The beautiful Grande Lakes Resort in Orlando, which includes the JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton and Marriott’s Lakeshore Reserve at Grande Lakes Timeshare boasts an added benefit that guests and timeshare owners may easily find themselves ‘stuck’ on.
An on-site apiary (a bee yard) at Grande Lakes Orlando provides fresh, quality controlled honey for both the restaurants and spa. Grande Lakes chefs use citrus honey in ketchups, barbeque sauce, spice rubs, preserves and pickles, allowing JW Marriott Orlando to cultivate a “farm-to-fork” fresh experience for guests.
Executive chef Chris Brown explains, “Harvesting honey on-site has given the JW Marriott Orlando culinary team another opportunity to show how passionate we are in sharing the best local flavors with guests. Knowing where the product comes from is important to us.”
Currently Grande Lakes Orlando has two beehives, but plans to double their number of hives and quantity of production by next year. The next batch of honey will be harvested this month, and plans for it include the production of mead, a beverage also called honeywine.
Guests at The Ritz-Carlton Spa can enjoy a signature Grande Lakes Honey Treatment, the Bee Pampered Pedicure or the Harvest Glow Hot Honey Treatment. Honey is rich in Vitamins B1, B2, C, B6, B5 and B3, adds to hydration, and has both anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties.
One of the many benefits of vacationing in a spacious timeshare rather than in a cramped hotel room is the kitchen and dining area many timeshares include.
Having a kitchen in your timeshare, (typically a full kitchen, stocked with cookware and dinnerware) makes it easy for you to accommodate special dietary needs, cook for picky eaters or even raid the fridge in the middle of the night should the notion strike you.
But for most of us, vacation fun also includes at least a little restaurant dining.
For the health conscious eater, here are some suggestions on where to dine during an Orlando Disney World vacation.
When Your Orlando Timeshare Vacation Includes Disney World
When at Walt Disney World, consider planning your daily schedule so that you can eat your meals at Epcot. Although there is healthful fare available at all of the Disney World parks, Epcot affords you perhaps the most choices for eating smart.
For sit-down dining, try the Restaurant Marrakesh in the Morocco area of the World Showcase where it easy to accommodate your low-fat or vegan food choices. Nine Dragons in the China area as well as the San Angel Inn in the Mexico section both offer vegetarian meal choices, too. If you are seeking gluten free options, ask to skip the Chinese noodles or, for Mexican dining, replace the flour tortillas with tortillas made from corn.
For café style dining in Epcot, you may want to consider the Yakitori House in the Japan section where you can enjoy veggie sushi rolls and veggie noodle bowls
For a more all-American menu, try The Garden Grill in the Land Pavilion. There you can choose from greenhouse fresh selections that include salads, veggies and a popular rice pilaf.
And since Disney is known for covering all the bases, they also provide you a helpful Dining Reservation Center where a Cast Member can answer all your menu related questions and assist you with special menu items. To contact the Dining Reservation Center call 1-407-WDW-DINE (that’s 1-407-939-3463).
For help in planning a timeshare resale or timeshare rental vacation at the Disney Vacation Club or in other Orlando timeshare resorts, call 1-877-815-4227
Sell My Timeshare NOW not only rents and resales timeshare, we resell the longer-term vacation property known as Fractionals.
It is not a market we started out purposefully to be in, but we found our company, advertising and marketing more and more fractionals for owners who wanted a way to resell their fractional ownership vacation home. Soon we found that our “accidental” business, was a strong and successful niche and that we were able to help more and more fractional owners sell their property on the secondary market.
Fractionals are an exciting part of the vacation and real estate markets. And they are a business about which we have become very purpose driven.
Fractional Summit USA 2011
Last week, I had the opportunity to speak at the Fractional Summit USA 2011, in Miami, Florida. I am sharing with you my presentation, in case you wondered, as the presentation points out, “What’s a timeshare resale guy doing at a fractional conference?”
Please view this presentation to learn more about why the fractional industry needs a plan and how Sell My Timeshare NOW is perfectly positioned to help with that plan.
Last month ARDA-ROC launched its Timeshare Resale Resource Center. This online information data center was created as a reliable, go-to resource to help timeshare owners and prospective timeshare buyers understand the timeshare resale market, including what to look for in a timeshare resale service and how to tell which companies to avoid.
ARDA is the Washington D.C.-based professional association that represents the timeshare, vacation ownership and resort development industry. ARDA-ROC is the Resort Owners’ Coalition, an alliance of over a million timeshare owners, developers and timeshare managers who promote and advocate for public policy to protect the interests of timeshare owners and future owners.
The combination of an unstable economy, lack of clearly defined timeshare resale guidelines and policy, and a demographic within the base of timeshare owners, who have now reached a time in their lives they no longer wish to be owners, has opened the door to disreputable companies seeking to make money by exploiting others.
