A RO now does give you the security that you have a room if they get booked the day packages are released ... but if you decide to do a package, you'll have to cancel your RO and book a package. The RO deposit will not roll over to a package deposit (and vice versa). So if you're going to be using the same funds to pay for the RO deposit and the package deposit, it will be a few days before you will get your refund.
The last time we had to move from RO to package, it took 4 business days to get our refund. The CM said 3-5 business days. I've heard reports of people getting them quicker, as well as later, but it's luck of the draw.
We don't even know if we'll do a package. I'll probably wait and see if any package discounts are released ... and if it's good, then we'll switch over. Otherwise, we'll stick with RO and order our tickets through another retailer. A % off RO discount seems to be pretty available year-round ... so at least we'd have that if no other discounts were available for our dates.