DVC and renting points??

[melaniemiller2002]

We are going to be heading to DL in January 2013. We would like to stay on property, either at the DL hotel or the GC. We are considering becoming DVC members down the road (when we finish paying off one of our vehicles). I have heard you can rent points and stay at one of the villas at the GC? Can someone explain the procedure for doing this? I tried looking over on the DVC board but got really confused. For example, how many points would we need for a 6 night stay in a room big enough for a family of 5 (I think it's the one bedroom?). And I know I would probably need to rent from someone whose home resort is the GC because I need that 11 month window; I've heard the DVC rooms/villas go fast at GC. If anyone can help clear this up for me, that would be great! I'm sure it would be cheaper to rent points than to try and get two rooms or pay outright through Disney. Or maybe not? I'm not really sure.

 

[Disney Dreams]

We are going to be heading to DL in January 2013. We would like to stay on property, either at the DL hotel or the GC. We are considering becoming DVC members down the road (when we finish paying off one of our vehicles). I have heard you can rent points and stay at one of the villas at the GC? Can someone explain the procedure for doing this? I tried looking over on the DVC board but got really confused. For example, how many points would we need for a 6 night stay in a room big enough for a family of 5 (I think it's the one bedroom?). And I know I would probably need to rent from someone whose home resort is the GC because I need that 11 month window; I've heard the DVC rooms/villas go fast at GC. If anyone can help clear this up for me, that would be great! I'm sure it would be cheaper to rent points than to try and get two rooms or pay outright through Disney. Or maybe not? I'm not really sure.

Okay, so, first... renting points.
A DVC member makes a reservation on your behalf for X points. You pay that person $Y for the use of that reservation (renting their points). Any changes you want to make, any additions, adjustments, anything in connection with your reservation you must make through the member and they then must make the changes through DVC themselves. THEY have access to everything as the reservation is in their name. You cannot do anything yourself directly. You pay them based on whatever terms you both agree to at the time of agreement (how much, due when, etc...). Many people use a standard contract that someone has drafted and many now use. The contract makes it clear what they agreement is since you will be giving them money and tey will be trusting you with the reservation (i.e. not trashing the room, etc...). The agreement is between you and them. Disney is not involved in it at all.

I'm going to repeat that part again because it's very important. The agreement is between you and them. Directly. Disney is not involved in any way.

Now, as for how a member books... They call up DVC, check availability for the dates they (you) want, and transfer the necessary points if it is available. If it is their home resort, they can book 11 months out, if not, 7.

Lastly (for now ), points. They vary based on dates, type of room, etc.... I have looked up the points for GCVs in 1/2013 for you. According to the chart, a 1 bedroom can sleep up to 5 people. A one bedroom villa, from January 6-31 is 31 points PER NIGHT Su-Thur. 40 for Fri or Sat. You would want to do some research on the DVC section of DIS (or elsewhere) to see what the "going rate" is for renting points to find out how much money that actually is.

HTH,
Dreams

 

[luckyman_apd]

We are in the process of buying a DVC ownership. I have researched over a year before we decided to purchase. As far as the VGC goes, there are only a small number of rooms available for DVC owners. Demand is VERY high from what I've read and getting a reservation at 7 months is difficult. Go to the rental board on the DVC sections of DIS. You can't post what you want, but you can reply to peoples posts about available points. Your goal would be to find a renter who OWNS at the VGC, although I have NO idea how easy this would be.

I can tell you the standard rental is about $11 per point. You may find some for $10. That has been the standard amount for the past few years, but with dues increasing each year, the prices are going up for rentals. You can find points for less but they are points that need to be used ASAP or the owner will lose them, and that is NOT going to be ideal for a stay at VGC.

You can't check prices for the VGC on the Disneyland website, as they are only booking through DEC 2012 right now. I did a quick check of prices for early Nov, and it's $395 for a weeknight, and $460 for a weekend. Points at $10 would cost you $310 and $400 for the same dates, but your room WOULD be bigger as a 1 br DVC room. A much bigger savings on the weekday.