Ken McKelvey, Chairman of ARDA-ROC, explains, “Existing owners are just as concerned as would-be consumers about the misinformation regarding resales and have supported efforts to educate owners about the process to buy or sell a vacation product from the secondary market. Leaders in our industry – developers, managers, homeowners’ associations and resellers – have tirelessly worked together to develop new business models for the secondary market as a way to address basic problems rather than treat symptoms.”
You may be feeling bummed if you spent Labor Day weekend at home, perhaps thinking you have hit an all-time low cleaning the garage this weekend or sitting on the couch watching rerun marathons of your favorite TV dramas.
Don’t despair! Not only is there still time to get in on a great end-of-summer vacation, but it may work to your advantage to have waited.
Genevieve Shaw Brown of Travelocity reported to NBC News that after Labor Day, travel prices typically drop. She points out that, “it’s a particularly good time, for example to go to Europe when the weather’s still good and the prices are about 20-to-30 percent less than you find in the summer months.”
Why it’s a Good Time to Take a Late Summer Timeshare Vacation
Actually, there are several advantages to being a late summer – early fall traveler. For starters, the crowds have declined everywhere. While many school systems have staggered vacations schedules, almost no one is on holiday in September. And although many parents don’t hesitate to pull their kids out of school, even when it is not a school holiday, they are less likely to do so in September when most students are just getting into the swing of school routines and fall activities.
Another reason that the travel destinations are less crowded right now is because the fall sports season is ramping up. Families that last month might have spent Saturday headed for the beach or the theme park will often now be headed for the football game, leaving the beaches and the theme parks less crowded and more enjoyable for you.
Best of all, because restaurants, gift shops, and other attractions are feeling the September slump, if you travel now, you will likely encounter lots of discounts, special prices, and old-fashioned good deals.
So now that your garage is clean and you have watched more than a year’s worth of NCIS reruns, don’t you think you have earned that getaway vacation you’ve been putting off?
Sell My Timeshare NOW has great prices and hot deals on timeshare resales and timeshare rentals. And you don’t have to plan ahead; you only have to act now. Call toll free 1-877-815-4227 or internationally, call 1-603-516-0200.
Happy Labor Day Weekend! The Timeshare Authority blog hopes you are enjoying a “labor-free” Labor Day holiday.
Writing today’s blog post was a bit like writing a back-to-school essay titled, “What I Did on My Summer Vacation,” except, we’d have to call this, “What Everyone Did on Their Vacation.”
Last week we published the new Hot 100 Timeshare Resales report and the Hot 100 Timeshare Rentals report.
These reports list for you the top 100 timeshare resales and the top 100 timeshare rentals to receive offers to buy or rent at Sell My Timeshare NOW and Timeshare Broker Services. The lists provide you a true overview of how consumers are allocating their vacation accommodations dollars.
Download these two free reports and study them for yourself. Among the trends and vacations patterns you will observe is this information about the top 20 most in-demand timeshare rentals:
The Aulani Resort, Disney’s new hotel and timeshare on the island of Oahu, set out to honor the Hawaiian heritage from its inception, drawing from the Hawaiian culture and tradition. Many of the individuals who worked on the development of this resort were local architects, historians and artisans. At every turn, you will find the Aulani resort rich with materials, imagery and symbols that pay tribute to the people of Hawaii and their way of life.
But you will also find all the convenience and luxury of a Disney resort. Aulani includes two main restaurants, two cafes, two lounges, an adults-only spa, a spa and hangout for tweens and teens, a family fitness center, conference rooms, a fire pit for storytelling and an amazing kids club known as Aunty’s Beach House.
Entertainment for the Youngest Timeshare Guests
In traditional Hawaii culture, children call many older adult women by the term, “Aunty” and at Aulani, Aunty’s Beach House is sure to be a popular spot.
While Aunty’s Beach House looks like a traditional Hawaiian home, right down to its décor, which includes ‘family’ photos, old trophies, and a garage filled with tools, it is actually at5200-square-foot entertainment paradise for children. In a supervised setting, children can enjoy arts and crafts; treasure hunts; hula lessons; Wii™ video games; Sony PlayStation® video games and, of course, Disney movies.
The windows and skylights at Aunty’s Beach House are in fact digital screens depicting scenes of Hawaii and magical changing details. Aunty’s side of the house targets younger guests, children ages 3 to 7, and includes the enchanted fireplace and age-appropriate experiences. Uncle’s side of the house is for older children. In includes the workshops, games, a garden area and a rain room theater.
Poolside at the Disney Vacation Club Resort Aulani Hawaii Timeshare
The massive pool area at Aulani is practically a water park. There is an 8,200-square-foot pool, a 950-foot-long lazy river where tubing takes you through forests and caverns, a private saltwater snorkel lagoon filled with tropical fish, a conservation pool for getting close to the stingrays, starfish and anemones, a rock formation with lava tube slides and an aquatic jungle gym called Menehune Bridge. (The Menehune are a mystical, magical ‘little people’ of Hawaiian lore).
