# A summary of our shopping so far -- I think I'm losing it now.



## Redrosesix (Apr 30, 2009)

So...after a few weeks of reading the boards and considering, I think, every TS option there is, we finally are starting our must-have list and we're trying to put together a short list of Orlando resorts (we've gone from trying to pick the resort to trying to pick the features and looking for a good deal)

A little more background -- my daughter competes at Twirlmania every year close to Pres. Day (but the competition dates can change) so we need a floating platinum/diamond/peak week.  Also, she has asthma which has responded very well to the trips we've been taking mid-winter (so much so that her doc recommended 3 weeks every year and dropped her daily medications) -- but her asthma gets a lot worse around car exhaust so we need to stay away from highways, malls, etc.  Mold, etc. would land her in the hospital.  Animals are fine -- go figure.

We will always be staying at ASMusic for a few nights every year during the competition, will buy enough DVC points to do 1 week in an AKV studio and need a regular TS as a complement.  We're going to buy where we want to stay, but we're also thinking we'd be happy to start small and think bigger in a few years.

Our must haves:
* private patio or deck area ie. we aren't sitting out in the middle of a common walkway
* lower buildings -- we'd rather carry luggage up to the 3rd floor than be assigned a room on the 8th floor
* pool
* barbeque areas
* kids' activity programs, so rec. staff
* really clean, no chance of mold/mildew, really safe
* not close to a busy highway re. the asthma thing
* can check in any other day than Saturday -- we just can't make a Sat-Sat week work for us
* shaded areas to get a break from the sun at least once in a while

would like to have:
* Florida-ish decor
* grounds, gardens, or walking trails
* a security gate
* a lifeguard at atleast one of the pools
* on-site restaurant or deli
* 2 or more bedrooms
* good trading power or rentability -- you never know when we might have to miss a year ie. stuff happens.  Should add this -- we get WPF&M passes free with DD's competition entry, so we don't need a water-park type pool, but I guess if we ever want to rent, that would be a big plus.

So...these are the places we're considering so far:
HGVC Seaworld -- from the map, it looks like you might have to drive to the pool.  Plus, it's expensive and there's ROFR, so maybe later.

Cypress Pointe Resort -- not the Grand Villas -- not sure why we're not sold on it -- maybe the satellite pictures made me feel like there was a lot of traffic nearby

Vistana -- just realized it's very huge, so maybe some areas aren't too close to the highways for us

Vistana Villages -- maybe too many grown-ups?  and too close to the highway

Orange Lake -- same reasoning as Vistana, plus there's a lifeguard at one of the pools

Mystic Dunes  -- not enough kids?

So, I'm asking all the experts to let me know if we've got anything wrong so far.  Sorry this was so long, but figured it best to put all of the information in the OP.

Thanks in advance for your help.


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## AwayWeGo (Apr 30, 2009)

*No Traffic Worries At Cypress Pointe.*




Redrosesix said:


> Cypress Pointe Resort -- not the Grand Villas -- not sure why we're not sold on it -- maybe the satellite pictures made me feel like there was a lot of traffic nearby


Vinings Way Boulevard -- the street off Rt. 535 that leads to Cypress Pointe & the Grande Villas & Blue Tree -- is no main thoroughfare, just a quiet & attractive neighborhood street.  

You'll need to come up with some different reason for crossing Cypress Pointe off your list. 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## Detailor (Apr 30, 2009)

You've got a list of nice resorts, though I'm not familiar with Mystic Dunes.

HGVC SeaWorld is quite nice - particularly the three bedroom villas.  I don't think that you'd need to drive to the pool facilities (there are two, one main pool area next to check-in clubhouse and one smaller area about mid-way between front and rear buildings.  You might find it difficult to find a parking space anyway.  It seems to me that parking near a specific spots was sometimes challenging there.  Well decorated villas on the upper end of Orlando-area resorts.

Cypress Pointe - don't be fooled by the roads around it.  There are access roads off the main route (SR 436?) that serve the resorts in the area (the traffic isn't really a problem).  This is a nice resort that's undergoing a big improvement.  I'd highly recommend it.

Vistana Resort is big with several sections - all are either recently, currently or soon to undergo upgrading.  I also would not worry about the main route in front of the resort and most of the buildings are well away from traffic exhaust.  The resort is walled off from SR 535 and the neighboring Marriott resorts. Lot's of amenities and activities at this resort.

