How many months in advance should you start looking to rent DVC points

[KV33]

My family and I are starting to plan and budget for a Disney trip in the spring of 2021. When is the right time to try to find points to rent. I am new to this so I am green.

 

[RobDoc]

Since the DVC Rent/Trade Board is not a discussion forum, your question has been moved to DVC Member Services.

DVC Members are able to make reservations at their Home Resort (resort(s) which they own) eleven (11) months prior to the arrival date. Seven (7) months before arrival, all DVC Members are able to reserve at DVC Resorts which they do not own.

For a spring 2021 trip, reservations may be made in spring 2020, 11 months to the day of your arrival date.

For popular resorts and villa types, the sooner you make the reservation , the better.

At the present time, there is minimal availability between now and January, 2020 and dates in March, 2020 have been reserved beginning over 4 months ago.

Good luck with your rental!

 

[chalee94]

David has some suggestions on his website:

https://www.dvcrequest.com/how-soon-should-i-reserve.asp

 

[MICKIMINI]

Plan, budget and call the broker AHEAD of the 11 month window to make sure you know exactly what you are doing on the day you have circled on your calendar. Have the correct spelling and address for each member of your party available when you reserve. Call your CC company so they know you are making a large purchase. David's DVC is in Canada so if you use them, hopefully you have a card that doesn't charge for international purchases. If you need the owner to make Magical Express reservations do it ASAP and Dining Plan purchase a couple weeks prior to arrival.

We have rented excess points...as an owner I think rental prices in general are too low, so as a renter I think you are getting a great deal.

 

[jpakstis]

We used David's and you can put your request in one year in advance of your trip, but they cannot do anything until 11 months (i.e. when the "home" DVC owner can make their reservation).

 

[KV33]

Is it better to go through a broker, or try to find someone on the discussion boards to work with. Again I hate to keep saying this and you can see my first post was moved to this board bc I put it in the wrong place, I am new to this whole process.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Is it better to go through a broker, or try to find someone on the discussion boards to work with. Again I hate to keep saying this and you can see my first post was moved to this board bc I put it in the wrong place, I am new to this whole process.

You have to have a lot of trust to go privately, versus a broker. With a broker, you have more protection if the deal goes south. As a novice who knows little about renting, I'd suggest a broker.

 

[Marionnette]

Is it better to go through a broker, or try to find someone on the discussion boards to work with. Again I hate to keep saying this and you can see my first post was moved to this board bc I put it in the wrong place, I am new to this whole process.

It’s 6 of one, half a dozen of the other.

You can pay less per point by going thru the Rent/Trade Board. You can also increase your chances of getting one of the hard-to-book villas if you deal directly with an owner. Owners can also be a little more flexible with payment plans, rebooking if your circumstances change or continually checking for availability if you have another resort preference.

Going thru a broker provides a level of reassurance that you will not get scammed. You lose the ability to communicate directly with the owner to make room requests, add the dining plan or request DME reservations. The process is efficient but impersonal. You will not be able to change or cancel once the reservation is made. And you will likely have to pay 100% of the rental price at the time it is confirmed.

A lot will depend on how risk averse you are. If you don’t want to do the groundwork to ensure you are comfortable with a private rental, then going with a broker is the better choice for you.

 

[KV33]

We would be looking to stay at the Polynesian or Grand Floridian. Something on the MK monorail. Looking at David’s list it says try to book GF 11 months. And Poly 7 months. So is GF more sought after? Is the poly easier or harder to book? Is their any recommendations that we should be looking at instead of these two resorts?

 

[Marionnette]

We would be looking to stay at the Polynesian or Grand Floridian. Something on the MK monorail. Looking at David’s list it says try to book GF 11 months. And Poly 7 months. So is GF more sought after? Is the poly easier or harder to book? Is their any recommendations that we should be looking at instead of these two resorts?

VGF is a very small resort. Studios go quickly at 11 months because there are so few of them. Because it is small, there are relatively fewer owners than the bigger resorts. Fewer owners means fewer owners offering their points for rent. And with the relatively low reimbursement from the brokers, a lot of VGF owners prefer to rent their points out privately. VGF is the most expensive resort to buy into but brokers pay the same to VGF owners at 11 months as they pay BCV owners who bought in at a much lower price.

Poly is all studios and bungalows. The larger size of the resort and the fact that there is an abundance of studios tends to mean that the likelihood of successfully renting a studio are greatly increased. This is especially true at the 7-month mark when owners from other resorts can use their points at Poly.

