# Anyone trade into Animal Kingdom recently?



## Carol C (Jul 14, 2018)

If so how many TPUs did you pay and for what size and what season? How often do they refurb the units there? Thx in advance for any intel!


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## Janann (Jul 14, 2018)

It has been a long time since anyone reported trading into Animal Kingdom.  The most likely trade these days is a one bedroom at Saratoga Springs.


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## sb2313 (Jul 14, 2018)

We traded into a 1 bedroom in August 2016 for a March 2017 check in. After that, I know there were some last minute units in January 2018 but I’m not sure if anyone has reported any since.


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## qwerty (Jul 15, 2018)

Janann said:


> It has been a long time since anyone reported trading into Animal Kingdom.  The most likely trade these days is a one bedroom at Saratoga Springs.


Except for Saratoga and an OKW twice, I have seen nothing else since 2016. From my experience, I believe that Disney is somehow able to keep anything else and rent them.


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## Jan M. (Jul 15, 2018)

With our RCI points we exchanged into Animal Kingdom Kidani Village in a one bedroom savanna view unit in April of 2017. And I saw these same units available in late August of last year too. Haven't been looking since then so can't say anything more recent.


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## mj2vacation (Jul 15, 2018)

RCI would kill to get more inventory.  I have to imagine that the robust rental market cuts into Members using RCI.  

We rented a few hundred points through David’s. Easy, and they wired a good chunk of money the next day. Well PayPal, but paypaled sounds odd.


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## Carol C (Jul 31, 2018)

Thanks for all the replies. It has been years since i exchanged into a studio there...back when it was an II exchange. I dont really like Orlando except for this one resort. I had such fun meeting up with other TUGgers and despite bitter cold temps that January. Oh well...i still have the memories. Thx for the update confirming difficulty with this trade.


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## famy27 (Aug 1, 2018)

Carol C said:


> Thanks for all the replies. It has been years since i exchanged into a studio there...back when it was an II exchange. I dont really like Orlando except for this one resort. I had such fun meeting up with other TUGgers and despite bitter cold temps that January. Oh well...i still have the memories. Thx for the update confirming difficulty with this trade.



I've traded in twice in January (2016 and 2017), both during MLK weekend. This was in the time period when AKV exchanges were pretty rare, so if there is any chance of getting it, I feel like January is probably the best bet.


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## sb2313 (Aug 1, 2018)

famy27 said:


> I've traded in twice in January (2016 and 2017), both during MLK weekend. This was in the time period when AKV exchanges were pretty rare, so if there is any chance of getting it, I feel like January is probably the best bet.


Previously, there would be loads of two bedroom akl weeks for Around 50,000 rci points or less in January. So I do agree if we were to see akl in rci, January would be a decent bet.


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## Jan M. (Aug 2, 2018)

sb2313 said:


> Previously, there would be loads of two bedroom akl weeks for Around 50,000 rci points or less in January. So I do agree if we were to see akl in rci, January would be a decent bet.



I haven't seen any two bedroom units at any of the Disney resorts in several years available in RCI points. Other people have reported the same thing. Some of us have speculated that they are all taken by ongoing searches so we never see them. But I can't remember anyone posting in quite a while that they booked a two bedroom unit at a Disney World resort either.


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## paxsarah (Aug 2, 2018)

famy27 said:


> I've traded in twice in January (2016 and 2017), both during MLK weekend. This was in the time period when AKV exchanges were pretty rare, so if there is any chance of getting it, I feel like January is probably the best bet.



I also matched AKV for check-in the first Friday in March 2017, which is just prior to the usual spring break rush. Unfortunately, by that point we had a commitment on Saturday elsewhere so we just stuck with our Sunday check-in at SSR.


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## Pooh bears mom (Oct 9, 2018)

As a DVC owner, it really is not worth trading into RCI.  The deals are better moving from RCI to DVC than the opposite.  In 2016, I traded 50 BCV points into DVC due to the fact that I could not use them, then I researched what I could get through RCI with the points.  Not much.  Will never do that again, will rent points out next time instead of trading them into RCI


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## TravelTime (Oct 9, 2018)

I think what could be happening is that AKL is getting more popular and attractive to DVC members and  for hotel rentals. AK is the best park now, IMO. It is my favorite park at WDW. I wish I would have purchased all my WDW points there.

