Hotels And Rci Time-share Question

[SNOWBOARDER]

My parents have owned an RCI time-share for years, and they're always offering us a week. This year we may finally take 'em up on it, down at the World! We really prefer to stay on-site, but are willing to sacrifice a little magic for free accomodations. Believe me it was no small task, getting my wife, CMFrannie,(she who lives and breathes Disney), to agree to this. Actually, hers was a "conditional" surrender. We can only stay off-site if the RCI property is within a 15minute drive, otherwise, it's off to the All-Stars we go! I look at it as a "win-win" situation. We love the All-Stars, and we love saving $$$. Has anyone stayed at any of the properties, that RCI has to offer, in the Orlando/Lake Buena Vista area? My wife swears that she saw either the Swan, or the Dolphin, in the catalog. I won't have a chance to look at the RCI catalog 'til we visit my folks,(who live out of town), in a week and curiosity is killin' me!!! If anyone has used RCI, I would appreciate any tips, suggestions, comments etc. Thanks!!!!!

 

[lawgs]

the sheraton vistana and villages (newer) are close to disney and seem to have availability...and would not be a long drive to get to downtown disney ...then on to...other places within disney

orange lake is also nice but on i-192 down from the main entrance to disney

do not know much about the other resorts there......

there was a time when if you owned at an orlando timeshare you could not trade into orlando.....but we have found availability in our recent checks even though we own at orange lake at christmas....we want to stay at one of the sheratons sometime just to compare....(exchange rate is the same regardless if you do an internal or external )

as long as the resort is a gold crown ( if you have that power of trade) you should not be disappointed...

 

[ripleysmom]

SilverLake Resort is also a RCI Gold Crown resort and it is pretty close to WDW. Good Luck!!

 

[SNOWBOARDER]

Thanks Everyone! Same question for ripleysmom and lawgs: Are the places that you mention within 15minutes, of WDW? Thanks,again!!

 

[Disney Fool]

Both Vistanas are no more than 10 minutes away, if that. The one located on International Drive is at the end of the drive. You only have to take a right, go through one set of lights and you're there! Going back is another story.

 

[lawgs]

silver lake and orange lake are "out" the same way on i192...on a good day it would take 15-20 minutes....however, there has been some construction going on, slowing down travel on this section...

we are going this weekend to orange lake so will report back how the "construction" is

vistana villages is a relatively new timeshare....and since sheraton has taken it over...(starwood) ....it should be top notch


we stayed at desert oasis in scottsdale which had just been taken over by sheraton.....and we were very pleased with the accomodations.....with one exception.....the new fangled all-in-one washer/dryer was a pain in the butt....thank goodness we had access to the washer/dryer in the lock off unit......it was one of those stacked washer/dryers

 

[jenelise]

We've stayed at the Vistana Resort and Orange Lake CC through RCI swaps. We were very happy with both. In October we will try the Sunterra Cypress Point resort in Lake Buena Vista which is walking distance to Downtown Disney. With three children 6 and under, we wouldn't do it any other way. Someday DH and I will go on our own, then I'd love to stay at the Yacht or Beach Club.

 

[jtryan]

We have stayed at Vistana Resort and we felt we were very close to all the WDW attractions. We were also given this week for free by my mom who owns in RCI. For our upcoming December trip, we will be staying at the Vistana Villages on I-Drive and and all the info we have read on it looks like it is only a few minutes further out. Whatever you decide, have a great time - I know we will!!

 

[ArithaL]

I own at the Embassy Grand Beach Resort and it is about 10 minutes from the parks. It is affiliated with RCI and is a Gold Crown, although it is not on property I always stay there when I go to WDW. About the Swan and Dolphin I've never seen them in my RCI book, My good friend owns a disney timeshare and disney is part of Interval which is RCI's competitor. This means that you must own an interval property to exchange into disney property. Even if you own a Gold Crown RCI property you cannot exchange into Disney property. Hope this information helps and if you need more info email me and I can go into detail.

