# Orange Lake no longer available on Last Call or Bonus Vacations?



## #1 Vacationer (Jan 18, 2008)

I visited OLCC in the spring and did the wonderful timeshare meeting and I told the salesperson why would I want to buy a timeshare here when I can get a unit for under $400/wk on last call or bonus?  She told me that OLCC is no longer with RCI and promoting with another company?  
Does anyone know more about this?  I sure do miss seeing OLCC in the deal section!


----------



## matbec (Jan 18, 2008)

I'd be surprised if that were the case. While I can't see any in Last Call, I can see extra vacations for Orange Lake well into Feb 2009. Some of the pricing may not be as low as I've seen before but you can still get a week there. In fact for early 2009, I can see extra vacations for all four villages at Orange Lake.


----------



## mshatty (Jan 18, 2008)

There are still lots of Orange Lake exchanges still available in RCI Weeks for 2008 and 2009.  

The person you spoke to seems to be misinformed.


----------



## riverdees05 (Jan 18, 2008)

They do have their own point system that they are selling, so the person could be referring to it.


----------



## gjw007 (Jan 19, 2008)

riverdees05 said:


> They do have their own point system that they are selling, so the person could be referring to it.



Probably but still as part of this system, it uses RCI Points for external exchanges.  It is still associated with RCI but the emphasis is placed on internal exchanges.  OLCC is still available through RCI.


----------



## JLB (Jan 19, 2008)

Orange Lake's West Village (#0670) 10  available units  
2 BR (8 max)
Studio (4 max)
Check-In Date Range 
05/02/2008 - 05/18/2008
Price Range:
$399.99 - $639.99 USD  
- - - - - - 

So far these threats seem to be much-to-do about nothing, just typical Orlando mega-resort sales department saber-rattling, to encourage you to part with your money.

OL sales likes to brag about what they bring to RCI the same as Wastegate sales likes to brag about what they bring to II, as if their affiliation is what keeps those exchange companies afloat.

Sure, there have been suggestions that OLCC would like to go it on their own for years.  I have heard it for nearly 20 years, now.  Maybe, someday they will.  Maybe, someday, they will be able to offer on their own, through a network of affiliations that they are just now beginning to develop, what RCI has been making available to their owners from the git-go.

But, for now, it is clear that affiliation with RCI is a benefit that OL owners need and prefer, the same as II is an affiliation Wastegate needs and prefers.  At this point, without a major exchange company either resort would be in sad shape.


----------



## Dori (Jan 19, 2008)

On the same note, while in Branson this fall, we were told by a Sales person that as of December 31 of 2007, RCI was abolishing weeks and if you didn't have points, your weeks would be worthless1

Oh what a tangled web they weave...!

Dori


----------



## JLB (Jan 19, 2008)

OK, here's how the Internet works.

If one were to google _RCI abolishing Weeks_, you could probably find your post, thus confirming it, since it was said on the Internet.


----------



## timeos2 (Jan 19, 2008)

gjw007 said:


> Probably but still as part of this system, it uses RCI Points for external exchanges.  It is still associated with RCI but the emphasis is placed on internal exchanges.  OLCC is still available through RCI.



Since OLCC is still a very active RCI affiliate, despite now pushing points over weeks,  it is unlikely the inventory will dry up anytime soon.  Just to give you an idea of how long the "old" hangs on Westgate dropped RCI in 1995-6 and yet, to this day, it is readily available as an RCI exchange.  Despite what sales weasels may say nothing changes quickly in timesharing and once a resort, especially a mega resort like OLCC or Westgate, is affiliated with an exchange group they are pretty much going to be there for the duration.  It is the owners, not the resort, that gets to choose who gets the deposit and that tends not to change much.


----------



## DianeV (Jan 19, 2008)

Oh if I only kept track of how many sales people told me I wouldnt be able to get their resort as an exchange soon!  :annoyed:


----------



## gjw007 (Jan 19, 2008)

As the responses have shown, be wary of what timeshare sales people have to say.


----------



## mgard (Jan 20, 2008)

*Scam*

I remember sales people telling us you could only stay at River Island if you own there. So much for that.


----------



## timetraveler (Jan 20, 2008)

mgard said:


> I remember sales people telling us you could only stay at River Island if you own there. So much for that.



for the time being....if you are an OL owner.....and you don't own in RI...that is still a true statement....meaning you cannot stay in RI.

Once all of the villages are split (2009) things may change.


----------



## tombo (Jan 20, 2008)

I haven't heard about the villages being split in 2009. What changes will this make to OLCC ownership? I have been activelly searching for a good summer week resale. After the split will there be advantages to owning in one section over the other and what will the advantages be?


