Cash DVC room question

[dez1978]

We don't own yet, but are considering. We have a poly stay booked for the end of January in a regular room there. But I was looking at some deluxe villas that are available for our stay. We could stay at a Boulder ridge villa for quite a bit cheaper than a regular Poly room. Heck, the Poly Villa was the same price as a regular room. What is the difference between them really? We tried to rent points for this stay, but couldn't. So our thought was we would stay at Poly and go visit Wilderness as those are the 2 we are considering. Or am I entirely wrong and the villas you can book on Disneys website are not the same as the DVC villas.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Boulder Ridge and the Poly studio will have a queen bed, a sofa sleeper and a murphy bed. A Poly hotel unit has two queen beds (real ones) and a daybed.

The Poly studio has a second shower. Some call it a second bathroom, but, there is not a second can.

We tried to rent points for this stay, but couldn't.

The DVC units listed on the cash website are not available on points. They are made available via the 2%+ of points Disney owns, plus those they acquire through member trades or other processes. They then rent them for cash. Same units, but completely different inventory. Basically, since they have already been "paid for" with points, you cannot get them with points, only with cash.

I'll also mention, just in case, that Boulder Ridge is completely different in layout and unit style than Copper Creek, both of which are DVC. It's important not to confuse the two, because as home resorts go, they are entirely separate even though both at at Wilderness Lodge.

 

[Brett Wyman]

Yes Disney books the same DVC villas but at rack rates, or sometimes with a discount. If you are interested in staying in DVC villas you should really look into renting points in the long run. Even with the AP 30% its still cheaper to rent. We have rented from Davids 7 times in 3 years and we just closed this last Wednesday on our own AKV contract. Never had any trouble with Davids. The only downside to renting is how far out you might have to rent and the lack of ability to cancel.

https://www.dvcrequest.com/information/dvc-resorts
The link above has really cool virtual tours of all of the DVC properties in WDW.

The Poly studio has a second shower. Some call it a second bathroom, but, there is not a second can.

Its a BIG studio too. Poly is definitely our favorite studio due to the second "bathroom" and size. Not to mention awesome park proximity.

 

[kboo]

Yes Disney books the same DVC villas but at rack rates, or sometimes with a discount.

Although, as @_auroraborealis_ notes, since it's different inventory, Disney may book a room type that you can't get if you're renting points. Before we ever knew of renting points, we booked a DVC BWV standard studio on cash because it was literally the cheapest room bookable by cash at 4 months out (around $280 per night!!) While it's true that per point it would cost less if you could rent that studio from a DVC owner, good luck finding a BWV standard studio that is rentable and bookable via DVC on such short notice.

And then, of course, the reality of BWV standard studios means we got upgraded to a 1br pool/garden villa for the same cost. Because we booked through Disney - DVC stays almost never get upgraded.

OP, since you're considering buying both Poly and BRV (resale, I assume), I would book this stay at the resort that you are ranking higher. If you have no preference, then I'd go with the cheaper room, especially if BRV is a LOT cheaper. (But the Poly studio villa will be nicer than the BRV studio, and have a better location).