Talk To Me About Renting DVC...

[flowerbelle]

Hi ladies! I'm totally brand new to this topic and found this thread very interesting. I have not a CLUE about this, and find that this may be a great option for my family when they come down for my upcoming wedding. Especially now that the resorts are either completely blocked or filled during the time of my wedding. Can someone tell me where to start to get a rental??? How do I go about looking for rentals? Is there a web site I go to? Where do I find a list of the deluxe rentals? Also, do they limit the number of people staying at a rental? Any help and insight would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks again!!!

 

[Beep]

I've got something to add about renting points.

Our DVC member called Member Services the first day she was able to to book our villas and we couldn't get exactly what we wanted, even on the first day of booking. We wanted villas at her home resort so she was able to call at the earliest time.

We wanted 5 nights in a 1-bed for us and 2 nights in a 2-bed for my parents, both standard views. Mom and Dad got theirs ok, but we got 2 nights standard and then 3 nights preferred view. That would have meant changing villas the day before the wedding when we had manicures, dress steaming etc booked so couldn't realistically do that.

We were on standby for either 3 nights standard or 2 nights preferred (whichever came first) to keep the booking continuous and got the 3 nights preferred last month.

If you don't get what you want when the DVC member books for you try and go on standby for what you want. We were very fortunate that our DVC friend had the extra points for us to go for the preferred view, and contributed as a wedding present for us!

 

[lurkyloo]

I am a little worried however about there not being much of any cancelation policy at all if we go this route, because my grandfather has stage 4 lung cancer right now and I am worried about losing our money if heaven forbid something happened to him at that time. I am also staying at BLT for the Marathon in Jan but only for 2 nights with my family, and I now my fiance would just love it there! So anyone have any advice for me? Would really appreciate it! Sorry that was so long! Thanks!!

PS. On an unrelated note, my Dad bought me a pair of the bridal ears after I got engaged and I was just wondering what the etiquette was with when you wear em in the parks? Do you wait until your married or wear them when your engaged? Haha just wondering

First, re: Ears - I've seen plenty of engaged couples wearing the ears, but some people like to wait until they're married to wear them. I think it's just personal preference.

Re: cancellation of rented DVC points - this would really depend on the person you are renting from because the penalty s/he incurs depends on his/her Use Year. If you cancelled more than 4 months before the end of their Use Year, they would not incur any penalties and could easily use or bank the points. If you cancelled within those last four months, they would be very limited in what they could do with the points (use or rent, basically), and if they didn't use them, they would lose them. So they would probably not give you your deposit back or, I dunno, they might ask for all the money! Many renters have contracts for you to sign that spell out what would happen in case of cancellation, so the thing to do would be to rent from someone who understood your situation and could work with it.

Hi ladies! I'm totally brand new to this topic and found this thread very interesting. I have not a CLUE about this, and find that this may be a great option for my family when they come down for my upcoming wedding. Especially now that the resorts are either completely blocked or filled during the time of my wedding.

This might mean that all the Disney Vacation Club resorts are booked too, and it could be hard for you to get even a rental. Then again, Saratoga Springs seems to always have availability...

Can someone tell me where to start to get a rental??? How do I go about looking for rentals? Is there a web site I go to?

A good place to start looking is the DIS Rent/Trade board: http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=29

It will give you an idea of how much points are renting for at the resort you want. If you are less than 7 months out from the date you need points, you can rent from owners at any of the DVC resorts. If you are between 11 and 7 months out, you will want to look for people who own points at the specific resort you want, b/c they are the only ones who can make reservations there before 7 months.

Where do I find a list of the deluxe rentals?

If you are looking for the names of the resorts and the types of accommodation available, check out this site: http://dvc.disney.go.com/dvc/guest/resorts/resortOverview?id=ProspectsResortsOverviewPage

Once you know which resort you want and what size room, you need to find out how many points are required for that type of room at the time of year you are going. This page lists the points charts for all the DVC resorts:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-vacation-club/DVCpoints.shtml

The Rent/Trade Board will show you where and how many points are being offered at the moment. You can also put in a request when you know what you want, but you will need to follow the posting rules in the sticky at the top of the forum.

Also, do they limit the number of people staying at a rental?

Yes. Each type of accommodation has a maximum occupancy number, and it can vary by resort. The official DVC website I linked to above will tell you the max occupancy for each room type at each resort. In general, it's 4 for a studio, 4 or 5 for a 1-bedroom, 8 or 9 for a 2-bedroom, and 12 for a Grand Villa.

 

[flowerbelle]

First, re: Ears - I've seen plenty of engaged couples wearing the ears, but some people like to wait until they're married to wear them. I think it's just personal preference.

Re: cancellation of rented DVC points - this would really depend on the person you are renting from because the penalty s/he incurs depends on his/her Use Year. If you cancelled more than 4 months before the end of their Use Year, they would not incur any penalties and could easily use or bank the points. If you cancelled within those last four months, they would be very limited in what they could do with the points (use or rent, basically), and if they didn't use them, they would lose them. So they would probably not give you your deposit back or, I dunno, they might ask for all the money! Many renters have contracts for you to sign that spell out what would happen in case of cancellation, so the thing to do would be to rent from someone who understood your situation and could work with it.



This might mean that all the Disney Vacation Club resorts are booked too, and it could be hard for you to get even a rental. Then again, Saratoga Springs seems to always have availability...



