Considering renting DVC points...is it worth it?

[michael's mom]

Hi there,
DH and I are considering renting DVC points for our next trip rather than book through Central Reservations. It seems like a great thing...too great.

Is it worth it?

Thanks in advance for any information, both positive and negative, that you can offer.

 

[chalee94]

if you have your dates nailed down well in advance with virtually no chance of canceling, DVC rentals can be a great deal, but most rentals have a "no refunds" policy and the most popular DVC rental options can book up as early as 11 months in advance.

also, be aware that DVC rentals do not include daily housekeeping (i prefer not having others in the room very often but opinions vary).

also, DVC studios generally include a queen bed plus a pullout sofabed instead of 2 "real" beds. i've slept on several of the pullouts and they are fine, but i prefer the "real" beds.

i rented once but i prefer owning DVC as a cheaper option in the long run, but renting through a service like David's minimizes much of the risk.

https://www.dvcrequest.com/

...or you can possibly save a little money if you rent from an owner directly (but there can be more risk there.)

this has come up literally hundreds of times - it's easy to do a search or check out the rental section of this thread for more info:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/★-☆-★-the-dvc-information-center-★-☆-★.3436037/

 

[bradisgoofy]

I have rented out my points several times and the no refund policy is true. This is a good way to see if you like DVC, which you will. You are going to get a much better room with DVC (considered deluxe) and they are generally a little larger. As long as you can set your vacation time at least 11 months in advance you should get the resort and time of year you want. I rent my points out with David's dvcrequest.

 

[Hopefully]

How do you define worth? If it
is money, than yes a DVC rental can save lots of money.
But as PP posters have stated there are trade offs. No daily housekeeping, fresh towels only every 4 days, trash emptied every4 days. And most importantly no cancelling or changing dates once booked. I agree with Chalee, carefully review the thread at the posted link. It will give you lots of information

Before we bought our DVC - which we love- I did not rent but rather booked directly through Disney for DVC accommodations. The 11 month cancellation window was too risky for me so in my case renting DVC was not worth it.
It is an individual decision
Good Luck

 

[Vernie822]

We did this for our trip in November. At around 10 months out we knew our dates and had pretty much nailed them down so it was not a big deal that we would be "locked in".

We went to a site that did rentals and looked it over, priced it out, and made our request. We decided to do a split stay between AKL and Wilderness Lodge Villas. At the time the rental company only had AKL points (since we were > 7 months out, he had to have an owner renting AKL points). We booked that portion of our stay, and at exactly 7 months out he emailed us with our options. To my surprise they had Polynesian villas available so we booked that instead of Wilderness Lodge (because we wanted to try it and because WL was doing construction).

We had never stayed deluxe before. Overall it was an amazing experience. The place we rented from was fantastic. It was pretty much flawless. Once we booked, he emailed me with a reservation number and I mailed him the check for the rental amount. There are plenty of sites out there such as David's DVC Rentals (though this is not who we rented from) where you can plug in your dates and it will tell you the cost for each sized room at each resort during your stay.

We also had the option of booking the dining plan which was nice. We did decide to buy into DVC so this was a great way to experience the resorts. We had a blast and the resorts were awesome!!

 

[klove]

Yes!

 

[rwdavis2]

We just reserved for November of this year. About $2000 for 8 nights in a deluxe Boardwalk Villa. The site offers cancellation insurance but there is a deductible and sliding scale for the amount of refund the closer you get to your dates. We bought conventional trip insurance which covers a lot more than just a room.

Worth it? As long as you can live with the risk, definitely.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

DVC rooms are a different style of visit. They are at Deluxe resorts, but they aren't deluxe in the same way the hotel room are. The sleeping configurations are different. There are kitchens in the BR units, and a kitchenette in studios. Space use is different. They are more condo-like.

For some people, the deluxe-ness of being at a Deluxe resort is "worth" it. For others, the room configuration or the idea of cooking on vacation doesn't tickle their fancy.

One thing to be aware of when looking at rental point charts: that a room type is listed does not mean it will be available to you as a rental (or even for an owner booking!). The charts list every type of room. You generally have to be very very lucky, and generally working privately and not through an agency, to book Grand Floridian, BLT Standard Studios, AKL Value or Boardwalk Standard Studios as rentals most seasons, but especially October-New Year's. Your rental luck will be better looking at units that are not the lowest point value at a resort, or at resorts with high inventory (like Saratoga, Old Key West or Animal Kingdom).

