[Russ_Boston]

Golf cart - My recommendation is to get one. Yes TV is big and maybe when you go around looking at model homes etc. you should use the car but to know the lifestyle you should try the golf cart access. It sold my wife on TV. You could rent from the villages cart store but there are private people to rent from who are a little cheaper and have better carts (do a search above for whole threads on the topic)

Meals - Not a coupon book per se. More of a punch card deal. My best recollection is that it had:

breakfast at Veranda (good quiche!)
lunch at Palmer (must be seated before 4PM)
lunch/dinner at Cane (try the meatloaf!)
lunch/dinner at lighthouse grille (sit outside if not too hot)
lunch/dinner at cattle baron (ask for a table overlooking the dance floor of Katie Belles).


Each of us got a punch card to use.

It also had movie tickets, bowling discount, 20% off of the mercantile store (TV logo stuff).

Golf - two free rounds each at any of the championship courses but they need to make the tee times in advance for you. I might suggest Havana and Cane Garden but they all have their merits from what others have told me.

Have Fun!

[chelsea24]

We had two Lifestyle Previews before we decided to buy and both were spectacular! You'll love it and you'll love it here! It's the next best thing to paradise and I'm not exaggerating! ;D

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by ROEnBILL

We're coming down in October with another couple on the recommendation of friends. We're all looking forward to it. We're coming for 6 days and I think we are only getting 4 meals. Are they at specific restaurants and can anyone tell me which ones? Are these included in the coupon book? It seemed like it was something separate.

I was told about the coupon book but no specifics were given. Can anyone who has taken this preview tell us more about what’s included? Are there meals in that coupon book?

It seems like there are more activities than we would ever have time for. Are there any that you would recommend? We like dancing, having an adult beverage or two, games, cards, theater, music and of course, golf. The pickleball sound like it would be fun as well.

We were discouraged from renting a golf cart. They seemed to encourage a car because the place is so big & this would allow us to have access to more. It would also allow us to go offsite. Does anyone have a strong opinion on this?

Thanks for taking the time to help.

er
The meals were pure hospitality. They included everything and if you didn't want an appetizer or dessert, the server encouraged you to take it "home" and put it in the refrigerator for a midnight snack. You will be overwhelmed. There is NO pressure and no sales pitch. Welcome to Paradise. We weren't going to buy and we did and we have now spent 20 full days and nights at our new home in Hadley.

[ROEnBILL]

Thanks everyone for their quick response.

I tried (briefly) to find private rentals for golf carts and was unsuccessful. I think that the carts are about $19/day at the cart store.

Russ Boston- Did you rent privately? Thanks for the recommendations

[Mallory]

Definitely get a cart to better enjoy the lifestyle.

We've had good luck renting privately from Barbara Hocking, who has numerous 2 and 4 seat electric club cars available. She prefers cash. Don't worry about electic vs. gas - you'll have enough juice to go everywhere.

She can be reached at 352-259-8395 (home) or 330-412-1408 (cell).

[tankdvr1950]

Dizz.....i certainly agree with all the previous comments.....my wife and i did our first visit last Feb (4 days) and like many others, fell in love with TV.....so much so that we are now booked for our second visit (6 day) the end of September...we can't wait

no matter what, like others, i recommend as long a stay as you can arrange and without question, you need to get that golf car to get the real feel for what life in TV is like

enjoy!!!!!!!

[Russ_Boston]

From a previous post on the topic:

For the rental or purchase of a used golf cart I would call Jim Followell at cell 317-258-1241 or home 352-259-7525. He rents carts that go faster than the ones The Villages rents and his all have side curtains also which The Villages carts don't have. He also has 4 seat carts. Good person to work with.

Hope this helps.

