How many of you rented DVC pts over booking Disney direct? Share your experiences.

[Summertinkerbell]

You can book rooms at DVC resorts through Disney, but it's not renting points.

'Renting points', the way we use it here, means that you're paying a DVC member to make a reservation for you with their points. It's a private transaction between two individuals, sometimes with a broker (like David) mediating the transaction. By definition, it doesn't involve Disney.

Disney keeps a small amount of room inventory at all of the DVC resorts for themselves, and they make them available for booking like any other resort room. That's what people mean when they talk about booking through Disney. If you look on the Disney reservation site, you'll see a selection of villas there. They're called 'deluxe villas' in Disney's system. Generally, booking through Disney is significantly more expensive than renting from a member, but you do have the benefit of being able to cancel or change your reservation, and daily housekeeping is included in the rate.

Thank you for explaining it to me.

 

[Summertinkerbell]

Okay, so if I rented points from a broker...any other option sounds too scary to me and not worth the worry and stress...would I be able to get the Disney Dining Plan; make my ADR's 180 days out; make my FP+ 60 days out; in other words, enjoy all of the other benefits of staying at a Disney resort?

Our chambermaid at CR always came at the most inopportune time anyway, and somehow we never had enough toilet paper or towels. Now that they no longer make towel animals and basically just make the beds, I won't miss daily housekeeping.

It is a bit disconcerting to not be able to cancel or change a reservation, but I guess travel insurance would cover emergencies. We usually book in February for a July trip.

I will have to read more on this thread to determine the best way to proceed. We won't be going for another couple of years anyway. I have a college education to pay for and need to buy a new car, so there's that...

 

[Harambe]

Dang those college kids - don't they know their parents want to go to Disney World????

 

[Summertinkerbell]

Dang those college kids - don't they know their parents want to go to Disney World????

Seriously! I could stay Deluxe at WDW about 20 times or give my daughter the education she deserves...yes, it will be a long while before we return to the World...

 

[MermaidMommy]

Okay, so if I rented points from a broker...any other option sounds too scary to me and not worth the worry and stress...would I be able to get the Disney Dining Plan; make my ADR's 180 days out; make my FP+ 60 days out; in other words, enjoy all of the other benefits of staying at a Disney resort?

Our chambermaid at CR always came at the most inopportune time anyway, and somehow we never had enough toilet paper or towels. Now that they no longer make towel animals and basically just make the beds, I won't miss daily housekeeping.

It is a bit disconcerting to not be able to cancel or change a reservation, but I guess travel insurance would cover emergencies. We usually book in February for a July trip.

I will have to read more on this thread to determine the best way to proceed. We won't be going for another couple of years anyway. I have a college education to pay for and need to buy a new car, so there's that...

Yes, you get everything standard that you would with any Disney stay. As PP's have noted, you just won't be "in control" of your reservation. It's not difficult to make requests going through a broker, though.

Booking in February for a July trip won't give you a lot of resort options. You'll likely only find OKW or SSR available at that point. For other resorts, you'll need to book earlier.

 

[DVC Mike]

I had no idea you could rent DVC points directly from Disney. How is that done?

Read this thread:

• An explanation of renting points - READ BEFORE RENTING. There are significant differences between renting points and booking a hotel reservation with Disney. It is your responsibility to educate yourself on the process of renting points and perform the necessary due diligence prior to entering into any agreement to rent points.

 

[Jfsag123]

We stayed on rented points at BLT this past March and currently have two DVC point rentals lined up for our next trip, as we're doing a split stay. We have rented directly from owners all three times and love it. I have been able to get good rates on points within the 7-11 month window. We don't use DME or the dining plan, so not being able to add that ourselves has not been an issue. I also don't mind not having regular housekeeping. The specifics of DVC point rental may not work for everyone, but they work really well for us. If it ends up being a good fit for the way you travel, you can save a ton of money.

 

[ANforever1030]

We are renting points for our honeymoon. We set the wedding/honeymoon dates seven months out so that it could be on the anniversary of our first date, so we were only about to get 9 of the 11 nights in DVC, but I have used disboards and *********** to find someone to rent from and I would absolutely do it again.

 

[mkla2015]

We currently have 2 reservations through David's for March 2016. The first one I made 11 months out in fear of not being able to get exactly what I wanted... Last weekend we decided to add 3 nights to the end of our trip and surprisingly was able to get those through David too- 2 reservations totaling 9 nights in a 1 bedroom at BLT.

The process has been super easy and we're spending about half of what we would have if we booked through Disney paying rack rate.

 

[Miffy]

Is there any particular trip insurance that's best for this type of rental?

I'm thinking of doing this for the first time this coming January, and I have to admit it's making me a bit nervous. But I booked through Orbitz last year (got the RO discount + 15% off at Orbitz) and even though I didn't have the kind of control over my reservation I'm used to, it all worked out perfectly and the extra 15% off was fantastic.

Thanks for any info on this!