We are at Aulani this week and it is sold out. It is so crowded. I imagine at some point, the prices to buy into Aulani will be going up. I was told that Aulani was large and had many DVC rooms but it seems small to me. I can’t believe how busy it is during off season. I love Ko Olina and Oahu. Glad I bought almost half our points at Aulani. I think we will keep this contract.


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## frank808 (Oct 9, 2018)

TravelTime said:


> I think what could be happening is that AKL is getting more popular and attractive to DVC members and  for hotel rentals. AK is the best park now, IMO. It is my favorite park at WDW. I wish I would have purchased all my WDW points there.
> 
> We are at Aulani this week and it is sold out. It is so crowded. I imagine at some point, the prices to buy into Aulani will be going up. I was told that Aulani was large and had many DVC rooms but it seems small to me. I can’t believe how busy it is during off season. I love Ko Olina and Oahu. Glad I bought almost half our points at Aulani. I think we will keep this contract.


It is also crowded because it is fall break for most oahu public schools. Also, it was Columbus day holiday yesterday making it a 3 day weekend for most people.  

Next week, Aulani would be a little less occupied.  I have to admit it was crazy at the Aulani pools yesterday and at the lagoon.  It was as crazy as the July 4th holidays that I have spent at Aulani.  In contrast it was pretty calm at Marriott Koolina yesterday.

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## TravelTime (Oct 9, 2018)

frank808 said:


> It is also crowded because it is fall break for most oahu public schools. Also, it was Columbus day holiday yesterday making it a 3 day weekend for most people.
> 
> Next week, Aulani would be a little less occupied.  I have to admit it was crazy at the Aulani pools yesterday and at the lagoon.  It was as crazy as the July 4th holidays that I have spent at Aulani.  In contrast it was pretty calm at Marriott Koolina yesterday.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk



Yes that is what I am finding. We stayed at MKO first and then moved here. It is night and day in terms of Aulani being super busy compared to MKO. There are not many school age kids here though. Most of the kids look very young.


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## Shankilicious (Apr 15, 2019)

I'm just trying to get info on an upcoming family Disney centered vacation and wanted to throw this out there. All day today, 4/15/19 on RCI there has been a 1BR unit available at Boulder Springs for Sept of 19, one 2BR at Old key West for Aug of 19, and there are currently 12 available from June to November of 19 in SSR including two, 2BR units. Just any fyi if anyone is checking on the likelihood of trading into Disney via RCI.


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## rhonda (Apr 15, 2019)

Shankilicious said:


> I'm just trying to get info on an upcoming family Disney centered vacation and wanted to throw this out there. All day today, 4/15/19 on RCI there has been a 1BR unit available at Boulder Springs for Sept of 19, one 2BR at Old key West for Aug of 19, and there are currently 12 available from June to November of 19 in SSR including two, 2BR units. Just any fyi if anyone is checking on the likelihood of trading into Disney via RCI.


Some of these sightings (which should be posted in the Sightings forum, btw) might be limited to your Welk portal or through RCI Points?  I'm seeing only 1BR SSR via my RCI Weeks Platinum account.


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## Shankilicious (Apr 15, 2019)

I've never used or looked at the sightings forum, my bad. And I only have access to RCI through my Welk portal. But that tells me something about Welk's access/privileges that I was curious about. Thanks!


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## Firepath (Apr 15, 2019)

It must be the Welk access. I didn't see them and I have weeks and points access. I'd sure grab those if I saw them!


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## Shankilicious (Apr 16, 2019)

They're off season a little and I'm out of points for this year lol! Plus I can't legally sell them if I can't use em..... Now there are more at OKW and SSR!
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




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## bnoble (Apr 16, 2019)

We've seen reports of the Welk portal seeing a 2BR before. Seems a little like the Aulani deposits that only were matching to Wyndham portals a few years ago. (That did not continue, AFAIK.)


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## Lisa P (Apr 16, 2019)

Shankilicious said:


>



What is the "P" that appears below the 1BR and 2BR icons, please? Priority Access?


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## Shankilicious (Apr 16, 2019)

Lisa P said:


> What is the "P" that appears below the 1BR and 2BR icons, please? Priority Access?


Yes, the "P" is for priority access. I don't know if Aulani ever pops up. Welk has some kind of agreement with Disney where they have access to some units at SSR, Boardwalk, and Aulani because higher tier members can book those resorts straight through the Welk Owners Lounge, without even accessing RCI. Of course that's based on availability and I can't see those because I only own 240k points, the first tier of ownership with legit benefits and Disney access requires buying 540k points directly from Welk.
Here's the Welk Collections list if anyone is curious: http://thecollection.welkresorts.com/locations/
As of now, Aulani isn't popping up for me but I put in an ongoing search just out of curiosity.


