Just bought Vidanta Kingdom of the Sun Timeshare & got II membership, had RCI for a year now frm a H10 timeshare bought 2022. Need advice, is II good?

[Islandbabe]

Has anyone bought Kingdom of the Sun, in Vidanta. Just used our first RCI week, it worked out ok. Is II better that RCI, if we choose to only keep 1, which should we keep? What are the major differences/benefits? Thanks for the advise so happy I found this forum!

 

[LannyPC]

How much did you pay? Where did you sign the contract?

 

[easyrider]

Has anyone bought Kingdom of the Sun, in Vidanta. Just used our first RCI week, it worked out ok. Is II better that RCI, if we choose to only keep 1, which should we keep? What are the major differences/benefits? Thanks for the advise so happy I found this forum!

It depends on what you are after I guess. I have both. RCI has more inventory than II. Both have Vidanta. You kind of need to join them to see how it works out for your own travel plans.

There might be a few here that has bought the Kingdom of the Sun but most would rather exchange than buy.

Bill

 

[Islandbabe]

How much did you pay? Where did you sign the contract?

Signed at Vidanta Riviera Maya.

 

[Islandbabe]

It depends on what you are after I guess. I have both. RCI has more inventory than II. Both have Vidanta. You kind of need to join them to see how it works out for your own travel plans.

There might be a few here that has bought the Kingdom of the Sun but most would rather exchange than buy.

Bill

Thanks Bill, with a family of 5 we liked the idea of the new theme park they will be opening up and we like Mexico. What we liked was that we can sell our weeks back to them , so I wanted to know if anyone had any experience with that, so I know its legitimate.

 

[TUGBrian]

moved to the mexico forum, youll find plenty of discussions around vidanta here.

if you are still within your rescission period, we would urge you to follow the directions and cancel immediately.

 

[Islandbabe]

moved to the mexico forum, youll find plenty of discussions around vidanta here.

if you are still within your rescission period, we would urge you to follow the directions and cancel immediately.

Hi Brian why should I rescind is it not worth it, is it a scam? I will try and find the Mexico forum now. Thank you.

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

Thanks Bill, with a family of 5 we liked the idea of the new theme park they will be opening up and we like Mexico. What we liked was that we can sell our weeks back to them , so I wanted to know if anyone had any experience with that, so I know its legitimate.

Good morning @Islandbabe
Welcome to TUG

Read you contract - Very Carefully. You only have 5 days to rescind.

***************
Theme Park will open . 2018 was the original opening date. I think stage one will likely open this fall / 2023.
But don't hold your breath .....the clock runs on Mexican Construction time.

Is the "sell your weeks back" written in the contract & how does it work?

If this is written in the contract - yours is the first report on TUG of this..
( there are many prior reports of Vida Sales using terminology like this to reduce the pricing -

[ (ie) Feb 2010 to an exchanger "a Mayan Palace 2 bedroom normally goes for $ 29,000- but if you agree to let us use your registered week in 2010 and your Vacation Fare bonus week for the next 5 years, (when we have a May golf tournament); we can offer it to you for $19,000"]

Kingdom of the Sun is a Vidanta brand that is not yet opened, that is designated to be in the Theme Park.
Lets say you pay $ 40,000 today AND the contract says- IN WRITING - " if you don't use a particular year in the initial 10 years Vidanta will credit
you the $ 2000 MF / Usage Fee" for that year. This still means you are pre-paying $ 2000 not to use your week.

FYI - one of the hooks that got us to buy in 2006 was the MF on use only (" no go / no pay") addendum that was introduced in fall 2005.
We have used this feature in our contract - but realize we pre-payed $ 400 per week for 50 weeks including the VF bonus weeks. The $ 400 is sunk money and so not using a week cost me no new money. [ note- this is older contract terminology]

FYI - we also traded in a timeshare that we had used to exchange into Mayan Palace - to " lower the price" . ( smoke and mirrors)
It came back to me (because timeshare trade ins are different than car trade ins) I was eventually happy about this ; as we use it for exchanges via RCI .

