OLCC - best area to request?

[Mel]

I noticed that about the Points, too. In my recent foray into Weeks v. Points, I noticed other resorts' 3-bedroom units at more than twice what OL's are.

Is that compared to other weeks resorts, or compared to the points resorts? OLCC isn't in points, so obviously a points exchange would be based on the generic points charts. We all know that RCI has undervalued the points on the generic grids (or alternately overvalued some of the points resorts, relative to the generic grids).

 

[JLB]

Is that compared to other weeks resorts, or compared to the points resorts?

Sure, make me dig around in this mess for that folder!!!

OL is 74500. I was thinking 54500 for some reason.

The others are Points resorts.
Summer Bay 100,500
Celebration 106,500
Houses at Summer Bay 110,500
Silver Lake 123,000

Of course, Points is another thing I have just been hanging around, so I can't speak as an insider. But it looks to me like that means OL costs less than the others.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I just saw a points exchange in April for 38,000 at OLCC, which is very low compared to the chart.

 

[JLB]

I just saw a points exchange in April for 38,000 at OLCC, which is very low compared to the chart.

Can you tell if it is for a 3-bedroom? That's what I am talking about above.

 

[Mel]

Orange Lake is in the same boat as ALL non-points resorts. If t is available you can get a 3BR at any non-points orlando resort for that same price.

 

[Sthack]

What area would you recommend?

We'll be at OLCC in April for the first time. I keep getting mixed reviews about the West Village, some say they need refurbished. Which area is near Splash Lagoon? The kids love the pools and I like to play tennis. We would like to request a NICE newer unit area if possible. What area would you recommend for 10 & 14 year olds?

Thanks in advance!

 

[rickandcindy23]

If they will let you get into any other area besides the West Village

I would request anything but the West Village. That is where our unit was. That is where South Magnolia Ct. is, so I would guess that is the oldest of the two-bedrooms.

You will notice that people either love or hate the units at OLCC. I believe it is due to the fact that the different parts of the resort are so different, so West Village visitors are generally more unhappy than the rest.

I would have to clarify that I had high expectations of OLCC because the VG at RCI stayed there and loved the resort and thought it was one of the nicest anywhere. It was disappointing because we were in the older units, which I know was not her experience because I called her back and asked her while we were there. That being said, if OLCC was more accommodating and allowed exchangers to request an area, which they sometimes do but sometimes do not, then it would be an easy decision.

Jim, those 38,000 points were for a two bedroom at the end of April, but I chose a Marriott Cypress Harbour 2 BR for that week instead, which was the same number of points and we have been there several times through II, so we know our daughter, her husband and her in-laws will love it. I was very surprised to grab a Marriott through RCI, but I know that RCI used to be their official trading company.

 

[JLB]

Which area is near Splash Lagoon? The kids love the pools and I like to play tennis. We would like to request a NICE newer unit area if possible. What area would you recommend for 10 & 14 year olds?

Thanks in advance!

Splash Lagoon is in the North Village. Some buildings in the North Village are convenient to Splash lagoon and some are a drive. The Legends Walk golf course is also in the North Village, and you are not supposed to walk across it. You are supposed to take the longer route on the sidewalks. We were in the North Village our last stay, and it was a drive to take the little ones to Splash lagoon. Our unit was older, there were bug problems, but it was OK.

The newest area that is available is the East Village, another little jaunt out from the North Village. The East Village has a poolplex and one hot tub, which is located at the far left side, 4- to six blocks from the furthest East Village buildings. The Legends golf course lies between the two sections of the East Village so, again, you have to take the longer walk around or drive or take the shuttle.

If you can figure out how you go about getting a newer unit, or any specific area, by requesting it, be sure to report back here. Some have said they can, but most have not been able to.

 

[gjw007]

We'll be at OLCC in April for the first time. I keep getting mixed reviews about the West Village, some say they need refurbished. Which area is near Splash Lagoon? The kids love the pools and I like to play tennis. We would like to request a NICE newer unit area if possible. What area would you recommend for 10 & 14 year olds?

Thanks in advance!

I noticed that you own at Vistana so I think that you can relate to the different layouts for the different areas. In general, I like the West Village units. In truth, I would like to see a design that combined the best features of both the West Village and the North/East Village. For example, the balcony in the West Village runs the width of the unit whereas the balcony in the North/East Village only is the width of the master bedroom. I would also put a closest around the washer/dryer units in the West Village (already done in the North/East Village). Mostly these are little things.