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## frank808 (Apr 16, 2019)

Shankilicious said:


> Yes, the "P" is for priority access. I don't know if Aulani ever pops up. Welk has some kind of agreement with Disney where they have access to some units at SSR, Boardwalk, and Aulani because higher tier members can book those resorts straight through the Welk Owners Lounge, without even accessing RCI. Of course that's based on availability and I can't see those because I only own 240k points, the first tier of ownership with legit benefits and Disney access requires buying 540k points directly from Welk.
> Here's the Welk Collections list if anyone is curious: http://thecollection.welkresorts.com/locations/
> As of now, Aulani isn't popping up for me but I put in an ongoing search just out of curiosity.


Just wondering what is the maintenance fee on 360,000 welk points?

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## Shankilicious (Apr 16, 2019)

360k would be around $1700 prolly. I'm paying $1400ish for 240k and I saw a chart for 2017 MF that had 540k for right around $2000. So somewhere in there. I'll call Owner Services later and see if they can give me the exact equation. I know there is a base rate and then it goes by amount of points owned. One would definitely pay less per night when buying more points if that makes sense. I know that doubling my points would not double my MF. But if you're seriously considering Welk or know someone who is, feel free to message me.


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## rickandcindy23 (Apr 16, 2019)

You have the inside track on those Boulder Ridge Villas.  I love that one.  I think it's Rick's favorite, too.  Love the boat to MK and the grounds.  It's gorgeous. There are actual deer roaming around, and they aren't animated!


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## Shankilicious (Apr 16, 2019)

Deer aren't that exciting for me. There are so many deer in Southern Illinois that they're on the verge of being listed as a nuisance so hunters can shoot an unlimited number of females.


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## Shankilicious (Apr 16, 2019)

frank808 said:


> Just wondering what is the maintenance fee on 360,000 welk points?
> 
> Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk


Frank, I just got the formula from Welk Owner Services as well as a whole chart. It's $703 initial fee and $0.00335 per point so 360k points is $1,909 this year. My fees have increased roughly 4% every year.


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## bizaro86 (Apr 16, 2019)

Shankilicious said:


> Yes, the "P" is for priority access. I don't know if Aulani ever pops up. Welk has some kind of agreement with Disney where they have access to some units at SSR, Boardwalk, and Aulani because higher tier members can book those resorts straight through the Welk Owners Lounge, without even accessing RCI. Of course that's based on availability and I can't see those because I only own 240k points, the first tier of ownership with legit benefits and Disney access requires buying 540k points directly from Welk.
> Here's the Welk Collections list if anyone is curious: http://thecollection.welkresorts.com/locations/
> As of now, Aulani isn't popping up for me but I put in an ongoing search just out of curiosity.



Are the collections resorts only developer purchasers? I would have thought the ones that are in the Welk Trust directly (ie Four Seasons) should be bookable by anyone who has an ownership interest in that trust.


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## Shankilicious (Apr 16, 2019)

bizaro86 said:


> Are the collections resorts only developer purchasers? I would have thought the ones that are in the Welk Trust directly (ie Four Seasons) should be bookable by anyone who has an ownership interest in that trust.


Nope. The Collections are available to any points owner, with the exception of the Disney properties. Quite possibly BECAUSE  Welk doesn't actually have any of those in the trust. 

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## frank808 (Apr 16, 2019)

Shankilicious said:


> Frank, I just got the formula from Welk Owner Services as well as a whole chart. It's $703 initial fee and $0.00335 per point so 360k points is $1,909 this year. My fees have increased roughly 4% every year.


Thanks for the research.  A comparable Aulani 1br using dvc points would be 322-434 dvc points.  So this is a great deal compared to renting DVC points if you want an ocean view.  As renting points from a broker would put you at $5400-$7400.  Are there any trade fees and what not to use the welk points?  One can only imagine what you would have paid welk direct to use those points for DVC.


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## Shankilicious (Apr 16, 2019)

frank808 said:


> Thanks for the research.  A comparable Aulani 1br using dvc points would be 322-434 dvc points.  So this is a great deal compared to renting DVC points if you want an ocean view.  As renting points from a broker would put you at $5400-$7400.  Are there any trade fees and what not to use the welk points?  One can only imagine what you would have paid welk direct to use those points for DVC.