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

...... why should I rescind is it not worth it, is it a scam? I will try and find the Mexico forum now. Thank you.

Vidanta is a well run Mexican resort system that offers wonderful vacations.
They honor what is WRITTEN in the contract.

Vida Sales is a hard sell - and statements could have been made that are not written in the contract.
Folks also can be confused by everything they are told over the course of the sales presentation.

Vidanta has structured their contracts to prevent most resales- and currently has 1 in 3 rules for exchangers ( per exchange system)
If you wish to go every year - buying from the developer is the easiest way AND you are paying upfront for this.

Vidanta resorts are generally at full capacity from Christmas to Easter.
The rest of the year there is currently fairly easy to exchange in every 3 years using RCI ( or II / Intervals International)

(ie) Not a scam - BUT you are paying full price for yearly access.)

 

[Islandbabe]

Good morning @Islandbabe
Welcome to TUG

Read you contract - Very Carefully. You only have 5 days to rescind.

***************
Theme Park will open . 2018 was the original opening date. I think stage one will likely open this fall / 2023.
But don't hold your breath .....the clock runs on Mexican Construction time.

Is the "sell your weeks back" written in the contract & how does it work?

If this is written in the contract - yours is the first report on TUG of this..
( there are many prior reports of Vida Sales using terminology like this to reduce the pricing -

[ (ie) Feb 2010 to an exchanger "a Mayan Palace 2 bedroom normally goes for $ 29,000- but if you agree to let us use your registered week in 2010 and your Vacation Fare bonus week for the next 5 years, (when we have a May golf tournament); we can offer it to you for $19,000"]

Kingdom of the Sun is a Vidanta brand that is not yet opened, that is designated to be in the Theme Park.
Lets say you pay $ 40,000 today AND the contract says- in writing " if you don't use a particular year in the initial 10 years Vidanta will credit
you the $ 2000 MF / Usage Fee" for that year. This still means you are pre-paying $ 2000 not to use your week.

FYI - one of the hooks that got us to buy in 2006 was the MF on use only (" no go / no pay") addendum that was introduced in fall 2005.
We have used this feature in our contract - but realize we pre-payed $ 400 per week for 50 weeks including the VF bonus weeks. The $ 400 is sunk money and so not using a week cost me no new money. [ note- this is older contract terminology]

FYI - we also traded in a timeshare that we had used to exchange into Mayan Palace - to " lower the price" . ( smoke and mirrors)
It came back to me (because timeshare trade ins are different than car trade ins) I was eventually happy about this ; as we use it for exchanges.

Good Morning T-Dot traveller, I am also from the GTA. Thank you for the detailed response, I obviously have lots of homework to do to catch up and get a better understanding of exactly what we just bought and the parameters and how to lessen the fall out. The 5 day period has passed, we are about on day 10 now. The "sell your weeks back " terminology was not stated in the contract, rather I was "convinced" to let them use our registered weeks for 4 yrs to reduce the price, similar to the situation you stated " (e) Feb 2010 to an exchanger "a Mayan Palace 2 bedroom normally goes for $ 29,000- but if you agree to let us use your registered week in 2010 and your Vacation Fare bonus week for the next 5 years, (when we have a May golf tournament); we can offer it to you for $19,000"]'.

And you are indeed correct, they told us Phase 1 of theme park would be open in November 2023.

"Lets say you pay $ 40,000 today AND the contract says- in writing " if you don't use a particular year in the initial 10 years Vidanta will credit
you the $ 2000 MF / Usage Fee" for that year. This still means you are pre-paying $ 2000 not to use your week." I am letting this sink in and its finally hitting home, we do plan to travel a bit in the next few years so maybe it would make sense to use those weeks at a "sister property". In our package we also got 2 Sunpack weeks, (2 privilege weeks, 2 vida weeks) through SFX....also membership to exchange companies like II, and Club Freedom, we already have RCI membership. Now taht we are well and truly in this pickle, how can we make the best of this situation? Is there any way to make this work for us and our love of travel as a family of 5?

