Advice on three RCI Orlando options

[jkrich]

We are planning a vacation with our children/grandchildren (eleven people in all) which will begin with a three or four day stay in the Orlando area. The grandchildren range from 6 to 13 in age. At this point we haven't planned any activities although one daughter expressed an interest in Epcot Center.

Through various filters I've narrowed our choice of RCI timeshares to Bluegreen Fountains, Silver Lake and Summer Bay-Orlando #3175. I've read both TUG and RCI reviews and they all seem to have similar numerical ratings and loads of reviews, but each seems to have both supporters and detractors. I'm leaning towards Bluegreen Fountains due to the large size of the complex and what sounds like a nice pool complex. This would be booked through RCI points because of the partial week requirement.

Any opinions on the relative quality or benefits of these complexes would be appreciated.

Jerry Rich

 

[tschwa2]

Also make sure you take a look at the extra fees they charge if you book a partial week just so you can compare.

 

[bnoble]

Bluegreen Fountains, Silver Lake and Summer Bay-Orlando

Having not stayed at any of these, my opinion. might not be worth much. But, for what it *is* worth: If I were optimizing for "a Disney vacation" I would choose Silver Lake due to location; it is at Disney's back door, and little to no congestion between it and the four major theme parks. If I were optimizing for an "Orlando vacation" I would probably go with Fountains. It is my sense that it is a little nicer as a resort.

 

[#1 Cowboys Fan]

I have vacationed in Orlando several times.

Unfortunately I cannot help you with THESE resorts; sorry.

I know of other resorts, and GOLF info-----hopefully you can get some responses specific to your question.

Good luck,
Pat

 

[Sea Six]

I would go to Vistana Resort. Very quick trip to EPCOT.

 

[MrockStar]

I own, and have stayed at the Bluegreen fountains resort. If your only going to Epcot for one day then its an easy drive about 20 min to fountains. I have kids so you will love the grounds /pools and facilities there at the fountains. + idrive has a lot of grocery/restaurants and shopping nearby. If i can answer any more questions please ask here. AL

 

[Jan M.]

We've stayed at Silver Lake several times. The two bedrooms we've stayed in there have one of the largest main room areas of any resort we've stayed at. The only thing close in size for the main area of the unit at the resorts we've stayed at would be the 3 or 4 bedroom presidential units in Tower 6 at Bonnet Creek. The pools at Silver Lake are nice enough but they aren't wow impressive if that is one of your most important criteria.

I agree that tschwa2 that you should compare the cost of booking a partial week to booking a full week if you're staying 4 nights.

 

[silentg]

I would stay at Silver Lake. Not a fan of Summer Bay. Haven’t been to the Bluegreen in Orlando.
Silver lake has nice units and is a lot quieter than Summer Bay.

 

[jkrich]

Thanks for your responses. We are Marriott owners so have exchanged into Marriotts in Orlando and feel like we have a pretty good handle on those resorts, but this time we
had a bunch of excess RCI points to use and were unfamiliar with the RCI resorts other than the Hilton resorts.

We tossed out Summer Bay as no one championed that resort and it's also seems out of the way. Following our Orlando stay we are headed to Port Canaveral for a four day cruise.
Every four years our children pick somewhere, other than our house, to go for Thanksgiving and this year they wanted to go on a short cruise. It's a first cruise for one of the families so probably a good starter cruise and Port Canaveral works out well since both of our children moved to the East coast.

The positive comments on the Silver Lake units were persuasive, but we booked three two bedroom units at Bluegreen Fountains primarily because of what seems to be a larger pool area and slides. Now hopefully the weather cooperates and the grand kids enjoy the pools. If it rains we may wish we were in the big Silver Lake units, but you make your choice and take your chances. The last time we were in Orlando we stayed at Marriott's Grande Vista which isn't too far from the Fountains so hopefully we won't feel totally lost when we arrive.

I'll write a review and post it when we get back in December. Thanks again for your advice and comments.

Had to add a comment re: additional fees. Cleaning fees ranged from $40-$98 per unit. The units requiring the most points had the lower cleaning fees so the net cost was more or less a wash, but glad that fees were mentioned so I could check

Jerry