Loved it, so bought it
We stayed here for the first time in Oct. of 2007. We had a 1 BD 2BR in buiding 14 (I think). We absolutely loved it. The pools were great, the food was good in all the restaurants we tried, and the grounds are incredible.
We were travelling with friends, and didn't do the TS presentation.
As soon as I got home, I started checking ebay and Holiday Group, and a few other places for resales. I was a little obsessed. I ended up buying one on ebay in January for $1340 for a 1BD luxury suite. Then a few months later I bought another one from Holiday for 1800 for a 1 BD master suite.
For the 1st purchase, they immediately booked a week for me for 2008, and we returned in November. It was even nicer than we remembered. The staff is great, and we tried more of the onsite restaurants. One of my favorite things is to attend Sunday mass there, right on the property in a little chapel near the hotel lobby. It's quaint and personal and charming. And the Tomatoes Italian buffet was really good.
This time we did the TS tour, and the wanted to upgrade us to a 2BD Presidential, trading in our 2 other weeks, adding another 20 years RTU, and "letting" us use the rental management group to make the most of our TS. We passed on that. Part of the reason I bought here in the first place was because it IS RTU expiring in 2029. I figure thiese TS will expire about the same time DH and I do. We own lots of FF/WYN points, and I figure that will be enough for our kids to handle.
We are returning and using both weeks in January. Since we live in the frozen north, we are counting the days till we leave. And taking our grown children and SOs, so if they all love it there, they can always buy another on ebay.
I'm not sure if you wanted info about exchanging or buying, but you can't go wrong either way. Unless, of course, you buy retail.
Kathy