Willow Ridge - Gold - Trader

[jbman]

I've been reading over the threads about purchasing weeks to trade through II, I see that the general consensus seems to be Grand Chateau, Grande Vista, and then Willow Ridge. I was a little unsure about whether Willow Ridge Gold Season would still be a good trader for our needs, or whether I would really need Platinum?

We would likely be vacationing in late April or early May and then in late October or early November, Florida is the easiest for us to fly to and likely would prioritize trades there, being able to trade into DVC would certainly be something we would take advantage of if possible, either SSR or OKW would be wonderful, other than Florida would likely look to either California or Arizona. Family of four with kids 9 and 7, lots of interesting MVC resorts, but for the foreseeable future we would likely avoid anything with a long flight or that we couldn't fly direct to from Toronto, that could change in the future.

 

[Pamplemousse]

I've been reading over the threads about purchasing weeks to trade through II, I see that the general consensus seems to be Grand Chateau, Grande Vista, and then Willow Ridge. I was a little unsure about whether Willow Ridge Gold Season would still be a good trader for our needs, or whether I would really need Platinum?

We would likely be vacationing in late April or early May and then in late October or early November, Florida is the easiest for us to fly to and likely would prioritize trades there, being able to trade into DVC would certainly be something we would take advantage of if possible, either SSR or OKW would be wonderful, other than Florida would likely look to either California or Arizona. Family of four with kids 9 and 7, lots of interesting MVC resorts, but for the foreseeable future we would likely avoid anything with a long flight or that we couldn't fly direct to from Toronto, that could change in the future.

You can’t exchange into Disney with an Abound Orlando week. If you bought GV it would need to enrolled in the Florida Club so you could use that to secures a non Orlando week to deposit and exchange.

I also read so much about “good traders” but what does that mean?
I would think low maintenance fees, in brand so you get exchange priority, lock off to get 2 weeks for easy trade.
But then all trades aren’t equal- exchanging into Maui during peak season is not the same as into Florida in October- and then where in Florida matters too.

Once you look at maintenance fees I would go to the II resort directory have a look at TDI of the resort and season you are considering purchasing, then do same for where you think you want to travel.
And I would certainly bet that as your kids grow your plans with change so keep that in mind.

I own a gold season Harbour Lake and have made many exchanges over 15 years plus. I very often exchange up in TDI and resort rating. But I always planned in advance- placed requests a year in advance and often travelled off peak. I once exchanged my 2Br into a 1 when I knew I needed a boost because of the resort and timing, I often exchanged my studio into a 2 br (mostly Orlando and once Palm desert).

The Trader week you own isn’t magic- it’s knowing how to use it that will give you the best results.

 

[bnoble]

The Platinum weeks are only marginally more expensive to buy than Gold. They will give you the opportunity for better trading power, and be easier to dispose of later. From where I sit, the additional cost is cheap insurance against problems down the road.

 

[dougp26364]

Agree with getting a platinum week as a trader and for easier resale when the time comes

As to location. All are considered “overdeveloped” with many good resorts. However there are differences.

1. Branson trades we’ll, but it’s also very much a regional resort and doesn’t have that national or global attraction as a vacation destination.

2. Orlando is probably the most requested exchange destination, but it’s full of high quality resorts and then there’s that DVC regional block.

2. Vegas is right on the heals of Orlando for exchange requests. Grand Chateau stands out because it’s one of the few with II on/close to the strip and it’s the highest quality Interval resort IMHO.

We own in Branson (not Marriott) and it trades surprisingly well. We also own Grand Chateau and it trades very well if you select a decent week. If it were me, I think I’d be looking for a Grand Chateau week followed by Willow Ridge Lodge in Branson. Orlando just has to many really good resorts and far to many beds for me to ever consider that area

 

[Pamplemousse]

Delete

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

I've been reading over the threads about purchasing weeks to trade through II, I see that the general consensus seems to be Grand Chateau, Grande Vista, and then Willow Ridge. I was a little unsure about whether Willow Ridge Gold Season would still be a good trader for our needs, or whether I would really need Platinum?

We would likely be vacationing in late April or early May and then in late October or early November, Florida is the easiest for us to fly to and likely would prioritize trades there, being able to trade into DVC would certainly be something we would take advantage of if possible, either SSR or OKW would be wonderful, other than Florida would likely look to either California or Arizona. Family of four with kids 9 and 7, lots of interesting MVC resorts, but for the foreseeable future we would likely avoid anything with a long flight or that we couldn't fly direct to from Toronto, that could change in the future.

Don't waste your time with a Gold week (the Toyota). For a few thousand dollars more you can have Platinum (the Lexus) and the trading results will be far more impressive.

