RCI for DVC Villas?

[_auroraborealis_]

You cannot feed the giraffes, and if seen doing it (and they have a lot of security cameras) you are kicked off property. Thou shalt not mess with animal health.

The giraffes really can't get that close to a balcony anyway.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

if not for this trip maybe the 2019 bday Disney land park for my dh, and stay at the Grand.

There is 0% chance you will be able to trade RCI for the Grand Californian.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

She had been doing research on time shares for a while. She is one of those ppl who look into things very carefully. She is the only reason I have gotten better in the housewife kind of things and ways. She's taught me a lot. I know she didn't just jump into this. They bought into one in Las Vegas. She just retired and has an Idea what she wants to do so she decided that this one met all her goals. It just happened she spoke of wdw because she knows our plans. She did tell me a lot of things had to go right to use it this time. She may or may not be able to make it work for our trip. I did come here because I was unsure it even worked. I appreciate all the advice and if it were my money buying it I'd had bought dvc but they aren't Disney fanatics like me so she chose the one that worked the best for her family. She also put our names and another family member on it too so we can use it. if not for this trip maybe the 2019 bday Disney land park for my dh, and stay at the Grand. I was doing math of tickets and my hotel vs the fees and stuff and because of the awesome deal I did get it may not be worth the stress to push hard. I will wait and see what comes of it but now just planning pop. I will not tell her to cancel because of the other reasons she got this. It wasn't meant for Disney but if you plan right it can be used. will that work this dec more than likely not.

Just plan your normal stay for DL. Trading into Disneyland is not going to happen.

And I agree that timeshare sales person lied about things they did at WDW in a continued effort to finalize the sale. They do not allow guests to feed the giraffe.

You might share the info you found out about trading into WDW with your MIL just because it may be having some subtle influence on her thought process of the RCI purchase. It may not but having more info never hurts. It's not telling her to cancel but all info is important. Trade power, actual experience etc.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

ok correction about the animals. The guy's granddaughter was saying she wanted to stay at animal kingdom resort, where she could feed the animal. I am betting the little girl didn't know the rules. I would not think you can feed them but a little girl looking out seeing the animals out her window I could see where she got the idea. LOL

I did tell her it looks to be pretty unlikely to get for wdw this year.

 

[got4boys]

Another option which is on Walt Disney World grounds is Wyndham Bonnet Creek - not owned by Disney. (Next to Caribbean Beach Resort and around the corner from Downtown Disney). You would still have to pay for the Disney parking fee, do not access the Disney Magic Extra Hours and Magic Bands. It is an easier trade via RCI to get into there. Deposits of them are usually available 7 months out. It is a good back up if you do not get Disney Vacation Club villas.

 

[Deb & Bill]

You might even book one of the HGVC resorts - Tuscany, Sea World or Parc Soleil using RCI.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

Another option which is on Walt Disney World grounds is Wyndham Bonnet Creek - not owned by Disney. (Next to Caribbean Beach Resort and around the corner from Downtown Disney). You would still have to pay for the Disney parking fee, do not access the Disney Magic Extra Hours and Magic Bands. It is an easier trade via RCI to get into there. Deposits of them are usually available 7 months out. It is a good back up if you do not get Disney Vacation Club villas.

Thank you, this may work if they decied to go with us. We would stay where we are staying and they could stay there maybe.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

You might even book one of the HGVC resorts - Tuscany, Sea World or Parc Soleil using RCI.

Thank you for that information I did not even think about those.

 

[Dean]

Thank you for that information I did not even think about those.

The top RCI options for Orlando outside of DVC are the 3 Hiltons, The Fountains, Oasis at the Fountains, Bonnet Creek and Cypress Harbour. There's no harm in listing the DVC options but as noted, almost certainly it'll be SSR 1 BR and nothing else with a small chance at OKW or AKV 1 BR. But there are other nice resorts as well. Some of these have 3 BR that are truly possible with planning.

 

[littlestar]

Your mother-in-law should have access to RCI's Extra Vacations and Last Calls, which are cash deals for seven night stays. RCI also has sales every once in a while for $199 to $249 for weekly stays. I just booked a September seven night stay in a 2 bedroom at Bluegreen's The Fountains resort on International Drive for $249. Wyndham Bonnet Creek comes up on Extra Vacations for usually around $500 for a week in a two bedroom.

For our September trip I also have a trade request through RCI for a one bedroom DVC unit. We have a family group traveling at the same time so part of us will be at The Fountains (via the $249 deal) and part at Disney onsite which will probably be Saratoga.

 

[Brian Noble]

the 3 Hiltons, The Fountains, Oasis at the Fountains, Bonnet Creek and Cypress Harbour.

We've done Bonnet Creek a few times, and HGVC Sea World. The former is a great choice for a Disney-oriented vacation. We used HGVC-SW as our base for a Sea World + Universal week, and it was great.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

Thanks, littlestar that gives me some slim hope. It looks like a lot of cool options.

 

[Cyberc1978]

Years ago (7 i think) we looked into buying into dvc. Saratoga springs was the one we almost got. I always hated that we couldn't do it but I know it was the right choice at that time. So if a dvc member deposits points from Saratoga Springs, is that the only Villa RCI lets you use? I saw the Epcot and animal kingdom areas were in the book she had.

