- Joined
- Aug 5, 2014
- Messages
- 1,155
- Reaction score
- 1,533
- Points
- 273
- Location
- West Bath, me
- Resorts Owned
- Cold Spring Resort, Acadia Village Resort, Samoset Resort
I'm sitting here on my Sycamores 23 balcony at Smuggs. Last day of spring break. Heading home tomorrow. I've been thinking about all of the great vacations we've taken as a family because of our timeshare. I've been reading the Tug Memory Lane threads, which got me thinking back to when I was first exposed to Timeshares. (Time to actually savor a cup of coffee will get one thinking about random "stuff!")
My parents bought a "floating blue week" from Lakewood at Lake of the Ozarks for $5000. They had rented a week there, and were sold on the space and the fact that it had a kitchen. (For those of you who are familiar with Branson...our vacations used to be staying at Rockaway Beach on Lake Taneycomo in horrible "housekeeping cabins." These units were definitely a step up!) What Dad didn't understand was that he would NEVER get a prime week. He didn't understand how to use what he had. I was still in college, so this was 1990 or so. I learned fast! I used the week some years to trade, once I moved to Maine in 1992. And they used it to trade to visit me. These days, they use them (they've subsequently added a second blue float week...they never. learn.) to go to Branson in the off-season.
They exchanged in to Cold Spring Resort one year on one of those New England visits. We also used the week to trade in there in January 2001. We saw that we could purchase a sleeps 8 unit for April break week (Elliott was 4, so we knew enough to watch the school calendar!) for $1500. We paid $300 upfront, and the resort carried the rest until we paid it off. I had that week paid off in less than a year, and we were off on our timesharing journey!
We've since added three weeks, all at the same resort. We do a mix of trading, staying in our owned week, and adding extra weeks through Extra Vacations. We usually are timesharing for 6 or 7 weeks a year, plus any long weekends I can find a great deal for! It is rare for us to venture out of New England...there is so much to see/experience close by. We have four children, though Elliott is now on his own, so three still travel with us. We like that we can have space to spread out, enjoy nice facilities, and cook our own meals. Many of these resorts are places that feel like home to us, because we visit so often. Cold Spring, Smuggs, and Attitash fall into that category.
Hats off to those of you who try new things every trip and venture to the other side of the globe. Timesharing can definitely do those kinds of adventures, or it can lead to familiar and well-loved spots.
Safe journeys!
My parents bought a "floating blue week" from Lakewood at Lake of the Ozarks for $5000. They had rented a week there, and were sold on the space and the fact that it had a kitchen. (For those of you who are familiar with Branson...our vacations used to be staying at Rockaway Beach on Lake Taneycomo in horrible "housekeeping cabins." These units were definitely a step up!) What Dad didn't understand was that he would NEVER get a prime week. He didn't understand how to use what he had. I was still in college, so this was 1990 or so. I learned fast! I used the week some years to trade, once I moved to Maine in 1992. And they used it to trade to visit me. These days, they use them (they've subsequently added a second blue float week...they never. learn.) to go to Branson in the off-season.
They exchanged in to Cold Spring Resort one year on one of those New England visits. We also used the week to trade in there in January 2001. We saw that we could purchase a sleeps 8 unit for April break week (Elliott was 4, so we knew enough to watch the school calendar!) for $1500. We paid $300 upfront, and the resort carried the rest until we paid it off. I had that week paid off in less than a year, and we were off on our timesharing journey!
We've since added three weeks, all at the same resort. We do a mix of trading, staying in our owned week, and adding extra weeks through Extra Vacations. We usually are timesharing for 6 or 7 weeks a year, plus any long weekends I can find a great deal for! It is rare for us to venture out of New England...there is so much to see/experience close by. We have four children, though Elliott is now on his own, so three still travel with us. We like that we can have space to spread out, enjoy nice facilities, and cook our own meals. Many of these resorts are places that feel like home to us, because we visit so often. Cold Spring, Smuggs, and Attitash fall into that category.
Hats off to those of you who try new things every trip and venture to the other side of the globe. Timesharing can definitely do those kinds of adventures, or it can lead to familiar and well-loved spots.
Safe journeys!