A good place to start looking is the DIS Rent/Trade board: http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=29

It will give you an idea of how much points are renting for at the resort you want. If you are less than 7 months out from the date you need points, you can rent from owners at any of the DVC resorts. If you are between 11 and 7 months out, you will want to look for people who own points at the specific resort you want, b/c they are the only ones who can make reservations there before 7 months.




If you are looking for the names of the resorts and the types of accommodation available, check out this site: http://dvc.disney.go.com/dvc/guest/resorts/resortOverview?id=ProspectsResortsOverviewPage

Once you know which resort you want and what size room, you need to find out how many points are required for that type of room at the time of year you are going. This page lists the points charts for all the DVC resorts:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-vacation-club/DVCpoints.shtml

The Rent/Trade Board will show you where and how many points are being offered at the moment. You can also put in a request when you know what you want, but you will need to follow the posting rules in the sticky at the top of the forum.



Yes. Each type of accommodation has a maximum occupancy number, and it can vary by resort. The official DVC website I linked to above will tell you the max occupancy for each room type at each resort. In general, it's 4 for a studio, 4 or 5 for a 1-bedroom, 8 or 9 for a 2-bedroom, and 12 for a Grand Villa.

Carrie,
You are SIMPLY the BEST!!! THANK YOU for your un-ending and gracious help--as always!!!

 

[5forDiz]

....... I am a little worried however about there not being much of any cancelation policy at all if we go this route, because my grandfather has stage 4 lung cancer right now and I am worried about losing our money if heaven forbid something happened to him at that time. I am also staying at BLT for the Marathon in Jan but only for 2 nights with my family, and I now my fiance would just love it there! So anyone have any advice for me? Would really appreciate it! Sorry that was so long! Thanks!!
Marissa

I'm sorry about your grandfather, my prayers go out to you and your family

I'll just fill you in on some nitty-gritty details of cancellation of a DVC points reservation so it gives you more insight into the process & why you may find members to be reluctant to make cancellation....your best hope for them agreeing to cancel your reservation would be to find a member who will use points from their Current Use Year allotment to book your reservation and the trip taking place within the first 8 months of their Use Year.

Because

~most members do not want to deal with cancellations of points reservation because only points from their CURRENT Use Year allotment will be bankable if the reservation is cancelled at least 31 days before check-in AND if it's before their banking deadline; any Banked points or Borrowed points that the member may also have used to book your reservation will not be bankable by the member even if the reservation is cancelled more than 31 days out & even if it is still before their banking deadline so then that member would be in a situation where they'd need to re-use those banked or borrowed points allocated to your reservation by the end of their Use Year.

~most members will not allow cancellations unless it is 31 days or more before check-in date because cancelling from 30 days before through 1 day before the check-in date will cause their points to go into restricted status which means they must use all points allocated to that reservation ~whether they be Current, Banked or Borrowed points~ by end of their Use Year and the member cannot make a new reservation with these points unless it is 60 days or less to a new trip date and this is considered to be very last minute as DVC reservations go and although I've had good success booking last minute reservations with our points it's a situation we & most members do want to avoid because it could result in total loss of points if nothing is available.

Best wishes on your planning
~laura

 

[Dr.Cinderella]

Thanks everyone so much for your advice and input. I think at this point it would be simpler and safer not to go the renting route this time. My fiance said he really doesn't care because we wont be in the room much anyways, I just thought it would be nice. Maybe next time though! As far as the regular Disney Package cancellation policy, I understand there is no fee if you cancel before 45 days and then a $100 or $200 fee depending on how close you are. Does anyone know if this would include a full refund of flights if they are booked through Disney? I was not able to find this information in my research. Hopefully we wont have to worry about it, but I just wanted to find out. Thanks again!
Marissa

 

[Dr.Cinderella]

Anyone have any idea about the cancelation policy? Also I was curious about if we should wear the just engaged buttons because we have been engaged six months now and it will be a year by the time of our trip? Thanks again!

 

[lurkyloo]

Anyone have any idea about the cancelation policy? Also I was curious about if we should wear the just engaged buttons because we have been engaged six months now and it will be a year by the time of our trip? Thanks again!

Here you go...

First, re: Ears - I've seen plenty of engaged couples wearing the ears, but some people like to wait until they're married to wear them. I think it's just personal preference.

Re: cancellation of rented DVC points - this would really depend on the person you are renting from because the penalty s/he incurs depends on his/her Use Year. If you cancelled more than 4 months before the end of their Use Year, they would not incur any penalties and could easily use or bank the points. If you cancelled within those last four months, they would be very limited in what they could do with the points (use or rent, basically), and if they didn't use them, they would lose them. So they would probably not give you your deposit back or, I dunno, they might ask for all the money! Many renters have contracts for you to sign that spell out what would happen in case of cancellation, so the thing to do would be to rent from someone who understood your situation and could work with it.

 

[Dr.Cinderella]

Hi Carrie, I was actually had another question about the regular Disney package cancellation policy, not DVC, that I posted a few days back, but nobody answered so I figured Id bump it. Thanks though!

 

[lurkyloo]

A-ha! It is my understanding that flights are almost never refundable - even though you book them through Disney, they are controlled by the airlines, and usually by the time you pay their change fees, you may as well have bought another ticket. However, the folks on the DIS' Resorts and Transportation boards are a wealth of knowledge on that subject - a lot of them are Disney travel agents! So you might want to post your question there and see what the pros say.