Can RCI trade into Disney?

[ahill004]

My in-laws are RCI VIP members. Can they use their points to trade into a Disney owned resort? Does anyone know if it works the same as trading into one of the offsite resorts we've done in the past - like Bonnet Creek or Cypress Pointe.

 

[monorail girl]

I am not sure about Disney owned resorts, however we have stayed @ Sheraton Vistana Resort through RCI a couple of times. I wouild recommend that resort. Stayed there in 2008 and we were minutes from the parks. We literally turned right from our resort and made a scond right at stop lights and then signs pointed us to Disney Area

 

[Janet Hill]

Depends on the trading power of the resort(s) they own. Their is also a regional block, meaning that they can't trade another Orlando resort to get into DVC. It's much easier to get in with RCI points.

 

[ahill004]

Ok - my in-laws have weeks and not points. Does this make a difference. They are considered VIP and so that provides them with some benefits. I looked on the RCI website and some of the DVC's are followed with a big red POINTS so I am guessing those cannot be traded unless you are a points member of RCI. However, most of the DVC's listed don't say that so does that mean they have a chance of getting one? It would be early November timeframe - not Thanksgiving.

 

[lpizzuro123]

Back when Disney was II - we have II weeks from our Cape Cod timeshare. We were able to trade into Disney - it was a week for a week. We got Saratoga Springs studio for a week for our wedding in November 2008 and then Beach Club Villas studio for a week in May 2009 for my birthday. Unfortunately Disney no longer uses II but now uses RCI - definately try to do this.

Linda

 

[mbsquirrel1198]

If you have weeks banked with RCI you can check their website to see if there are any Disney properties available. There are usually some smaller units at Saratoga Springs available during the off-season. Not too many during busier times of the year. So definitley check. If there is one available, you may want to reserve it right away. If you wait until later in the day, it may be gone. Good luck.

 

[danjoan14]

We took a look at doing that for our August trip. The only size units I ever seen have been studio rooms. We really need two bedroom units. The chances are not good getting a larger room.

 

[Janet Hill]

It takes a very good trader, rci points, or a lot of cash to get anything more than a studio through RCI.

RCI has been taking a lot of the DVC inventory and renting the reservations, usually for more than it would cost to rent points from an owner to get a reservation.

Also when they provide inventory through rci points the fees to rci are usually higher and thus more lucrative to RCI.

Back in the Interval International days a trade into DVC was not all that hard to get (even the larger units), if you went during off or shoulder season, and looked every day for availability. I actually booked 2 2 br units at OKW and Saratoga for the same week on 2 different occasions and did an extended family trip.

 

[ccgirl]

I actually did this. Where do your in-laws own? Their RCI membership level really doesn't come in to play with trades. It matters where you own and if it is a desired week or not. If you tell me where the timeshare is and the week they own I can help you more. For example, I own a weeks resort in Hawaii. It is a studio, because Hawaii is so powerful I was able to trade that for a 2BR at BWV. Again, that was Hawaii. There is an exclusion area. IF the timeshare is within 30 miles of WDW it will not trade at all. Do they have a banked week? They can search against it and it will pull up everything it will trade for. I put "DISNEY" in my keywords to get the Disney Resorts. There is also a $95 mandatory fee once you check in. You can add the dining plan regardless of the type of park tickets. Let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks!

 

[ahill004]

ccgirl - that is so good to know. There home resort is Williamsburg, VA. They are VIP and always get 2 bedrooms based on some level of membership? My father-in-law called today and they didn't have anything for Nov. available at this time but they did have a 2 bedroom in August (whichh I am not doing bc it will be hot, hot, hot and busy, busy, busy). I am not sure if I should go ahead and book offsite or continue to try getting something onsite. I really want to try staying onsite though.

 

[danjoan14]

Does anyone know why the Disney resorts were switched from II to RCI?

 

[lpizzuro123]

Don't know but am so disapointed. One of the reason we bought our Cape Cod timeshare (II) was at the time being able to swap into Disney. We only did it twice but was worth it. Now I am thinking of selling our Cape Cod timeshare and purchase a Disney one.

