RCI - extreme LM exchange advice, setting all up before going

[mdurette]

I secured a LM exchange into SSR that starts this Sunday as a back up plan for an Aruba trip that was going to start on Monday. Backup until tomorrow when we get a better feel if tropical storm Henri and impact on flights out of BOS on Monday morning and DH may need to stay home if it makes its way here.

But, now I'm thinking. You can't call DVC to link reservation to MDE and set up magical express until 72 hours after, which would be check-in day and I'm pretty sure that DVC line they give you is only staffed Monday thru Friday. Has anyone done an extreme LM like this? How did you do it?

I suppose I could uber to resort and cross my fingers RCI sent info to them so I can check in. But, I think RCI is also closed on Sunday.

Any advice?

 

[rickandcindy23]

You can go directly to Magical Express with your confirmation and your luggage. That is going to work just fine. Take the confirmation to the check-in desk. They can help you right away. RCI may be able to fax the confirmation to DVC quickly as well.

How great to go for a bargain price, but also so hot to be in Orlando! We have been there at that time, and Rick will not do it again. I would really have to think about it.

 

[elaine]

DVC member service (800-800-9800) is open on Sat/Sunday until at least 5 pm. Just stayed at SSR last week--renovations are great. It was hot--but we still had a great time and it's just as hot in VA in the summer and no pool!

 

[mdurette]

Thanks All. Have never been to Orlando in the summer. We have always been in the No Way from He** camp for that! Once this summer I contemplated it, and we caught high heats and humidity at home and I that quickly wiped the thought out of my head. And yet here I am today, trying to salvage something of a vacation for us if Aruba is a bust. We hit Disney enough that we don't need to be in the parks all day long. And I will say the concept of going during a low crowd week is tempting. Haven't done that in years because we are usually there school vacation in the fall/winter months.

As for logistics, thanks for the scoop about magical express and DVC phone line. We may just arrive a couple days late instead of on time to let the storm pass.

We shall see what today brings for storm tracking.....

 

[elaine]

Boston can be just as hot/humid. hats/visors, all cotton, Drink way more water than you think you need. I even use a small umbrella for shade. Get out of sun whenever you can. We had a great time. Good luck!

 

[AnnieBets]

If you have annual pass, you could set up 3 park reservations before your reservation is linked in MDE. Sometimes weekends get full so you might reserve those dates now. I just looked and all parks are available all week.

 

[TheHolleys87]

If you’re going to check in a day or more late, call DVC and let them know so they hold your room. If you haven’t checked in within a certain amount of time, they’ll cancel your reservation. And they’re open until 7 PM Eastern on Saturday and Sunday.

 

[mdurette]

Thanks All - Aruba is officially cancelled for us, what a relief I feel about that.

It is isn't looking like flights will be leaving Sun/Monday out of this area, so me and the kiddo have flights for Tuesday morning. Hubby will join only if work doesn't mandate he cancels vacation and we have power at the house. I have a house/pet sitter that works from our home while here and she needs power and I'm sure she would appreciate running water.

This isn't the vacation I wanted/needed.....I needed to kick back and watch the world go by. But, it is what it is. So strange, I am one of those insane Disney planners and I sit here 4 days from arrival without even a dining reservation! It will be interesting doing Disney by the seat of my pants! I did peek at crowd calendars. 3 out of 10, sweet!

But, here is my all important question of the night. I'm planning for heat/humidity......but I also know to expect rain showers/downpours. I have only dealt with this once in all our trips and we all left the park early because of it.....how the heck do you keep your shoes dry???

 

[elaine]

No way to keep shoes dry. Take an extra pair of sneakers and alternate if one gets wet. Also take a pair of waterproof sandals if you have them. Usually big downpours are in spurts and you can duck indoors. Take a look at rain forecast and try to be inside during any rain.
But weather actually looks fine Tuesday-sat.
Ps-we got reservations for Todd English blu zoo at 3pm same day for 7pm dinner. It was fantastic! Then just walked back to Epcot for a trip around the world to walk it off.
we also spent a decent amount of time at dvc Ssr pools.

 

[TheHolleys87]

Thanks All - Aruba is officially cancelled for us, what a relief I feel about that.

It is isn't looking like flights will be leaving Sun/Monday out of this area, so me and the kiddo have flights for Tuesday morning. Hubby will join only if work doesn't mandate he cancels vacation and we have power at the house. I have a house/pet sitter that works from our home while here and she needs power and I'm sure she would appreciate running water.

This isn't the vacation I wanted/needed.....I needed to kick back and watch the world go by. But, it is what it is. So strange, I am one of those insane Disney planners and I sit here 4 days from arrival without even a dining reservation! It will be interesting doing Disney by the seat of my pants! I did peek at crowd calendars. 3 out of 10, sweet!

But, here is my all important question of the night. I'm planning for heat/humidity......but I also know to expect rain showers/downpours. I have only dealt with this once in all our trips and we all left the park early because of it.....how the heck do you keep your shoes dry???

I echo @elaine’s advice - take extra shoes, especially waterproof sandals. I wear my hiking sandals (Keens, but there are other brands) and bring multiple pairs on warm-weather trips. They’re made to get wet, dry quickly and not fall apart! And as far as dining, it can be amazing what’s available if you open MDE in the morning and search for an ADR for your party size that day and are flexible as to time and cuisine.

 

[JohnB3]

We were at SSR a couple of weeks ago and had a good laid back visit. We managed a number of good diners at Disney Springs (Jelao and Wine Bar George were highlights) and one solid park day at Epcot for Food and wine otherwise we just hung at the resort and Disney springs. We had the required rain showers (downpours ) every day and it was stinking hot so I would not have wanted to rope drop or commando but for us we go regularly and it was a good RCI exchange

 

[bnoble]

Take an extra pair of sneakers and alternate if one gets wet.

I often buy a Sentinel at the resort shop—not to read, but to use for stuffing shoes overnight. That usually dries them out enough. But I also am in the shoes-made-for-water club, so that tends to be more for the others in the family.

it can be amazing what’s available if you open MDE in the morning and search for an ADR for your party size that day and are flexible as to time and cuisine.

Agreed. I’m to the point that I only make maybe two ADRs in advance for a week long trip, and get the rest the night before or morning of. The no-show fee helps encourage people to cancel!

 

[mdurette]

As a follow up for anyone that is looking for this info later on. This trip was booked on Thursday for a Sunday start. Due to a storm in the area we didn't arrive until Monday. I was able to link my RCI reservation to MDE on Sunday, as with my other stays only DH and I were automatically linked, they had to manually add my DD to the reservation. We ended up renting a car, so ME wasn't an issue. the only thing was no discounted MB offerings, they said reservation had to be made at least 6 days in advance to receive.

As for the heat, I prepared for the worse and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't that bad. Folks said the humidity was down this past week and it was nice. We spent 4 full days in the parks and never even brought out the ponchos for rain. The best thing I did was purchase 95cent cooling neck clothes. Oh My - they were great and stayed very cold on the neck when it did get a bit hot.