Which way to go?

[yooperfan]

Is it cheaper to rent dvd points for wilderness lodge DVC than stay in the lodge if you don’t have AP’s or a discount code? Early Dec. 2021. If renting points, how far in advance can you book? Pros, cons?

 

[NicoleLarson]

Generally, yes, renting points is cheaper. Cheapest room at WL in Dec. 2020 according to mousesavers was $500/night.
If you got a generous 30% off (which i don't know that I've ever seen at WL) you are paying $350.
Renting points: studios are 15/16 points/night at that time, if you pay $17/point, you are paying $255/$272. Early December is extremely popular with DVC members so you will likely need to find a renter that owns there so they can book right at 11 months. Generally, point rentals are non-refundable. That's the biggest con. Other than that, you get everything that a regular room would.

 

[Marionnette]

Is it cheaper to rent dvd points for wilderness lodge DVC than stay in the lodge if you don’t have AP’s or a discount code? Early Dec. 2021. If renting points, how far in advance can you book? Pros, cons?

Yes, a point rental is cheaper than going through Disney for a hotel room but...

Copper Creek Villas (the DVC resort that is inside the Wilderness Lodge Resort) has a very limited number of studios. Members who own there have difficulty booking for themselves, so renting a studio at between Thanksgiving and New Year’s is almost impossible.

There are caveats associated with renting DVC points, the most glaring one would be that there are no changes/no refunds. The rental agencies expect payment in full at the time of booking, as do many private owners. Some agencies will require a deposit before they will even begin searching for an owner to match you with, or to check to see if there is even availability.

Owners can begin booking their home resort 11 months in advance of their stay. They can book non-home resorts beginning 7 months in advance. Don’t expect to rent a CCV studio in December at 7 months.

My advice would be to look on the DVC Rent/Trade Board for someone who owns at CCV in the next month or so and try to makes a reservation thru them if you want to go the rental route. But make sure that you do your due diligence and absolutely DO NOT RESPOND TO PMs WITH ANYONE OFFERING TO RENT TO YOU UNLESS YOU INITIATED THE DISCUSSION.

 

[Deb & Bill]

You might want to read this thread about renting points from the brokers:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/davids-dvc-rental-reimbursement-or-rescheduling.3796922/
Also, the first two weeks of Dec are the busiest time of the year for DVC bookings.

 

[Sue M]

In these uncertain times I would book regular room and watch For discounts to come out.
If you do decide to go the DVC route, be sure you purchase trip cancelation insurance, as others have mentioned if you have to cancel for whatever reason you will loose your money.

 

[disneyberry]

Just a tip if you do go the DVC rental route: It may be worth finding a DVC owner who is renting out points with a fall Use Year (Aug, Sept, Oct, or Dec). Even though the rental fee you pay to the owner is usually non-refundable, in some cases, there are owners who might be willing to help you reschedule a trip. If they are willing, you'll be limited to using the same points you used to book your original reservation. This is something I usually explain to people when I've had to rent my points out.

Let's say for example, you rent from someone with a December UY. You would be renting Dec 2021 points which are valid for stays all the way until 11/30/22 should you need to reschedule. This gives you a big 11 month window. If you, however, rented from someone with a February UY, you'd be renting Feb 2021 points which could only be used until 1/31/22, a small window of only a few weeks.