OLCC has schedule of replacing soft items and repainting the villas every six year and major renovations every 18 years. OLCC opened in 1982 so it is possible that some units are approaching the period of major renovation (also some have just completed the major renovations). Units in the North Village are also scheduled for the 6-year updates as it was opened around 1999/2000. While I don't know for sure, I suspect that many of the units that people have been unhappy with are those units approaching the major renovation period. Sometimes these units should be accelerated due to excessive wear-and-tear; some people are just hard on the units. I know that there is talk on the disboards about DVC needing to replace the carpeting every 5 years and some units need complete refurbishing after 10 years while the units next to them are in excellent condition. As mentioned by others, Splash Lagoon is in the North Village. To ensure a newer unit, the easiest way is to request a 3-bedroom unit as they are in the East/North Villages.

While North Village has Splash Lagoon, there is a lot of activities in the West Village Clubhouse. In additon to acitivities in the building itself, there are the pools outside (I like the Olympic size swiming pool), the beach, the lake (boat rentals are possible), nearby are some tennis courts, minature golf, etc.

 

[timetraveler]

3 br units are found in the Tennis Villas (located in the West Village) next to the main clubhouse which houses the movie theater, arcade, pizza/ice cream shop, Kemmon's Place restaurant, a small convenice store, etc.

There are 3br units in the North Village, and the East Village.

 

[timetraveler]

We'll be at OLCC in April for the first time. I keep getting mixed reviews about the West Village, some say they need refurbished. Which area is near Splash Lagoon? The kids love the pools and I like to play tennis. We would like to request a NICE newer unit area if possible. What area would you recommend for 10 & 14 year olds?

Thanks in advance!

Since you are exchanging, you need to know that OL honors it's owners requests first, followed by exchangers.

If your request is not honored.....it's not directed at you personally.........it's just that OL owner's have already requested the available inventory for the same week you are there, or the owner has not given up their week. In the later case....OL has to keep that unit open just in case the owner does show up.

 

[lamb]

I appreciate the advice. I recognize that my request may not be honored but they are traveling on non-peak time so I thought that it may be possible. Years ago, I traded in for my sister and she received the area that I requested. It was just too many years ago for me to remember what section was recommended at the time. I confirmed with RCI that it was more than 4 years ago before taking this exchange. Thanks!

 

[ajsmithtx]

We used to own a 2 bedroom unit in Southern Magnolia Court. We bought it in 1997, we have since sold it and bought a 3 bedroom unit in the East Village, where it is quieter. It was a nice unit and very well kept, the only real drawback was that at times you could hear the traffic from Hwy 192. Cindy I understand your disappointment during your last visit, sometimes that happens.

We were also in the points program, the 2 bedroom unit was worth 44,000 points, we had the option of either using points or weeks every year. We finally quit the points program because we never used it.

Our 3 bedroom in the East Village is great, we can see the Disney fireworks, watch the golfers, and just relax.

Hopefully the RI rec area will be open when we return at the end of May 06.

 

[JLB]

I confirmed with RCI that it was more than 4 years ago before taking this exchange. Thanks!

If you are referring to the trading restriction, OL has a 1-in-3 rule.

 

[shoney]

I appreciate the advice. I recognize that my request may not be honored but they are traveling on non-peak time so I thought that it may be possible. Years ago, I traded in for my sister and she received the area that I requested. It was just too many years ago for me to remember what section was recommended at the time. I confirmed with RCI that it was more than 4 years ago before taking this exchange. Thanks!

I was there last week of August 2005 and my request was not honored. I was told that the west village was for exchangers and that if an owner checked in olcc needed to have the other villages available to them. Yes, lame excuse but nonetheless I wasn't getting anything else. I asked very nicely, big smile and all but they said it was policy. I was able to request a tennis villa. They were a little reluctant but did it anyway. There policy seems to be "no policy" just depends on who you talk to. I have to say, I wasn't impressed with the resort, the policy, or the other patrons and wouldn't go back. I didn't let it ruin my vacation. We just chose to go to the parks a little more often than we may have if we enjoyed being at the resort. I actually got my week back from RCI to use again!

 

[timetraveler]

Shoney, August in Orlando is still very busy. And alot of OL owners are using the resort. So there will be much less inventory for exchangers to request.

Now had you gone in the fall or late spring your encounter very well may have been different. As far as the "type of patrons", well.....rude behavior unfortunately knows no class. You can and do find it in guests staying in a 2* as well as a 5* hotel.

