Have you had success trading you HGVC into Disney

[Panina]

Have you had success trading you HGVC into Disney? If yes, can you let me know which week you got.

I am trying to change my portfolio. I own a couple of HGVC weeks. One I really don’t need and was deciding whether to gift it. If I have a descent chance of trading into any Disney in Orlando I would keep it. Even with the maintenance fee, trade fee, and resort fee it would still be cheaper then buying a Disney week at my age.

 

[alwysonvac]

It’s not as many as it once was, but you can successfully trade HGVC into DVC. It’s mainly one bedrooms at Saratoga Springs.

I haven’t booked DVC in a while so take a look at the Sightings forum. There’s a sticky thread for Disney. Just try to be flexible with your dates and avoid holidays. The last time I saw availability online was Wednesday. See sighting links below. I first sighted them online using WorldMark but saw even more availability via HGVC since we have access to both RCI WEEKS and RCI POINTS inventory.
https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php...sneys-saratoga-springs-resort-and-spa.269379/
https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/rci-points-dvc-ssr-6-22-to-8-12.269358/

I suggest you setup an ongoing request for a one bedroom and list all possible DVC Orlando resorts. But check online as well, since ongoing requests are against RCI WEEKS inventory only.

NOTE: There is an existing private agreement between Wyndham and Disney that allows Disney to give inventory directly to Wyndham Vacation owners and I’m assuming vice versa. This inventory is separate and not part of RCI’s Deposit Inventory. Wyndham’s RCI members are having their ongoing search requests fulfilled through this exclusive pool of Disney inventory. So sightings posted by Wyndham owners might not be available via HGVC’s RCI web portal.

 

[Talent312]

It's been hit or miss -- without doing an OGS.*
I use a list of DVC ID's to look for all of 'em as a group.
Occasionally, one or two pop up.

*An OGS would be more effective, but the weeks I can
actually book are sporadic due to my DW's social calendar.
.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

We have had OGS for Disney Properties for several years for FLA and CA Disney and have never had a match. Our filter was during holiday periods and summer so that is probably why.

 

[Janann]

One bedroom Saratoga Springs units are pretty easy to get. If you check online a couple times a day for around two weeks you will certainly see one or more units. As previously mentioned, for best results, use a very broad ongoing search.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I am curious. What do you get by staying at a Disney Saratoga Springs or Key West vs. simply staying at an HGVC property? Are they that much nicer?

 

[Talent312]

You can book FP's at 60 days out instead of 30.
You can use their busses, instead of driving+parking.
You can also use your Magic Band to buy stuff. Woo Hoo!
You get early admission to one of the parks.
Also, you get the cachet of saying, "I'm staying in a Disney resort."
-- which puts you one cut above the unwashed masses.

.

 

[Panina]

I am curious. What do you get by staying at a Disney Saratoga Springs or Key West vs. simply staying at an HGVC property? Are they that much nicer?

Talent312 listed some of the perks. In addition walking distant to main area, with restaurants, spa, great gym, store, community center, game room, activities, staff that bends over, parking included at all parks if you use your car.

Most of all is the feel, the ease and convenience of being on property.

Best way I can explain in comparison, if you go to Key West , Florida (not disneys key west but south Floridas) and stay in the new town section it’s very nice but stay once in the the old town section of Key West and you known the difference, your in the middle of town, and have the best of everything with no hassles.

 

[Janann]

@Panina I think @CalGalTraveler is talking about Disney World's Old Key West Resort, not Key West the city.

We love to stay at a Disney Resort for the early booking of Fast Passes and early park admission. I'm a hard-core Disney planner, and to me it is worth the extra effort and expense to stay at a Disney resort.

 

[Panina]

@Panina I think @CalGalTraveler is talking about Disney World's Old Key West Resort, not Key West the city.

We love to stay at a Disney Resort for the early booking of Fast Passes and early park admission. I'm a hard-core Disney planner, and to me it is worth the extra effort and expense to stay at a Disney resort.

