Disney lodging tip!

[TexasHusker]

So here I am with the fam. I had around 150K Marriott points and am staying at a Marriott village (time share place) for free for a week. It’s a huge two bedroom apartment in a resort type setting.

The place is half empty because it’s “owned” 😜 by a bunch of time share owners who apparently weren’t able to make it during their week, so even if you don’t have points you can stay here for super cheap.

I spoke with the front desk person and she said to “always stay at a time share...they are never that busy”.

[disneysteve]

We have rented timeshares in the Disney area many times. Through one site, we've paid as little as $37/night for a 2-bedroom unit.

We stayed at one of the Orlando Marriott properties one time. A sales rep at my office rented me his unit for the week. He only charged me his annual maintenance fee of $500 so for that price, we had a beautiful 2-bedroom, 2-bath unit with a full kitchen, large living room, whirlpool tub, and all of the amenities of the resort itself.

Most of the time, we actually rent a privately owned condo, townhouse, or pool home. We can rent a 3-bedroom, 3-bath townhouse for $70/night. We can rent a 3-bedroom, 3-bath single home with a private, screened-in pool for about $100/night.

I don't know why anyone stays in a hotel.

[james.hendrickson]

So here I am with the fam. I had around 150K Marriott points and am staying at a Marriott village (time share place) for free for a week. It’s a huge two bedroom apartment in a resort type setting.

The place is half empty because it’s “owned” 😜 by a bunch of time share owners who apparently weren’t able to make it during their week, so even if you don’t have points you can stay here for super cheap.

I spoke with the front desk person and she said to “always stay at a time share...they are never that busy”.

Texas, just to confirm, are you advocating owning timeshares or renting timeshares?

The two are very different value propositions.

[disneysteve]

I’m quite sure he is talking about renting.

[rennigade]

I don't know why anyone stays in a hotel.

It depends. If you're only staying one night then airbnb or vrbo usually doesnt make sense. After the cleaning fee and other random charges that sometimes get thrown on...you could be paying more than a hotel. Not to mention with a hotel...you usually know what you're getting into.

Usually anything over 3 nights at the same place we will look for a condo. Always have to have a washer/dryer and full kitchen. A quick stop at costco or sams and we're good on food for the week. Much cheaper than eating out every meal.

The only thing I dont like about condo rentals is how people market their condo or townhouse. Ive rented a place before that said AC. Yep...air conditioning in one room...window unit. Washer/dryer...yep...down the hall, coin operated. Ive gotten better over the years really going over the details...and asking questions. Central AC in every room is now a must...washer/dryer in unit I always ask, etc etc.

Oh also...if you're browsing for places to stay and the main picture is of a random scenery and not the actual unit...avoid it like the plague. Thats a huge red flag to me.

[Like2Plan]

Texas, just to confirm, are you advocating owning timeshares or renting timeshares?

The two are very different value propositions.

I think the point is someone else owns the timeshare and Texas by using his Marriott reward points gets all the benefits without the commitment.

[disneysteve]

I think the point is someone else owns the timeshare and Texas by using his Marriott reward points gets all the benefits without the commitment.

Also most timeshare resorts aren’t fully sold so there are always vacant units. You can easily rent those for a very reasonable price. Even if they are sold out, plenty of owners don’t use their time and rent their week.

[disneysteve]

It depends. If you're only staying one night then airbnb or vrbo usually doesnt make sense.

That's true. Vacation rentals are really geared toward week-long or longer stays. Many owners won't even do shorter rentals because it leaves them with vacant days since most rentals run either Saturday to Saturday or Sunday to Sunday.

And it is certainly true that you need to read the fine print and ask a lot of questions before booking to be sure of what you are getting. Of course, to some extent the same could be said for hotels. Numerous times we've shown up at a hotel and found that their website and online description was very embellished compared to reality. As with everything, buyer beware.

That said, we have rented at least a couple of dozen properties over the years and I can't say we've really ever had a bad experience. Some were not as nice as we had expected but all were adequate and some were really quite a bit better than expected (we had a beautiful chalet in Stowe, VT one time that I hated to leave).

I think many people don't even have vacation rentals or timeshares on their radar when deciding where to stay on vacation.

[~bs]

A little off topic, but I now stay at airbnbs when i travel abroad. I normally dont like to make use of hotel services anyways, such as maid service, etc. For me, airbnb costs like 20-25% of what a hotel costs. Nice thing about them is they usually have a washer/dryer in the unit, so I can pack extra light and do laundry at my own convenience at night. Saves tons of space in the suitcase that way.

