exchanging with rci?

[helens042266]

Hi, I am new to the board. This has been a very helpful site. My family (of 5) is going to Disney in June. A friend from work is letting me exchange 2 of her weeks from RCI. Does RCI usually have good places to stay? Since we are going to be there 2 weeeks, we need a resort with a lot of activities for the days we will not be at Disney. We have 3 kids: 16, 11, and 9. Any suggestions. How early should I book. ANY advice would be helpful!

 

[spiceycat]

start looking now - you are late for next year

Hilton Grand Vacation Club - HGVC at SW and ID
Sheraton Vistana resort or Villages
Orange Lake

now closer to WDW but with less to do
Cypress Pointe (both sections) DD side
Silver Lake - AK side (very close to AKL)
Bryan's Spanish Cove

 

[treesinger]

start looking now - you are late for next year

Hilton Grand Vacation Club - HGVC at SW and ID
Sheraton Vistana resort or Villages
Orange Lake

now closer to WDW but with less to do
Cypress Pointe (both sections) DD side
Silver Lake - AK side (very close to AKL)
Bryan's Spanish Cove

Just thought I'd say ITA on every point there. Also, I really liked Celebration World Resort though some others think sound travels a little too easy there.

I can tell you one thing though. Celebration is a fantastic place to ride out a hurricane (Frances) if you have to. Very strong!

 

[spiceycat]

I love Celebration World Resort - but I have a pet, Spicey.

people without pets don't seem to appreciate it as much.

and thanks for the hurricane my brother and his family will be there next week.

we will be at OL.

 

[alisonbestford]

Hi there
We exchanged, with RCI, a couple of years ago and stayed one week at Silver Lake, in a 2 bed apt, and 1 week at Bryan's Spanish cove.
Both great places IMHO .

This year we've exchanged for a week at 'Fortune Villas' and one at New Smyrna beach.
We're travelling in March / April and I made the arrangements about 2 months ago.
There wasn't an awful lot of availability but I think that was more as a result of it being Spring Break / Easter period .

Enjoy your stay.

 

[Sumac]

Over the years we have stayed at:

Vistana Resort
Orange Lake Country Club
Hilton Grand Vacations Club
Sunterra Polynesian Isle
Vacation Village at Parkway
Cypress Pointe Resort

We have enjoyed all of the places. They all have things about them that are good. Location - I liked Vistana or Orange Lake. Amenities - Hilton Grand Vacations Club, Vacation Village, Vistana or Orange Lake. Cypress Pointe we enjoyed the pool, as we did at Polynesian Isle.

 

[holdem]

if it's rci weeks you better take anything you can get.

 

[gjw007]

It is easy to exchange into Orlando using RCI. As mentioned by several others, there are a variety of very nice timeshares in Orlando. I would try to exchange into a Gold Crown resort as a general rule. I haven't stayed at all the resorts, but as you are looking for resorts with lots of onsite activities, of the resorts that I've been to, I would look closely at Orange Lake (I own here) and Vistana Resort (stayed in the Fountains II area) as both resorts have lots of activities. Orange Lake (OLCC) is opening in late April a new 12-acre recreation area called River Island which includes a lazy river. The downside is that since OLCC is so big, you will either have to take the resort shuttle (they have 23 shuttles for onsite) or drive to most of the recreation areas unless you are lucky enough to be near one (the resort was centered on golf and not the recreation centers so it tends to be big and spread out). Vistana Resort, while not offerring the vast array of activities of OLCC such as boating, kayaking, etc.), also has plenty of onsite activities.

The Orlando area is blessed with many nice timeshares but many only have a pool or activities such as Bingo for onsite activities. Orange Lake's URL is www.orangelake.com. Vistana's URL is http://www.starwoodvo.com/resorts/welcome.jsp?resortID=5. I would look at some others as well. Many of the resorts will have supporters and distractors. You may also wish to use TUG as a reference. Its URL is www.tug2.net.