I remember you saying that the tennis villas were way to noisy for your liking. But that's exactly what the tennis villas are. I have posted for 6 years that the tennis villas are a literal bee hive of activity, and therefore not the place for someone wishing a more quiet vacation experience. But alot of tuggers want to be in the middle of or at least have it right outside their front door, (the activities).

 

[gjw007]

Shoney;

I went to OLCC the last week of August for two weeks. I am an owner in both the North Village and the East Village yet I was given a unit in the West Village. I will give that the last week of August was much busier than the first week in September. While I didn't notice it as much at the resort, I really noticed the change at the parks. I'm not really sure what the policy is as I have never seen it written down and I tend to treat most of what I hear as hearsay because I haven't seen a written policy. If somebody has one from the resort, I would be interested in seeing it. As you can tell from readings on this board, external exchangers have been put in the newer sections and owners, such as myself, have been put in the West Village.

 

[gjw007]

I have posted for 6 years that the tennis villas are a literal bee hive of activity, and therefore not the place for someone wishing a more quiet vacation experience. But alot of tuggers want to be in the middle of or at least have it right outside their front door, (the activities).

I must say that I find it mildly amusing that one of the complaints about OLCC is that it is too big and they are too far away from the action and yet when they are at a location that is, as you note, a bee hive of activies and not the place for a more quiet vacation, this still makes people unhappy!

 

[Mel]

I was there last week of August 2005 and my request was not honored. I was told that the west village was for exchangers and that if an owner checked in olcc needed to have the other villages available to them.

Shoney, I was there the same week. The only absolute policy is that owners using their own week get their own unit if at all possible (unless, for example it is being renovated, and nobody will occupy.

Then it is my understanding that owners on internal exchanges will be placed in the same village as what they own. If they own in multiple villages, they are probably placed preferentially in the newest of those villages. This leaves more of the older (but not necessarily inferior) units for exchangers. As it is, I was in the one unit that is literally farthest from everything, at the end of Lake Kem Way. Even if we had wanted to use the shuttle service, it was about a mile from the shuttle stop. It was very quiet in the evenings, and moderately quiet during the day (there were some kids playing outside, but not many). You can't have everything - either you are near the activities, and put up with the noise, or you have quiet but have to get in the car to do anything. You requested Tennis villas, which you found to be a beehive. Had you been close to Splash Lagoon, you would have found the same.

As for the other guests, we usually notice the 1-2% of people who bother us. In a resort that size, 1 or 2% is still a large number of guests. I've notice that same 1-2% of boorish guests at every resort I've visited, as well as many high class hotels. But they are usually balanced by the 1-2% at the other end who go out of their way to be pleasant and helpful to everyone they meet.

 

[JLB]

I asked for a clarification of the policy used to make unit assignments, by email and then by phone when a lady at OL recognized me from my email. We had a nice talk and some yucks. One of the higher-up mucky-mucks was going to get back to me to clarify the policy, but the never did.

I am not an owner, just an official hang-arounder, but have always gotten nice units~~~East Village, North Village~~~but never the West Village. Next time it will be a 3-bedroom again, so maybe we'll get those noisy, busy Tennis Villas.

Shoney;

I'm not really sure what the policy is as I have never seen it written down and I tend to treat most of what I hear as hearsay because I haven't seen a written policy. If somebody has one from the resort, I would be interested in seeing it. As you can tell from readings on this board, external exchangers have been put in the newer sections and owners, such as myself, have been put in the West Village.

 

[Carl D]

I always request to be close to the BBQ grills. For some reason, that request is never met.

 

[suekap]

Where would they put you if you were doing a timeshare presentation deal for a 5 night stay?

 

[timetraveler]

Where would they put you if you were doing a timeshare presentation deal for a 5 night stay?

OL considers unit requests in the following order:

1. owners
2. exchangers
3. referrals/renters

 

[Sthack]

Which area of the resort?

OK, but what area of the resort do they usually assign for referrals/rentals?

 

[timetraveler]

OK, but what area of the resort do they usually assign for referrals/rentals?

That totally depends on inventory and the number of owner requests during any given week.

During peak "mouse" weeks, obviously OL owner visits will increase, therefore inventory in certain areas of the resort will be taken up. For example, the Tennis Villas, North Village and East Village. In this scenario, referrals and renters will most likely not be placed in those areas. So most and probably you'll be placed somewhere within the West Village.

But, if your timeshare presentation promo, or if your renting while schools are in session, then you very possibly could be placed anywhere within OL.