There is a reason a Gold week is a Gold week, and a Platinum week is a Platinum week.




.

 

[jwalk03]

I would definitely only buy a Platinum week for trading. No reason to handicap yourself with a gold week to save no more than a few dollars up front.

 

[Dean]

I own 3 different trading resorts of the 5 normally recommended. I would never buy a Gold week unless I planned t use it a large portion of the time AND it was something difficult to get otherwise, like a 3BR. I own 2 WR Platinum weeks and it should do what you are wanting for the times you are looking at. My other 2 exchanging resorts are Grande Vista & Harbour Lake, both in Orlando. The only Gold week I'd consider mainly for exchanging would be a CA desert week if one would use it part of the time being aware those do have higher fees. However, if you want something that might be a more difficult exchange, like summer HHI, I'd concentrate on LV. You should be able to buy a Platinum WR week for under $1K all in including fees, possibly less. That might run the risk of losing the week to ROFR but I'd take the chance rather than pay more.

 

[jmhpsu93]

We have two Orlando lockoff resorts, Gold Grande Vista and Platinum Harbour Lake. The HL trades marginally better all other things equal, but for the vast majority of what I'm looking for it won't matter. If I had to do it all over again I might have paid the extra premium to get Platinum for GV just to make sure it's easier to exit if I want to.

 

[jbman]

Thanks for all your replies, my wife was a little skeptical about this and wanting to keep the costs as low as possible, but after seeing the response here she is on board with spending a bit more on a platinum week, I might be able to convince her to spend a bit more than that and get a Grand Chateau.

Our timing isn't going to change, our winters and summers are generally already booked up, but may want to try out different locations, say Ko Olina or Frenchmans Cove as the kids get older, would Grand Chateau have an advantage over Willow Ridge for those types of trades?

 

[rickandcindy23]

As a person who owns a Gold Willow Ridge EOY, the trading power with ongoing searches is decent, but the same MF as my platinum weeks. I agree with everyone here that buying platinum is still a better option, but if this is a stepping stone into seeing what exchanging is all about, and you have a great offer on a week, right around $800 with reasonable closing costs on top of that, then go for it.

I love my Gold week. I wouldn't give it away. Last-minute and Orlando exchanges are pretty great with that week.

It really depends what you are wanting to get with the week. If you want Marriott's Cypress Harbour, my favorite resort outside of the Disney bubble, then buy the week and exchange in about any week you want, except maybe Christmas. I reserve the last week of the Gold season to get the best trading power.

 

[jwalk03]

As a person who owns a Gold Willow Ridge EOY, the trading power with ongoing searches is decent, but the same MF as my platinum weeks. I agree with everyone here that buying platinum is still a better option, but if this is a stepping stone into seeing what exchanging is all about, and you have a great offer on a week, right around $800 with reasonable closing costs on top of that, then go for it.

I love my Gold week. I wouldn't give it away. Last-minute and Orlando exchanges are pretty great with that week.

It really depends what you are wanting to get with the week. If you want Marriott's Cypress Harbour, my favorite resort outside of the Disney bubble, then buy the week and exchange in about any week you want, except maybe Christmas. I reserve the last week of the Gold season to get the best trading power.

I got a Platinum Willow Ridge a few months ago for $1200 all-in and that include free 2023 usage! So it was essentially free.

 

[Dean]

We have two Orlando lockoff resorts, Gold Grande Vista and Platinum Harbour Lake. The HL trades marginally better all other things equal, but for the vast majority of what I'm looking for it won't matter. If I had to do it all over again I might have paid the extra premium to get Platinum for GV just to make sure it's easier to exit if I want to.

My investigation and my experience would strongly suggest that there is quite a bit of difference in trade power between Platinum WR, HL and GV; esp for Elite II properties. I think WR will easily do what the OP has stated they are looking for but not so much for higher demand options. My experience AND investigation suggests that the Elite vs Premier issue is larger than most people consider. In this case GV should still be OK for DVC assuming it's a week in the FL club as most are.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I got a Platinum Willow Ridge a few months ago for $1200 all-in and that include free 2023 usage! So it was essentially free.

That's incredible. I have never gotten a deal like that, nor would I sell mine for that crazy low price. I am selling a few weeks right now after buying Westin Ka'anpali from Syed. I still own the Shadow Ridge for exchange purposes, but the fees went up drastically this year, and I am not a happy owner of Shadow Ridge right now.

I bought my first Platinum Willow Ridge for $4,500 + closing costs right after Marriott started the Destination Club, or whatever it was called, now it's Abound. I felt that was a great deal on that week. But that was a very long time ago, and the resale value was down by the time I bought because when the DC was announced, no resales were allowed to join without a major purchase. I still keep hoping they will offer a deal sometime.

