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The problems I had at OKW when I traded into using II

icydog

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We just got home on Saturday. We stayed for two weeks at OKW (part of the time we were on the member cruise). When we checked in for our first week we told the cast member that we were members immediately. She looked at our blue cards and said "I don't need that" and proceeded to treat us like we were vagrants who showed up to steal a week from a "real" member. She gave us a package but it wasn't the Welcome Home package and it didn't include the Member Perk book. She was quick to charge us the $95 though!!
She treated us like we had a bad case of the "wannabees" and actually bordered on extreme rudeness. We finally got a suitable villa, after an hour with her saying there was nothing she could do for us, and we left her to her other chores, like making broomstick riding devices.

When we got to the room we found out we didn't have internet access. So along with not giving us the Perks booklet she didn't give us free internet. I called the GM. He apologized and said he would take the charges off. What he didn't say was the charges had to be removed daily and only then with a fight until I mentioned his name.

I know OKW and SSR get most of the exchangers but I own over 1400 points with Disney. My maintenance fees are outrageous, much less the cost to buy all these points. I am still a member no matter how I got there. I resent being treated like this. The GM agreed, but obviously his front end staff did not get that memo. I am going to write to Jim Lewis--- but why should it come to this? I know that some of you will say, "that's just how it is and accept it"!! But I cannot. I never felt so unwelcome in my life at a DVC resort and we are one of the club's founding members.
 
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dms1709

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Thank you for taking the time and energy to take your complaint to the next level. There is no excuse for rude behavior. Hopefully the complaint coming from a Disney owner will make the "Powers that be" understand that this is not acceptable.

Donna
 

Transit

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That kind of treatment is unacceptable for an owner or exchanger.How much in demand will DVC be if exchangers are treated far worse than owners? My guess yours is an isolated incident. Most DVC exchange reports that I've read are positive.
 

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Disney Vacation Club

She treated us like we had a bad case of the "wannabees" and actually bordered on extreme rudeness. We finally got a suitable villa, after an hour with her saying there was nothing she could do for us, and we left her to her other chores, like making broomstick riding devices.

No One should be treated second class at any resort
especially at Disney - but it happens - way too often
 

timeos2

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It is policy - another reason I gave up on DVC

No One should be treated second class at any resort
especially at Disney - but it happens - way too often

It's no accident. Starting with the "exchange penalty" they pioneered DVC goes out of their way to treat II "guests" as second or third class steerage interlopers. Every II guest should rank DVC as low as possible until this type of treatment ends. Or just avoid DVC - there are much better resorts in the few areas they have a presence. Those honor the idea of fair exchange and treat guests well.
 

Carl D

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It's no accident. Starting with the "exchange penalty" they pioneered DVC goes out of their way to treat II "guests" as second or third class steerage interlopers. Every II guest should rank DVC as low as possible until this type of treatment ends. Or just avoid DVC - there are much better resorts in the few areas they have a presence. Those honor the idea of fair exchange and treat guests well.
I'm calling you out. Prove it.
Prove they go out of their way to treat guests badly... You can't do it. You always make such statements, yet never back them up.
How many times have you personally traded into DVC??

And don't get me started on the fee..
I thought it was your beloved CP Resort that charged guests for certain items, but not owners. I could be thinking of a different place, but I think it's CP.
 

timeos2

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I'm calling you out. Prove it.
Prove they go out of their way to treat guests badly... You can't do it. You always make such statements, yet never back them up.
How many times have you personally traded into DVC??

And don't get me started on the fee..
I thought it was your beloved CP Resort that charged guests for certain items, but not owners. I could be thinking of a different place, but I think it's CP.

NO, Wastegate (And DVC, Manhattan Club among others) hold the title of "lets have third class guests" and charge for the privilege. Proof? It starts at the $95 at DVC and just gets worse as the visit goes on. Look at the owner who started this thread. Can't get anyone more willing to forgive than that yet look what occurred.