No trade fees or guest certificates fees with Welk. From the developer, I paid near $40k for 240k points. You could prolly get 540k points for around $75k now if you really played it right. I'm sure some people have payed more than that. Some friends of mine just went to a preview in San Diego and they wanted $60k for 240k. But that was opening offer.

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## katiemarie312 (Apr 22, 2019)

Shankilicious said:


> 360k would be around $1700 prolly. I'm paying $1400ish for 240k and I saw a chart for 2017 MF that had 540k for right around $2000. So somewhere in there. I'll call Owner Services later and see if they can give me the exact equation. I know there is a base rate and then it goes by amount of points owned. One would definitely pay less per night when buying more points if that makes sense. I know that doubling my points would not double my MF. But if you're seriously considering Welk or know someone who is, feel free to message me.


I was considering a Welk timeshare (before reading some of these threads!) but was still interested in better understanding their Points Charts - it doesn't look like there is much variation between peak season (red) and off-peak (yellow) or what type of room you get, like I've seen in other timeshare points charts. In some cases, their resorts don't even distinguish between any seasons. Their website only gives access to the trial period points chart (https://welkresorts.com/wpd/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Trial-Ownership-Points-Matrix.pdf) - is there a different one once you are a member? And does it get more complicated where you would use more points to get a better view from your room?


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## Shankilicious (Apr 22, 2019)

I don't want to/didn't mean to hijack this thread. The only Welk resort that has a legitimate yellow season is Northstar in Lake Tahoe. As for view choices/room choices, when you book you can request a specific room or to be up high or in a certain building or whatever and that usually gets honored. I'll message you or anyone else who's curious about more Welk details.
I'll just say two more things. That's an older chart, as it doesn't have the three bedroom units for Branson. And in Branson and Cabo, all the rooms face the same direction. Cabo they are all ocean view. And in Branson they all face South-ish.


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## Caligirlfrtx (Apr 28, 2019)

Shankilicious said:


> I'm just trying to get info on an upcoming family Disney centered vacation and wanted to throw this out there. All day today, 4/15/19 on RCI there has been a 1BR unit available at Boulder Springs for Sept of 19, one 2BR at Old key West for Aug of 19, and there are currently 12 available from June to November of 19 in SSR including two, 2BR units. Just any fyi if anyone is checking on the likelihood of trading into Disney via RCI.


Wow! sorry I missed these! Did you find them using a certain code?


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## Shankilicious (Apr 28, 2019)

Caligirlfrtx said:


> Wow! sorry I missed these! Did you find them using a certain code?


No. Just a search through my Welk portal. I have not seen anything except SSR and OKW since

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## Caligirlfrtx (Apr 28, 2019)

Shankilicious said:


> No. Just a search through my Welk portal. I have not seen anything except SSR and OKW since
> 
> Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


Thanks for placing an interest in me for Welk resell, lol. Last thing I need is another TS, lol


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## Caligirlfrtx (Apr 28, 2019)

rhonda said:


> Some of these sightings (which should be posted in the Sightings forum, btw) might be limited to your Welk portal or through RCI Points?  I'm seeing only 1BR SSR via my RCI Weeks Platinum account.


Can you please direct me on how to find the sightings page? Thanks!


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## Shankilicious (Apr 28, 2019)

Caligirlfrtx said:


> Can you please direct me on how to find the sightings page? Thanks!


You have to be a paying member of TUG

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## rickandcindy23 (Apr 28, 2019)

Caligirlfrtx said:


> Can you please direct me on how to find the sightings page? Thanks!


If you are a member of TUG, you can see the Sightings/Distressed forum.  If you cannot see that page and are a member, I think you need to log in and out again to see it.  Not sure.  But it's for members only.


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## rickandcindy23 (Apr 28, 2019)

I would never pay money to a developer to get 2 bedrooms or Boulder Ridge from RCI.  I have way better things to spend my money on.  But if it works with a resale, I might find some interest.  Well, maybe not.  I am sick of chasing Disney exchanges.  It's a game i cannot play.  What a deal Welk worked out for owners, but probably not applicable to resale.  It's one resort system not Wyndham that they grabbed up and gave special access to inventory.  I know that it wouldn't probably apply to resale.


