Want to buy TS in Branson

[jmw]

I have been thinking of buying a TS in Branson. This will be my first TS. I would like to know what your opinion is or problems with the resort? 1. Stormy point village - now run by Summerwind and Feistva. 2. Cabin at Green Mtn - seems to be alot of TS for sale. Problems there? 3. French Qtrs. 4. Suites at Fall Creek. I am leaning towards Stormy Point or Cabin at Green Mtn, like the cabin/outdoor feel. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

Jerry

 

[falmouth3]

First, may I suggest that you join TUG for a nominal fee and then you'll be able to see the reviews that other TUGGERS have posted. I use it all the time to decide on resorts to visit (or buy).

I'm not an expert on Branson but we do have people onboard who are and I'm sure they'll give you some good feedback.

My comment is that if you plan on vacationing in Branson, buying a timeshare there is a good idea. However, if you're looking to exchange it for another location, you might not have great trading power.

Good luck. Stick around on TUG and read. There's a ton of great information here.

Sue

 

[JLB]

Why? ? ? ? ?

 

[KevJan]

I also have to ask why, there are so many great deals for rentals.

 

[lll1929]

Welks is building a new TS property called Timber Ridge. THey are very nice.

You may want to take a look at them. They will have a sales office onsite in June (I think).

 

[falmouth3]

Oh yeah - and I forgot to mention to buy resale - do not buy from the developer. Take a look at eBay to see what resorts in Branson are really selling for. It's the same timeshare with the same rooms, views, etc. Just MUCH less cost out of your pocket.

 

[Liz Wolf-Spada]

Being on the California side of the country and owning Welk points which would let us exchange to Branson, I'm curious to learn more. What do people like about Branson? What is the weather like in summer or spring break when we would go? Would I like it? It's so far out of my experiences, because I never get to other parts of the country except for a few days last year in Memphis (very nice, I thought) and a few days in DC, which DH and I loved.
Thanks,
Liz

 

[Bill927]

If you are going to look at Timeshares in the Branson area, look at Big Cedar Wilderness Club. It is about 15 miles south of Branson. It is a self contained resort with a marina, stables, restaurants, lazy river, 3 pools, fishing guides, spa, gift shop, golf coures (currently closed, but it is expected to reopen this summer) etc. It is affiliated with BassPro Shops and carries a similar decorating theme. In the summer, it is a reportedly a hard trade to get into a unit bigger than a studio. Cabins are supposedly very tough.

References:

On the TUG Top 30 Resorts in the World List.

Made front page of the travel section of USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2004-06-24-branson_x.htm

Was on the travel channel a couple of years ago.

Celebrities known to have to have stayed at the resort (Johnny Cash, George and Barbara Bush, etc.)

 

[JLB]

Of course, I have a dog in the fight, but with over 100 exchanges under our belts, I think there is probably as much or more to do in Branson than anywhere we've been. Depends (a common Branson comedian joke word) on what trips your trigger, or Triggers your trip (Trigger being here).

Branson is going to be one of the largest retirement/golf areas in the country, the existing Branson attractions being a primary selling point.

http://www.bransonshows.com/showByDateStart.cfm

I couldn't do justice to trying to describe all the major projects underway.

Then there's the lakes and Mother Nature, who has been kind to the area (most of the time).

 

[dougp26364]

I have been thinking of buying a TS in Branson. This will be my first TS. I would like to know what your opinion is or problems with the resort? 1. Stormy point village - now run by Summerwind and Feistva. 2. Cabin at Green Mtn - seems to be alot of TS for sale. Problems there? 3. French Qtrs. 4. Suites at Fall Creek. I am leaning towards Stormy Point or Cabin at Green Mtn, like the cabin/outdoor feel. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

Jerry

1. Stormy Point Village has really interesting little individual houses for their timeshare units. We have not excahgne into one of these yet but plan to do so sometime next year. Since they are individual houses the resort is rather spread out but, it has more of a neighborhood appearance/feel to it. They also have (at least Festiva has) some units that allow pets. I'm not certain I like the fact this resort has been split between two developers. I'm not certain how that will work out for owners in the long run.

2. Cabins at Green Mountain is another resort we have not exchanged into nor do we plan on exchanging into it. The units themselves look nice enough but I personally just don't like the feel of the resort. Seemed more like a RV park to me with units packed closely together. Plus it backs right up to Celebration City and I just can't imagine the resort would have that much of a outdoor woodsy feel to it with the sounds of a large amuesement park right behind it. One other issue would be trade power. Cabins at Green Mountain is one of the very few Branson resorts not rated as five star or premier.

3. French Quarter is a very nice resort that is right across the street from Cabins at Green Mountain. All buildings are 4 stories tall and generally surround the swimming pool area. Only one building on site is in the RCI points program. The rest are in the RCI weeks program. I'm not overly impressed with Southwind Management. MF's have been low but there was an ominous message with last years MF's that indicates they will be going up drastically next year. The amenities are nice but, the plans are to expand the resort even further and it doesn't appear the amenities will expand with the number of buildings. That means things will get crowded. They also had one of their office buildings burn down 2 years ago and it has not been replaced. To me this is not a good sign that things are properly insured.

4. Suite's at Fall Creek is now owned by DRI. We recently spent a few nights here in one of their deluxe units. Reasonably nice resort, very nice unit but not a well laid out resort IMO. It is very spread out with a few buildings down by lake Tanycomo and several more buildings a couple of blocks up from the lake. It is interspersed with full ownership condo's, an RV park and a mobil home park. Again amenities do not appear to be big enough for the number of units on site. They did have a very nice fishing dock on lake Tanycomo but, it was essentially destroyed in the flooding this spring. I do not know if the resort will rebuild it. DRI is offering resale owners the opportunity to join their points program called THE Club but, it will cost you an additional $2,995 to join. THE Club is points based and gives you more flexibility with your personal usage and when exchanging through I.I.