----------



## timetraveler (Jan 20, 2008)

Tombo, all 4 villages now have their own RCI ID #.   Thru the remainder of 2008 the West Village covers everything but River Island.  

Beginning in 2009, it will change to the West Village, the North Village, The East Village and River Island. Owners will continue to have unlimited access to all amenities thru out the resort, regardless of what village it is in.

I own in multiple villages of the resort.  I do not own in River Island.  If there was a significant advantage in owning in it over the other villages...I would own in it as well.  

That said.....there certainly are owners that have traded their existing units in and bought into RI, and there are owners that just added to their existing OL inventory by adding a RI unit.  Each for their own reasons.


----------



## slabeaume (Jan 20, 2008)

When River Island was being built, the OLCC sales people told us that if you weren't staying in River Island, then you couldn't use that pool section.  Was that another of their lies?


----------



## tombo (Jan 20, 2008)

Thanks Vickie. I am still looking for a good summer week in any section. Since you own at several section do you have a favorite (besides River Island) if you could only own one?

Thanks, Tom


----------



## matbec (Jan 20, 2008)

slabeaume said:


> When River Island was being built, the OLCC sales people told us that if you weren't staying in River Island, then you couldn't use that pool section.  Was that another of their lies?



We stayed at OLCC last March (Tennis villas the first week, East Village the second week) and we used River Island's pool several times during our stay. Use of the facilities is not restricted as far as we could tell.


----------



## gjw007 (Jan 21, 2008)

slabeaume said:


> When River Island was being built, the OLCC sales people told us that if you weren't staying in River Island, then you couldn't use that pool section.  Was that another of their lies?



I was never told that; only that if you didn't own at RI you couldn't exchange into RI.  The first users of the RI units were not owners, such as myself, but exchangers.  I have never heard a comment that you couldn't use the RI pool if you weren't an owner.  This doesn't make sense given the fact that the onsite transportation provides transportation to RI and the parking lot for non-RI users to use.  When staying at a non-RI unit, I have used the pool at RI numerous times.  A sales person who told you that you couldn't use RI pools was lying.  I hope they are no longer at OLCC.


----------



## timetraveler (Jan 21, 2008)

tombo said:


> Thanks Vickie. I am still looking for a good summer week in any section. Since you own at several section do you have a favorite (besides River Island) if you could only own one?
> 
> Thanks, Tom



For us, the answer would be the North Village.   

The West Village amenity complex is extremely busy with lots of families with small children.   So if you fit in that category, the West Village is a great choice.    

Of course, you could still purchase in the West Village and head over to Splash Lagoon (in the North Village) if you prefer a more quiet environment.  It's a beautiful pool complex.

So it really just depends on your activity level.

The East Village is the most quiet and sedate of the 4 villages.  

Hope that helps you some, Tom.


----------



## jbuzzy11 (Jan 22, 2008)

I have stayed in all the villages and I have to be honest if you are going to buy resale the east village is a GREAT deal, all the units have been built in the last few years and you are as close to River Island as you can get, we got our 2 bedroom week 3 in the east village for $1400 + closing. Im so happy with it. I search online on RCI for internal trades back into the East village and see so many 2 and 3 bedrooms at different times of the year. I have already traded back into a 3 bedroom for Aug 08 and May 09. Another good thing with OLCC is you can deposit  without paying your MF's.


----------



## timetraveler (Jan 22, 2008)

It's true, the East Village sits closest to RI.   But you need to like staying in a 6 story building, with people all around you.  Riding elevators or taking stairs multiple times per day...depending on your activity level.    I thought I'd better let Tom know that regarding the East Village units.

And as far as interior...the East Village units are the oldest.  The North Village units were redone within the last year.  The tennis villa units were redone 2 years ago.

The North Village units are only 2 story buildings.  You park right outside your unit.   

All the west village golf villas are single story buildings with the exception of a few 2 story buildings.   The West Village also includes the "high rises" of Southern Magnolia Court (OL's term), and the tennis villas, (also OL's term).


----------



## jbuzzy11 (Jan 22, 2008)

we were going to stay in the north village and checked out a unit, it was old looking and run down and a little tough on the eyes (blue all over) Are you sure the East village is the oldest?  they just completed the last of the highrises a few years back. I do agree lots of stairs and elevaitors but we like the big buildings and you can see the fireworks at disney each night.


----------



## timetraveler (Jan 22, 2008)

yes Jbuzzy.  The entire North Village completed it's soft goods rennovation last year.   New carpeting, drapes, bedding, linens, paint, furniture and decorator tips, ie. pictures, silk arrangements, etc.

The East Village was completed over 5 years ago.  All those units have the original furnishings.