 

[mrsstats]

You can go to www.rci.com and look at their directory

 

[MisterPat]

We've stayed at several. Orange Lake is great, not too far. Summer bay is fairly new and nice. Westgate (not Westgate Lakes) is older but nice...and close. Vistana is wonderful and the closest. My favorite for room and pool area is Hilton Grand Vacations which is near Sea World. Taking south end of I-Drive, it took 10 minutes to walk into MGM. I took DD back for nap and from the time I got into the car to when I walked into MGM was 10 minutes.

The only one that was awful, despite the Gold Crown rating, was Silver Lake. The room was old and musty, the additional sleeping was a Murphy Bed in the dining area and the amenities are very "cheap hotel" in nature. I was so disgusted that I complained to RCI and they stated that the Gold Crown rating was based on their development plan. I doubt that it has changed much in two years.

Bottom line Vistana is you can get it! My second choice would be Hilton Grand Vacations based on location.

Oh, by the way, we also are DVC owners and love staying onsite. But these offsite resorts are great and not as "touristy" as the BWV. You will enjoy them, despite being off-property.

 

[lawgs]

mister pat....

funny how rci stresses that only the best get "Gold Crown" rating from the "ratings" that people give the resorts..

also thought some where that they "checked" the resorts to see if they were up to par...from what you said.....all a timeshare has to do is "have a good development" plan and they get that "coveted" gold crown rating.....guess the plaque on the wall is sorta HOLLOW unless they really do live up to the standards...

anyhow, me thinks rci is more self serving than serving its"clientele".....eg with "spacebanking" not everyone is on equal footing "even if" you jump through all the hoops they ask you to...methinks they sometimes play games with "availability"....so i appreciate being able to use the website to "choose" what we want

 

[all4fun]

We used it to stay at Mariott's Sabal palms five years ago.

It was very nice - Had a hot tub in the master suite, full kitchen, large dining room, another bedroom, and had a nice screened-in porch that overlooked a little creek and the golf course there.

Here's a link to RCI's info on the resort:

http://www.rci.com/CDA/Resort_Direc...list=1&first_resort_id=450&end_resort_id=6315

We really enjoyed the location. Once you get out of the mariott parking area, you take a right and go 2 miles. The you see "Welcome to Walt Disney World"

Hope you enjoy your trip as much as we did!

 

[Melynny]

I have a 2 br at Sunterra's Cypress Pointe Grand Villas next week. I'll post a report about it here..

 

[WDWNewbie]

A lot will depend on what they are using to exchange!! If they don't have a desirable week for exchange you mayl have trouble getting exactly what you want. I think Cypress Pointe, and Cypress Pointe Grandevillas are closest, followed by Vistana. If you pick Vistana, get a Friday or Sunday checkin, as I have heard there are some older, less desirable units in the 'courts' section, but all are Saturday checkins. I can also tell you that the dolphin and swan are definitely not options!! We have stayed in timeshares for our last 7 trips. You can tell your wife this will be no sacrifice!! They average a 1200 - 1300 sq foot condo with full kitchen, jacuzzi, washer/dryer and usually have nice pool area and other activities. If you love it just DON"T buy one down there, as you can get one resale for a fraction of what they'll try and sell them for!! Enjoy!!

 

[Ecdubfan]

We own at Fairfield Cypress Palms, which I believe is gold crown. It is off of 192, but getting to Disney is pretty easy as you can avoid 192 all together. I think it took us about 10 mins to get to EPCOT. The rooms are pretty new with the hut tubs, et al. The grounds are not lush; but, then again, when you spend all of your time at Disney...

 

[StilesMom]

My in-laws are RCI and Fairfield owners and we usually vacation with them. One thing to remember is to request your vacation dates ASAP!! My MIL is able to book 10 months in advance and tried to request Cypress Palms for next May but the week was already booked for a 2-bedroom unit. Her second choice was for Fairfield Star Island - which we were able to get with no problem. If you try to book too late you may not get the location you want. Keep that in mind.