Great thread. Was also thinking about doing the same thing for our trip to Disney World.. Would prefer to rent DVC points (I'm not a member) and would like to stay in at Bay Lake Tower or Wilderness Lodge Villas in early December. Really want something with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Any feed back on who to use? Disney David or another site?
For anyone who has done this before, is this a cost-effective way of booking our vacation?
I'll take anything.
Most of the rental sites are setup fairly similarly. Should be about $13 a point if you go through a broker. You could get points for $7-8 if you rent direct from an owner, but the brokers usually help provide some degree of legal protection.
As far as cost-effective goes, it really depends on what you would be staying in otherwise. For instance, OKW during Peak, March 8 - April 6, a studio would cost you $431 per night direct, or 14/19 points (midweek/weekend). So if you rented points, it would cost you $182/247 at $13 per point. A 2br would be $903 direct, 40/48 point or $520/624 if you rent per night. So you save serious cash over booking direct through Disney. Now if you would have otherwise stayed at POR that same time, that would cost you $211/231 for a standard room. So that may cost about the same as renting points for a OKW studio. Now there is a chance that you could get a discount for that POR room. Even a 10% AAA member discount now makes a POR stay most likely cheaper than OKW point rentals. If you can get a 30% discount, then the mod is an even better deal. But if you need the 2 bedrooms, or would be eating meals in room, then the 2br point rental may indeed work out better. You really would need to look at where you would normally stay otherwise, and compare the numbers. If you find someone you trust renting the points for less than $13, it usually swings it more in the direction of the rentals.
Early December is a becoming a popular time for DVC owners due to the lower point values, and the fact it still has lower crowds than Christmas. So you may want to get the process started soon if you head in that direction.
Thanks for the great responses everyone. Are there DVC studios at Animal Kingdom Lodge?
All the DVC properties have the studio, 1br and 2br, and most have the 3 bedroom as well. Strongly suggest checking out sites like dvcnews for a great rundown on the different properties and what you could expect when you rent.
Also suggest checking out the DVC board here for more info and quick answers to any questions you may have.
The points for BW and BC for our dates are the same; 107. I wish I knew if one was more preferred over the other. We love that area and our favorite park is EPCOT so we are very hopeful that we can get the rental points for our dates.