I realized that it was old key west in Disney but was trying to use old key west in south florida to explain the feel. I edited my response for clarity. Thanks

 

[alwysonvac]

We have had OGS for Disney Properties for several years for FLA and CA Disney and have never had a match. Our filter was during holiday periods and summer so that is probably why.

You can forget DVC in CA. It's the smallest DVC resorts with only 48 total units.
The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian opened in 2009 and I was lucky to see a one bedroom online in RCI back in 2011 (link) but as far as I know nothing has been sighted in years. Lol, I should have booked it back in 2011.

Summer dates are available for exchange in Orlando (see links in earlier post). Search online and make sure your OGS has the following:
(1) Requested Unit Size: one bedroom (Two bedrooms haven't been sighted in years; If you need a two bedroom then booked HGVC)
(2) Include all possible summer dates (Instead of just one or two dates)
(3) Include Saratoga Springs resort code (Ideally I would list all Orlando DVC resorts but Saratoga Springs is the largest DVC with the most availability (link))

• Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort (#DV09)
• Villas at Grand Floridian (DV12)
• Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas (#DV01)
• Disney's Beach Club Villas (#DV02)
• Disney's Boardwalk Villas (#DV03)
• Disney's Old Key West Resort (#DV05)
• Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa (#DV06)
• The Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge (#DV08)

Good Luck

 

[Caligirlfrtx]

You can book FP's at 60 days out instead of 30.
You can use their busses, instead of driving+parking.
You can also use your Magic Band to buy stuff. Woo Hoo!
You get early admission to one of the parks.
Also, you get the cachet of saying, "I'm staying in a Disney resort."
-- which puts you one cut above the unwashed masses.

.

Just had to mention... We used our magic bands last week and did not stay at a Disney resort. It is not needed to use the bands.

 

[Talent312]

Just had to mention... We used our magic bands last week and did not stay at a Disney resort. It is not needed to use the bands.

I meant that you could use 'em to charge stuff to your room.
Apparently, you'd need a room to do that.

 

[Cyberc]

To me staying onsite is the best solution if you go to Disney. You get all the mentioned perks and get to stay at a great themed resort. On another node you get to live in the Disney “bubble” and nothing beats that

I own both DVC and hgvc and I’d stay at DVC any day if I’m going to the parks.

I tried last year and stayed at Tuscany but it was just too cumbersome getting to and from the parks.

 

[paxsarah]

Summer dates are available for exchange in Orlando (see links in earlier post). Search online and make sure your OGS has the following:
(1) Requested Unit Size: one bedroom (Two bedrooms haven't been sighted in years; If you need a two bedroom then booked HGVC)
(2) Include all possible summer dates (Instead of just one or two dates)
(3) Include Saratoga Springs resort code (Ideally I would list all Orlando DVC resorts but Saratoga Springs is the largest DVC with the most availability (link))

Ideally, if you can set up two ongoing searches set up one with just Saratoga Springs (along with Old Key West, if you prefer), and a second with all of the other Orlando DVCs (assuming you would prefer those to SSR and/or OKW, which many do). Then in the unlikely event another resort is deposited for your dates you have a chance of snagging it, while still having a backup search that will catch a much more likely SSR deposit. I know not everyone has two deposits to search with, but this method is easy through the Wyndham portal (I can't speak for any other points-based portals).

 

[alwysonvac]

Hgvc owners can setup multiple searches without a deposit.

For those who are not familiar with DVC resorts....

Don’t worry. There is nothing wrong with Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort (SSR) and Spa. I’ve enjoyed my stays at SSR and so have many others (see links below).

