Reposting this from another thread! I looked into renting myself, but we were only 4 months out, so there wasn't really any availability for what we were looking for. That being said, I learned a lot about how it all works, and I will definitely be renting in the future when I have the ability to plan further in advance/am not going over a holiday weekend!
I know the two most popular sites on here are
http://www.dvcrequest.com/ and
http://www.dvcrentalstore.com. DVC Rental Store doesn't charge anything to request availability, while David's (DVCRequest.com) will charge you $98.00 as a deposit, but will refund that if your request isn't available. From reading the boards, I've never seen any problems with either of those two services! They were all really helpful when it came to checking availability for me, even though I didn't end up renting. DVC Rental Store checked
every resort for me when my top 4 choices weren't available, even though I didn't ask them to.
I would say it's totally worth it, especially if you otherwise can't afford to stay deluxe!
Things to take into consideration:
- You WILL be able to book FPs and ADRs on your own, you just have to make sure the information you give to the company matches your MDE account. Similarly, you will be able to take advantage of online check-in at 60 days out.
- You don't really have "control" over the reservation - meaning you're not the one who actually books it through Disney. If you have any requests, need to arrange for DME, or anything like that, it should be done up front when you rent points through whichever company you choose to use. You can't just log onto to MDE and add transportation, for example, and you won't be able to call them to modify your reservation. Normally this doesn't cause any problems, but I know some people can get a little uneasy knowing they aren't "in control."
- You typically have to pay in full in advance, unlike going directly through Disney.
- Point-rentals typically have a strict cancellation policy (unlike going through Disney), so if there's any chance you'd have to cancel or move your trip, this may not be the best option. David's doesn't allow you to cancel at all, while DVC Rental Store has a "cancel for any reason" plan, which will cost you at least an additional $125 (depends on how many points you rent).
- Renting points does NOT give you access to other DVC perks such as discounts. The only real benefit is that you save money over booking the same room directly through Disney.
Hope this helps!
ETA: If you're looking to book for January 2016, it might be too late. I would check availability ASAP.
