WorldMark^® Words

The candidate answers to six questions concerning WorldMark have been posted on the WorldMark web site. The questions cover a range of topics, from how the candidates use their credits to why they want to serve as a director. You can read the questions and the candidates answers on the WorldMark 2010 Election Center web site. It's your club, it's your responsibility to learn about the candidates you vote for to be directors.

The Vacation Stimulus Plan is back. That is the plan that lets you make any reservation using cash rather than your credits. It is not restricted to specific resorts and normal booking and cancellation guidelines apply. That means you can make Vacation Stimulus Plan reservations up to 13 months in advance of your check in date. At 8 cents per credit it is more expensive than Bonus Time, Inventory Specials, or Monday Madness specials, but it is another way to book extra units when you are out of credits. The price includes housekeeping, there are no additional housekeeping fees for Vacation Stimulus Plan reservations.

It looks like the new version of the plan has the same restrictions as the previous version. You can book a maximum of 4 reservations under the Vacation Stimulus Plan and there is a 7 night maximum stay per reservation. As before, the rules don't state whether the 4 reservations maximum is a cumulative total applying to all versions of the plan that have been offered or if it starts over for this new reincarnation of the plan. This version of the plan started August 1, 2010 and runs through November 30, 2010. You can find the listed details of the plan on the WorldMark web site.

A couple of months ago I announced a new site that I am involved with, WorldMark Timeshare Information. At that time the site was just getting started. It figured it was time to provide an update about that site.

The site is being continuously updated, primarily with new information in the owner education section. That is the initial emphasis. Resort information is in place for all of the WorldMark resorts although the material needs more detail. There is also a photo gallery with pictures of many of the resorts. Progress is a little slow, summer and other activities take up a lot of time.

The number of people registering on the site has been about what was expected. It always takes time to get a new site established. More people are finding the site every week. Perhaps soon some of those who have registered will add new material, so far that has not happened. Time will tell who gets to be the first.

Take a look and if you feel so inclined, register and participate. Comments and suggestions are encouraged, there is a comment form on the site which can be used for that purpose. I've already listed the link at the start of this post, but in case you missed it, it is WorldMark Timeshare Information.

If you are a WorldMark owner and if you have an RCI account linked to your WorldMark account you can now do an online search and booking of Confirm First RCI exchanges. You no longer need to deposit any of your WorldMark credits in advance to use the online search function. The long awaited upgrade has arrived.

There was no big announcement, the new link was added to the WorldMark home page with no fanfare. I hadn't noticed the new link, but Saturday morning one of my regular readers called it to my attention. Thanks Mike.

I checked out the new capability through the link on the left side menu of the WorldMark home page. The first thing I discovered is that you need to be logged in to your WorldMark account to access the RCI pages. No big surprise there.

Once you are logged in you can access the RCI Confirm First search page. The search format is not the same as the one used on the RCI web site. You specify an area and sub area (Florida and Orlando area for example) and the start date to be used for the search. You can specify two different areas and sub areas. Or you can specify specific resorts using the RCI resort numbers found in the RCI directory.

I haven't done much experimenting with the new search function but it does work. It found and displayed available units for the searches I specified. Since I have an RCI Weeks account it only displayed full week exchanges. I don't know if it will search for shorter exchanges if you have an RCI Points account.

I'll know more after using the system more. I suspect that as with any new software, some bugs will crop up. That's to be expected with a new application but hopefully they will be minor issues that do not cause any significant problems. This is a big new addition for WorldMark owners, especially those of us who do use exchanges, and is most welcome.

When we checked in to St George on a recent visit, the check in papers included a note about the refurbishment that is under way at the resort. According to the provided description, the project will include new paint, carpet, and tile. The work is taking place at the three original resort buildings, the rec center, and the office. It is scheduled to be complete by September 15.