P.S. So there have been no cases of Viva vacations actually "paying" people to use their weeks?

Thanks for all the guidance here.

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

Hi @Islandbabe ,
Vidanta runs wonderful resorts & you will enjoy your vacations .
They have many owners from Canada & even send me -"Happy Thanksgiving" emails in October for Cdn. Thanksgiving.

If you are from Canada - Minnesota - Wisconsin etc. - It is time to book Family Day Week/ (Presidents Week) for Feb 2024.
Winter is why their resorts are full in February. The sister property exchange grid should be your starting point.

 

[pittle]

Vidanta will never pay you to use unused weeks - that is why they started the no pay unless you go feature - that gives them weeks that they can use for "fresh Meat". We have been owners since 1999. It will say that somewhere in your contract.

As for staying in the Park, from what I have read over the past several years, you only actually get to stay in the Park a few times and there will be an extra charge to use the parks. You have to read every page of your contract - all 3 packets! Use a highlighter for the important things.

Your Vacation Fare weeks are not available at all times of the year. You pay the same Maintenance/usage fee for those as for your Registered week that you have more flexibility with when you go. With any exchange company, you pay your resort the fee, then pay the exchange company annual and exchange fees.

Bottom line - once you buy you may as well plan to use it.

 

[easyrider]

Thanks Bill, with a family of 5 we liked the idea of the new theme park they will be opening up and we like Mexico. What we liked was that we can sell our weeks back to them , so I wanted to know if anyone had any experience with that, so I know its legitimate.

Nothing the sales staff says maters. What maters is the contract. All of us would advise you cancel. You actually could cancel any visa card transaction for up to 14 days so even if you are past the 5 days rescission period you could pull the visa financing.

I know some people that would buy KOS from Vidanta because it is a very opulent resort with alot to offer their members. These people are wealthy. Being able to use the other Vidanta resorts at a higher level is also appealing. KOS would be a great trader in all of the exchange systems, imo. There are no resales for KOS. Owners do get the great units.

For a family of five, I think there are many resort system options that are better suited for a family. Many of these can be purchased resale for very little.

There probably will be many opportunities to exchange into KOS which is what we might do if it comes up someday.

Bill

 

[TUGBrian]

would honestly still move forward trying to rescind, maybe youll get lucky even though you are a few days outside the cancellation period.

as folks have said, nothing wrong with the resort itself, but you paid far far too much and were clearly misled by the salesperson.

 

[Islandbabe]

Just got this email from Vidanta, seems they are ready to open up...sigh, just wish I had found you guys earlier: If I cant rescind then I will just have to use it as best as possible.

BE AMONG THE FIRST TO
EXPERIENCE THE MAGIC

Prepare to be captivated by the most extraordinary vacation experience ever imagined! We are thrilled to announcethat Kingdom of the Sun is now accepting reservations for vacations starting October 20th.

 

[bnoble]

The good news is that the resorts are very nice. We enjoyed our visit this past February.

 

[LannyPC]

If I cant rescind then I will just have to use it as best as possible.

That's the next best thing you can do if you can't rescind. If you can't rescind and you are stuck with the purchase, then the next piece of advice is to watch out for scammers. You're probably going to get a lot of phone calls from scammers that they can sell or rent out your TS for big bucks. Or, you might get calls telling you they can cancel your TS.

 

[pittle]

Just got this email from Vidanta, seems they are ready to open up...sigh, just wish I had found you guys earlier: If I cant rescind then I will just have to use it as best as possible.

BE AMONG THE FIRST TO
EXPERIENCE THE MAGIC

Prepare to be captivated by the most extraordinary vacation experience ever imagined! We are thrilled to announcethat Kingdom of the Sun is now accepting reservations for vacations starting October 20th.

