Late Dec 2016: insanely expensive?

[officialtom]

My brother's girlfriend's family wants to head to the world on Dec 26, 2016 for a week. I recognize that is smack in the middle of the busiest part of the year so this question might be hopeless.

Is there any way to enjoy the time there without having to remortgage the house or sell a kidney? We would definitely book early - like within the next couple of weeks - but the room rates are already very high. Her family is a member of a travel club that acts like a timeshare and has access to AKL and a few other resorts, and they plan to get a 2-bedroom or deluxe villa. We would be paying as normal everyday folk and there would be 8 of us.

We are not at all familiar with renting someone else's DVC points largely because I just haven't bothered to figure out the system. Would it be worth looking into?

I don't think the stars will align to make this happen, not unless we win a free trip or the Canadian dollar takes a giant magical leap. Any thoughts/tips/tricks?

 

[durangojim]

Theist 2 weeks of the year are typically the most expensiveand discont s are hard to come by. If you are in a profession where there is a conference at WDW during this time of year you could probably find a discount at the hotel where the conference is located. Another possibility would be to rent points from a dvc member and stay at one of those faculties. Staying at one of the non disney hotels in downtown disney might be an option as well. Aside from that you're pretty much out of luck.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I have recently plugged into the whole DVC point rental thingy, thanks in part to a friend who has been doing it for years (who ultimately bought her own DVC on the secondhand market.)

IF you were going to stay at a deluxe, it can be a pretty huge savings, from what I've seen - certainly more than any WDW sale prices, even for annual pass holders.

And you don't pay tax on the transaction - which saves even more.

If you were going to stay at moderate, you will save a little but get a lot more bang for your buck.

I just tried to do this for the first time for my upcoming trip in January. I was too late, waited til just a few weeks ago to inquire, and any of the ones I could afford were not available on my dates.

If you google DVC point rental, a few big sites will pop up. Read their terms, because each is slightly different - one wants more deposit up front, one has higher minimum purchase, etc.

I believe they all charge more per point if it's more than 7 months out, but I think you need to do it more than 7 months out for best selection. Not 100% sure on that yet.

Each type of room in each deluxe is assigned a number of points per night. You have to buy enough points (usually at $13 to $15 each) to cover the length of your stay, and hope there is availability. Certain rooms at animal Kingdom were among the lowest points, to my surprise.

So at least if the parks are crazy, you will have a nice room to go back to!

My first trip to Disney was that very week in 1999 – the millennium celebration LOL. Since it was my first time, I just assumed there was always a two hour wait for every ride LOL. I'm sure crowd levels were much different back then, but also the fast pass and so forth were different as well.

Almost every day, at least Magic Kingdom would reach capacity by 10 AM and they would have to turn people away.

Because I did not have crazy expectations, I had the most fantastic time ever! And we stayed in a little $40 hotel down the road. LOL. I was in my 20s. One of the good things that came out of that relationship was he introduced me to WDW LOL.

Fast forward about 10 years (?) and I am married and want to do something special so Brian and I go up for a planned three day trip starting on New Year's eve to see the illuminations special version that blew me away years ago. Maybe because I'm older, maybe because my expectations were out of line, parts of the trip were such a drag. It was so uncomfortably crowded, hard to get a good view, etc. Pushy, chant-y, stroller-y, you get the idea.

I think we had a three day park hopper, and were so dismayed after New Year's eve that we decided to leave early and come back when we could use the last two days when it would be more enjoyable and efficient to do so. That said, Illuminations was still mind- blowing.

Oh yes, and the DVC points Per room are higher at that time of year because it is peak season.

Still, you will see very significant savings if available.

 

[officialtom]

I have recently plugged into the whole DVC point rental thingy, thanks in part to a friend who has been doing it for years (who ultimately bought her own DVC on the secondhand market.)

IF you were going to stay at a deluxe, it can be a pretty huge savings, from what I've seen - certainly more than any WDW sale prices, even for annual pass holders.

And you don't pay tax on the transaction - which saves even more.

If you were going to stay at moderate, you will save a little but get a lot more bang for your buck.

I just tried to do this for the first time for my upcoming trip in January. I was too late, waited til just a few weeks ago to inquire, and any of the ones I could afford were not available on my dates.

If you google DVC point rental, a few big sites will pop up. Read their terms, because each is slightly different - one wants more deposit up front, one has higher minimum purchase, etc.

I believe they all charge more per point if it's more than 7 months out, but I think you need to do it more than 7 months out for best selection. Not 100% sure on that yet.

Each type of room in each deluxe is assigned a number of points per night. You have to buy enough points (usually at $13 to $15 each) to cover the length of your stay, and hope there is availability. Certain rooms at animal Kingdom were among the lowest points, to my surprise.