Vistand Villages is set away from the main route (International Drive) in front of the resort and you cross a little bridge to get over to the resort.  Again, I wouldn't worry about the road as this southern part of I-Drive isn't as challenging a drive or as busy as the part from the Convention Center and north.  I've not stayed there but this looks like a very nice emerging resort and one that I'd want to go to.  The Sheratons are typically very nice resorts and this one tends to get good reviews.

My family really liked Orange Lake and we like the fact that it's big.  My wife and I like to walk a lot while we're on vacation and we can do that here without have to go off property.  Lot's of activities, pools, a few places to choose from to eat and a Publix grocery store near one of the entrance roads.  Some areas of the West Village have older villas but the location is pretty nice.  This resort is relatively close to the Western Way and Sherberth Road entrances to Disney property.

Nothing bad about those choices.

Our first choice in Orlando has turned out to be the Marriott properties - particularly Cypress Harbour (next to HGVC SW) and Grande Vista (up I-Drive from Vistana Villages) - both outstanding properties.  They'd meet most of your criteria but I don't recall seeing lifeguards there - plenty of them at the DVC pools if you wanted to buy at Disney.

Good luck with your research.

Dick Taylor


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## rickandcindy23 (Apr 30, 2009)

I don't believe in buying where you want to stay in Orlando.  Even a blue week in podunk, USA, will get you into Orlando on exchange.  I know of a resort with very low maintenance fees that will get you into Orlando, and your savings in maintenance fees alone would be reason NOT to buy where you want to go, when it comes to Orlando.  PLUS, exchanging is going to mean more diverse vacations, and this is what makes timesharing in Orlando awesome!  

Seriously, if you want to exchange into the Marriotts, buy a week in prime summer at most any resort, and you will get your pick of exchanges.  That is through II.  If you want to exchange through RCI, you don't even have to have a prime summer week to get there, very easily.  

As an example, we own at a resort (I am on the board) that has fees of $420 for a 2 bedroom unit.  Some owners are pulling Disney resorts with the prime summer weeks, 26-30, and the buy-in cost, less than $100 with closing costs included.


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## bnoble (Apr 30, 2009)

OP has the constraint of sometimes needing President's Week.  In that case, owning may well work out, as pickings can be slim for P-week---availability is much worse than summer most years.  Oridinarily, I'm 100% with you.  But, for this specific week, owning may be the right thing to do---resale for pennies on the dollar, of course.  The Marriotts just cleared preference for February '10 a week or two ago, and there are only two resorts left for P-Week.  That's a little more thin than I'd like for my own purposes.


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## gjw007 (Apr 30, 2009)

rickandcindy23 said:


> I don't believe in buying where you want to stay in Orlando.  Even a blue week in podunk, USA, will get you into Orlando on exchange.  I know of a resort with very low maintenance fees that will get you into Orlando, and your savings in maintenance fees alone would be reason NOT to buy where you want to go, when it comes to Orlando.  PLUS, exchanging is going to mean more diverse vacations, and this is what makes timesharing in Orlando awesome!
> 
> Seriously, if you want to exchange into the Marriotts, buy a week in prime summer at most any resort, and you will get your pick of exchanges.  That is through II.  If you want to exchange through RCI, you don't even have to have a prime summer week to get there, very easily.
> 
> As an example, we own at a resort (I am on the board) that has fees of $420 for a 2 bedroom unit.  Some owners are pulling Disney resorts with the prime summer weeks, 26-30, and the buy-in cost, less than $100 with closing costs included.



Cindy,

I think the key is whether they are planning on returning the same week each year.  If so, they don't need to belong to RCI or II.  If its a 'Weeks' resort, it will always be waiting there without any extra cost.  If you exchange, you have the annual membership fee ($99) plus the exchange fee ($164) so the $420 plus exchange fees is higher than my maintenance fees for my resorts in Orlando.


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## Redrosesix (Apr 30, 2009)

AwayWeGo said:


> Vinings Way Boulevard -- the street off Rt. 535 that leads to Cypress Pointe & the Grande Villas & Blue Tree -- is no main thoroughfare, just a quiet & attractive neighborhood street.
> 
> You'll need to come up with some different reason for crossing Cypress Pointe off your list.
> 
> -- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​



Oh, no, Cypress Pointe is on the list -- not off.  And just looking at the current resale prices it is the most affordable (but I should have added that most of the resales available now include 2009 MF's and we won't be returning until 2010)



Detailor said:


> You've got a list of nice resorts, though I'm not familiar with Mystic Dunes.
> 
> Our first choice in Orlando has turned out to be the Marriott properties - particularly Cypress Harbour (next to HGVC SW) and Grande Vista (up I-Drive from Vistana Villages) - both outstanding properties.  They'd meet most of your criteria but I don't recall seeing lifeguards there - plenty of them at the DVC pools if you wanted to buy at Disney.
> 
> ...