• “SSR Lovers and Owners Part 3” thread

https://www.disboards.com/threads/ssr-lovers-and-owners-part-3.3303265/​

• SSR 3D Tour of the one bedroom

https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=hBSpn8jG75n​

• SSR swimming pool areas

• SSR Video Tour

​

Some folks like the feeling of offsite timeshares so they prefer Saratoga Springs and Old Key West. These standalone DVC resorts are not attached to a Disney Deluxe Hotel. They feel like most offsite timeshares (a large condo development with pools, activities and easy access to parking near your building) away from the hustle and bustle but with all of the Disney touches. See Resort maps for Old Key West & Saratoga Springs

• Saratoga Springs and Old Key West have a walkway and ferry service to Disney Springs.
• Saratoga Springs is the largest DVC resort.
• Old Key West is the oldest resort but has the largest size villas

Some folks like the feeling of being in a hotel so they prefer DVC villas that are located on the same grounds as a Disney Deluxe Hotel. As a result they have access to the Disney Deluxe Hotel amenities (such as elaborate themed Deluxe Hotel lobbies, signature dining, character dining, main hotel pool, hotel resort activities, etc).

• Beach Club and Boardwalk have a walkway and ferry service to EPCOT and the STUDIOS.
• Beach Club has access to the only Disney Deluxe Resort that offers a lazy river and large water play area (Stormalong Bay)
• Wilderness Lodge has ferry service to Magic Kingdom
• Bay Lake Tower has a walkway to Magic Kingdom and nearby monorail service to Magic Kingdom and EPCOT.
• Animal Kingdom Resorts include rooms with savanna view where you can see animals right outside your window

You can find additional photos and videos of all DVC resorts at https://www.dvcrequest.com/dvc-resorts.asp

 

[Mosescan]

I was doing some research last night as I would like to try trading into DVC myself in a few years when the kids are older. I noticed that there are at least two different ways to book DVC through RCI and was wondering if one had priority over the other. I will explain. you can do an ongoing search through the regular RCI portal on the HGVC website and/or if you are an elite premiere member and have access to the "registry collection" you can also do an ongoing search through that portal for the same DVC properties. So my question is: Does the registry collection request have priority over the regular RCI request? Is it first to request, first to get regardless of which portal you use or is this a "perk" for being elite premiere?

 

[Talent312]

It would seem to me that the only "priority" is being the first to book.
As the expression goes: "The early bird catches the worm."

Doing a random search just now, I saw 9 weeks available at SSR.
But they're mostly Summer and I have previous commitments.
.

 

[paxsarah]

Don’t worry. There is nothing wrong with Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort (SSR) and Spa.

I didn't mean to imply that. It's just that there's been such a lack of variety in the DVC deposits lately, it's nice to try to expand one's options if at all possible. We stayed at SSR last year and we're staying again this year. But we've also had the opportunity to stay at several other DVC resorts via RCI as recently as 2016, and we do like to change things up when we can.

 

[alwysonvac]

I was doing some research last night as I would like to try trading into DVC myself in a few years when the kids are older. I noticed that there are at least two different ways to book DVC through RCI and was wondering if one had priority over the other. I will explain. you can do an ongoing search through the regular RCI portal on the HGVC website and/or if you are an elite premiere member and have access to the "registry collection" you can also do an ongoing search through that portal for the same DVC properties. So my question is: Does the registry collection request have priority over the regular RCI request? Is it first to request, first to get regardless of which portal you use or is this a "perk" for being elite premiere?

RCI has three different exchange programs
(1) RCI WEEKS
(2) RCI POINTS
(3) REGISTRY COLLECTION - https://www.theregistrycollection.com/destination

Sadly, there’s not a lot of info on TUG regarding the Registry Collection but here’s what I know.

The Registry Collection has their own separate exchange requirements along with higher membership and exchange fees. https://www.theregistrycollection.com/information/exchange_grid

Some resorts participate in one, two or all three programs. And exchange deposits are made into their individual programs.

For example HGVC and DVC participates in all three programs.
HGVC only allows a subset of Elite members access to the Registry Collection but DVC provides all members with access to the Registry Collection. And as a DVC owners, I can tell you that there is a significantly higher point requirement associated with RCI Registry Collection resorts.

Sorry, I’m not a HGVC Elite member so I can’t tell you how HGVC handles the Registry Collection. But I would definitely find out from HGVC what the point requirement for Registry Collection exchanges and Registry Collection exchange fee cost.

The Registry Collection provides their members with access to RCI WEEKS and RCI POINTS inventory. The Registry Collection refers to these RCI resorts as Signature Selection Resorts but sorry I don’t know how Registry Collection members gain access to these resorts.