Activities at the resort include movie nights, fireside storytelling, hula dancing, Hawaiian sunset ceremonies, cooking classes, surf lessons and, of course, Mickey and company to meet, greet, and charm, typically in Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts.
Disney Expects Aulani Timeshare Owners from Around the World
While Disney anticipates many guests and Disney Vacation Club members at Aulani from the US and Canada, they also expect to attract many visitors from Asia. To ensure that all their guests enjoy the comforts of home, the Aulani suites and timeshare villas include the extra-deep hot baths, preferred by the Japanese; in-room rice cookers; tea service as well as coffee; and chopsticks as well as knives and forks as standard issue.
The Disney Vacation Club Villas at Aulani include 460 studio, one-and two-bedroom timeshare villas and 21 Grand Villas, which sleep up to 12 happy vacationers.
This past week, Aulani, Disney’s only property in Hawaii, opened its doors and welcomed guests and timeshare owners for the first time.
Aulani is about an hour’s drive from Waikiki, on the west side of the island of Oahu. Throughout the development of the resort, Disney has worked to maintain the spirit of Hawaii in all details of the property. The word, Aulani means “a messenger of a chief – one who delivers a message from a higher authority.” Joe Rohde, senior vice president, Creative for Walt Disney Imagineering, explains, “The name Aulani was chosen to position the resort as a messenger of the “higher authority” that is Hawaii, its spirit and its culture.”
Tom Staggs, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and the company’s former chief financial officer, says Aulani “… captures the very best of the rich Hawaiian storytelling and culture with a touch of Disney.”
Disney Vacation Club and Disney Timeshare
Aulani Disney Resort & Spa is the first property Disney has built in Hawaii and is the eleventh Disney Vacation Club Villas resort (timeshare) for Disney. With 481 Vacation Club timeshare villas and 359 traditional hotel rooms, Aulani is the first hotel/timeshare combo Disney has launched that was not in close to proximity to one of its theme parks. Disney Vacation Club does offer two resorts not at parks, Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort timeshare in Hilton Head, Georgia and Disney Vero Beach Resort timeshare in Vero Beach, Florida, but neither of these properties provides hotel accommodations.
Take a few moments and watch this video that tours the Aulani Resort, just before its opening, and then check back in tomorrow at The Timeshare Authority blog where we take a closer look at the amenities you will find there. Many, like the in-room rice cookers, may surprise you!
On Tuesday, August 30, at the Fractional Summit USA, held in Miami, Florida, Sell My Timeshare NOW was pleased to sponsor the evening’s Tikki Beach Boat Cruise.
The Tikki Beach is a floating party boat that allowed Fractional Summit USA attendees to cruise along the Miami coastline, relax, interact, forge new business relationships, and enjoys a party atmosphere. The unique boat accommodates 150 guests and includes two large bars, a DJ booth, cabana beds, a dance floor, seating for over 100, cabana beds, palm trees, along with faux grass and real sand.
We embarked on our cruise around 7PM. Attire for the evening was “Your best tropical wear,” which mean we all looked cruise-ready.
Fractional Summit USA event manager Tracey Carter explained, “We are always looking for value-added experiences to make our conferences special, and to ensure our delegates remember them.”
In general, the Tikki Beach Cruises offered a great way for people to relax, get to know each other better, and for fractional and timeshare real estate professionals to make new contacts and build new relationships.
After all, work doesn’t always have to feel like, “work,” does it?
Not only are we getting the word out to consumers that we have just released the Top 100 Timeshare Resales and Top 100 Timeshare Rentals lists, we are also getting the word out to the timeshare and vacation ownership industry.
Through our owner services program, we provide customized resort services for timeshare resort companies, developers, and HOAs that may not have their own internal programs but want to work with a reputable resales company to provide rental and resale options to their owners. Sell My Timeshare NOW, though Vacation Property Solutions, offers unique, resort-friendly services that make it easy for developers and HOAs to satisfy their need to sell timeshares, while helping them increase customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.
The new Hot 100 Timeshare Resales report and the Hot 100 Timeshare Rentals are available here:
On these lists, you will see a diversity of timeshare resorts and destinations. While the branded hospitality providers are present, so are the smaller independent resorts. You will see that Sell My Timeshare NOW has buyers and renters making offers on traditional timeshare as well as on timeshare points and vacation clubs, and on resorts at beaches, east coast, west coast, ski destinations, and even urban properties.
As a timeshare owner who wishes to sell or rent; as a timeshare company; or as a prospective buyer or renter, when you study the Sell My Timeshare NOW Hot Resales and Rentals lists, you gain consumer generated insights; the properties on these lists are there because consumers have put them there. The Hot 100 Timeshare Resales report and the Hot 100 Timeshare Rentals show you the most in-demand, hottest timeshares and vacation ownership destinations in the world!