If these 4 we do own at French Quarter. We own there to use there and not exchange. We purchased a week there because we didn't have any ownership with RCI we wanted to use to exchange into Branson so, it was own there or not stay there. We like the location (essentially the same as Cabins at Green Mountain) because it's on a traffic relief route, has an I-hop, Cracker Barrel and Olive Garden Restuarants within walking distance and because my wife like the place. Otherwise I'm not overly partial to it over many of the other fine Branson resorts. If I were buying on E-bay or resale I'd probably be looking more at Stormy Pointe Village right now. Only because I think I'd like the individual houses rather vs the apartment style condo's everyone else has. But that's just my peronal opinion.

 

[dougp26364]

Being on the California side of the country and owning Welk points which would let us exchange to Branson, I'm curious to learn more. What do people like about Branson? What is the weather like in summer or spring break when we would go? Would I like it? It's so far out of my experiences, because I never get to other parts of the country except for a few days last year in Memphis (very nice, I thought) and a few days in DC, which DH and I loved.
Thanks,
Liz

Branson has a lot of country and western shows, a ton of mini-golf, lots of T-shirt shops, three very nice lakes for outdoor activities, a lot of home cookin style restaurants (most not very impressive IMO), lot's of bumber boat and go-cart rides and two theme parks that are very much THEME parks.

Silver Dollar City is more of a theme park than you'll likey run into anywhere else in the world. It does have some great amuesment rides but it's mostly about the theme of the turn of the century. We enjoy just being out there, relaxing, watching the shows and having an enjoyable day walking around the park.

Early summer weather is pleasant. Late summer can be hot and humid. Spring break can be cold and rainy or warm and sunny. This year we were there in early April and it was definately cold and rainy. Mid to late April appeared to be better. We like going in May, early June, fall months and around Christmas time. Branson does Christmas time very well this millions of lights and great attractions.

Branson will be very different from what you describe as your experiences and you'll either love it or hate it. I often refer to it as Hillbilly Heaven for it's backwoods feel and all those tourist trap shops (t-shirts, fudge shops, outlet malls et....)

This photo album might give you some idea of what Branson is like. It only covers Silver Dollar City, Celebration City and the Branson Landing Shopping area but, it gives you a little idea of the area. Just click on the photo and it should take you to the album.

 

[tjk2134]

We own both Stormy Point and Cabins at Green Mountain. the cabins may be my favorite, I like the woodsy feel and private, close to the strip. the pools aren't the best. The Staff is always great. Stormy point is nice being new, the houses are very pretty and nice inside, the pool area is much better. it feels like you moved into a neighborhood on vacation.
For some reason the cabins is an excellent trader. I can pull the same stuff with the cabins as my Marriott Horizons in Branson. the confusing part is Stormy point will not pull anything close to the cabins.
I like french quarter but like others the are stacked like apartments. yes they are beautiful inside and a better pool area but I like the feeling of my own house.

 

[dougp26364]

We own both Stormy Point and Cabins at Green Mountain. the cabins may be my favorite, I like the woodsy feel and private, close to the strip. the pools aren't the best. The Staff is always great. Stormy point is nice being new, the houses are very pretty and nice inside, the pool area is much better. it feels like you moved into a neighborhood on vacation.
For some reason the cabins is an excellent trader. I can pull the same stuff with the cabins as my Marriott Horizons in Branson. the confusing part is Stormy point will not pull anything close to the cabins.
I like french quarter but like others the are stacked like apartments. yes they are beautiful inside and a better pool area but I like the feeling of my own house.

Interesting in that your Stormy Point unit doesn't seem to pull as well as your Cabins unit. I suppose because it's not "in town" that there's not as much demand.

It appears that Festiva controls inventory because I don't usually see Stormy Point deposits more than 6 to 9 months in advance.

 

[JLB]

Festiva is relatively new to Branson, already in trouble with the AG, and already on the outs at Stormy Point, so it appears. From TUG owners I know they did not treat Cabins existing owners very nicely when they took it over, and from what others are saying about them, I would stay away from them.

Sure BCWC is nice. It's better than nice; it is in the upper echelon of TS resorts anywhere. But is worth the price? These newer resorts don't have all that many resales.

There are very few Branson resorts that aren't really, really nice.
- - - - - -
I just found this post on a Branson forum:

I work for Stormy Point..so here is the answer...
The gentleman that I work for had the vision of Stormy Point. He was friends with the bigwigs at Festiva and they decided to back his vision to build a resort unlike no other. (He had the vision, Festiva had the financial backing.) Thus, Stormy Point was created.
After several years of being affiliated with Festiva, the gentleman that I work for decided to break away from Festiva because they were not giving our customers the quality of care that he thought that they deserve. He did not break away from Festiva because of the Attorney General, nothing to do with The Cabins at Green Mountain, Peppertree or any other Festiva property. It had to do with the customer service. It might take their owners 3 or 4 days just to book a reservation and that was not acceptable with the guy that I work for. They flat do not take care of their customers. Their customer service toll free line was out of service for 2 months. Not two days, 2 months. I work the Stormy Point Switchboard in Branson and I had to field those thousand of customers that could not get through to that line and trust me it was not fun!!
Thus, Festiva owns the first half of Stormy Point (The part that they financially backed) and my company, Summerwinds Resorts owns the second half of Stormy plus the clubhouse, pool, restaurant and boatdock. I hope that your question was answered.