Buying a kids friendly TS

[punegirl]

Hi,
I am new here and to TS. I am doing the reserach to buy a totally kids oriented TS for alternate year use on east coast driving distance upto 5 hrs from my home. I live in Philly, PA. I have 2 daughters - 6 yr old and 2 yr old. I am looking into smuggs, vermont. Even resale is expensive. What are some other descent alternatives? I don't have to have kids activities on resort property. I can have resort with good relaxing amenities and drive to kids activities upto 1 hr from resort during my stay.
I tried to search the forum for similar subject, no luck with my search capabilities. I would appreciate any suggestions, starter points, pointers to discssuins etc. Thank you in advance.

 

[AnnaO]

Hi,
I am new here and to TS. I am doing the reserach to buy a totally kids oriented TS for alternate year use on east coast driving distance upto 5 hrs from my home. I live in Philly, PA. I have 2 daughters - 6 yr old and 2 yr old. I am looking into smuggs, vermont. Even resale is expensive. What are some other descent alternatives? I don't have to have kids activities on resort property. I can have resort with good relaxing amenities and drive to kids activities upto 1 hr from resort during my stay.
I tried to search the forum for similar subject, no luck with my search capabilities. I would appreciate any suggestions, starter points, pointers to discssuins etc. Thank you in advance.

Shawnee in the Poconos is practically in your back yard. Not a strong trader, I am guessing, but if you intend to use it yourself, it should be inexpensive.

 

[djs]

I have friends who stayed at Willowrook at Lake Harmony a few years back. They enjoyed it. I know you said you don't need it, but there were activities for the kids. The went in mid-June.

 

[charford]

In m 15+ years of timesharing, mostly with kids, I have not come across a timeshare that is a kids friendly as Smuggs. Even the timeshares in Orlando have a pool or lazy river and call it a day.

Have you thought of renting from a Smuggs owner? There are plenty of rentals to be had, mostly in the $1200-$2000 range. Your maintenance fees at Smuggs would run about that anyway. Most of Smuggs ownerships are 2 weeks - one in prime time and one in off-season, so at $600-$800 MF/week, that's $1200-$1600/year. Search on the TUG ads and redweek.com for the most rental selection.

 

[littlestar]

I don't know how far Myrtle Beach would be from PA? But I'd suggest Sheraton Broadway Plantation in Myrtle Beach. I've seen some decent prices on Ebay, but I would only want platinum. The pool areas look fantastic for kids. There are some pictures on Trip Advisor - take a look at the traveler photos:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re...y_Plantation-Myrtle_Beach_South_Carolina.html

 

[bookworm]

We are in NJ a short drive from Philly and have been doing resorts within driving distance that are kid-friendly. There are a few good choices I would recommend....

1. Massanutten - one of our favorites. This might be about 4 hours from Philly, I'm not sure. Look up massresort.com. They have more opportunities for kids onsite than just about any place I know. You can easily get exchanges in from RCI. The nicest places have 1 in 4 rules (you can go once in 4 years if you are exchanging), but they can be bought quite inexpensively resale. Great indoor/outdoor waterpark, activities, kids amusement area in summer, summer/winter tubing, etc etc etc. The MFs are inexpensive but most of the activities do have extra cost.

2. Willowbrook at Lake Harmony - Split Rock Resort. They cater to kids and the new indoor waterpark is nice. We like Massanutten's waterpark a bit more, especially for the summer, but Split Rock's is great too. Their activities program for kids is one of the best I've seen. A lake, outdoor pool, and more. Lots to see and do in the area. Just a short drive. The Willowbrook units are nice.

3. Other Pocono possibilities. I think Shawnee is good but not quite as much for kids as Split Rock. I would look into the new units just built you can reserve through Wyndham points ownerships. These can be bought for very little.

4. Williamsburg has some good possibilities. I'm guessing you could get there in about 5 hours. Many nice timeshares there and Busch Gardens with a new Sesame Street area and Water Country USA along with historical stuff as the kids get older. Various timeshare options that would be good. We have stayed in Wyndham timeshares which we thought had good options for kids including an amazing games room.