However, there are certain times during the year when studio availability across all of DVC can be difficult. The period between mid-September to Marathon Weekend in January comes to mind. That’s not to say you cannot find a studio thru a rental during that time. It just means that owners tend to scramble to book studios then. The chances of successfully renting one of the near-park resorts are diminished during Fall Frenzy. But getting one of the larger, more remote resorts remains good at 11 months.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

We would be looking to stay at the Polynesian or Grand Floridian. Something on the MK monorail. Looking at David’s list it says try to book GF 11 months. And Poly 7 months. So is GF more sought after? Is the poly easier or harder to book? Is their any recommendations that we should be looking at instead of these two resorts?

You should be trying Poly at 11 months. I find David's recommendations of when to try to book bad.

 

[KV33]

Thanks. For the people that have stayed at many different resorts, what are the best for the price. Are there any that you would say “you have to stay here once in your life”

 

[KV33]

And is one better than the other David’s or www.dvcrentalstore.com

Edited by Mod to add link. Site mentioned is in DISboards filter so may not be discussed here.

 

[badeacon]

I would discuss with a broker and let them know your dates and resorts wanted outside the 11 month window, so that if points for that resort come available , hopefully you would be a top of list.
i would also follow the rent/trade forum and if see an owner currently renting points at resort you want to stay at, contact them about your dates and they may rent to at the 11 month mark.

 

[crvetter]

hopefully you would be a top of list.

Something that often isn't presented by the brokers is there is no top of the list. Essentially what the broker does is maintain a list of all requests with availability existing. The broker then blasts that list to all owners at which point owners can cherry pick whatever they want to fulfill.

Though it is recommended to be on the list as early as possible (both will put you on at 12 months). Also when I tried to rent I was on both of the major brokers list as the deposit is refundable up until they give you a confirmed reservation. Also you can join both properties at the same time if the OP is willing to accept PVB if that comes through first before VGF.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

hopefully you would be a top of list.

There really isn't such a thing as being top of the list. The brokers tell owners, "we have this request, this request, this one," and as owners we cherry-pick the one that meets our needs best based on the points we have, UY, mood.

ETA: JINX with @crvetter!

 

[Sandisw]

Just be sure that you have a clear understanding of all the aspects of renting. Cancellations are going to be much different than a typical room rental from Disney. Most owners have a no cancellation policy and changes are difficult. In addition, you will not get daily mouskeeping which includes no new towels daily.

But, it is a good cost savings so that can outweigh the cons. In terms of cost and resort, Bay Lake Tower will have a cheaper overall cost with thenLake View option vs lake view at VGF or Poly. However the studios are smaller there. I love all 3 resorts but VGF is my favorite. You can’t go wrong with any of them.

As mentioned, in order to get any of these at 11 months, the owner has to own there. I see more Bay Lake points for booking rental reservations then I do the others but that doesn’t mean you can’t find a Poly or VGF owner. At 7 months out, any DVC owner can book any of the resorts so a bigger pool of owners to get your resort booked. I think getting VGF would be difficult but not impossible. I just traded into a LV studio at 7 months for March of 2020 at VGF.

Good luck!

 

[Deb & Bill]

BUT, if you start getting private messages from people offering you points to rent, IGNORE THEM. That is how the scammers get you. Only converse on the internet with people that you initiate the conversation.

 

[KV33]

I appreciate the info. It is very helpful. So when the time comes, at the 11month out time frame, what do I do? Do I look for an owner that’s offering points to rent? Or do
I put it out there that this is what I’m looking for on these dates?

My other question is, I’ve heard that the owner makes the reservation for you. So to add things like after hours party, early morning Magic, dining reservations, memory maker. Does the owner of the points do all that for me as well and I pay them directly. Or can i add that on myself?

 

[Deb & Bill]

I appreciate the info. It is very helpful. So when the time comes, at the 11month out time frame, what do I do? Do I look for an owner that’s offering points to rent? Or do
I put it out there that this is what I’m looking for on these dates?

My other question is, I’ve heard that the owner makes the reservation for you. So to add things like after hours party, early morning Magic, dining reservations, memory maker. Does the owner of the points do all that for me as well and I pay them directly. Or can i add that on myself?

You'll want to find someone just before 11 months out, especially if you want a reservation that needs the owner to book it right at 8AM on line at 11 months out. The owner will make the reservation for you and give you the reservation number so you can add it to your My Disney Experience Acct. If you want the dining plan, they will need to add that as well and you'll pay for it when it is added. All the other stuff you can add yourself. You can even add Magical Express from the airport yourself if you need it. If you have any specific requests, the member will need to add those to your reservation because you won't be able to call anyone to add them yourself.