Dvc decides which resorts to deposit, a DVC member just exchanges for something else with RCI. If the member uses akv points DVC could still deposit ssr units. Normally ssr, Okw and a few akv are deposited. If you are very very lucky and have a seasoned ongoing search with RCI you might get bcc or BWV.

the ppl were telling her she could get a 2 bedroom for a week and they got it for other things that she wanted, She just happened to mention about wdw and the ppl were going on and on about how they were at the animal villa and his granddaughter fed the giraffes and another talked about staying in the epcot center. the book names about 6 villas and two resorts.

You won't get a 2br villa, if you are lucky you will get a 1Br with savanna view.

There is 0% chance you will be able to trade RCI for the Grand Californian.

0% might be too high in this case

 

[kanga5roos]

You might even book one of the HGVC resorts - Tuscany, Sea World or Parc Soleil using RCI.

We are HGVC owners and we LOVE Tuscany. It quiet and relaxed - she would likely love it there.

 

[Shellyred8]

I lucked into an SSR 1br through RCI once. But that's definitely an exception to the rule. Any time that I've really been looking for WDW through RCI it's never available.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

We've spoken and we could have tried but it has been decided not to. We will use it for the other things that they have been talking about. However our next Disney trips we might check into it since she will have it by then and all ready to use. We have other places we wanted to try and go for a few days between Disney trips. So this can be used there. Thanks everyone for the information.

 

[Firepath]

We just got back last week from a trip which included a 1 week RCI exchange at Saratoga in a 1 BR Grandstand using another timeshare, and added on 3 days at BWV 1 BR standard using our DVC points. I originally had the entire trip booked using our DVC points and set up an ongoing search thru RCI. When the exchange came through about 35 days before our trip, I was able to cancel the first week DVC and go with the RCI exchange. With exchange fees and the Disney fees, I think it was about $500 for the week (approx). We used Magical Express and could've gotten dining plan and magic bands but opted not to. It's definitely not as simple as booking through DVC. It involved a few phone calls to get everything set up, to retrieve the reservation # to enter in MDE, and to change the DVC reservation. There's the stress of "if" you'll lose your FP+ selections (we didn't) and you won't see the RCI reservation in your DVC account, but can in MDE. It's not a sure thing if you'll even get anything on property. I probably wouldn't intentionally purchase another timeshare to exchange into DVC, but in conjunction with our DVC points it has worked for us. We've also used it to stay at Bonnet Creek which is very nice but necessary to have a car. I have seen OKW and AKV occasionally pop up through RCI, VWL once, and BWV once, and have noticed they usually show up very late at night (midnight-ish) and almost always are gone by morning. I should add that I think our other timeshare has good trading power so that could make a big difference.

 

[kanga5roos]

We just got back last week from a trip which included a 1 week RCI exchange at Saratoga in a 1 BR Grandstand using another timeshare, and added on 3 days at BWV 1 BR standard using our DVC points. I originally had the entire trip booked using our DVC points and set up an ongoing search thru RCI. When the exchange came through about 35 days before our trip, I was able to cancel the first week DVC and go with the RCI exchange. With exchange fees and the Disney fees, I think it was about $500 for the week (approx). We used Magical Express and could've gotten dining plan and magic bands but opted not to. It's definitely not as simple as booking through DVC. It involved a few phone calls to get everything set up, to retrieve the reservation # to enter in MDE, and to change the DVC reservation. There's the stress of "if" you'll lose your FP+ selections (we didn't) and you won't see the RCI reservation in your DVC account, but can in MDE. It's not a sure thing if you'll even get anything on property. I probably wouldn't intentionally purchase another timeshare to exchange into DVC, but in conjunction with our DVC points it has worked for us. We've also used it to stay at Bonnet Creek which is very nice but necessary to have a car. I have seen OKW and AKV occasionally pop up through RCI, VWL once, and BWV once, and have noticed they usually show up very late at night (midnight-ish) and almost always are gone by morning. I should add that I think our other timeshare has good trading power so that could make a big difference.

Quick question(s) re: once (if) you do manage to secure a Disney reservation through an RCI exchange --- so you are able to add dining (and tix, if necessary) to a reservation secured thru RCI? I assume you do it by calling Disney CRO with your reservation #? How do you get your Disney reservation number for a ressie made thru RCI? Who do you call to get that ressie #? Thanks!

 

[Dean]

Quick question(s) re: once (if) you do manage to secure a Disney reservation through an RCI exchange --- so you are able to add dining (and tix, if necessary) to a reservation secured thru RCI? I assume you do it by calling Disney CRO with your reservation #? How do you get your Disney reservation number for a ressie made thru RCI? Who do you call to get that ressie #? Thanks!

You are able to add dining, you can buy tickets independently. You call DVC MS directly to add the DP, get your DVC reservation # and for ME.

 

[Chuck S]

I would agree with this. Most timeshares do not hold their value (DVC would be an exception) and can be bought resale sometimes for free. But when it comes to timeshares, I have found that it can be very hard to convince someone they have made a mistake...believe me I've tried.

I'd never tell someone they made a mistake, it depends upon why they actually purchased it in the first place. For any timeshare, even DVC, the value is in the use of the timeshare. If the purchaser uses the timeshare regularly, chances are it is a good value for them. If the purchaser stops using the timeshare, or becomes bored with available locations, then it is time to sell...and hopefully whatever they sell for, plus the dues and fees they've paid, they've still come out cheaper than renting a similar accommodation.