to rent DVC or not to rent DVC

[dedesmith32]

So I really need some help deciding.....

We are hoping to take my family plus my brothers family (total of 7 people-4 adults, 3 kids) to Disneyland from Nov 28-Dec 5, 2015

I just cannot decide what to do for rooms. I've really been looking at renting a 2 bedroom villa at grand Californian. We loved staying onsite at the Disneyland hotel last Dec so that is a must for us anyway. I'm liking the idea of a full kitchen as well.

So who has stayed in the 2 bedroom villas? Was it worth it? Did you rent points?

I also can't decide whether to go through David's rentals or try to get it cheaper by renting from an owner directly!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

 

[pmaurer74]

From the prices I have seen I think renting directly from an owner may not be much less.

 

[kitayama]

I have stayed in a studio at the Grand Californian, but I haven't done a two bedroom at the Grand Californian yet. I have had a two bedroom and studio at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and a two bedroom at Old Key West...
The DVC two bedroom villas are great! I purchased DVC points during my stay at Old Key West (for which I paid cash) because of how impressed I was with the room. Then, I was completely blown away by the Animal Kingdom Lodge!
The studios at the Grand Californian and Animal Kingdom Lodge had similar layouts, so I would assume the two bedroom villas would be similar too. The DVC two bedroom villas I have stayed at could easily accommodate a group of 7! Those pullout beds are not too uncomfortable. If the kids are small enough, they can even share it.
As far as renting points goes, I can't help you too much with that. I can say that I wish I had purchased the DVC points prior to staying at Old Key West. The money I spent on the room seems like wasted money to me now... :-(

 

[ludari]

As a DVC owner I enjoy staying in the larger villas and I have only once stayed in a two bedroom villa. At least for me I always find trying to book any DVC rooms at GCV extremely difficult. Unfortunately, I think your biggest obstacle might be getting the reservation at GCV regardless of who you go through (David's or DVC owner) especially with this being the 60th Anniversary Celebration. I hope I'm wrong and good luck with your decision.

 

[GeneralTso]

Heads up---it is VERY hard to rent DVC points at GC. Huge lead in time, and even then you miss the mark most times. You have to hit the exact moment with availability and it actually lines up with your dates. Good luck. It's not impossible, just really hard and takes a lot of patience. It was a breeze doing this at WDW, GC however---completely different story.

 

[Tricia's mom]

We have rented before ! It's a great option. I did it at. WdW .we only need a studio so it didn't make sense to do it at GC. There wasn't much of a savings.

 

[BecBennett]

We rented at the Boardwalk on our last trip. We only had one bedroom, but the full kitchen was so handy! Especially with a 2 year old. We rented through a friend of DH's family. It saved us a fortune over renting through David's, but that was because they rented us the points at cost (if that is the right terminology ) however I would only do that if I knew the person, there just seems to be too much risk for not a huge savings otherwise.

 

[ehrawn]

We own a time share through another company and really like what the extra space and kitchen does for the vacation. We live far from our family, so we usually invite grandparents, auntie, uncles and cousins to join us on every vacation. We were hoping to do the same with DLR but, as was stated above, renting points at GC didn't really save us any money. The same can also be said for Aulani, BTW. We ended up going another route in order to balance the required space and amenities to accommodate the large group, but still remain close to the resort. It's still a hope that we will be able to stay at GC, but I can't see us staying in one of the villas and probably not for the whole time we are in Anaheim.

 

[sassymouse]

We couldn't decide wnether to rent points or not. We ended up buying resale at VCG. We've been waiting to make our November vacation reservation. Just did that this morning. I was lucky that our vacation dates were still available.

 

[dedesmith32]

Thanks everyone - we decided to not rent and just go with 2 rooms. Thanks for your information!