Mystic Dunes is close to Orange Lake -- it's a golf resort.  I don't play golf myself, my DD and DH love it and I would get some time to myself.  But they can also play golf at WDW using the WPF&M passes -- we have yet to use them all in our trip.

We did look at the Marriott properties, but the resale values are as high as HGVC SW, and the MF's are higher than the others -- if we were only going to be staying 1 week each year I would definitely consider them.  From the photos, it looked like Horizons would appeal to us the most.  HGVC SW got on the list despite the price because DD is so into the dolphins.



rickandcindy23 said:


> I don't believe in buying where you want to stay in Orlando.  Even a blue week in podunk, USA, will get you into Orlando on exchange.  I know of a resort with very low maintenance fees that will get you into Orlando, and your savings in maintenance fees alone would be reason NOT to buy where you want to go, when it comes to Orlando.  PLUS, exchanging is going to mean more diverse vacations, and this is what makes timesharing in Orlando awesome!
> 
> Seriously, if you want to exchange into the Marriotts, buy a week in prime summer at most any resort, and you will get your pick of exchanges.  That is through II.  If you want to exchange through RCI, you don't even have to have a prime summer week to get there, very easily.
> 
> As an example, we own at a resort (I am on the board) that has fees of $420 for a 2 bedroom unit.  Some owners are pulling Disney resorts with the prime summer weeks, 26-30, and the buy-in cost, less than $100 with closing costs included.



We did look at buying a TS somewhere else and exchanging into Orlando, but it didn't seem to make sense because the closest TS is at least a 12 hour (non-stop) drive away from here.  Just seems strange to me to buy something and never plan to use it, but I guess that's because I'm a Newbie. :rofl: 



bnoble said:


> OP has the constraint of sometimes needing President's Week.  In that case, owning may well work out, as pickings can be slim for P-week---availability is much worse than summer most years.  Oridinarily, I'm 100% with you.  But, for this specific week, owning may be the right thing to do---resale for pennies on the dollar, of course.  The Marriotts just cleared preference for February '10 a week or two ago, and there are only two resorts left for P-Week.  That's a little more thin than I'd like for my own purposes.



Yup, if you've been at WDW on Pres Day wknd the past 2 years and seen the twirlers in the Sat afternoon parade, the smallest one was DD -- MK is so crowded we have to leave.  Plus, that's the coldest, most miserable time of the winter here.  The upside to this constraint is that we always know our travel dates 12 months in advance.

But unfortunately, it may not be exactly the same week each year since the competition is either Pres. Day wknd, or the one before or after it.  So, it seems like there's no way we can use a fixed week 7.  But, like the 2009 MF's, it appears there might be some way around this issue by using exchanges at some resorts? Not sure, I'm still trying to understand exchanging.

Thanks everyone -- at least it feels like we're heading in the right direction.


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## bnoble (May 1, 2009)

> it appears there might be some way around this issue by using exchanges at some resorts?


Yes, some resorts "float" internally.  You want to do a little digging to see how hard it is to reserve particular weeks, especially if some ownerships are fixed-week at that resort.


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## Redrosesix (May 1, 2009)

bnoble said:


> Yes, some resorts "float" internally.  You want to do a little digging to see how hard it is to reserve particular weeks, especially if some ownerships are fixed-week at that resort.



Which is exactly why I know we're not ready to buy the regular TS yet.  

I know DVC is expensive but it's just so darned flexible, that I'm already feeling very confident we'll make out ok with that purchase. And I've already realized that the cost of joining points programs at some other TS resorts brings them close to or higher than the cost we'll be paying for our DVC points.


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## rickandcindy23 (May 2, 2009)

gjw007 said:


> Cindy,
> 
> I think the key is whether they are planning on returning the same week each year.  If so, they don't need to belong to RCI or II.  If its a 'Weeks' resort, it will always be waiting there without any extra cost.  If you exchange, you have the annual membership fee ($99) plus the exchange fee ($164) so the $420 plus exchange fees is higher than my maintenance fees for my resorts in Orlando.




But Gary, most timeshare owners want an exchange program.  I like going to different resorts every year, or mixing it up and going to Daytona Beach for one week instead of Orlando.  

If you add in your property taxes, what do you pay in MF's on your Orlando resorts?