I wouldn't put a lot of faith in being able to rent for VGC in Disneyland. Renting is a much more viable option for WDW as there are over 3000 different rooms vs 71. Another option for you is to try David's Rentals. Google them. They rent out points FOR DVC owners, and you are much more likely to be successful in getting what you want, but they also charge $13 per point, with $10 going to the owner and they take $3 for their service of doing all the legwork in securing reservations. However, at $13 per point that's $403 for a weeknight, and $520 for a weekend. Not going to save you any money.

I would recommend renting points if you travel to WDW, but not Disneyland. Unless there is some reason you HAVE to stay at the Grand Californian. You will do much better booking through Disney directly, or staying at another hotel.

EDIT.... Just reread your first post and missed the part of needing 2 rooms if booking through Disney. They will allow you to stay with 5 in the regular room (I just tried to book with 5 people, 2 adults and 3 children, and it didn't give me a problem). Just providing you some info.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Disney rooms sleep 5 so you could just book a hotel room.

The going rate for points is $13/point through a broker like Davids Vacation Rentals (very reliable and has access to many members that own at all DVCs). It may be less $/point if you go through a private transaction, but you have less recourse if something goes wrong. ALSO you have to pay the entire amount at the time of booking and its not cancelable in most cases.

 

[myxdvz]

I'm a DVC member - owns at BLT and used my membership at VGC this January booking at 7 months (since my points are expiring in March and I had to use it . So, it is possible. Easier to do at WDW to be sure because there are more properties there.

If you are based in the West Coast and you want VGC on high-season weeks, owning at VGC is the best way to do this.

Buy where you want to be. Buy resale if possible. Until you know everything, rent!

To correct the PP above, the reservation will actually be in the renter's name but the member still has to do it. The member is responsible ultimately for any damages any renter does. The biggest thing about renting is IT IS NOT CANCELLABLE. So unless you're plans are final and stable, do not rent.

 

[lvdis]

Disney rooms sleep 5 so you could just book a hotel room.

I'm just curious, how do they sleep 5? Is there a sleeper chair or something?

 

[taaren]

Since you're thinking about buying DVC, renting is a good way to go to try it out. Particularly since you're planning almost a year out, I think you have a decent chance of getting the reservation you want. PP explained the process well. Points do rent for slightly higher when they're farther out since the points are flexible.

There are charts for what points will cost on the DVC tab of the DISboards, including a points calculator where you can plug in your exact dates.

There are two main forums where people rent points individually (Google the other one) and the Timeshare Store does points rentals now in addition to Davids (I think for slightly cheaper - $12 pp).

The other thing to keep in mind is that once you pay for the reservation to a dvc member, everythingis included. No resort fee/taxes/parking fee, etc,unless you charge to your room the bill when you check out will be $0. There's no housekeeping, though imo the full kitchen and washer/dryer are a great trade for it.

Good luck and if you have more specific ?s feel free to PM me.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

I'm just curious, how do they sleep 5? Is there a sleeper chair or something?

2 queens and a day bed.

 

[BensDaddy]

We just rented a studio at the Grand Californian from David's DVC rentals for our 4 night visit in November. I was going to pay $129 per night (plus taxes and fees) for the Fairfield Inn across from the main gate. For a few hundred dollars more than that we were able to get a studio at the DGC. I hope I made the right decision. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[helenb]

I'm just curious, how do they sleep 5? Is there a sleeper chair or something?

We were in a 5 person room at the GCH. There is a sofa that can turn into a one person bed. (i.e. not a pull-out - person sleeps the long way). It's not the longest sofa, but it worked well for my 4'10" DD.

Okay, not the best picture, but it was dark and I was trying to get my DD. She was 'hiding' underneath the blanket because it was 6 am and she didn't want to get up for MM... But you can see the bed here.