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## Shankilicious (Apr 28, 2019)

rickandcindy23 said:


> I would never pay money to a developer to get 2 bedrooms or Boulder Ridge from RCI.  I have way better things to spend my money on.  But if it works with a resale, I might find some interest.  Well, maybe not.  I am sick of chasing Disney exchanges.  It's a game i cannot play.  What a deal Welk worked out for owners, but probably not applicable to resale.  It's one resort system not Wyndham that they grabbed up and gave special access to inventory.  I know that it wouldn't probably apply to resale.


The exchanges I mentioned were through RCI. High level retail owners have a direct exchange to Disney Boardwalk, SSR, and Aulani. But you're prolly looking at close to $75k for that. That direct/internal exchange that does not go through RCI to just those three resorts is NOT available resale. What I posted that I saw on RCI is available resale.


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## Caligirlfrtx (Apr 28, 2019)

Shankilicious said:


> The exchanges I mentioned were through RCI. High level retail owners have a direct exchange to Disney Boardwalk, SSR, and Aulani. But you're prolly looking at close to $75k for that. That direct/internal exchange that does not go through RCI to just those three resorts is NOT available resale. What I posted that I saw on RCI is available resale.
> 
> 
> Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


Looks like I better stick to my HICV ownership, at least I got into SS @ Disney this year with it


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## Shankilicious (Apr 28, 2019)

Caligirlfrtx said:


> Looks like I better stick to my HICV ownership, at least I got into SS @ Disney this year with it


And I can book a 2BR at OKW right now or a 1BR at SSR. 

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## Firepath (Apr 28, 2019)

Shankilicious said:


> And I can book a 2BR at OKW right now or a 1BR at SSR.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


Wow that's fantastic. I have never seen any Disney 2 BR since I started looking in 2013. I think most of us are only seeing 1 BRs at SSR lately.


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## hyperjewl (Apr 29, 2019)

Shankilicious said:


> You have to be a paying member of TUG
> 
> Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


Where can paying members see the page?


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## OldGuy (Apr 29, 2019)

Just curious, what can others see through RCI?


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## rhonda (Apr 29, 2019)

hyperjewl said:


> Where can paying members see the page?


From the Forum List, scroll down to _the bottom of the page_ to find the Sightings/Distressed forum listed under a heading, "Private Forums."


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## JohnB3 (Apr 29, 2019)

Shankilicious said:


> No trade fees or guest certificates fees with Welk. From the developer, I paid near $40k for 240k points. You could prolly get 540k points for around $75k now if you really played it right. I'm sure some people have payed more than that. Some friends of mine just went to a preview in San Diego and they wanted $60k for 240k. But that was opening offer.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


Seems to me if the option is to spend $75K at Welk for this access I'd just buy resale DVC points at one of the 14 DVC legacy resorts because they are likely to retain some resale value and buy Welk resale points for $1 to get access to the Welk properties if I wanted those


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## rickandcindy23 (Apr 29, 2019)

Yes, it's not a bad thing to own, DVC, but to get something like Food and Wine, you need to buy where you want to stay because it's tough to get any dates at all now for Food and Wine.  I booked OKW for late October and no more availability since we hit the 7 month mark (when everyone can book them).  I think it's a sign of the times.  People are going to be flocking to Disney to see Star Wars.  It's worth the price you pay for the points for resale.


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## Shankilicious (Apr 29, 2019)

Yep! As much as I love Welk I'll never but retail from them again. The perks are not enough for me. 
And just to be clear, I'm basing that $75 figure based on people who recently purchased the same amount I bought for $40k in 2015 for $60+k within the past 3 months. 
And especially considering that Welk owners seem to have great selections available through RCI compared to most (at least for now) I definitely wouldn't recommend buying retail. 

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## Shankilicious (Apr 29, 2019)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Yes, it's not a bad thing to own, DVC, but to get something like Food and Wine, you need to buy where you want to stay because it's tough to get any dates at all now for Food and Wine.  I booked OKW for late October and no more availability since we hit the 7 month mark (when everyone can book them).  I think it's a sign of the times.  People are going to be flocking to Disney to see Star Wars.  It's worth the price you pay for the points for resale.


And just wait till they make an Avengers section.....

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## JohnB3 (Apr 29, 2019)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Yes, it's not a bad thing to own, DVC, but to get something like Food and Wine, you need to buy where you want to stay because it's tough to get any dates at all now for Food and Wine.  I booked OKW for late October and no more availability since we hit the 7 month mark (when everyone can book them).  I think it's a sign of the times.  People are going to be flocking to Disney to see Star Wars.  It's worth the price you pay for the points for resale.