 

[Minnie's House]

We are renting points for our September trip! There's no way we could afford a villa at the grand Floridian otherwise.

 

[chalee94]

...trash emptied every4 days.

well...

to clarify, DVC is a "home away from home" concept. which means that you would be expected to make your own beds (if you care about that) and take out your own trash (there are trash rooms available nearby where you can toss your trash bags when they are full).

unfortunately, I keep reading about a few pigs at AKV (for one example) who just dump their trash outside their room in the hallway - in exchange for the savings, you are taking on a little more responsibility.

 

[tarak]

We've rented points three times and the savings have always been worth it for us. Weve always stayed deluxe, for one. We're a party of six, though, which has a huge impact on price. We're renting points for a 2 BR villa at AKV in ten days. Five nights came to $2885. I priced out the AP discount for a 1 BR suite at AKL. Now it's CL, but the accommodations aren't as large. And the price was $1400 more. I can buy a lot of wine and snacks for that. Getting two rooms isn't cheaper. And while Disney will say connecting rooms are guaranteed if you have more kids than adults, it's not true and we've been split up before.

We actually prefer not having housekeeping and I always book travel insurance in case something happens (fingers crossed it's never been needed). Our travel dates are usually really firm so that's not an issue, either.

On the other hand, I priced out renting points for a studio versus a discounted room through my TA, since there would only be three of us. The room through my TA was cheaper.

 

[michael's mom]

Thank you all so much for your responses! They were definitely helpful. When I asked about worth I was definitely referring to the trade off because $$ wise, it's a huge savings.

I'm going to scour that link to do some research for a future trip but we are planning an August trip so I'm thinking we've missed that boat for a poly stay.


I could handle not having maid service every day. If we needed more towels would they bring them? I didn't realize that the rooms were different either. I thought a standard room at poly was a standard room.

Thank you all again! Looks like I have a lot to research

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Thank you all so much for your responses! They were definitely helpful. When I asked about worth I was definitely referring to the trade off because $$ wise, it's a huge savings.

I'm going to scour that link to do some research for a future trip but we are planning an August trip so I'm thinking we've missed that boat for a poly stay.


I could handle not having maid service every day. If we needed more towels would they bring them? I didn't realize that the rooms were different either. I thought a standard room at poly was a standard room.

Thank you all again! Looks like I have a lot to research

Towel service is a paid upgrade. They would bring them, but you would have to pay to get them.

There may be Poly availability for August, as it is roughly the 7 month window. But you would have to book fast. Saratoga and Old Key West would also still be available.

 

[michael's mom]

Can you link park passes and magic bands through MDE? I've read you get emailed the reservation info and you can book dining 180+10 but don't know about the park passes.

 

[patty57]

Can you link park passes and magic bands through MDE? I've read you get emailed the reservation info and you can book dining 180+10 but don't know about the park passes.

Yes, you can link tickets and magic bands.

 

[michael's mom]

Thank you

 

[JETSDAD]

We rented points for the 2nd time from David's for a trip in February. IMO it is definitely worth it and the savings allow us to stay in rooms that we otherwise would not stay at. On this trip we will also be scouting different resorts with the idea of potentially buying into DVC ourselves.

 

[UDFlyer12]

We just received confirmation recently for our trip in October. We are staying for 4 nights at Boardwalk, though our first choice was Beach Club. We simply sent Davids our dates and resort preferences and they contacted us within 24 hours to explain that BC was not available, but that they had contacted someone who owns at BWV and they were able to secure us our 2nd preference, which was super important to us since we are going specifically for F&W. I sent them the rest of the money and they sent me the confirmation. All of this was completed in about 48 hours and went extremely smooth. It was a much better price than going directly through Disney and puts us right in the area we wanted to be in.

 

[Marionnette]

So much will depend on where you want to be (and when). Sometimes, it's actually cheaper to go through Disney with a discount code, Orbitz, Expedia (UK website) or hotels .com than it is to book through DVC. Just make sure that you explore all of your options before you commit to renting points. Because, as has already been stated, the cancelation policy for DVC rentals is pretty strict.

 

[LizGirl]

We rented four nights at Villas at Wilderness Lodge and four nights at Bay Lake last year. Totally worth it but you do get spoiled! We used dvcrequest.com and had a great experience.

I will say that we did not buy trip insurance and I was sweating it. We managed to fly out right before a big snow/ice event closed our airport. Had the timing not worked in our favor, we would have been out a ton of money! I definitely recommend checking into your insurance options if you could possibly have a similar situation.