 

[melaniemiller2002]

I'm hoping because we want to go during the lowest season they offer, we would have a better chance at finding a villa? January seems to be the lower season, from the points chart. And when I figured out by points, 235 weekly, it comes out to a LOT lower than going (based on $11/point) through Disney booking, which was about $4000. Maybe I'm doing something wrong? What I was thinking about doing was looking through the boards to see who owns GCV and then messaging them to let them know we are in the market for points during that time and to contact me if they have a reservation available

 

[melaniemiller2002]

Oh, another reason why we really want to do the DVC instead of a regular room is that eating out for our family is extremely expensive....usually $100 or so. And at Disney, it's even more, it seems. So having a kitchen would be ideal because I love to cook, even on vacation and it would be nice to make breakfast for everyone, then be able to make dinners most nights and treat ourselves one or two nights out to dinner without having to worry about the cost. If that makes sense?

 

[blackjackdelta]

Oh, another reason why we really want to do the DVC instead of a regular room is that eating out for our family is extremely expensive....usually $100 or so. And at Disney, it's even more, it seems. So having a kitchen would be ideal because I love to cook, even on vacation and it would be nice to make breakfast for everyone, then be able to make dinners most nights and treat ourselves one or two nights out to dinner without having to worry about the cost. If that makes sense?

I understand your objectives and agree..Disney cash only reservations do not come open very often(good luck) for the Villas. Even though renting is still more expensive overall than staying other places, worth it to us. Go to the rental thread and start emailing

Jack

 

[Disney Dreams]

I hope the info I posted for you above was helpful.

I'm hoping because we want to go during the lowest season they offer, we would have a better chance at finding a villa? January seems to be the lower season, from the points chart. And when I figured out by points, 235 weekly, it comes out to a LOT lower than going (based on $11/point) through Disney booking, which was about $4000. Maybe I'm doing something wrong? What I was thinking about doing was looking through the boards to see who owns GCV and then messaging them to let them know we are in the market for points during that time and to contact me if they have a reservation available

As for it coming out to be a LOT lower, yes, it does. The part that's "missing" is that a member has paid for approximately 50 years worth of stays. We bought DVC for 47 years. So Disney is not getting 235 x $11 from us --- or from the person you are renting the points from either. So, it's a price break for owners. As they say, membership has its privileges. When you buy into DVC, the logic is that after about 5 vacations, you are WAY ahead --- if you vacation at Disney on a regular basis.

Remember also that you will not have Mousekeeping services every day, like you would if you were renting a hotel room at the GCH, unless you want to pay extra.

HTH,
Dreams

 

[blackjackdelta]

We just rented a studio at the Grand Californian from David's DVC rentals for our 4 night visit in November. I was going to pay $129 per night (plus taxes and fees) for the Fairfield Inn across from the main gate. For a few hundred dollars more than that we were able to get a studio at the DGC. I hope I made the right decision. I'll let you know how it goes.

I have not stayed in a studio but you will love it, what kind of view did you request. I will not use Davids DVC but that is another story.

Jack

 

[Susie63]

I also want to rent,but is asking on the rent /trade board a good way to do it? I had an owner with points all lined up but they discovered after renting to other people they did not have enough points for fill my request..
I will pay $13 a point if I have to but $11 would be nice. DH will NOT stay off property.

 

[blackjackdelta]

I also want to rent,but is asking on the rent /trade board a good way to do it? I had an owner with points all lined up but they discovered after renting to other people they did not have enough points for fill my request..
I will pay $13 a point if I have to but $11 would be nice. DH will NOT stay off property.

My wife is the one who does not want to stay anywhere besides the Grand..she told me last night she would rather skip 2012 then stay anywhere else. For us $13/point is an additional $1000 US.

Jack

 

[BensDaddy]

Haven't requested a view yet. What do you recommend?

 

[blackjackdelta]

Haven't requested a view yet. What do you recommend?

We like the park view over the pool and GRR we had last year..just depends on what excites you(that is Disney wise.)

Jack

 

[Susie63]

My wife is the one who does not want to stay anywhere besides the Grand..she told me last night she would rather skip 2012 then stay anywhere else. For us $13/point is an additional $1000 US.

Jack

Yikes!!! I would love a 1 bdr. but a studio is okay for the three of us,so it is just 190 points or $380 extra.
Did you have any luck getting your points for August?