Still love my Gold week. I see very little difference in the trading power just doing a trade test over the last 30 minutes. Kind of fun to do those trade tests.

 

[Dean]

That's incredible. I have never gotten a deal like that, nor would I sell mine for that crazy low price. I am selling a few weeks right now after buying Westin Ka'anpali from Syed. I still own the Shadow Ridge for exchange purposes, but the fees went up drastically this year, and I am not a happy owner of Shadow Ridge right now.

I bought my first Platinum Willow Ridge for $4,500 + closing costs right after Marriott started the Destination Club, or whatever it was called, now it's Abound. I felt that was a great deal on that week. But that was a very long time ago, and the resale value was down by the time I bought because when the DC was announced, no resales were allowed to join without a major purchase. I still keep hoping they will offer a deal sometime.

Still love my Gold week. I see very little difference in the trading power just doing a trade test over the last 30 minutes. Kind of fun to do those trade tests.

I have 4 trading weeks (GV EOY, HL, 2 x WR) all Platinum and I don't think I paid $4500 total including closing. My WR weeks were under under $2K total for the two all in though one was quite a bit cheaper than the other. The problem with such trade tests is one is still comparing to what is sitting online and that's not usually what I'm after for my exchanges. It's the stuff that isn't sitting online I'm usually most interested in.

 

[jbman]

Well, things happened quickly, just bid on Ebay and won an auction for 2BR at Grand Chateau it's biennial Even years, $2,475 with closing costs included, hopefully didn't overpay, but seemed like a decent deal and it being EOY seemed like a good compromise to get started.

Seller is seans0302, anyone have any experience with him?

 

[jwalk03]

I have 4 trading weeks (GV EOY, HL, 2 x WR) all Platinum and I don't think I paid $4500 total including closing. My WR weeks were under under $2K total for the two all in though one was quite a bit cheaper than the other. The problem with such trade tests is one is still comparing to what is sitting online and that's not usually what I'm after for my exchanges. It's the stuff that isn't sitting online I'm usually most interested in.

My other trader besides the WR is a Harbor Lake Platinum I got for $300 all-in. I have been very pleased with it! I've used it to trade into Aruba Surf Club, Newport Coast, Summit Watch, OceanWatch, Ocean Pointe & Lakeshore Reserve over the last few years.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Well, things happened quickly, just bid on Ebay and won an auction for 2BR at Grand Chateau it's biennial Even years, $2,475 with closing costs included, hopefully didn't overpay, but seemed like a decent deal and it being EOY seemed like a good compromise to get started.

Seller is seans0302, anyone have any experience with him?

Yes, he is a good one. He can be pretty sarcastic, if you ask him questions he feels he already answered. I bought a few from him over the years.

I don't think you overpaid with closing costs included in that price.

 

[pchung6]

For Willow Ridge, you want to get Platinum. It trades well and MF is the lowest. However, I probably go for GV 3br followed by GV 2br, if I can choose again.

 

[claraj]

Well, things happened quickly, just bid on Ebay and won an auction for 2BR at Grand Chateau it's biennial Even years, $2,475 with closing costs included, hopefully didn't overpay, but seemed like a decent deal and it being EOY seemed like a good compromise to get started.

Seller is seans0302, anyone have any experience with him?

Ahhh I was the second highest bidder on that one! Congrats!!

 

[SteelerGal]

Congrats on your purchase. I went w/ HL as a trader. I only paid closing cost. I sold my Desert weeks this year because of the MF cost.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Congrats on your purchase. I went w/ HL as a trader. I only paid closing cost. I sold my Desert weeks this year because of the MF cost.

Wise woman. The MF's on Shadow Ridge are very high. I am hoping they level out, but I still get great exchanges, so I am sticking with them for now.

 

[SteelerGal]

Wise woman. The MF's on Shadow Ridge are very high. I am hoping they level out, but I still get great exchanges, so I am sticking with them for now.

Actually will be there tomorrow. I realized that we only went in the summer so decided to utilize my Vistana traders. Picked up TimberLodge in Tahoe instead.

 

[jbman]

I'm a little confused about the eBay auction, I had a successful bid on Friday and then eventually I received a message from the seller, seans0302, asking for my contact information so that he can send me the contract, but I can't reply with my contact information, I'll get this error - "We can’t send your message because it may include contact info. We review all messages and repeat attempts could lead to an account restriction." I replied to the seller with that error asking what to do, but no response so far, has anyone come across this situation before?

 

[claraj]

That's correct. You aren't supposed to send contact information but you can try to get around it by spelling out symbols or adding space so that eBay doesn't pick it up. For instance abc@xyz.com could be 'abc at XYZ dot com". And give it a try.