Linda

 

[danjoan14]

We owned on the Cape, which was through RCI, and sold it to our friends. We now own in Orlando, which is through II. Being able to exchange through II for the Disney resorts was one of the reasons why we bought in Orlando.

 

[siobhan1997]

Currently there are (3) 2 bedroom units available for November for RCI exchange. If you cannot see them now you do not have enough trade power to exchange into them.

 

[ahill004]

siobhan1997 - father-in-law said he put in a "search" for two separate weeks in November (the second and third). He says he will get emails or calls if something comes up? Does that sound right? He said that is how he finds out if something comes available? I am so confused.

 

[siobhan1997]

By all accounts if you already have an ongoing search in place and these units became available and the trade power is very high to pull them, then they would have first been allocated to ongoing searches by RCI members first.

 

[Brian Noble]

RCI has been taking a lot of the DVC inventory and renting the reservations

If you look carefully, you will notice that the rental inventory is actually through WDTC, not Member Services---you use WDTC's web site to arrange for Magical Express on rentals, but call Member Services to do so for exchanges.

Member-owned and Disney-controlled inventory are managed completely separately with DVC resorts. So, in this case at least, RCI isn't renting out member deposits, but acting as a rental outlet for WDTC for breakage inventory (the RD## codes) and, I suspect, inventory that Members have used for "internal" exchanges to DCL, the Disney Collection, etc. (the DV## codes).

The DV## rental pricing is usually only a bit better than rack, but the RD## prices can often be decent. Plus, RCI will act as a front for most of the promotions Disney is offering on DVC inventory, but you have to call, and there's usually no real advantage. Every once in a while RCI members will get a slightly sweeter deal---they recently got buy 3-get 7 during the period when Disney was offering buy 4-get 7, for instance.

 

[ccgirl]

This can be confusing. I have been a timeshare owner for 10+ years and almost exclusively always trade. Like the PP stated, she sees the exchange weeks for November because her week is probably more in demand than your in-laws. Unfortunately, I can tell you that Williamsburg is not extremely high in demand. Does he own a fixed week? Meaning..the same week every year? The week of the year you are searching against also comes into play. I also booked my DVC exchange 11 months out. I had so many choices it was unbelievable. Again, I never heard of trading for a unit that is higher than yours because of VIP status. I thought with VIP status you could purchase extra vacactions at a discounted rate??? You could check into renting points as well. Staying off site isn't all bad though. I usually stay off site and enjoy it. If you could be more specific as to exactly what resort in Williiamsburg and what week he has banked I can definitely help you more.

 

[ahill004]

ccgirl -
Ok here is what I understand from talking with him. He doesn't own a specific week. He has 6 weeks a year to use. Williamsburg is his home resort but they never use it. His VIP status gives him a couple benefits - the one most used is an automatic upgrade to a 2 bedroom unit (for no additional charge).

He says he put in a search for three different possible weeks (the 2nd and 3rd week of Nov. and the week of Sept. 11th -18th) and now has to wait and see what pops up. I know when he called yesterday, though, the lady on the phone had a week in August (not a possibility for me) available for trade. Does he need to continue to call in person or will the search he entered do the same thing? She also suggested that the DVC inventory can be a last minute thing.

 

[ccgirl]

Sounds like he has floating weeks. Has he already deposited one of those weeks? Weeks are assigned colors according to demand. DVC is red all year round. Williamsburg is not red all year round, only in the summer. This means that unless he is searching against a summer week nothing will ever come up. Before you search, you need to have been assigned and deposited a week. If they don't see anything now, chances are not good I'm afraid. As I said, when I searched I saw MANY options in every month. Can he go online to search? I seem to have better luck with that than talking to someone at RCI. If you can tell me the specific resort, I can tell you what weeks would have had to have been deposited for your best shot. Unfortuantely, Williamsburg doesn't have super trading power.