[NJblue]

Regarding the golf cart, it depends on what you anticipate doing while visiting. If you are trying to get a taste of the lifestyle, I think it makes good sense to get one. However, if your motive is to actually look for a place to buy, I strongly suggest that you skip the golf cart. When we were down in July, we were in the "buy" mode and were very thankful that we didn't waste money on a golf cart. I doubt that we would have used it more than once or twice ... we needed a means to get from point A to B as fast as possible. We didn't even take advantage of all of the freebies on the card because of lack of time - and leaving freebies on the table doesn't sit well with my Dutch blood.

[Barefoot]

We had the same experience as NJBlue. We already knew that we wanted to purchase. So we wanted to see as many listings as possible and we looked at many VLS and MLS houses.

We intended to rent a golf cart but didn't have time to even take advantage of half the freebies. We were busy every single second either looking at houses or hanging out at the town centers. We did take advantage of the complimentary meals, yummy, especially the one at the Cattle Baron!

[JUREK]

Originally Posted by Russ_Boston

From a previous post on the topic:

For the rental or purchase of a used golf cart I would call Jim Followell at cell 317-258-1241 or home 352-259-7525. He rents carts that go faster than the ones The Villages rents and his all have side curtains also which The Villages carts don't have. He also has 4 seat carts. Good person to work with.

Hope this helps.

Boston:

Ditto on this one. My wife is enjoyin TV with one of his carts now. Very good sevice.

:bigthumbsup: :bigthumbsup:

[Niels]

My wife and I just returned from a lifestyle visit to TV last week.

We had a golf cart because we wanted to get a feel for driving around in the cart. However, we only used the cart for part of our stay because traveling long distances in the cart takes a long time (the car is a lot faster) and it can occasionally be difficult to figure out the cart paths and tunnels. Also, it was not fun driving the cart in the bad afternoon rainstorms. As others have said, whether or not you should rent a cart depends on what you want to accomplish during your stay.

With the lifestyle preview, my wife and I both received cards good for:

$12 Breakfast or Lunch at the Veranda Restaurant
$15 Lunch at the Palmer Legends Country Club
$20 Lunch or Dinner at the Lighthouse Grille
$40 Lunch or Dinner at the Cane Garden Country Club
$50 Lunch or Dinner at either the Cattle Baron Club or Katie Belle’s

2 movie tickets good at Rialto or Old Mill theatre
2 rounds of golf, championship or executive course
2 games of championship tennis
Championship Course: Large Bucket of Balls
20% off total of one purchase at the Market or Banner Mercantile
20% off one service at Tuscany Day Spa & Salon
20% off one service at Salon Fifth Avenue

The amounts they gave us for meals were more than adequate in most cases with the exception of Palmer Legends where we went over the allowed amount. In that case the restaurant just charges you the difference. Incidentally, gratuities are not included in the meals. I believe this may be a recent change since two people in the Sales Center told us that they were included.

[Russ_Boston]

Yes, those are changes.

In April we had the same choices but there was NO limit on amount spent and the gratuities were included. I assume that is per person but still we went over those amounts. The servers were pushing all sorts of specials to bump up the bill as much as possible for a higher tip. I guess that is why they started to limit.

[livsea2]

Another possibility may be that since the rates are reduced in the summer perhaps they put a limit on only during the off season? Just thinking out loud. Maybe someone who visited last summer on a preview can confirm? ;D

[Niels]

Originally Posted by Russ_Boston

Yes, those are changes.

In April we had the same choices but there was NO limit on amount spent and the gratuities were included. I assume that is per person but still we went over those amounts. The servers were pushing all sorts of specials to bump up the bill as much as possible for a higher tip. I guess that is why they started to limit.

Yes, the dollar amounts I listed were per person.

As I said we went way over the amount allowed at Palmer Country Club for lunch. In the other cases, we stayed within the limits of the card but we didn't order the most expensive things on the menu.

[NJblue]

When we were there in July they were in the process of transitioning from the old cards to the new ones. When we went to a restaurant and showed the card to the servers, they would typically have to go check with the manager to determine if they were the new ones or the old. They were the old ones, but were still a bit different than what others had mentioned in that we could only go to Katie Belle's and not the Cattle Barron's.