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## Kola (May 2, 2009)

rickandcindy23 said:


> But Gary, most timeshare owners want an exchange program.  I like going to different resorts every year, or mixing it up and going to Daytona Beach for one week instead of Orlando.
> 
> QUOTE]
> 
> ...


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## Lisa P (May 2, 2009)

Redrosesix said:


> Oh, no, Cypress Pointe is on the list -- not off.


Good, 'cause I think it'd suit you well.     It's also among the most likely to get you into a first or second floor unit.  The others you listed all include some highrises, so you may only want a fixed week/unit at them.



> ...we always know our travel dates 12 months in advance.... unfortunately, it may not be exactly the same week each year since the competition is either Pres. Day wknd, or the one before or after it.


You've mentioned longer stays.  Could you still use a week 7 and extend your stay with your DVC points to include the travel dates you need?  A week 7 is much more popular than weeks 6 and 8.  It would trade better and resell more easily later, if you needed to do either of those things.

Another resort you may want to consider is Bluegreen's The Fountains.  I don't think any of the condo buildings overlook S. Int'l. Dr.; not too far from Sea World and several other resorts you're considering; recently opened a nice new pool and waterplay area; you could get a regular week on resale or you could buy into Bluegreen points on resale, with plenty of flexibility to reserve when you want and use it elsewhere when you want.  Just a thought.


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## Redrosesix (May 4, 2009)

Kola said:


> I don't know why pool lifeguards would be that important, - the pools are shallow - and any small children should never be left to lifeguards alone.
> 
> K.



Because I don't mind supervising my own kid -- I just don't want to supervise everybody else's.  Unfortunately, even though mine is a great swimmer, she is put at risk by people/kids being rowdy in the pool -- that's always more likely to happen when there are no lifeguards present.  Not much of a vacation for me when there are none -- I haven't had to guard for over 10 years now (used to run daycamps) and i'd like to keep it that way.

And even if she just sees a kid wipe out and hit their head while running on the pool deck, that would be traumatic for her (head cuts + water looks like A LOT of blood).



Lisa P said:


> Good, 'cause I think it'd suit you well.     It's also among the most likely to get you into a first or second floor unit.  The others you listed all include some highrises, so you may only want a fixed week/unit at them.
> 
> 
> You've mentioned longer stays.  Could you still use a week 7 and extend your stay with your DVC points to include the travel dates you need?  A week 7 is much more popular than weeks 6 and 8.  It would trade better and resell more easily later, if you needed to do either of those things.
> ...



Nope, I hadn't really looked at Bluegreen  -- but I have seen listings for them at great prices.  Great to hear that they're still adding to the resort. :whoopie:


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## Detailor (May 4, 2009)

Redrosesix said:


> HGVC SW got on the list despite the price because DD is so into the dolphins.



Then you should keep the three area Marriotts - Cypress Harbour, Grande Vista and Harbour Lake (nee Horizons) - in mind as they're all within a very short distance from SeaWorld.



Redrosesix said:


> From the photos, it looked like Horizons would appeal to us the most.



Keep in mind that the perfect place for you and your children right now might not be the right place as they get a little older.  It is a nice looking resort but, for me, Harbour Lake seems perfect for young families but I'd be concerned that the kids might out-grow it.  Many of these resorts seem to hit an appropriate balance to appeal to all ages and interests.  This would be an easy answer if you were just exchanging in to Orlando.

Dick Taylor


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## JUDIE25 (May 5, 2009)

Vistana floats internally so that would help with the varying weeks for P-day.  In addition, you can exchange internally for 3 days at Vistana Beach resort on Hutchinson Island.  

Remember, DD won't be a twirler forever and buyas much for you and your DH because even if you buy at a great price, it might take a while to sell afterrwards.


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## Redrosesix (May 8, 2009)

JUDIE25 said:


> Vistana floats internally so that would help with the varying weeks for P-day.  In addition, you can exchange internally for 3 days at Vistana Beach resort on Hutchinson Island.
> 
> Remember, DD won't be a twirler forever and buyas much for you and your DH because even if you buy at a great price, it might take a while to sell afterrwards.



I think it's more likely that DD will grow out of her asthma before she stops twirling.  But the time around P-day is also the most brutal part of our winter, so it's probably well worth the extra expense to travel at that time.  Also, I can honestly see the possibility of us selling our TS and buying a different one that appeals only to us (we'll have more money by that time) when she is no longer traveling with us -- but that would be at least 10 years from now.


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