*UPDATE* DVC Rental for Grand Villa 9 nights....how possible?

[MommyBryn]

Hoping I'm posting in the right place....and sorry if this is a ridiculous question, as I'm still trying to understand DVC rental. Is it even possible to find someone who has the points for a grand villa (boardwalk) for 9 nights? What are the chances of that?

(and I guess while I'm asking...discounts aren't applicable to DVC rooms/rentals, right? (I'm not even sure how that would work, but I'm asking anyway) So if there is a 30% off deal it would make 3 regular rooms a more cost efficient option than DVC rental, correct? It is as far as my numbers go, but that's only IF the rentals don't have any sales apply to them)

 

[_auroraborealis_]

1. It's possible. But there are some issues with it. If it's between October-marathon, it will be harder to get in general. Also, even at 11 months as a home owner, a DVC owner at Boardwalk can only book 7 days, then has to add a day at a time later. This means a broker will wait until the whole stay can be booked; a private owner might be more willing to jump through the hoops early in the booking period.

2. If you rent DVC, you are not eligible for any discounts from Disney, as your transaction is not with Disney. It's with a private timeshare owner. You can use a discount ticket vendor for tickets, but, yes, you might very well find that a 30% room-only offer for 3 rooms might still be cheaper than a DVC rental for a GV. GVs have slightly inflated points. Depends on the season, I suspect. I've never done that math.

 

[MommyBryn]

Thank you so much for the help. It would be January (not over Marathon Weekend or MLK weekend). How much later are we talking for adding the extra days? Is there a risk to waiting longer then?

 

[cvjw]

I think your main problem is finding a DVC owner with over 700 BWV points that they want to rent out to you. When I check the points calculator, 9 nights in January for a BWV grand villa is over 700 points. Most DVC owners don't have 700 points that they could rent out to you if they wanted to.

I suspect this will be a rental request that is next to impossible to fill.

 

[cvjw]

And, it would be incredibly expensive. $16 X 700 points is over $11,000

 

[MommyBryn]

Yes, we looked at that. The cost is actually almost the same and sometimes cheaper than us getting 3 separate rooms assuming there isn't a good room discount, but also comes with the benefit of actually being together even at a slight bit more (if there is a discount).

So it being nearly impossible...that's what I was hoping to find out because I vaguely recall realizing it wouldn't work out when I've considered it in the past. So when I look at the rental sites, they show the costs and things, but is it the villa itself that is hard to get or the 9 nights? I hear about DVC members we know staying deluxe for weeks at a time so I really have no idea, just curious.

 

[cvjw]

There are only 5 or 6 BWV grand villas. Getting one for 9 nights during the months between September and January would be a challenge.

The greatest challenge will be finding a BWV owner with over 700 points they want to rent out.

 

[drusba]

I assume you mean your intended time to go is in the last half of January. As to availability, BWV GV's are generally booked during the 11 month reservation window although not right at 11 months out for the time period you want, so owners of the resort usually have a little time to book them and don't need to do so right at 8 a.m. at 11 months out from date of arrival. However, you will still need to find a boardwalk owner or owners to do the rental and do it fairly quickly once the 11 month reservation window opens. It is unlikely there will be a single owner offerring enough boardwalk points to rent a GV for nine nights. To have a chance to accomplish what you want, you should likely attempt to do this through one of the DVC rental brokers such as David's, dvcrental.com. They might be able to arrange two or more separate reservations, collectively covering all the nights you want, from two or more BWV owners, and then have the reservations linked through DVC Member Services so you do not have to change rooms during the nine night stay.

In considering DVC rooms to get and whether to just do some rooms with a Disney cash discount, be aware of the following. DVC rentals do not get daily cleaning service. For a nine night stay you would get one full cleaning on the fourth day you are there (and to get to four count your arrival day as one) and what is referred to as a trash and towel service on the the eigth day. Additonal daily full cleaning service can be ordered when there for one or more days but it is costly -- a GV is $75 a day. You do not get any special discounts, room or otherwise, offerred by Disney. You can order, through the renting owner, one of the dining plans. As far as DVC cost per room, GV's as noted are quite expensive. At Boardwalk, it is actually cheaper to get two 2BRs, and particularly cheaper to get a 2BR and 1BR, so you may also want to consider one of those options.