All my well run resorts (so Wastegate is excluded from that list) charge nothing to exchange guests that isn't also charged to owners. As it should be and always was until a certain group got II to agree...

I have never traded into DVC but I had people use my weeks and - guess what - got the same type of negative report of poor treatment. And that was in the late 90's! Nothing has changed except the fee was added for insult. It cannot be justified and should not be ignored by the RTU renters or those who turn in II rating cards.
 

littlestar

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Sorry to hear about your experience at OKW. We had a really sweet gal that checked us in at OKW a few weeks ago. We traded in with our Smoky Mt week and showed our blue member card and the gal was happy to give us the member perks booklet. Sounds like you got someone that was sour grapes that day.

Our resort keys didn't say "member" and I'm pretty sure unless we're staying on points that we don't get the free internet. In my opinion, I think all the DVC resorts should just give it for free - it would cut out a lot of confusion. I'm pretty sure all Marriott Vacation Club resorts offer free internet (at least the ones I've stayed at). So many people have to work or check on work related things while on vacation, it just would make more sense if DVC had it set up like Marriott Vacation Club does. It really kind of makes you feel sorry for DVC's front desk staff in one way - what a headache to keep track of.
 

icydog

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Sorry to hear about your experience at OKW. We had a really sweet gal that checked us in at OKW a few weeks ago. We traded in with our Smoky Mt week and showed our blue member card and the gal was happy to give us the member perks booklet. Sounds like you got someone that was sour grapes that day.

Our resort keys didn't say "member" and I'm pretty sure unless we're staying on points that we don't get the free internet. In my opinion, I think all the DVC resorts should just give it for free - it would cut out a lot of confusion. I'm pretty sure all Marriott Vacation Club resorts offer free internet (at least the ones I've stayed at). So many people have to work or check on work related things while on vacation, it just would make more sense if DVC had it set up like Marriott Vacation Club does. It really kind of makes you feel sorry for DVC's front desk staff in one way - what a headache to keep track of.

I agree wholeheartedly. It costs no more for Disney to extend free internet access to their members on site whether or not they used their points to get there. But you have a valid argument. Why not extend the free internet to everyone. So many folks need their computers while traveling to check work related emails, it would make sense to provide free internet to make them feel at home. Why DVC, one of the leaders in the hospitality field, is so inhospitable is beyond me. I am going to use this argument in my letter to the president. I may send it to the chairman of the board as well as the CEO.
 

janej

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We traded through II to SSR earlier this year. I was not treated badly. But I felt the CM was not nearly as nice as when I stayed on my DVC points in the past. I asked about the free internet access, and I was told that it is only free when you stay on points or cash reservation. I did not really need the internet access so I just let it go. I later checked on the Perk booklet and found that unlike the pool hopping privilege, the free internet was not stated for cash or points reservation only.
 

Carl D

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NO, Wastegate (And DVC, Manhattan Club among others) hold the title of "lets have third class guests" and charge for the privilege. Proof? It starts at the $95 at DVC and just gets worse as the visit goes on. Look at the owner who started this thread. Can't get anyone more willing to forgive than that yet look what occurred.

All my well run resorts (so Wastegate is excluded from that list) charge nothing to exchange guests that isn't also charged to owners. As it should be and always was until a certain group got II to agree...

I have never traded into DVC but I had people use my weeks and - guess what - got the same type of negative report of poor treatment. And that was in the late 90's! Nothing has changed except the fee was added for insult. It cannot be justified and should not be ignored by the RTU renters or those who turn in II rating cards.
As usual, you have spouted off then given absolutely ZERO evidence to back up your claim. I do not believe a single word you say about what some unknown person told you. Anyone that has read your negative DVC posts over the years will agree with that.
One or two posts from unknown people on an internet bbs is far from proof.

This was clearly a cranky cast member that would have given a hard time to anyone. After all, icydog is indeed a Member.

