Theme parks are part of many family’s timeshare vacation plans, but let’s face it, they get pricier and pricier every year. Here are some excellent tips for cutting the cost of theme park tickets that we learned from our friends at Theme Park Insider blog, one of the excellent resources you will find on the Timeshare Authority blog roll.

If you are lucky, you have friends or family members who work at one of the parks and can score you free or discounted tickets, or you might earn free tickets yourself by sitting through a timeshare sales presentation. But unless you manage to have courtesy tickets, you’ll probably be searching for the best deals available on park admission.

Theme Park Insider recommends that you buy your theme park tickets in advance and online, suggesting you look for both special offers as well as last minute deals. Members of AAA may be in line for discounts on theme parks, and some employers offer theme park discounts as an employee benefit.

If you are either active or retired military, you and your family may be eligible for some excellent discounts and sometimes, free admission. Visit the website for Shades of Green or check with your local ITT Tickets and Tours office to learn more about military discounts on theme parks and attractions.

Check out these resources for theme park tickets, listed on the left, and timeshare rental opportunities, listed on the right.

For more information on discount ticket opportunities, visit the Theme Park Insider Blog. And to learn more about the opportunities in renting timeshare visit Sell My Timeshare NOW.

This week, the Cooperative Association of Resort Exchangers celebrates 25 years as an association, plus 50 C.A.R.E. conferences held in New Orleans. With silver to represent the 25-year anniversary and gold to represent the 50-year anniversary, C.A.R.E. is calling this timeshare industry event, “The C.A.R.E. Silver and Gold Conference.”

Taking the event to New Orleans, the site of C.A.R.E.’s first conference 50 years ago, this four-day convention has been developed to provide C.A.R.E. member/representatives the tools and information needed to stay on top of the timeshare and vacation ownership industries.

The Hilton New Orleans St. Charles, located in the downtown New Orleans Central Business district, and only three blocks from Canal Street, is the host hotel for the event that begins Saturday, April 24, 2010 and runs through Tuesday, April 27, 2010.

This year’s keynote speaker is Chris Widener. He will be speaking on: “Winning with Influence: The Real Way to Influence Others.”

Established in 1985, C.A.R.E. is a non-profit trade association. With members in the U.S.A., Mexico, Canada, Australia, and Europe, this association offers over 2,500 vacation properties and its member companies service more than a million travelers annually. Sell My Timeshare NOW is a proud member of C.A.R.E.

Want to know which way the timeshare industry is going? Strategies and visions for the future? Interesting info about timeshare trends?

You don’t have to be an industrial spy to obtain this information; it’s available for you on ARDA’s website (American Resort Developers Association). Following this year’s ARDA Convention and Exhibition in Las Vegas, where the timeshare industry comes together to plan, share, and network, ARDA has posted handouts from many of its educational sessions.

The Timeshare Authority blog will be bringing you some of the highlights from ARDA’s educational handouts, but this wealth of data that is available for anyone to download, if you want to check it out for yourself.

For example, here’s a profile on European timeshares and European timeshare owners that is available in the reports.

European Timeshare, (all data based on 2007 findings)

Source: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY of “The European Timeshare Industry 2008”; Market Characteristics & Economic Impacts. Authors: The Christel DeHaan Tourism and Travel Research Institute, University of Nottingham, UK

1. 1.5 million European households own timeshare, with the UK and Ireland having the largest base of timeshare owners.
2. Most timeshare resorts are in Spain, with 26.3 percent of all resorts, 14.94 percent in Italy, and 11.05 percent in the UK and Ireland. The total number of European timeshares is 1,312.
3. European timeshare generates € 3.2 billion of expenditure.
4. European timeshare owners spent € 1.6 billion during their timeshare vacations.
5. European timeshare owners spent € 957 million to buy timeshare.
6. The average expenditure in 2007 per timeshare vacation was € 1,588.
7. 69,836 jobs are directly sustained by the European timeshare industry.
8. 86.6 percent of the European timeshare owners reported satisfaction with their timeshare holiday, while 55.6 percent say they were very satisfied!

Developers Mozdzer, Nemec and Reynolds and their partners Frank Sirchia and Jakub Pilecki are in the process of obtaining zoning modification permits for Freedom Harbor, a new residential and resort timeshare complex, that they describe as a “Gateway” to Florida’s Hillsborough County.

Rich Mozdzer says, “We want it to be the first major destination and the first major sight that people driving up from Sarasota or Manatee County (Florida) see when they come up I-75.”

Plans call for breaking ground on the $150 million project in mid- to late 2011, with a 2012 grand opening. Freedom Harbor will include 200 residential townhome units, a resort community with 200 timeshare units, an assisted independent living facility for up to 350 residents, and a medical center.

Other planned features include two restaurants, an arena for concerts and shows, a year-round snow village, health club, with squash, racquetball, basketball and tennis, and an Olympic size pool. At the resort center will be 90 hotel rooms and rooms for special events.

A 70-acre lake will provide a space for water sports, with nearby nature trails and outdoor areas for relaxation.

Mozdzer adds, “This site has a lot of character, and we’re very excited about maintaining that.”

The development of this new resort and timeshare is expected to bring some 1000 jobs to the area.

Follow this link to learn more about existing opportunities in Tampa-area timeshares:

• St. Pete’s beach timeshare resales
• St. Petersburg timeshare resales