Anyone ever do a FREE disney vacation using timeshare presentations?

[mamo-4-wdw]

Hi,
Has anyone ever done a completely free or nearly free disney vacation using time share presentations?
Please share your stories and info.
I am going to try and see if I can do that for myself and my DS16. I already have 3days and 2 nights at Fairfield Resorts, it says good at:
Bonnet Creek
Cypress Palms
Star Island
Orlando International Resort Club

Any reviews on these resorts?
Also I would like to know if there are any timeshare tours we could do in advance of our trip.
We live near Nashville, TN but wouldn't mind driving up to 200 miles to see the timeshares.

Anyone know of free gas cards anywhere?

thanks,
mamo

 

[spiceycat]

I think you might find some timeshares presentations in Gatlinburg, Tn.

fairfield has one there - but I don't think you can do it and the one in Orlando in the same year.
https://www.fairfieldresorts.com/ffr/resort/details.do

 

[mamo-4-wdw]

Thanks spiceycat!
We have a gas card now for $25- Shell. It was for test driving a suzuki(sp).
It really adds up:
$70 cash,For food or souviners
3day/2night hotel,Bonnet creek really looks nice!
$25 Outback Steak house,
2 movie tickets (in case it rains)
and now the gas card!

 

[MaMa3Princess]

We have done some at Mrytle Beach and Hilton Head, South Carolina that offer a free gas card as well. We love a bargain trip aswell!! PM me if you would like the broker that we use!

 

[Simba22]

The first year we went we did a timeshare tour and got our hotel for free....it was offsite but literally within walking distance to DTD which was cool and the hotel was really nice. The sales-pitch for the timeshare was really high-pressure though.

There are currently hotels/resorts that are offering 2 1-day base tix for $25/pair if you do a 90-minute resort tour

 

[powellrj]

we did a marriott one a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. It was very low pressure and enjoyed seeing the resort. I know they have specials on their website, but we got ours through the mail and it was really, really cheap. I want to say it was like $149 for 3 nights plus tickets to universal.

 

[jillyjoey]

We did a timeshare trip 2 years ago in Orlando and, actually bought in -- though I have to say we haven't used it yet. We loved the resort but now I am noticing alot of bad reviews on tripadvisor. Oh well, worked for us. We did a split trip that stay 4 days at the resort and 5 days at WDW.

I just received a card in the mail for a Gatlinburg timeshare presentation/trip for $69 (I threw it away or I would give you more info) but - -I think it was Fairfield. I imagine that all the coastal areas would do the same thing (but that would be more than 200 miles from you -as would Hot Springs/Branson). Feel free to PM me if you want more info about our experience.

 

[JudyS]

Hi,
Has anyone ever done a completely free or nearly free disney vacation using time share presentations?
Please share your stories and info.
I am going to try and see if I can do that for myself and my DS16. I already have 3days and 2 nights at Fairfield Resorts, it says good at:
Bonnet Creek
Cypress Palms
Star Island
Orlando International Resort Club...

Bonnet Creek is great choice! It is actually within the Disney World boundaries, although not on land owned by Disney (so you don't get onsite privileges.)

Bluegreen has a nice new resort in Orlando (the Fountains) plus a couple of older ones. You might be able to sign up for a cheap vacation package at www.bluegreenonline.com

Rather than knocking yourself out trying to get tickets for every day that you will be there, you may want to enjoy some of the many free things to do at WDW. I love strolling around the Boardwalk, especially in the evenings when they have free entertainment. Another great choice is to get a snack at Animal Kingdom Lodge and then stroll around and look at the animals. I also love riding the monorail and the many free boat rides -- OKW to Pleasure Island, Epcot to MGM, WL to MK. If you have a multi-day ticket, you are entitled to use Disney transit (not like they ever ask for ID.)

Timeshare tours can be very long and stressful, so you may want some relaxing things to do for a few hours afterwards! If it were me, I'd probably try to do all the timeshare tours on the first few days, to get them over with. Some places will give you a bigger gift for tours in mid-day, rather than the morning. If you do 2 in one day, maybe you can tell the first salesperson that you can't stay long because you have another tour to go to. Also, don't chit-chat with the salespeople, it doesn't count towards your 90 minutes.

 

[JudyS]

PS -- found this offer for Bluegreen:
http://www.bluegreenonline.com/explore/featureDetail.aspx?ID=217

Your Orlando $199 weekend or $149 weekday vacation package includes:
3 nights lodging at a preferred partner hotel
Choice of 2 of these attractions: two-day Universal Studios®, two-day Islands of Adventure®, one-day Sea World®, one-day Busch Gardens®, one-day Magic Kingdom®, one-day MGM® or Epcot®
Sterling Casino® Cruise for 2 (adults only)
Weekday bonus: 2 tickets to Disney Quest® or Watermania® Family Pass for up to 6

Not bad, but probably not the best deal around, since it only provides a hotel, not a timeshare unit.

By the way, don't do another Fairfield tour before your Bonnet Creek stay. You are not allowed to do multiple tours in a year, and they can charge you the full room rate if they find out that you've done one already. (The same goes for the other timeshare chains.)

Also, when are you going? I will probably be trading into a timeshare for a week this fall, but I can only use four nights of it.

 

[mamo-4-wdw]

http://www.sunshinerewards.com/signup.php?r=2971
If you want to help us in our free disney trip and help yourself too!

 

[Dimap]

I am doing the timeshare "thing" this vacation. Because my family is large - 2 adults, 4 children - we really don't fit into a regular hotel room. We decided to see Marriot Horizon for the first part of our trip (4 nights) in a 2 bedroom and then spend 3 nights at the Vistana Village in a 2 bedroom villa. I really do like looking at properties so I don't mind the timeshare presentations, although I hope they aren't too high pressure!

Pam

 

[schlepsnort]

I went to a timeshare presentation ONCE in Sedona, AZ. I went through the whole thing, toured the 'timeshares', and then sat down with a salesperson who went through his spiel. I was very polite and asked questions because I was interested at first in the deal. But after reading more of their 'clauses' and other slippery writing in small small type I said that I was not interested. The JERK actually got up in front of alllll the other people in the room who were also getting the one on one sales pitch and screamed at me for wasting his time and if I wasn't serious about coming then why was I there and it went on and on and on. Now I don't back down from greasy overbearing dorks with bad ties and acne...So I yelled right back at him that I wasn't sinking that kind of money into a place that considers living in a TRAILER a VACATION. Seriously, the units that they showed us were nothing more than glorified trailers with less room than my first apartment.
I got my gift cards, I got my $40, I gave him the finger salute and left.

I will never again do a timeshare presentation.

 

[mamo-4-wdw]

I went to the Fairfield onein Nashville, TN and the guy was nice, toured the rooms and then the other guy came in and I told him no and then the last guy came in and and I told him no. We got our gifts and it only took about 100 minutes. They were very nice and there was no pressure or mean things said to me.