Agree, although I did get a dedicated 2 bed in AKL for a school holiday long weekend with my SSR points in october at exactly 7 months but I think my BCV wait list is a pipe dream .  I have had decent luck using cheap SSR points as long as I have some flex in scheduling .   I feel like I can use RCI to go to SSR so I try to use the DVC point elsewhere.  We like AKL and rarely want a studio and I think with those considerations I seem to be able to get what I want at 7 months, but if it stops working I could sell now at a profit.


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## Shankilicious (Apr 29, 2019)

Disney definitely has the best resale value that I've  seen by far

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## JohnB3 (Apr 30, 2019)

Shankilicious said:


> Disney definitely has the best resale value that I've  seen by far
> 
> Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


When I was thinking about my first TS purchase the option to exit without a lot of difficulty pushed Disney to the top of the pile (as well as three women who all love the mouse in my house).  At this point it's the only one of my TS's I spent real money to acquire but I generally over value the exit strategy when thinking about sustaining my new addiction


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## Shankilicious (Apr 30, 2019)

JohnB3 said:


> When I was thinking about my first TS purchase the option to exit without a lot of difficulty pushed Disney to the top of the pile (as well as three women who all love the mouse in my house).  At this point it's the only one of my TS's I spent real money to acquire but I generally over value the exit strategy when thinking about sustaining my new addiction


Which DVC is your home resort? Just curious as I see you've got quite a few Disney vacations booked/planned in your signature.


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## JohnB3 (Apr 30, 2019)

Shankilicious said:


> Which DVC is your home resort? Just curious as I see you've got quite a few Disney vacations booked/planned in your signature.


 SSR (generally the best value in my mind on a cost/maintenance fee/expiration date basis) I don't use the points for anything but Disney so I booked the cruise with cash and the SSR stay was an RCI exchange the AKL & Aulani stays were/are on points.  As I said my wife and daughters are disney/orlando obsessed


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## Shankilicious (Apr 30, 2019)

My wife is a Disney kid, and now our first daughter is, which means our second one will be too. I hope Welk's priority trading power with Disney doesn't go away in the next few years.....


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## JohnB3 (Apr 30, 2019)

Shankilicious said:


> My wife is a Disney kid, and now our first daughter is, which means our second one will be too. I hope Welk's priority trading power with Disney doesn't go away in the next few years.....


My girls (who are teenagers) don't mind staying at SSR they all like Disney springs (when we fly the baggage limits sometimes don't like the shopping they do ).  Even if the Welk priority stuff changes SSR is often available via normal RCI so you ought to be able to get them into the bubble with 60 day fast passes, free parking and extra magic hours (which are all worthwhile to me).  Before we bought DVC we would book disney deluxe resorts for those benefits so the DVC purchase has really saved me a bit of money


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## Shankilicious (Apr 30, 2019)

JohnB3 said:


> My girls (who are teenagers) don't mind staying at SSR they all like Disney springs (when we fly the baggage limits sometimes don't like the shopping they do ).  Even if the Welk priority stuff changes SSR is often available via normal RCI so you ought to be able to get them into the bubble with 60 day fast passes, free parking and extra magic hours (which are all worthwhile to me).  Before we bought DVC we would book disney deluxe resorts for those benefits so the DVC purchase has really saved me a bit of money


From the pictures, I'm not really impressed with the styling/decor of SSR or OKW...... Obviously the perks you mentioned and the cost difference (obviously including my MF) between trading through RCI or booking anywhere else is well worth it! But the one time I went to Disney, Wilderness Lodge is by far my favorite resort as far as styling/feel.


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## rickandcindy23 (Apr 30, 2019)

Shankilicious said:


> From the pictures, I'm not really impressed with the styling/decor of SSR or OKW...... Obviously the perks you mentioned and the cost difference (obviously including my MF) between trading through RCI or booking anywhere else is well worth it! But the one time I went to Disney, Wilderness Lodge is by far my favorite resort as far as styling/feel.


My favorite too.  I love Wilderness, but it's called Boulder Ridge now, or something to that effect.  I am so happy to have had the opportunity to stay there, but now that SSR is about the only resort I can get, I am just going to deal with it for those perks of 60-day FP+ and extra magic hours.


