Booking a Disney Vacation using RCI

We recently decided to exchange our timeshare in Mexico for a Disney Vacation Club. Lucky for you, I did lots of research on the best way to successfully exchange into a Disney Vacation Club using RCI.

Lets start with some terminology

• DVC = Disney Vacation Club
• RCI = the exchange program for Timehares
• TPU = Trading Power Units
• TUG = Timeshare User Group

Step 1: Deposit Weeks into RCI

First you need to deposit your timeshare weeks into RCI. This has to be an option given to you through your timeshare. You will most likely need to call your timeshare and ask them to deposit your weeks. The earlier you deposit your weeks the more TPUs you will receive for them. You want to try to deposit your weeks 9 months before your travel year starts. DVC properties require higher TPUs than most timeshare exchanges. The more TPUs you have the more likelihood that you will land a DVC property. So depositing your weeks early is key to your success.

If it is your first time depositing weeks, you may have to pay an additional membership fee to join RCI. Your timeshare will set you up with an RCI account and you will be notified when your weeks become available in the RCI system.

Step 2: Join TUG BBS forum.

Next you'll want to join the TUG bbs group forum. You can access some helpful forums with a free account but once you pay the $15 membership fee, you will have access to the Sightings/Distress forum.This forum gives you a wealth of knowledge and even has its own DVC/RCI thread. In this thread you will find DVC properties that have been sighted along with their dates and how many TPUs they costed. You can also ask other experience members questions. This forum helps you gauge how many TPUs you will need and what properties Disney is putting up for exchange on the RCI platform.

Here is the TUG membership link. It is a little confusing to find. Once you have paid your membership, you need to follow their instructions to link your forum account and your membership account. Once they are linked, then you can see the Sightings/Distressed forum.

Step 3: Create an Ongoing Search

Next you will need to create an ongoing search in RCI. Ongoing searches constantly search the RCI inventory for matches to your ideal vacation. DVC properties go really fast in the RCI exchange so this is also a key part in making sure you are successful.

You will want to reference the Sightings/Distress board to see how many TPUs DVC properties are requiring. You may need to combine weeks to increase your TPU. We combined two of our weeks so that we had a TPU of 46 for our Ongoing Search.

The process of creating an ongoing search is, frankly, very annoying. Some aspects of the RCI site are not very user friendly. In order to begin an Ongoing Search, start a generic search from the RCI homepage. Use a city like Orlando instead of searching Walt Disney World. It doesn't matter that we won't be actually interested in anything it pulls up. We just need to get to the next screen. Once you are through to available units in that area, scroll to the bottom and you will see a box that says "Didn't find what you are looking for? Start an Ongoing Search". Click that and you can begin setting up the criteria for your search.

Next, you'll need to select your Deposit you are searching against, as well as your room preference and desired check in date. The more fluid you can be with these criteria the more likelihood you will get a match. From what I have seen on TUG, DVC check-ins are for either Friday or Sunday. We were successful by having an ongoing search with a 3 week range.

Next you will need to add the resort IDs. I've compiled a list of all the DVC properties available on RCI and their IDs so you can easily fill those in.

• DV01 - Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas (AKL)
• DV02 - Disney's Beach Club Villas (BCV)
• DV03 - Disney's Boardwalk Villas (BWV)
• DV04 - Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort
• DV05 - Disney's Old Key West Resort (OKW)
• DV06 - Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa (SSR)
• DV07 - Disney's Vero Beach Resort
• DV08 - Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge (BRV)
• DV09 - Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort (BLT)
• DV10 - The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa
• DV11 - Disney's Aulani Resort
• DV12 - The Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• DV13 - Disney's Polynesian Villas and Bungalows

To start an Ongoing Search, your exchange fee will need to be paid upfront unless you are a RCI Platinum member. Platinum membership is around $89 a year. You get free Ongoing Searches and 10% off the fee for combining your weeks. You also have the ability to ask for complimentary unit upgrades and changes and some other benefits I won't mention. Some also believe that a Platinum Membership puts you on the top of the list for the Ongoing Searches. This is not confirmed at all. Just speculation. We decided to buy the Platinum Membership. Jury is still out to whether or not this was a value.

Step 4: Wait . . . . . .

Now we just wait for a match. Here is where your membership with TUGs comes into play. I checked the often to see when Disney was releasing inventory and how much it was going for. Disney will release inventory in waves about 4 months in advance. We were matched with a 1-Bedroom at Saratoga Springs for 45 TPUs. RCI will send you weekly emails until you get matched. Once you are matched, you will need accept or release the vacation. Platinum Members will have their vacations "on hold" for longer without a fee.

It is important to note that you will most likely be placed in Saratoga Springs. From what I saw, the majority of exchanges from RCI to DVC are to the Saratoga Springs Resort with some happening at Old Key West and Animal Kingdom Lodge. Rarely there are sightings at the Boardwalk Villas and Boulder Ridge Villas. If you get matched at Saratoga Springs, I would take it and not wait for a "better" resort match.

I will do a follow-up blog post after our vacation with any information that you will need for visiting Disney using an RCI exchange.