Here’s the HGVC point requirements for RCI WEEKS and RCI POINTS exchanges

Number of ClubPoints Required for RCI exchanges

NOTE: Some areas are Red Season only year round (such as Hawaii, Florida, Nevada) while other areas support all three seasons (such as the Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Montana, Tennessee) ​

 

[Mosescan]

According to the HGVC website the registry collection looks to be just over twice as many points for the same unit size. This is why I was wondering if they had priority for bookings. They are essentially paying more for the same product. To 13000 points for a 3 BR at Disney doesn’t seem so bad seeing as I’m paying 12600 for a 2BR at the grand waikikian. It’s worth the extra points if I can get the reservation I want at the resort I want.

 

[MikeinSoCal]

I am curious. What do you get by staying at a Disney Saratoga Springs or Key West vs. simply staying at an HGVC property? Are they that much nicer?

You could also get a Throwaway room: https://www.disboards.com/threads/throwaway-room-update.3539209/

 

[alwysonvac]

According to the HGVC website the registry collection looks to be just over twice as many points for the same unit size. This is why I was wondering if they had priority for bookings. They are essentially paying more for the same product. To 13000 points for a 3 BR at Disney doesn’t seem so bad seeing as I’m paying 12600 for a 2BR at the grand waikikian. It’s worth the extra points if I can get the reservation I want at the resort I want.

Registry Collection is targeted at the luxury resort market - http://rciaffiliates.com/north-amer...unparalleled-exchange/the-registry-collection

JMHO.. I would be surprised with the Registry Collection has priority booking for RCI resorts. I think the Registry Collection just offers a higher point structure. However if Disney can somehow designate their DVC deposits for exclusive use in the Registry Collection, I could see them depositing a two or three bedroom with the Registry Collection. I guess it doesn’t hurt to setup an ongoing search request (OGS) via the Registry Collection to see if the Registry Collection is getting larger DVC rooms since they’re no longer available via RCI WEEKS and RCI POINTS.

But 13,000 is a lot of HGVC points. I just couldn’t do. Too rich for my blood.
Lol, maybe because I used to exchange into DVC two and three bedrooms via RCI at a much lower cost however those days are gone. And for 13,000 HGVC Points, I can get two weeks in a three bedroom at any destination via RCI and plus have left over HGVC Points.

Lol, but I also have a hard time swallowing 12,600 Points for a two bedroom at the Grand Waikikian.

Good Luck

 

[Cyberc]

I can’t say if DVC deposits 1,2 or 3 bedrooms in the registry collection but I know for a fact that hgvc deposits 2br at hgvc elara and trump in the registry collection.

Now the 2br at elara has also been available for regular RCI members but not the 2br at Trump. Both of these require iirc approx 500 DVC points. That’s either $3,000 in annual dues or $9,000 on the rental marked. Idk if the 2br at the registry vs regular 2br at the RCI is the same units or if the registry has access to 2br penthouse at the Elara which the regular RCI do not.

 

[alwysonvac]

I can’t say if DVC deposits 1,2 or 3 bedrooms in the registry collection but I know for a fact that hgvc deposits 2br at hgvc elara and trump in the registry collection.

Thanks for sharing.

Yes, those two are core members of the Registry Collection (not listed under the Signature Selection Resorts like DVC). They would be depositing into the Registry Collection.
https://www.traveldailynews.com/pos...-vacations-club-properties-in-las-vegas-65681

Registry Collection website has three HGVC resorts listed under their collection.

1. HGVC Elara - https://www.theregistrycollection.com/resort/DA20
2. HGVC Trump - https://www.theregistrycollection.com/resort/DA21
3. Penthouses at HGVC Grand Waikikian - https://www.theregistrycollection.com/resort/DG28

Cyberc, the Penthouses that you previously saw via your DVC account was under the Registry Collection? https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/penthouses-at-grand-waikikian.260857/

FYI... Here’s a link to the Registry Collection latest Disclosure Guide - https://www.theregistrycollection.com/information/disclosure_guide