Disney World is getting more and more expensive…that’s just a fact. Guests flock to Florida every year and spend thousands of dollars on park tickets, food, merchandise, and lodging. So for those that like to pinch their pennies, yet want to stay on Disney property, they will probably opt to stay at a Value or Moderate resort to save some money. But what if I told you that you could pay almost Moderate resort prices, but stay in a Deluxe Villa through a DVC rental? It’s true!
Given you’re on this page then you probably have an idea that booking a DVC rental can save a lot of money but there are some things you should know before booking a DVC rental stay.
1) WHAT IS DVC?
DVC Stands for “Disney Vacation Club” and essentially, it is a Disney company timeshare program that works on what is called DVC points. You purchase DVC points at a “home resort,” but are able to use those points at other resorts very easily. For many DVC members they know they may not be able to make it down to Florida to use their DVC points that year so instead of just letting the points sit (they are still paying for the points if they don’t use them) they offer their points up for “rental”.
2) YOU CAN SAVE A LOT OF MONEY WITH A DVC RENTAL
A night in some DVC villas using points can cost a lot less than rack rate prices through the Disney company directly, sometimes as much as 60% less! That savings is amazing when you think about how much on-property Disney Deluxe resort hotels usually go for. Prices vary depending on when you stay and other factors but that means that if you want to stay at Disney resorts like Grand Floridian, Saratoga Springs, the Boardwalk Villas, Bay Lake Tower, The Polynesian or even Old Key West, many times these rooms will be in the $350 – 450 per night range, so by renting DVC points you could potentially get that room in the $200 per night range without having to have a DVC membership.
3) YOU PAY FOR A DVC RENTAL UPFRONT
DVC members that choose to loan out their vacation club points will require renters to pay for the entire payment up front. There is a liability that Disney Vacation Club members take when renting their DVC points, so they need to be sure that renters can cover the entire cost. This is where it’s much different when you borrow Disney Vacation Club points compared to booking through Disney, as when you go through the Disney company themselves you pay a down payment to reserve your room but when you rent DVC points you have to pay for the whole stay up front.
4) BOOK 11 MONTHS OUT FOR MORE CHOICES
DVC owners can book 11 months out from the time for their reservation with points at their Disney home resort, and the more popular Disney resorts are booked up quickly (the Boardwalk Villas, Monorail resorts like the Grand Floridian and now Copper Creek, mostly). At the 7 month mark, all Disney Vacation Club resorts are available for booking, even if the member doesn’t own at that particular resort. So it is advisable to find a member that owns points at the resort you are wanting to book at in order to get that desired reservation at 11 months out.
This is why using a service like David’s DVC rental is a great option because they have members with home resorts all over Disney property and have a larger inventory for you to potentially choose from.
5) THE POINTS ARE ASSIGNED A CERTAIN VALUE FOR RENTAL
As you can imagine, more popular Disney resorts require a higher cost per point as they have less availability than the less popular ones. If you have ever found yourself trying to find someone for the purpose of a DVC rental, you might hear, “I have 200 Polynesian points that I rent for $18 per point,” or, “I rent 150 points at Old Key West for $15 per point.” Obviously, the more coveted reservation would be booked at Polynesian based on the price of the points.
Again, this is why a service like David’s DVC rental is great to use because they make this whole end of things simple and they go looking for DVC members to look for DVC owners with points on your behalf.
6) FREE PARKING AT DISNEY RESORTS
Guests staying on DVC points, whether they are DVC members or renting from another Disney Vacation Club member, get free parking at Disney resorts. This is another cost saving measure, as you could $100+ during your stay on parking alone on top of the money you can save by renting DVC points compared to a traditional Disney company booking.
7) FEELS LIKE “A HOME AWAY FROM HOME”
Since DVC is essentially a timeshare, it functions in similar ways that others do. One notable way is with housekeeping as daily housekeeping is not included in the reservation, but you can add it on at an additional cost. What is included is trash and towel service on day 4 of your stay, and a full cleaning on day 8. You have a little more privacy this way and don’t have to worry about housekeeping coming in to clean every day, like a true vacation home.
8) CHANGES TO THE RESERVATION MUST BE MADE THROUGH THE RENTING MEMBER
If you do decide to add the dining plan or Magical Express on to your reservation, the Disney company requires the DVC member themselves to make the change for you. Again though, if you go with David’s DVC Rental they will take care of that for you.
9) USING A DISNEY VACATION CLUB RENTAL COMPANY MAKES IT EASY
You have a few options to how you can go about Disney Vacation Club rentals. You can rent directly from a DVC member via message boards and forums online where you can find people who have reservations already reserved or some will just post they have a certain point amount available for rental. If you are able to find a DVC member to rent from, usually, the DVC member draws up their own personal contract and asks for payment through Paypal.
There is substantial risk with this method because you won’t know who you are renting from (more than likely) and there is the potential that you pay someone for the DVC points and they don’t hold up their end of the bargain with the reservations being booked. If this were to happen Disney would not be able to help you either.
That’s one reason why we recommend DVC rentals though our favorite DVC rental partner, David’s DVC Rentals. They are essentially the “middleman” between DVC members and people wanting to rent from Disney Vacation Club members. They give you a peace of mind and simplify the process as they take care of all the grunt work for you. They contact the DVC members, make offers, ensure the villa is rented in your name, handle payments, check days, availability, and more. For first timers or repeat renters, we STRONGLY recommend using David’s DVC Rentals.
If you enjoyed this article then you will love our other articles that can help you plan a great Disney World Vacation, like our David’s Vacation Club Rental Review for your Disney World trip.
