My wife and I (and our two kids - ages 6 & 3) were vactioning in Marco Island and toured the new Crystal Shores facility. We almost bought into the silver season there (only time period we could afford) when our saleswoman talked to us about the new Orlando resort - Lakeshore Reserve.
Here's what we bought:
Platinum week, lock off unit, 2 bed / 2 bath with a free weeks vacation through II for $24,600. I've spent the better part of my day researching this website and numerous forums and I'm trying to figure out if this was a mistake or not - It's important to note that we are still within the 10 day recission period.
We decided on the Orlando resort instead of Marco Island due to the fact that we were buying into a Platinum season versus Silver AND due to the fact that we were buying a lock off unit which supposedly gets us another weeks vacation if we so choose...by closing off part of the unit...etc. We were also told that we could roll one week into the Marriott Rewards program - get 100K points and within 2 years get a trip anywhere in the world for two with airfare. Sounded like this was all too good to be true. We liked the idea of using one week and rolling the other week into MRP and start accumulating points towards free hotel stays, airline tickets, etc.
I'm not shocked by the amount of our investment, we can certainly afford it but I don't want to get taken advantage of either. Did we do the right thing?
Are we better off buying through the resale market?
Was it a mistake to buy into Orlando versus a more "desireable" location? We thought it was great to buy into a Platinum time but do we have less "buying power or trade power" since we bought into Orlando? I think it's important to note that we do not intend to actually stay in Orlando...ever We already take the kids to Disney every other year and so I don't ever see us actually using the Lakeshore Reserve resort.
Our intention was to use our ownership interest to trade into other Marriott resorts (during the summertime when our kids aren't in school) and be able to see different parts of the country and world for that matter.
Your help is GREATLY appreciated...if only I found this site before we signed the paperwork!
Thanks!!
Here's what we bought:
Platinum week, lock off unit, 2 bed / 2 bath with a free weeks vacation through II for $24,600. I've spent the better part of my day researching this website and numerous forums and I'm trying to figure out if this was a mistake or not - It's important to note that we are still within the 10 day recission period.
We decided on the Orlando resort instead of Marco Island due to the fact that we were buying into a Platinum season versus Silver AND due to the fact that we were buying a lock off unit which supposedly gets us another weeks vacation if we so choose...by closing off part of the unit...etc. We were also told that we could roll one week into the Marriott Rewards program - get 100K points and within 2 years get a trip anywhere in the world for two with airfare. Sounded like this was all too good to be true. We liked the idea of using one week and rolling the other week into MRP and start accumulating points towards free hotel stays, airline tickets, etc.
I'm not shocked by the amount of our investment, we can certainly afford it but I don't want to get taken advantage of either. Did we do the right thing?
Are we better off buying through the resale market?
Was it a mistake to buy into Orlando versus a more "desireable" location? We thought it was great to buy into a Platinum time but do we have less "buying power or trade power" since we bought into Orlando? I think it's important to note that we do not intend to actually stay in Orlando...ever We already take the kids to Disney every other year and so I don't ever see us actually using the Lakeshore Reserve resort.
Our intention was to use our ownership interest to trade into other Marriott resorts (during the summertime when our kids aren't in school) and be able to see different parts of the country and world for that matter.
Your help is GREATLY appreciated...if only I found this site before we signed the paperwork!
Thanks!!