All you can say is "fee, fee, fee".
Doesn't CP charge guests for movies or something like that?
 

rickandcindy23

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We didn't have a rude person check us into Boardwalk Villas for our two-week stay in September, but we did arrive late, and she said they didn't have a reservation for us. With our II confirmation in hand, she disappeared for a few minutes, then she came back (I forgot her name and was hoping I would remember it for the DVC satisfaction survey) and said our confirmation has a name of Daphne Copeland. She asked if we rented this reservation. WHAAAAAT?

I said, "NO, this is an II exchange." She said,

"No, this reservation is under an owner's name, which is Daphne Copeland."

UGH! Finally she looked further into the computer and said, "I see that your name is in the notes as a guest." I couldn't believe it because this was directly through II, with our Foxrun summer week! I think she just found it and didn't want to admit her mistake.

Our daughter and her husband's relatives were staying there at the same time, and fortunately, they didn't have these problems. I think Laura would have freaked out.

Long story short, if I can even do that, :D it took us 45 minutes of waiting and arguing to get our keys. We didn't get to bed until about 3:00 a.m., by the time the luggage and groceries arrived in the unit (they wouldn't let us take it ourselves in the luggage carts, which are for bellhops only:( ).

The manager came by our room the next morning (at 7:30 a.m.!), to see if we were happy with our room, and he did apologize, but we were more angry at being awakened at that early hour, after arriving so late, than we were at the lost reservation.

They checked us into our second week without having to go to the desk. We loved the unit, and we always get a Perks booklet with our exchanges. We feel we are treated very well by Disney, but the hassle was ridiculous at the counter of Boardwalk. I was so tired by the end of that day. :zzz:
 

Carl D

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We didn't have a rude person check us into Boardwalk Villas for our two-week stay in September, but we did arrive late, and she said they didn't have a reservation for us. With our II confirmation in hand, she disappeared for a few minutes, then she came back (I forgot her name and was hoping I would remember it for the DVC satisfaction survey) and said our confirmation has a name of Daphne Copeland. She asked if we rented this reservation. WHAAAAAT?

I said, "NO, this is an II exchange." She said,

"No, this reservation is under an owner's name, which is Daphne Copeland."

UGH! Finally she looked further into the computer and said, "I see that your name is in the notes as a guest." I couldn't believe it because this was directly through II, with our Foxrun summer week! I think she just found it and didn't want to admit her mistake.

Our daughter and her husband's relatives were staying there at the same time, and fortunately, they didn't have these problems. I think Laura would have freaked out.

Long story short, if I can even do that, :D it took us 45 minutes of waiting and arguing to get our keys. We didn't get to bed until about 3:00 a.m., by the time the luggage and groceries arrived in the unit (they wouldn't let us take it ourselves in the luggage carts, which are for bellhops only:( ).

The manager came by our room the next morning (at 7:30 a.m.!), to see if we were happy with our room, and he did apologize, but we were more angry at being awakened at that early hour, after arriving so late, than we were at the lost reservation.

They checked us into our second week without having to go to the desk. We loved the unit, and we always get a Perks booklet with our exchanges. We feel we are treated very well by Disney, but the hassle was ridiculous at the counter of Boardwalk. I was so tired by the end of that day. :zzz:
Cindy, do you think that was a II error, a DVC error, or a combination of the two?

I do believe it was a pain in the butt, but if I understand correctly you were NOT made to feel like "second class citizens". Is that correct?
 

rickandcindy23

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You know, Carl, I don't even know whose fault it was, but I didn't think the woman was at all rude. She was actually very nice to us, but she didn't admit it was their mistake. They charged our credit card the $95, and our internet use was billed to us daily, so obviously they realized we were II exchangers.

I don't know how the mistake happened, but I was starting to get very worried as to where we would stay that night. When she finally let us take the unit (at first she wasn't sure we could have it, even when she saw our name in the notes), I was so relieved.