We were only there one night and I did not see any of the work crews or materials, They were probably working on the far side of the resort from where we were. We were in one of the newer buildings and even though the building was not listed in the refurb announcement, it was obvious that the unit had been recently tended to. There was a slight odor of fresh paint the unit and the walls were sporting the new earth tone colors that seem to be the latest standard. I think the living room and dining room furniture was new, but I'm not positive about that.

One of the more noticeable changes was the TV set. The old 25 inch tube model was gone, replaced by a wall mounted flat panel set. I didn't have a ruler with me but my guesstimate is that it was a 37 inch model. There was a smaller flat panel TV in the bedroom. I'm sure more and more resorts will be going to the flat panel displays, out of necessity if nothing else. I don't think you will find many (if any) CRT televisions sold any more. Whatever the reason for the change it is a nice improvement that most owners will appreciate.

I made a comment over a year ago about a change that was in the works to allow online booking of RCI exchanges. I hadn't heard anything new about it since then, but apparently the project is still alive. The draft copy of the minutes of the March 18, 2010 Board of Directors meeting which are in the owners only section of the WorldMark web site contains the following note:

"the RCI Club Enablement program, currently under development, would allow WorldMark owners to access and book RCI exchanges through the WorldMark web site"

There is still nothing announced concerning the release date but it is nice to know the project is still in the works. Maybe we will see the results soon, it would be a big improvement to have this capability.

For those of you who visit my main website in addition to this blog, this will be old news. For the rest of you, here is a quote from the homepage of my main site.

"I have operated and maintained this site for over three years and it is now time to move on. I'm not going away, I'm shifting my efforts to a new location. This site will remain online with all current content but I do not expect to be adding any new material in the foreseeable future." The shift in emphasis does not include this blog. I will continue to maintain and update the blog on a schedule similar to the one I have followed for the 4 years it has been online.

The new location is WorldMark Timeshare Information. Unlike the sites I have maintained up to this point, the new site is not an individual effort, it is open for others to register and contribute material. A number of people have already registered and the list is growing daily. For those of you who registered last week and experienced login problems, I think those problems have been cleared up and you should be able to login now. If you encounter more login problems please report them.

I've already received the "why a new site" question from several people. The reasons are twofold. First, and primarily, it is time to get more owners involved in the owner education process. WorldMark owners have a wealth of information concerning how to make the best use of their ownership and many are willing to share that information. What has been lacking is the place to share that information without getting tangled up in WorldMark politics and issues.

WorldMark is not a perfect system and there is no question that issues exist. However, delving into those issues is a major distracton from the goal of owner education. While WorldMark Timeshare Information is designed for owner participation, it is not designed as an open discussion forum. The emphasis is on owner education and helping owners maximize the use and enjoyment of their WorldMark ownership.

The other main reason is to provide a software base with the flexibility to easily handle changes in content. My existing website is custom software. It started as a self teaching project to learn web programming. It met that goal but it is a very rigid structure and it is not a trivial task to put new material there.

The new site is based on established Content Management Software that is backed by a development team. It is designed for continuous content change and is much more suited to multiuser involvement. The downside is that it is a large and complex package. It has some features that are not fully understood and undoubtedly has some bugs. That is what led to the initial registration problems that users experienced.

The new site is online now. Please take a look and if you feel so inclined, register and participate. Comments and suggestions are also encouraged, there is a comment form on the site which can be used for that purpose. I've already listed the link a couple of times above, but in case you missed it, it is WorldMark Timeshare Information.

Here's an update on the Seaside resort concerning future reservations. According to an announcement on the WorldMark website, sections of the building will be closed for significant exterior renovations beginning this fall. New reservations are not being taken for arrivals after September 6, 2010. It is not known when they will begin accepting reservations again.

I haven't seen or inquired about any details of the work to be done or why such extensive renovations are needed on a fairly new resort. The resort opened in July of 2003 and while you might expect normal maintenance such as painting and refurbishments, those things would not normally shut down entire sections of the resort. Perhaps there were some construction problems that are now coming to the surface. Or perhaps it is one more indication of the extra expense and maintenance associated with an oceanfront location. It wasn't too long after we became owners that portions of Gleneden were closed in phases due to maintenance problems associated with the PNW coastal weather. Oceanfront resorts are very nice and very popular but you pay a high premium for those locations.