 

[MommyBryn]

Okay, thanks for the continued help. I am looking to book through a rental broker, and I've emailed two of them to see what they think about the situation.

I did know about the cleaning and that is something I'm not concerned about, we usually don't have them clean our rooms but every 2-3 days anyway just because. So that wouldn't be a huge deal. And we have decided we aren't likely to do the DDP this time around. I had looked into doing a couple 2BR in the past but was told that you can't get them together (so we'd be a fair distance apart) and since I split my kids up with grandparents/aunts&uncles (we travel all together and so far I'm the only one with kids), we like to be all together, hence the reason the GV would be so nice. My parents (who fund most of the trip) REALLY like the idea of the BWGV so I'm hoping we can find a way to make it work but if not we will just do three separate rooms, like "normal."

 

[MommyBryn]

If we were to do a 2BR/1BR combo, could those two be next two each other? I will play around with the possibility...the only problem is that we have 4 sets of adults and I'm not entirely sure one of them is going to want a sofa bed.

 

[MommyBryn]

So I just heard back from David's and they said they've certainly done this before (for BWGV for our length of stay) and believe there is a good chance we may get it and be able to secure the entire 9-day reservation at once! So that's cool, we will see what happens. Still open to any advice, though!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

While 2 2BRs could be a bit separated, all of BWV is under one roof, and they could be not far from each other as well. It is also an easier split to get from two owners.

 

[CarolMN]

So I just heard back from David's and they said they've certainly done this before (for BWGV for our length of stay) and believe there is a good chance we may get it and be able to secure the entire 9-day reservation at once! So that's cool, we will see what happens. Still open to any advice, though!

I'd give them a shot. If they can't make it work before the Grand Villas get booked for the nights you want, you can always change to two 2 bedrooms or a 2 bedroom and 1 bedroom as a back up. The Pool / Garden category should be still be available even at 7 months for that time of the year.

Just remember that the reservation you rent through David's will be non-changeable and non-refundable.

Good luck - sounds like a fun trip!

 

[CaliAdventurer]

Yes, we looked at that. The cost is actually almost the same and sometimes cheaper than us getting 3 separate rooms assuming there isn't a good room discount, but also comes with the benefit of actually being together even at a slight bit more (if there is a discount).

So it being nearly impossible...that's what I was hoping to find out because I vaguely recall realizing it wouldn't work out when I've considered it in the past. So when I look at the rental sites, they show the costs and things, but is it the villa itself that is hard to get or the 9 nights? I hear about DVC members we know staying deluxe for weeks at a time so I really have no idea, just curious.

It may not be impossible to find an owner with 300 pts who is willing to rent saved and borrowed points for a big cash payment as yours will be. Take heart, its worth a try.

 

[drusba]

If we were to do a 2BR/1BR combo, could those two be next two each other? I will play around with the possibility...the only problem is that we have 4 sets of adults and I'm not entirely sure one of them is going to want a sofa bed.

Whether it is two 2BRs or a 2BR and a one bedroom, or any combination of two separate rooms, the issue is the same. You can put in a "traveling with" request and ask for rooms to be close to each other, but it is not a guaranteed request.

As far as whether it is physically possible to get a 2BR and 1BR next to each other. the answer is yes. At BWV, the majority of rooms are 2BR lock-offs (combined studio and 1BR) and those run next to each throughout, making it possible to have a 2BR next to a 1BR or studio.

 

[MommyBryn]

Just figured I'd update that we DID get the Boardwalk Grand Villa! DVCRentalStore.com (the option we chose after comparing broker) was able to secure us a reservation for all 9 nights via one DVC owner.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Just figured I'd update that we DID get the Boardwalk Grand Villa! DVCRentalStore.com (the option we chose after comparing broker) was able to secure us a reservation for all 9 nights via one DVC owner.

That's wonderful! What a great stay you're going to have!!