[disneysteve]

A little off topic, but I now stay at airbnbs when i travel abroad. I normally dont like to make use of hotel services anyways, such as maid service, etc. For me, airbnb costs like 20-25% of what a hotel costs. Nice thing about them is they usually have a washer/dryer in the unit, so I can pack extra light and do laundry at my own convenience at night. Saves tons of space in the suitcase that way.

MONEY magazine just had an article saying that airbnb isn't always the best choice because sometimes regular hotel rooms are cheaper, but that is comparing apples to oranges. There's a huge difference between renting an apartment and staying in a hotel room. It's not just about cost.

[TexasHusker]

I can’t see how a timeshare could be a good value, but I suppose it fits the bill for some. To me it’s really a marketing gimmick, not that much different than those companies that sell you naming rights to a star for a fee.

And it’s not really sharing time; it’s sharing an apartment. The whole “ownership” thing is a ruse. You’re paying $15K plus $500-800 a year for a week in a nice apartment. You have a piece of paper that says you “own” the property for that week, but that’s just shoe polish. And if you don’t want it or need it for like 3 straight years, too bad: you pay anyway. Many families find they cannot afford a yearly trip to Mickey World, even though they’ve paid in advance for their week at the timeshare.

They say you can trade out your week at some other resort destination. I’m curious how well that works.

[disneysteve]

I can’t see how a timeshare could be a good value, but I suppose it fits the bill for some.

The only time a timeshare may possibly be a good idea financially speaking is the Disney Vacation Club. Because of the sky high demand, the value of DVC points has actually appreciated over time. I know folks who bought years ago, used it for many years, and then sold at a profit.

With most timeshares, you don't just lose money but you typically can't even sell it if you want to. You're stuck paying the annual fee indefinitely until you can find a way to unload it. Sure, you can try to rent out your week, but there are thousands of others trying to do the same thing so it isn't so easy. Look on ebay. You can find timeshare contracts that have been sold for $1.00. People are happy to give them away just to get rid of them. Of course, if you ever do want to buy one, that's the way to do it.

[Like2Plan]

I can’t see how a timeshare could be a good value, but I suppose it fits the bill for some. To me it’s really a marketing gimmick, not that much different than those companies that sell you naming rights to a star for a fee.

And it’s not really sharing time; it’s sharing an apartment. The whole “ownership” thing is a ruse. You’re paying $15K plus $500-800 a year for a week in a nice apartment. You have a piece of paper that says you “own” the property for that week, but that’s just shoe polish. And if you don’t want it or need it for like 3 straight years, too bad: you pay anyway. Many families find they cannot afford a yearly trip to Mickey World, even though they’ve paid in advance for their week at the timeshare.

They say you can trade out your week at some other resort destination. I’m curious how well that works.

I can't really disagree with your analysis. Timeshare Users Group (TUG) does an in depth analysis on how this works if you are more than idly curious. I thought that Marriott went to a points system a few years back, but they probably still have fixed weeks as well. (We looked at Marriott timeshares a few years back and the buy in was a lot more than 15k. )

[Like2Plan]

The only time a timeshare may possibly be a good idea financially speaking is the Disney Vacation Club. Because of the sky high demand, the value of DVC points has actually appreciated over time. I know folks who bought years ago, used it for many years, and then sold at a profit.

We bought DVC 16 years ago and it has worked well for us. No telling what the future will hold, but I think someone buying direct from Disney at the current prices will have a more difficult time breaking even because the prices have gone up so much.

The last time I checked DVC at the Grand Californian (Disneyland's DVC) was going for more than double what we paid for it when we purchased. Bay Lake Tower is only about 30-40% more than what we paid. This is partly because Grand Cal is a very small DVC resort (and the only DVC resort at DL ).

[disneysteve]

We bought DVC 16 years ago and it has worked well for us. No telling what the future will hold, but I think someone buying direct from Disney at the current prices will have a more difficult time breaking even because the prices have gone up so much.

The last time I checked DVC at the Grand Californian (Disneyland's DVC) was going for more than double what we paid for it when we purchased. Bay Lake Tower is only about 30-40% more than what we paid. This is partly because Grand Cal is a very small DVC resort (and the only DVC resort at DL ).

Yep. Disney World keeps adding more and more capacity so there's high demand but also ever-increasing supply which economics suggests will suppress prices.

Disney has also made some changes to make buying direct more appealing and discourage folks from buying on the secondary market. I don't know all the details as I don't follow it that closely but I know some details and perks have changed.