We spent a few days at the WorldMark Santa Fe resort last week. It's sort of a drive to location for WorldMark owners in the Denver area, although it is almost 400 miles away.

I'm not sure exactly how to classify this resort. The resort consists of several one and two story buildings. If it were a high rise it would fit the urban category. In the WorldMark resort gallery it is listed as a boutique-style resort. The resort has no swimming pool, no spa, and no recreation or exercise room. What the resort does have is location. A short 5 block walk brings you to the start of the downtown Santa Fe historic area. With parking a premium in that area it is very convenient to be able to leave your car at the resort and explore on foot.

The units are categorized as hotel room, compact studio, compact 1 bedroom, all with a maximum occupancy of 2, and 1 bedroom units which sleep 4. All of the units are described as being smaller than most typical WorldMark units. There are no washers or dryers in the units but there is a laundry room adjacent to the office for use by guests. There are no individual BBQ grills for the units but there are two BBQ areas equipped with grills and outdoor tables. There is a computer with internet access available in the office and the Resort Net power line modem internet service used at most resorts is also available, allowing you to connect your laptop in your unit.

The resort is southwestern style inside and out. The following picture shows the check in office and one of the resort buildings. It also has an interior view of the living room in the unit we were assigned.



The 1 bedroom unit we had was equipped with a mini kitchen. It has all of the basic appliances in a smaller scale and includes a 2 burner stove-top but no oven. It was nicely decorated in southwestern style, including a kiva style fireplace. The couch folds out to accommodate 4 people in the unit. However, the bathroom is off the bedroom with no separate access for those using the sleeper couch. Depending on who you have travelling with you that may or may not present a problem. It is definitely something you should be aware of but I did not see anything about it in the resort description. The resort description does say that no two units are alike so it is possible that other units have a better arrangement for guests.

The next photo shows some of what you will find in the downtown area. The first image shows the Indian War Memorial monument in the Plaza. The Plaza is designated as a National Historic Landmark. It is surrounded by the Palace of the Governors, art galleries, museums, shops and restaurants. You will also find the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, the Loretto Chapel, and the San Miguel Mission in the downtown area. The second image in the photo shows the famous spiral staircase in the Loretto Chapel.



Overall we enjoyed our visit to Santa Fe. It was not the first time we had been there but it had been many years since we spent any time exploring the area. In addition to exploring the downtown attractions on foot we also drove to Bandelier National Monument, about an hour from the resort. We only had two full days in Santa Fe to explore so we did not have time to visit any of the area museums. They will have to wait for another trip on another day.

Despite all your good intentions to book early, what if you still need to find a WorldMark resort to visit this summer? Can you find anywhere to go?

Your choices are limited but you do have some options. If you don't mind the heat, Rancho Vistoso in Arizona and Indio in California are pretty much wide open. Same for Las Vegas at all three resorts although you will have to wait until mid August if you want to be there over a weekend. St George has a lot of units available starting in mid July. I'm not sure if Angels Camp fits in the hot climate category but it shows a lot a availability also.

You don't like it that hot? Big Bear in California has a lot of availability, as do Bison Ranch and Pinetop in Arizona. Steamboat Springs in Colorado also has a lot of availability.

You will also find some limited availability at a number of resorts including Clear Lake, Windsor, Anaheim, San Diego, and all of the Hawaii resorts. Booking air for Hawaii could be expensive, rates increase in the summer.

This isn't an exhaustive list, I didn't include the Midwest resorts (nobody goes there anyway ) and there are some scattered days at many of the other resorts. You can always try the waitlist and/or try to patch one or two day openings together to get a longer stay, either at a single resorts or as a grouped reservation at multiple resorts.

Whatever you decide, don't put it off any longer than absolutely necessary. Right now the 90 day booking window extends out to late August, so any available summer days could easily disappear fast.