What's your experience renting DVC points?

ctcdisneymama

Active Member
Original Poster
My husband and I are planning on taking our daughter to WDW in the next few years and we are torn between staying at our fav POR or trying to rent DVC points for a monorail resort or Beach Club. I definitely see the value of staying at a monorail resort since our daughter will be under 3 so having our hotel close by will be a huge convenience.

I've never rented points before and was wondering if generally people would recommend it or not. Also if anyone has any tips if we go that route.
 

CaptainAmerica

Premium Member
I've done it at Hilton Head, Vero Beach, and Old Key West and I do not recommend it for three main reasons.

1. The savings aren't that great. People will argue otherwise, but I've never gotten a tremendous value on my preferred dates versus what I'd get with a normal room discount through Disney.

2. Lack of flexibility. My plans change often. I'll often book a week and then tinker with different resorts and check-in/check-out dates as flight prices and itineraries come available. Sometimes extended family will decide they want to go with us and we'll change our week entirely. In order to get the best dining reservations, you need to be booked at least 180 days in advance and I can't be locked in to a non-refundable vacation for six months.

3. No housekeeping. Staying in a "deluxe resort" without housekeeping feels less deluxe than staying in a moderate resort as a cash-paying guest. Yes, you can pay to add it, but that goes back to my point #1 above.
 

ctcdisneymama

Active Member
Original Poster
I've done it at Hilton Head, Vero Beach, and Old Key West and I do not recommend it for three main reasons.

1. The savings aren't that great. People will argue otherwise, but I've never gotten a tremendous value on my preferred dates versus what I'd get with a normal room discount through Disney.

2. Lack of flexibility. My plans change often. I'll often book a week and then tinker with different resorts and check-in/check-out dates as flight prices and itineraries come available. Sometimes extended family will decide they want to go with us and we'll change our week entirely. In order to get the best dining reservations, you need to be booked at least 180 days in advance and I can't be locked in to a non-refundable vacation for six months.

3. No housekeeping. Staying in a "deluxe resort" without housekeeping feels less deluxe than staying in a moderate resort as a cash-paying guest. Yes, you can pay to add it, but that goes back to my point #1 above.


Thanks! Good to know about the savings- that was one of my main things. How this could be a chance for us to stay in a deluxe and save money doing it.
 

Club Cooloholic

Well-Known Member
I've done it at Hilton Head, Vero Beach, and Old Key West and I do not recommend it for three main reasons.

1. The savings aren't that great. People will argue otherwise, but I've never gotten a tremendous value on my preferred dates versus what I'd get with a normal room discount through Disney.

2. Lack of flexibility. My plans change often. I'll often book a week and then tinker with different resorts and check-in/check-out dates as flight prices and itineraries come available. Sometimes extended family will decide they want to go with us and we'll change our week entirely. In order to get the best dining reservations, you need to be booked at least 180 days in advance and I can't be locked in to a non-refundable vacation for six months.

3. No housekeeping. Staying in a "deluxe resort" without housekeeping feels less deluxe than staying in a moderate resort as a cash-paying guest. Yes, you can pay to add it, but that goes back to my point #1 above.
Wait. You rented at 3 different places but you would not recommend it? Why did you keep doing it after the first one?
 

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
I've rented points for 3 stays now - all through David's Vacation rentals - and it's been a uniformly seamless experience. We don't mind the lack of housekeeping (I actually appreciate the added privacy and the chance to nap in the afternoon with no fear of an interruption), and we plan our vacations more than a year out with no changes in dates, so the lack of flexibility is okay with us, too.

In short, I agree with everything @CaptainAmerica mentioned in his post, although for my family, the things he mentioned as detractors are either positives or non-issues. I would, however, qualify his comments about savings. The amount of savings depends on the room category you're booking. We've only rented studios (at the Polynesian and Beach Club) or 2-bedroom villas (at Wilderness Lodge), and have saved 40-50% off of rack rate for those accommodations every single time -- far more than we'd have saved even with the most generous room discount offer -- even though we've always booked at 11 months out and therefore paid a "premium" rate. Those who rent 1-bedrooms, however, only save a little, the way the points are calculated.

We've loved renting DVC points, as it has allowed us to stay at deluxe hotels on a moderate budget. We do purchase vacation insurance to cover the costs when/if we have a longer stay or are traveling with other family members, given the non-refundability of the price.
 
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CaptainAmerica

Premium Member
Wait. You rented at 3 different places but you would not recommend it? Why did you keep doing it after the first one?
I've done a lot of things multiple times that I don't necessarily recommend. Breakfast at Be Our Guest, renting a car with a baby, Stitch's Great Escape, Mylar balloons, split stays, visiting in August, etc. It's not uncommon to try things a bunch of times before coming to a conclusion.
 

Club Cooloholic

Well-Known Member
I've done a lot of things multiple times that I don't necessarily recommend. Breakfast at Be Our Guest, renting a car with a baby, Stitch's Great Escape, Mylar balloons, split stays, visiting in August, etc. It's not uncommon to try things a bunch of times before coming to a conclusion.
Yeah, kind of, but usually ofsomething costs me 100s to a grand I dont do it more than twice. I am sure you saved at least a few hundred each time otherwise why bother right? And Renting a car with a baby, what story goes there? Totally curious
 

aliceismad

Well-Known Member
We stayed at Kidani Village studio on rented points (through David's), and it was remarkably easy. It was a standard view studio, but we were able to request and received a partial savannah view room by faxing through TP. I thought the savings was quite substantial, and booking in advance is not a problem for us.

