall from you and not five buildings over, right? Like I said I don't think any resort will allow that, so then you're talking about putting them in the lock-off unit of a 2- or 3BR with the entire unit showing in the resort records as being your single reservation. The difference is that the rules don't allow the first and do allow the second. So should "something" happen (not necessarily related to teenage stupidity but anything that tips off the resort staff to your arrangements) in the first case you'd face penalties probably including being asked to leave. In the second you won't be on the hook for breaking occupancy rules.

If you're asking "what's the difference" in teenagers' minds whether they're in the lock-off with you having access or in a separate unit with you locked out, does "out of sight, out of mind" mean anything? It's practically a Teen Commandment.

But really, regardless of what you expect from your teens or what I expected from mine or what society expects of any of them, the bigger thing here for me is reinforcing the notion that rules aren't made to be broken when they're inconvenient. Railing against rules in favor of moral imperatives? Have at it! Breaking rules that results in teenagers developing a sense of entitlement? Not so much.

PigsDad said:

I find it sad you think that way. My job as a parent is to raise my child to be responsible and get her ready for the world on her own. Teenagers need some space to spread their wings at times, and if I smothered my daughter all the time she would never grow. As a parent, I am thrilled when my daughter is thrilled, NOT the inverse.

Kurt

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Actually, my 2 siblings who are parents of 5 total (nieces and nephews), have sent their all their kids to spend quality one-on-one time with me. And usually, it is when the young adult (around 18) has pushed almost all their buttons .. except the 4 yo. decided to STAY 120 miles at my house rather than go home ... he came back for the following 5 summers ... each visit, spending a week with me...his peer set of 2nd cousins in NJ thought he was my child. But he did go to WDW/AKV during MLK holiday week ... for a child who is the edge of being classified (is he very shy or is it autism?) ... he did VERY WELL for 6 days onsite at WDW. But has refused several times to visit WDW with his parents .. .but has gone with his middle school band group.

The other 4 nephews and nieces traveled to timeshare destinations ... Ft Lauderdale/Pompano. Good kids who just needed to walk a bit like an adult and make adult decisions. The one nephew was 12yo ... but spent 5+ days on a ventilater a couple months earlier ... was then frighten of his own shadow ... he ran into his parents' arm at baggage claim, pushed back and announced he was going to college in Florida (my sister screamed back, "no, you're NOT!") ... He just started HIS last college year at Georgia Tech with engineering major and great grades. 650 miles from mom & dad ... took a car back for his senior year.

The niece from California ... who graduate HS at 16 ... got her also AS degree when 18 ... her mother/my sister called 3 days after so got home from week long New Year's Eve South Florida trip .... demanding to know WHAT I did to her. Seems she changed from "mopping and barely involved" child, to a "busy singing & smiling to herself" young adult going about HER life ... Key West, New Years Eve, just a few words in changing her view of life. Then moved at 20yo 800 miles from home to start her PhD program and 1700 miles across the US to do a 1 year internship). And received her PhD a couple of weeks ago.

So, while I never have been a parent myself ... I have been an active part of the village that has raised kids .... close and involved with my nieces and nephews.