We will be at the GL in NV for Thanksgiving week, but will pass on the opportunity to visit the park. It will be interesting to see if the the resort has more people than usual.

 

[wahequad2]

We will be at the GL in NV for Thanksgiving week, but will pass on the opportunity to visit the park. It will be interesting to see if the the resort has more people than usual.

Hi I need some help. I am currently staying at Vidanta Riviera Maya. I attended their sales presentation. I was to offered 2 weeks 1 bedroom studio at vidanta resorts + 4 weeks via sfx exchange at $ 13,000 usd + 150,000 points holiday inn club vacation(hicv) valued at $38,000. I am supposed to go back tomorrow to sign the contract and start yhe paper wok to transfermy hicv ownershipto them. I came to vidanta grand mayan for 1 week stay using my hicv/rci exchange program. Let me know your suggestions.

 

[tschwa2]

Hi I need some help. I am currently staying at Vidanta Riviera Maya. I attended their sales presentation. I was to offered 2 weeks 1 bedroom studio at vidanta resorts + 4 weeks via sfx exchange at $ 13,000 usd + 150,000 points holiday inn club vacation(hicv) valued at $38,000. I am supposed to go back tomorrow to sign the contract and start yhe paper wok to transfermy hicv ownershipto them. I came to vidanta grand mayan for 1 week stay using my hicv/rci exchange program. Let me know your suggestions.

They don't want your holiday inn contract. It is going to cost them and you more to try to get rid of that than if you had come in with nothing. With nothing you could have likely gotten then down to $11,000 or 12,000 and somewhere in the contract is something about paying a couple of hundred to some 3rd party for the transfers. My guess there is something in a separate contract where you will be paying $300-$900 to pay a disposal company to try to get rid of it and it isn't even guaranteed that they will get rid of it. You may find out in 6+ months that you still own the hicv contract responsible for the ongoing fees until you actually dispose of it by giving it away or paying hicv to got through horizons.

My suggestions if you are going to go through with it would be to read the contract 1-3 times. Some people go through with a highlighter. Make sure it says what you think it says and don't rely on what you were told if it isn't a part of the contract.

 

[jasontugaccount]

Hi I need some help. I am currently staying at Vidanta Riviera Maya. I attended their sales presentation. I was to offered 2 weeks 1 bedroom studio at vidanta resorts + 4 weeks via sfx exchange at $ 13,000 usd + 150,000 points holiday inn club vacation(hicv) valued at $38,000. I am supposed to go back tomorrow to sign the contract and start yhe paper wok to transfermy hicv ownershipto them. I came to vidanta grand mayan for 1 week stay using my hicv/rci exchange program. Let me know your suggestions.

https://consulmex.sre.gob.mx/montreal/images/pdf/documentacion/consumer.pdf

RESCEND

 

[pittle]

Sorry, I have not been able to answer. We have had a family crisis and I have not looked at the internet much in the past 10 days.

I would agree with the others that you should rescind. This is not a good deal and the others are correct - you will still own your Holiday Inn Vacation Club.

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

Hi I need some help. I am currently staying at Vidanta Riviera Maya. I attended their sales presentation. I was to offered 2 weeks 1 bedroom studio at vidanta resorts + 4 weeks via sfx exchange at $ 13,000 usd + 150,000 points holiday inn club vacation(hicv) valued at $38,000. I am supposed to go back tomorrow to sign the contract and start yhe paper wok to transfermy hicv ownershipto them. I came to vidanta grand mayan for 1 week stay using my hicv/rci exchange program. Let me know your suggestions.

RESCIND now while you still can. You ONLY have five days.

Send it via REGISTERED mail from any Post Office in Mexico or the USA

Get it Postmarked within five days and save your Post Office Receipt.

Any buyer who signed the contract will also need to sign the rescission paperwork.

DON'T let them delay you, or talk you out of it, or reduce their price. Get out while you legally can.





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