Our experience as a renter from a DVC owner was sure not great. That was BF, Before Foxrun, and we wanted to try Disney on for size. This was about 3 years ago, when we rented a studio for five weeknights, at Old Key West. The woman at check-in was very rude to us and said, "Owners are not supposed to rent their units." She was older and just came across as grouchy to me. She gave us the closest studio to the 3-way stop in the complex. Rick couldn't sleep the first night, so we called to complain, and they moved us.

I would bet DVC owners would not like to know how rude some of the people at check-in can be toward their renters. We rented that one from a very nice guy on eBay with a name like svw or something like that. I seem to remember his last name was Weschel. His family owns thousands of points, mostly bought in the early years. He had every right to rent this reservation to us, in my opinion. But I guess all companies react that way when they feel that someone is making money on their purchases. I think it's jealousy.

Wyndham is rotten, that is for sure. Thought I would get a complaint in here about Wyndham. :(
 

Big Matt

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I've stayed at OKW and DSS via II and both times we were treated just fine by the front desk folks. I got a very nice unit both times.

I will say that the DVC sales person at the kiosk gave me a real hassle and laughed at me when I told her that Marriott had nicer units. After pushing her for a straight answer, she admitted that she'd never even been to a Marriott resort, let alone in the unit. She also told me that people weren't allowed to trade into DVC via II. I told her that I had done that and she said I wasy lying and that I was trespassing. This kiosk was in DSS and I was staying in a villa in Congress Park. I never did anything about it because frankly it wasn't worth my time. Customer service at Disney has gone down hill in the parks, the resorts, and everywhere else. The sad part is that it may just be our society as a whole.

P.S. - I didn't let that incident ruin my vacation, and I still love going to Disney.
 

rickandcindy23

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Matt, that is a terrible thing for the woman to say. I suppose she just thinks DVC members get exchanges without giving anything back to Interval. :rofl:

Our salesperson was Mario, and he was very nice. If we do buy Disney, I would buy through him. I don't think they will give us free internet on exchanges once we own, though. I am surprised they did that for Marylyn because I understood that exchangers, even DVC owners, wouldn't get free internet. If they did, that would be another reason to get Rick to agree to buying Disney. :D

I am always looking for more ammo to get Rick to agree to a purchase.
 

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We've been DVC members since 1992. We have stayed on points numerous times throughout the years.

We have exchanged in through II several times and will be exchanging into OKW again at the end of January.

We have rented out our points many times over the years.

We have always been treated well whether it be as members or exchangers - absolutely no difference.

We have never had a complaint from any renters that they were not treated well.
 

icydog

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Cindy if you do buy give my name.. Please, Please, Please, pick me, pick me, pick me....:wave:
 

icydog

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I asked about the free internet access, and I was told that it is only free when you stay on points or cash reservation. I later checked on the Perk booklet and found that unlike the pool hopping privilege, the free internet was not stated for cash or points reservation only.

Very interesting and more ammo for my letter. Thanks

Long story short, if I can even do that, :D it took us 45 minutes of waiting and arguing to get our keys. We didn't get to bed until about 3:00 a.m., by the time the luggage and groceries arrived in the unit (they wouldn't let us take it ourselves in the luggage carts, which are for bellhops only:( ).

The manager came by our room the next morning (at 7:30 a.m.!), to see if we were happy with our room, and he did apologize, but we were more angry at being awakened at that early hour, after arriving so late, than we were at the lost reservation.

They checked us into our second week without having to go to the desk. We loved the unit, and we always get a Perks booklet with our exchanges. We feel we are treated very well by Disney, but the hassle was ridiculous at the counter of Boardwalk. I was so tired by the end of that day. :zzz:

Well he saw a problem and showed up didn't he. Alright it was at dawn but it didn't matter since that was when he wanted to see YOU. The manager called and apologize for the CM and gave us the internet but the call was at 1 AM!!!


