HI,
i rented points for our Nov 10 WDW vacation.
First you will need to decide where you want Disney Villa Resort you want to stay at.
Bay Lake Towers
Beach Club Villas
Wilderness Logde Villas
Animal Kindom Villas - Kindani
Boardwalk Villas
Old Key West
Saratoga Springs.
Second you will need to decide the dates you want to travel and how many nights you would like to stay.
Most people try to make reservations to stay at a
DVC villa 7 to 11 months before they travel inorder to find availabiity. I booked at 7 months out. A DVC owner can rent points at his home resort (the resort he owns at) 11 months out and rent at all other DVC Villas 7 months out.
I looked on the rent and trade boards each day at the posts on the rent and trade board until I found someone who was renting around the amount of points i needed and in the use year that i needed for the reservation (I determined this by using the points calculator here on the disboards -located on home page of disboards in DVC section middle of page. Points are required to be used within the use year of the contract). Once I found someone who had the available points i needed i contacted this person through personal message here on disboard and then through email. The DVC owner will be able to tell if your reservation is within the time frame of his/her use year.
Please note that you will not be able to call Disney directly about your reservation, only the DVC owner can do this. You will get cleaning and towel service on the fourth day of your reservation. We paid daily for towel service but were happy with only having cleaning service once. Also, most DVC owners require 50 percent downpayment at time of confirmation and the balance being due 45 day prior to reservation. Also, some will not allow cancellation. I was able to cancel prior to 30 days out, if needed. I believe DVC owners do this because they can only change reservations prior to 30 days out without being penalized for the points.
I made sure also that the person i was renting from had been a member of the disboards for a few years, had a high post count including prior rent posts, i checked owner references and the orange county website for a property deed in the name of the owner. Also, make sure that you get all contact information. Do not send money until you receive confirmation number with a promise to receive written confirmation from Disney in the mail. Paypal is the method i used to pay the owner. I set up a paypal account and it took two to three days to get the account setup with withdrawal from my bankaccount. You will send a payment to the owners email address for the amount of the reservation.
My experience with renting points was great. WDW treated treated my family as if we were dvc owners when we arrived at our resort. We stayed at BCV. I fell in love but my DD loved AKV most. We stayed their on a 40 percent off room reservation the year before. Renting points at 10 dollars a point was less expensive though.
Also dvcrequest.com rents points for about $13.00 a point. But you have to pay in full upfront. I have never used them but if i decide to try in the future i plan to only state the specific resort that i want to stay in as an option with no 2nd and 3rd choices.
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