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## JohnB3 (Apr 30, 2019)

Shankilicious said:


> From the pictures, I'm not really impressed with the styling/decor of SSR or OKW...... Obviously the perks you mentioned and the cost difference (obviously including my MF) between trading through RCI or booking anywhere else is well worth it! But the one time I went to Disney, Wilderness Lodge is by far my favorite resort as far as styling/feel.


For me its a place to sleep while we are doing other stuff.  The restaurants at SSR are good and walking access to DIsney Springs give a lot of choice.   I do prefer the theme at Beach Club and Animal Kingdom best and I love the location of Beach club and Boardwalk.  We don't often visit the magic kingdom but if we did Grand Floridian would have some appeal as well.  I guess that's why there are 14 of them


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## JohnB3 (Apr 30, 2019)

rickandcindy23 said:


> My favorite too.  I love Wilderness, but it's called Boulder Ridge now, or something to that effect.  I am so happy to have had the opportunity to stay there, but now that SSR is about the only resort I can get, I am just going to deal with it for those perks of 60-day FP+ and extra magic hours.


right they changed the name when they built copper creek there  as well


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## Shankilicious (Apr 30, 2019)

Yeah, I know it's boulder ridge and copper creek or whatever. Call it what you will, it truly blew me away.


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## ILuvCrush (Apr 30, 2019)

I own at Beach Club and couldn’t get a week there in October this year before the 7 mo window opened... I had to move my Food and Wine Trip back to September... fortunately before they announced the Star Wars opening August 29... or it would have been gone too. 

I can’t imag how hard it is to trade into DVC... I have trouble getting what I want with 2 separate contracts with them lol!


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## chalee94 (May 1, 2019)

Shankilicious said:


> And just wait till they make an Avengers section.....
> 
> Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk



Don't forget that they can't until they get out of their licensing contract with Universal.


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## bizaro86 (May 1, 2019)

chalee94 said:


> Don't forget that they can't until they get out of their licensing contract with Universal.



Does that contract have an expiry? I wasn't under the impression Universal was planning on giving those rights back...


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## chalee94 (May 1, 2019)

I'm sure they could buy it out or negotiate something. Just depends on whether the benefits outweigh having a major theme park competitor pay them licensing fees, which I suspect they find funny (tempered somewhat by the success of their movies but I think it's safe to say that the parks business isn't suffering without an Avengers draw).

But while a Disney/Marvel park would be a great 5th gate (or major addition to the Studios), I was just saying that it ain't happening till they resolve that Universal contract.


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## bnoble (May 1, 2019)

The Universal contract only provides exclusivity for certain characters/character families, and only East of the Mississippi river in the CONUS. So, fair game at Disneyland (or the non-US parks) but not at WDW---at least not for those character families.

This was believed to be why the TRONorail was on the Epcot beam, but the Avengerail was on the Seven Seas Lagoon beams; if the latter had been on the Epcot beam, that would put exclusive characters "inside" Epcot. But, apparently this may not have been an issue: https://www.insideuniversal.net/201...ct-what-rights-does-universal-and-disney-own/

Character families not covered in the existing agreement are possible in Orlando. Some speculate that this is why the Guardians franchise was started---they were a relatively minor story arc in the Marvel comic universe, were not previously linked to any of the in-use families at Universal, and have become a big presence for Disney/Marvel. And, now they are being added to Epcot.


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## OldGuy (May 1, 2019)

OK, since we are over our Orlando phase, and our RCI exchanging phase, it doesn't make any difference if someone tells me what they can see at Disney through RCI.

I was just curious.


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## JohnB3 (May 1, 2019)

OldGuy said:


> OK, since we are over our Orlando phase, and our RCI exchanging phase, it doesn't make any difference if someone tells me what they can see at Disney through RCI.
> 
> I was just curious.


There is usually availability at SSR in one bedroom units if you have scheduling flexibility.  The points cost (I only have a points account so don't know what the TPU cost is) range from 23,000 for short notice up to 85,000 for points inventory and there is often priority access inventory only available to Platinum accounts.  If you pay the $15 fee to join TUGBBS  you can see the sighting forum where the specific availability is often highlighted.  I have seen a couple of OKW rooms in the past year or so and nothing else.


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## OldGuy (May 1, 2019)

Thanks.

I have not seen any Disney in Weeks since it was first offered.

But, then, at some point I stopped looking.


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## JohnB3 (May 1, 2019)

Just looked now and there are summer weeks available you should recheck rci resort code dv06. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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