Our experience as a renter from a DVC owner was sure not great. That was BF, Before Foxrun, and we wanted to try Disney on for size. This was about 3 years ago, when we rented a studio for five weeknights, at Old Key West. The woman at check-in was very rude to us and said, "Owners are not supposed to rent their units." She was older and just came across as grouchy to me. She gave us the closest studio to the 3-way stop in the complex. Rick couldn't sleep the first night, so we called to complain, and they moved us.

I would bet DVC owners would not like to know how rude some of the people at check-in can be toward their renters.

She had a nerve. If I heard that from one of my renters, and I never have heard it yet, I would be on the phone to Burbank in a heartbeat. I would skip Lewis and go straight to the top. It says in our documents we can rent out our points. What they don't like is commercial renters but it their responsibility to do something about those people not yours. Talk about bad karma.


I will say that the DVC sales person at the kiosk gave me a real hassle and laughed at me when I told her that Marriott had nicer units. After pushing her for a straight answer, she admitted that she'd never even been to a Marriott resort, let alone in the unit. She also told me that people weren't allowed to trade into DVC via II. I told her that I had done that and she said I wasy lying and that I was trespassing. This kiosk was in DSS and I was staying in a villa in Congress Park. I never did anything about it because frankly it wasn't worth my time. Customer service at Disney has gone down hill in the parks, the resorts, and everywhere else. The sad part is that it may just be our society as a whole.

Sometimes you have to laugh at the idiocy of some people. I used to work for the phone company in marketing. When I sent in a proposal I was accused of being a Bell Shaped Head by the competition, meaning I only knew one way of doing things and had no experience other than the Bell system. To a degree they were right although I like to think I knew more than they thought I did. DVC staff in general know very, very, very, very, little about anything other than DVC. They are not taught about other timeshares but they are taught that their product is far superior to any other on the market. I do agree they have a point but they cannot operate in a vacuum. They should learn what the competition is selling and how timeshares in general work. It took me a long time to acquire this information after owning only DVC for so many years but I did learn it and they should too.

We've been DVC members since 1992. We have stayed on points numerous times throughout the years.

We have exchanged in through II several times and will be exchanging into OKW again at the end of January.

We have rented out our points many times over the years.

We have always been treated well whether it be as members or exchangers - absolutely no difference.

We have never had a complaint from any renters that they were not treated well.

I agree with all you said except for the exchanging thing. Did you get the member perks like the internet?
 

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When I checked in for our stay, the first night was on our points, the rest of the week was an II exchange. They were kind enough to let us stay in the same preferred view unit without having to move. They just put our room keys for exchange under our door during the night, so we didn't even have to go downstairs.

I tried my best to make sure the girl behind the desk noted we were owners, and she said it was noted in our file. Yet when I went to the desk to tell them we would be leaving a day early and to make sure we weren't charged for the internet, that lady was not very hospitable at all. In fact, she said in a rather condensending tone that we were there on an exchange, so of course we didn't get it free. Didn't matter that we were owners.

I was NOT happy. :mad: I pointed out that I had asked about it at check in and also every time I logged on for another 24 hour period it said right on the check in screen that disney owners would NOT be charged. That is totally misleading and really irritated me. In fact, I had to work hard to not let it ruin my last day and color my whole impression. I definitely wouldn't have used the internet on a daily basis if I had known I would be charged for it.

I was selected to do an online follow up survery about my Disney stay while we were visiting a park. And I definitely pointed out that I felt that was totally misleading the way it was worded and I wasn't one bit happy about it.

So yes, even us owners get treated like second class citizens occasionally when we are there.

I am still thinking about writing a personal letter myself in regards to that. I know about the $95 exchange fee and I am fine with that. I know about it ahead of time and I accept it as part of the deal of getting to trade into a Disney resort. What I don't accept is it saying all over the place owners won't be charged for something and then charging us anyway. :mad:
 
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rickandcindy23

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Cindi, we were there at Boardwalk at the same time you were. I cannot believe we didn't know that until after we were back.