We have another rental at a monorail resort for next spring (also through David's). They were very helpful in looking up various options for me, since my first choice was no available. We are debating POFQ or Swolphin for a split stay on that trip and the prices are not that much higher for the DVC rental (per night). (It would actually be cheaper to rent OKW or SSR points than stay at POFQ or Swolphin, though.)
 

Talltale

New Member
We rented from DVC Rental store for GF last year. The experience was seamless with great customer service - honestly, there are few times in my life that I have received such amazing service. It wasn’t cheap, but it was definitely cheaper than direct-from-Disney prices, and it was great to be at a monorail resort, since we were able to take the exhausted young ones back to the resort from MK (and Epcot) in a stroller without ever having to wake them up.
 

CaptainAmerica

Premium Member
Yeah, kind of, but usually ofsomething costs me 100s to a grand I dont do it more than twice. I am sure you saved at least a few hundred each time otherwise why bother right?
Yes, there was always some savings but the lack of housekeeping annoyed me more than I expected it to each time.

And Renting a car with a baby, what story goes there? Totally curious
No major issues, I just really hate the hassle of getting the car seat through the airport and installing / uninstalling it in the rental car.
 
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Club Cooloholic

Well-Known Member
Yes, there was always some savings but the lack of housekeeping annoyed me more than I expected it too each time.


No major issues, I just really hate the hassle of getting the car seat through the airport and installing / uninstalling it in the rental car.
AAA includes it when you rent with alamo... but always took about 10 mins to get it properly in.
 

JenDud

Member
You can go on David’s DVC rental website and use their cost calculator to price the room. I’m using it next year and my savings were substantial. You must be able to plan ahead of time though (not a problem for me I’m a bit of a planner). I also took out trip insurance in case something comes up
 

rwdavis2

Active Member
In 2016 we paid $243 a night at Boardwalk Villas with a pool view. You could see DHS fireworks from the balcony. It was close to a 50% savings. We books 11 months ahead though dvd rental store doc com. No problems and even had to have my name corrected with no problem.
 

PrincessNelly_NJ

Well-Known Member
We have done it three times now. And will do it again for our next trip. We have saved a considerable amount vs direct w/ discount. We've stayed at Kidani, Saratoga, and Beach club villas. We scored a 1 bedroom at BCV for $230 a night on our most recent trip (it was fairly last minute & lucky) but man its was amazing and well worth it considering we paid $180 a night for FQ later in the same trip!
 

MotherofaPrincessLover

Well-Known Member
I have done it twice - stayed standard view at Kidani and then have a standard view Poly coming up in January. I rented through David's and have had great service. For the January reservation I was being kind of a pain with trying to figure out what still had availability to make sure I got a reservation (marathon weekend). As others have said, renting points might not be for you if you can't plan your vacation in advance. No housekeeping doesn't bother me in the least but is it something to think about.
 

Hcalvert

Well-Known Member
I rented points privately twice--once for AKV-Jambo and Poly this last summer. I did a lot of vetting of the owner as I ran a risk renting points from someone privately. I booked my last trip right at the 7-month mark. I have no problem sharing how much I paid for the Poly studio-$300/night for seven nights. I didn't mind not having any housekeeping, but having access to the free laundry room for DVC was a plus. One thing I don't like about renting points is having to bother the DVC owner to add the dining plan or magical express to the reservation. After it was sorted with a three-way call, it was all smooth sailing from there.
 

correcaminos

Well-Known Member
I've done it at Hilton Head, Vero Beach, and Old Key West and I do not recommend it for three main reasons.

1. The savings aren't that great. People will argue otherwise, but I've never gotten a tremendous value on my preferred dates versus what I'd get with a normal room discount through Disney.

2. Lack of flexibility. My plans change often. I'll often book a week and then tinker with different resorts and check-in/check-out dates as flight prices and itineraries come available. Sometimes extended family will decide they want to go with us and we'll change our week entirely. In order to get the best dining reservations, you need to be booked at least 180 days in advance and I can't be locked in to a non-refundable vacation for six months.

3. No housekeeping. Staying in a "deluxe resort" without housekeeping feels less deluxe than staying in a moderate resort as a cash-paying guest. Yes, you can pay to add it, but that goes back to my point #1 above.

The value in renting is really only for studios and 2 bedrooms. 1 bedrooms are usually a poor value (especially coming up in 2020). In fact one would need to run numbers since points are going up for studios too. 2 bedrooms might become a better deal.

I don't quite get #3 because you get daily housekeeping at moderates. I also realize that Disney 'deluxe' is less than other locations. With daily trash service, we get towels enough (got them daily our last trip). I don't need someone to make my bed every day.

I will caution renters, points are going up in studios an 1 bedrooms in 2020. MF have gone up as much as 10% for 2019 as well. I would expect price per point to rent to raise as well as over all costs can be higher due to many rooms getting point increases.
 

CaptainAmerica

Premium Member
I don't quite get #3 because you get daily housekeeping at moderates.
That's my point. If I don't have the budget for a Deluxe, I'd rather go to a moderate than rent DVC points.

I don't need someone to make my bed every day.
On vacation, I do. After a day in the heat and the sweat and the sunscreen, I like to get out of the shower and into some crisp sheets.
 

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