5. Most others I would consider that are best choices for kids are beyond 5 hours. Some other areas with concentrations of timeshares in range are: Atlantic City area, Berkshire mountains, Virginia Beach, Outer Banks (could be good, but farther I think), Smugg's as was mentioned but a bit farther.

Hope this helps.

 

[bookworm]

Let me add that I would suggest that you try to rent from someone or rent directly from a resort before buying so you get a feel for it - to be sure it is what you are looking for. Timeshares are easy to buy and harder to sell.

 

[sernow]

It isn't possible to drive from Bluebell, PA to Smuggler's Notch in 5 hours. I second the recommendation to rent before you buy. The supply of rentals is so great right now that their rates are on par with maintenance fees.

 

[punegirl]

Useful replies!

Wow, thanks everyone for these great advices.
I am building the list of these suggested resorts and also going to do the rental as you suggested. It makes sense indeed.
Also as you brought to my attention, Smuggs is farther than 5, I will have consider it after others. My kids start melting down in 3 hours with DVDs, books travel surprise goodies and what-not, I thought may be I can drag them to 5 but not more for sure.
Thanks again, I got a good start here.
Happy travelling!

 

[lprstn]

Well as I have kids that are spoiled and like different locations, and I have a friend that lives in NJ who travels with me,

I recommend Wyndham...why? They are cheap (especially resale), offer an internal system, and have lots of resorts in system worth visiting.

From NY you have quite a few resorts nearby, and the price of Wyndham resale can't be beat. These are where me and my NY friend meet up with Wyndham, and she drives

- Wyndham Skyline Tower, Atlantic City (for trips to the steel peir, magic shows and a day trip to Morey's Pier in Wildwood.)

- Wyndham's Bershires - for skiing at Jiminy Peak for Christmas week.

- Wyndham Onshore - in RI an easy drive for all of us and we can go for just a long weekend.

- Wyndham's Poconos - new resort at Shawnee that will have a indoor waterpark.

Not to mention the other places we can use our Wyndham points for and we don't even have to trade through RCI if we don't want to.

Not to mention I have used a small points deposit into RCI to trade into

- Smuggler's Notch (I go 1 time every 4 years as RCI has a 1 in 4 years trade rule)
- Massenutten (I go every year for 3 years than take 1 year off)

These are all places within driving distance to you...and again, the cheap resale price of Wyndham is well worth it.

 

[Keitht]

Something worth bearing in mind is that although at present 'kids friendly' is at the top of your list, it isn't always going to be that way. Once your kids are older you may well find the 'kids friendly' nature of the resort more of a curse than a blessing.
Remember "Timeshare is for life, so are the maintenance fees".

 

[pcgirl54]

Buy prime season for best trade power so that when they get older the resort will still be useful and align with school vacations. Buy a 2bd with a full kitchen. Close enough to drive to as airfare is not always an option. This was the advice we were given 13 yrs back and it holds true today.

We bought a prime summer resale 2 bd Cape Cod 13 years ago and I must say it was one of the best things we have ever bought. Kitchen to save dining dollars and roomy for the kids and Mom and Dad to spread out.

Been to Westin Maui,Harborside Atlantis Bahamas,Sanibel Island,Royal Mayan in Cancun and so many beachfront locations with gorgeous views. We could never have afforded this without our Timeshare.

I agree to rent or try a mini stay at a couple of locations so you can "try before you buy". And then keep asking questions here.

Location of unit to pools and other activities
Noise factor-some resorts have paper thin walls and that can get annoying when trying to sleep
lockout resorts where one can make one week into two for the same MF
MF and future assessments-when are updates (appliances,furniture and kitchen/bath) last done
Float week vs fixed or points-how easy is it to reserve a week if not fixed especially in high season

Lots to do in Myrtle Beach for families. Sheraton is not beachfront but it a great location and resale are a good value.

 

[sfwilshire]

You might check your distance to the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge TN area. Hard to find a place with more stuff for the kids to do. Dollywood is kid friendly all year, but they have a few weeks in June/July called Kidsfest that is even more so. Several nice resorts in the area. We own a couple of weeks at Tree Tops and it trades well with both RCI and II.

Sheila