I would have loved to meet you! :)

The $95 fee should cover the internet for exchangers. What else don't we get that owners get? I think we get everything else as exchangers, sans the discount on annual passes.
 

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I agree with all you said except for the exchanging thing. Did you get the member perks like the internet?

We will be bringing our laptop for the first time in January, so I will let you know if we get this member perk.
 

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And how many of the cheesy RCI timeshare pick up their guest and luggage at the airport? Seems DVC does.

Oh, and I forgot, you don't need a car at WDW, try that from I drive.

John, your bias shows through.
 

timeos2

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Once infected it's tough to be cured. You can beat "Disneytistus" & lose the glasses

And how many of the cheesy RCI timeshare pick up their guest and luggage at the airport? Seems DVC does.

Oh, and I forgot, you don't need a car at WDW, try that from I drive.

John, your bias shows through.

Call it bias if you prefer. I call it experience. I owned, I saw how things worked, I got out. Things haven't got better - they have deteriorated. Read the current owners and guest postings right here. I realize many of those who buy into the "vision" think everything DVC does is faultless (read the believer posts in this thread) but a realistic view, minus the ongoing costs they pay and rose colored glasses they seem to wear, says it's far from the truth.

Think its the best, a good value, an experience if you wish. It's your money. The unvarnished facts say it is different, in a unique location (except for a few off sites resorts that really don't have a big demand), not as nice as many other timeshares, expensive and mostly smoke and mirrors. Hey, OZ looks great to the munchkins too. But they didn't charge Dorothy a $95 penalty to visit and it was just as much make believe as the "magic" of Disney (which was actually lost 15 or 20 years ago - but who's counting?). Its nothing but a corporation looking for cash now. Enjoy giving them yours if you prefer that to other uses. I prefer other entertainment, resorts and sites to spend mine.

Look I have enjoyed Disney I just don't find the value in the DVC resorts. I am the first to admit I have ZERO desire to buy trinkets (if they are sent to my unit "free" or not) or overpriced food - I go to the parks for the attractions. Disney is OK on that but Universal has done better over the past decade. I have no desire to be immersed in Disney 24hrs a day. In fact 8-10 hours is about all we can stand. It wasn't always like that but that's how we feel now. "Free" pick up & no car? No savings and you are stuck within the Disney walls. No thanks. Use Disney transportation to be stuck within the gates all week? Talk about hellish nightmares!

I can spend $14 to get to a beautiful resort that allows me to walk to Disney or maybe Seaworld or Universal AND to real restaurants, stores, etc and not pay DVC or park prices for smaller rooms and in most cases so-so food. I just don't see the value. Or I can rent a car for far less than the difference between an off site resort and a DVC resort, with plenty left over, and then see all Orlando offers - not just Disney. If you haven't tried it trust me its far better than 7-10 days of non-stop "It's A Small World" and other theme songs.
 

sandcastles

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John, I couldn't disagree with you more. We have owned timeshares since 1984. We bought our first DVC in 1999. I don't think DVC or DisneyWorld is perfect but I think it comes closer than most timeshares.

I don't think there is any comparison between being onsite and staying offsite, no matter how nice the TS is. And I do really like the Marriotts and HGVC. We stayed 4 weeks in Orlando a few years ago due to Hurricane Charley hitting 3 weeks of our TS on Sanibel. We had to stay in Fl for the month to link with another reservation. We stayed at Cypress Harbour and Grande Vista. While both were nice, we couldn't wait to get back to DVC.
Over the years I have stayed at most of the TS in Orlando and with the exception of one that I would never go back to, they have all been nice or at least adequate.

Nothing beats sitting on your balcony overlooking the Boardwalk, watching the people, the entertainers and the boats on the lake. I love the fact that one of us can go in the park while the other stays at the resort. You can meet up at the parks with a quick walk, boat ride or bus ride.
 
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