----------



## gjw007 (Jan 22, 2008)

The newest buildings at OLCC are in the East Village as OLCC is still actively building in that section.  The North Village was built in the 1999 - 2001 time frame so the 6 years 'soft' renovation should have been done within the last couple years.  As Vickie notes, the last should have been done last year.  Since the East Village started in the 2000/2001 time frame, but with new building built up to the present, there is a variation of when the 'soft' renovation has or will occur depending on when the building was built.  Some of the original buildings should have been done in 2007 but others still need to be done.  The East Village should have some buildings where the 'soft' renovation was done, those about to get the 'soft' renovation, and then there are the new buildings that have came online which won't be scheduled for these for another 5 or 6 years.  The North Village was built in a relatively short period of time so the renovations should also occur in a short time period for the entire area but the buildings in the East Village will have the renovations done at different times depending on when the building was built.


----------



## timetraveler (Jan 22, 2008)

Yep Gary, the North Village is completely done.  I don't have a timeline on the East Village schedule for our Type A rennovation.....but I would think by next year they will be starting it on the original 8 buildings that went up.


----------



## Peter J (Jan 23, 2008)

jbuzzy11 said:


> Another good thing with OLCC is you can deposit  without paying your MF's.



With RCI, yes. Not, however, with RedWeek who do require m/f's paid in advance. Not sure about the other exchange companies.


----------



## JLB (Jan 23, 2008)

As OLCC is the largest timeshare campus in the world, just about everyone in timesharing has heard of OL, so there have been beaucoup discussions about it here, with several conversation about which Village different folks prefer.

Those discussions are available using the Search feature.

As might be expected, there are those who prefer each of the Villages.

Objectively reading through the various discussions you can see the pluses and minuses of each village.  Each village is representative of the architectural style of the era in which it was built. 

We have stayed at OL several times, in 3 bedroom units.  Just trying to remember the order, I believe the last four were EV, EV, NV, EV.  To approximate the dates, the first EV stay only the units to the left of the Legends Clubhouse were completed.  So, the unit, building (86100), road, poolplex, etc., was pretty new.  The second EV stay the units passed the Legends Clubhouse had just begun.  Then, our NV stay would have been when the interiors were getting pretty old.  Then our last EV stay, Christmas week a year ago, was in one of the first EV buildings again, so that interior would have been around awhile also.

Regardless of which 3-bedroom unit in which village and how old the interiors were, they were all absolutely fine.  We have never had any objection to any of the units.  I have posted several times that you could blindfold me and put me in one of them and unless I looked outside I couldn't tell you where I was.

As to noise, that created by folks above you, we have never found that to be objectionable at OL.  Because of the placing of units, stacking 3-bedroom units on top of each other, there were Occupancy 12 units above us, and the typical pitter patter of little feet anxious to see Mickey, Minnie, Goofie, Donald, Pluto, etc., has never bothered us.

Taller buildings have never bothered us.  Well, maybe a little.  We are not physical fitness nuts and probably would not go on 50-mile hikes even if JFK was still around (Although I would consider it . . . with JFK), but we do take stairs whenever possible.  Six floors is no big deal and I would do that before waiting for an elevator almost every time.

The one annoyance in the taller buildings is them dang-nab luggage cart hogs.  You know, the folks who grab one the night before checkout and take it to their unit, so they and no one else have one the following morning.  There is, or was, a shortage of those carts, only two per building.  I learned to pack and load what can be the night before.

In the North Village, that was not a problem, since, as has been reported, parking is in front of your unit and there are not a lot of floors.

Taller buildings is just something that is, and will be.  All of the newer resort buildings in Orlando are that way.  At OL, SMC, Tennis Villas, EV, and now RI.  Bonnet Creek is much taller buildings.  Vistana Villages, the new building at Westgate, and many other resorts, have found they can make more money, and pack more people into less land, by building up.

There is a very objectionable odor in the East Village when the wind is from the east.  It comes from Disney's (Reedy Creek) wastewater treatment plant.  We got it the last time, so that's one out of three, and others have reported it.  If you get it, you will know it, because it is overwhelming.   

Golf course maintenance noise, which starts about an hour before sunrise can be very annoying in the East Village and the North Village, especially if your unit is near a green, or two greens like our last one.  About the time my MIL quit snoring, the weedeaters, lowers, blowers, etc. started up. :annoyed: 

You can get that in some units in the West Village, too.

Traffic is less in the EV and NV, because they are not drive-throughs to get elsewhere.  In either village you can likely walk to the pools and each village has a golf course.  The NV is Legends Walk, a lighted Par 3 that stays open late.  I liked our NV unit because we could run out and putt between groups, or walk the fence line and pick up golf balls.  We're easy to entertain.   

Well, all this and more has been said before.  Take a look at some of the other discussions.


----------