So at least if the parks are crazy, you will have a nice room to go back to!

My first trip to Disney was that very week in 1999 – the millennium celebration LOL. Since it was my first time, I just assumed there was always a two hour wait for every ride LOL. I'm sure crowd levels were much different back then, but also the fast pass and so forth were different as well.

Almost every day, at least Magic Kingdom would reach capacity by 10 AM and they would have to turn people away.

Because I did not have crazy expectations, I had the most fantastic time ever! And we stayed in a little $40 hotel down the road. LOL. I was in my 20s. One of the good things that came out of that relationship was he introduced me to WDW LOL.

Fast forward about 10 years (?) and I am married and want to do something special so Brian and I go up for a planned three day trip starting on New Year's eve to see the illuminations special version that blew me away years ago. Maybe because I'm older, maybe because my expectations were out of line, parts of the trip were such a drag. It was so uncomfortably crowded, hard to get a good view, etc. Pushy, chant-y, stroller-y, you get the idea.

I think we had a three day park hopper, and were so dismayed after New Year's eve that we decided to leave early and come back when we could use the last two days when it would be more enjoyable and efficient to do so. That said, Illuminations was still mind- blowing.

Oh yes, and the DVC points Per room are higher at that time of year because it is peak season.

Still, you will see very significant savings if available.

Thanks for the info! I've been wanting to dabble in the point rental thing for a while and we will likely look into it if we decide to go ahead this this trip. The families are getting together today to talk about it!

 

[Paul Joseph]

My brother's girlfriend's family wants to head to the world on Dec 26, 2016 for a week. I recognize that is smack in the middle of the busiest part of the year so this question might be hopeless.

Is there any way to enjoy the time there without having to remortgage the house or sell a kidney? We would definitely book early - like within the next couple of weeks - but the room rates are already very high. Her family is a member of a travel club that acts like a timeshare and has access to AKL and a few other resorts, and they plan to get a 2-bedroom or deluxe villa. We would be paying as normal everyday folk and there would be 8 of us.

We are not at all familiar with renting someone else's DVC points largely because I just haven't bothered to figure out the system. Would it be worth looking into?

I don't think the stars will align to make this happen, not unless we win a free trip or the Canadian dollar takes a giant magical leap. Any thoughts/tips/tricks?

My brother's girlfriend's family wants to head to the world on Dec 26, 2016 for a week. I recognize that is smack in the middle of the busiest part of the year so this question might be hopeless.

Is there any way to enjoy the time there without having to remortgage the house or sell a kidney? We would definitely book early - like within the next couple of weeks - but the room rates are already very high. Her family is a member of a travel club that acts like a timeshare and has access to AKL and a few other resorts, and they plan to get a 2-bedroom or deluxe villa. We would be paying as normal everyday folk and there would be 8 of us.

We are not at all familiar with renting someone else's DVC points largely because I just haven't bothered to figure out the system. Would it be worth looking into?

I don't think the stars will align to make this happen, not unless we win a free trip or the Canadian dollar takes a giant magical leap. Any thoughts/tips/tricks?

Christmas at WDW is always a nice time for our family. yes, the week you want to go is the most crowds ever. we try and go the first or second week in December. the Christmas items are up and wait times are low. If you really wanted to try sometime, go the week around October 31. you will see Holloween and christmas all in one vacation.
we are annually passholders and have stayed outside of Disney and drove into the parks, its ok, but the bus trans works very well.
if the week of the 25 is your plan, make sure you be aware of the phase closures if the parks get too full you may not be able to access the park. (hint, are passes allows us access just like if we were staying at WDW)

 

[Rob562]

You mentioned a "Travel club that acts like a timeshare". Not quite sure what is meant by that, but if it's the RCI timeshare network (which I've used a couple times to trade into the DVC properties) be aware that for quite a while they've only been deposiing 1-bedroom units into the exchange network, and most of those are at Saratoga Springs. (Anything that's not Saratoga is usually snapped up by previously-scheduled Ongoing Searches) Also, DVC weeks in RCI are only available for Friday, Saturday or Sunday checkins.

You can get a feel for the cost of renting DVC by going onto one of the DVC point rental and plugging in the dates. The cheapest 2-bedroom option is Old Key West, and that runs about $5200-5600 for a 7-night stay during holiday week.

Also be aware that anything regarding DVC units won't be able to be booked until at least 11 months before your checkin date. If you're looking for trading in through RCI, those weeks don't seem to be depositing until 4-5 months before checkin (the weeks currently listed are late-April/early-May).

-Rob

 

[lostpro9het]

Renting during the holidays can have you seeing a bigger ROI compared to the rack rate during, say, September. We've rented twice during the holiday season before we purchased and we're very happy doing so. Tips: pool hop, and explore resort dining.