My Disney Experience + Renting DVC Points + ADR

[Da Bird is Da Word]

Hey guys. I’ve been planning for a vacation to Disney this Summer with my girlfriend. It will be her first time! Sorry if I’ve got the wrong forum, I don’t post here very often.

After discovering DVC rentals, I’ve found that we can go to Animal Kingdom Lodge for the same price as Coronado Springs and other moderate resorts! This is super cool, but I have some questions about how everything works when you do it this way.

I plan on going 3rd party for pretty much everything. Room and Dining Plan from DVC Rental and tickets from Tickets at Work or Undercover Tourist. My question is, when buying everything third party, will I still be able to make Advance Dining Reservations and do Fast Pass? And am I able to configure these reservations myself on the Disney website somehow, or do I have to rely on the DVC vendor or some other third party to make the reservations for me? I would like to hear from some people who’ve more or less done the same thing as what I plan to do, and and to know what your experience with it was.

 

[nolatron]

We've rented points several times and doing so again for our next trip in March (rented points direct from member and bought e-tickets from Undercover Tourist).

Once you have your resort reservation number and your Park tickets, you can link them with your MDE account. Then you'll be able to book your ADR's 180 days out plus the length of your stay (up to 10 days) and book Fastpass+ at 60 days out also for length of stay. You'll also be able to order your included Magic Bands . You can do all this yourself from the MDE website/app.

Any changes to the resort reservation itself would have to be handled by the DVC member.

For us, once the DVC member makes the reservation, we typically have no further contact with them afterwards.

 

[nickys]

If you want a dining plan that will need to be added by the owner, and paid for at the time of booking. You can book the Magic Express direct with them, or have the owner book it through Disney.

The main issue will be the no cancellation policy. Make sure you have travel insurance that will cover the cost of the rental in case an emergency stops you going. Changes are not usually possible either. And you won’t be able to make any changes or speak to DVC about the reservation, the owner needs to do that for you.

 

[Da Bird is Da Word]

We've rented points several times and doing so again for our next trip in March (rented points direct from member and bought e-tickets from Undercover Tourist).

Once you have your resort reservation number and your Park tickets, you can link them with your MDE account. Then you'll be able to book your ADR's 180 days out plus the length of your stay (up to 10 days) and book Fastpass+ at 60 days out also for length of stay. You'll also be able to order your included Magic Bands . You can do all this yourself from the MDE website/app.

Any changes to the resort reservation itself would have to be handled by the DVC member.

For us, once the DVC member makes the reservation, we typically have no further contact with them afterwards.

That’s awesome! That sounds more convenient than what I could have imagined. Thank you for your quick reply.

 

[Da Bird is Da Word]

If you want a dining plan that will need to be added by the owner, and paid for at the time of booking. You can book the Magic Express direct with them, or have the owner book it through Disney.

The main issue will be the no cancellation policy. Make sure you have travel insurance that will cover the cost of the rental in case an emergency stops you going. Changes are not usually possible either. And you won’t be able to make any changes or speak to DVC about the reservation, the owner needs to do that for you.

Ah, ok. Yeah, I would ideally like to do the Dining Plan even if it doesn’t really save me money. I like the idea of pre-paying for my food in advance so that the vacation feels all-inclusive and I don’t have to stress so much about budgeting food along with other expenses when I get there like gas, souvenirs, alcohol, etc. And I would hate to waste thousands of dollars if some kind of emergency were to occur. Hopefully the cost of insurance doesn’t negate too much of the savings from renting points though. I’ll definitely have to look into that.

 

[correcaminos]

Ah, ok. Yeah, I would ideally like to do the Dining Plan even if it doesn’t really save me money. I like the idea of pre-paying for my food in advance so that the vacation feels all-inclusive and I don’t have to stress so much about budgeting food along with other expenses when I get there like gas, souvenirs, alcohol, etc. And I would hate to waste thousands of dollars if some kind of emergency were to occur. Hopefully the cost of insurance doesn’t negate too much of the savings from renting points though. I’ll definitely have to look into that.

Just tossing this out there - you still have to pay tip so you aren't really pre-paying anyway. You will have charges in the end. Might be better to get a gift card for the amount you think you'll spend. You can pay down your magic band cost as you go with the g/c or just carry it with you.

Just a thought. Yes, I'm very anti-DDP but it's more about the cost and how much you get for what you pay.

On average travel insurance costs about 5-10% of total bill. Some credit cards offer levels for tickets and planes as well if you use it to book. So look into that.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Just tossing this out there - you still have to pay tip so you aren't really pre-paying anyway. You will have charges in the end. Might be better to get a gift card for the amount you think you'll spend. You can pay down your magic band cost as you go with the g/c or just carry it with you.

Just a thought. Yes, I'm very anti-DDP but it's more about the cost and how much you get for what you pay.

On average travel insurance costs about 5-10% of total bill. Some credit cards offer levels for tickets and planes as well if you use it to book. So look into that.

Just wanted to pile on - ditto, ditto, and ditto to all of @helenabear's points! Using a gift card (in the amount you'd otherwise pay for the DDP) as she suggests is a perfect way to make your meals "feel" pre-paid -- and since you'll likely save money that way, you can use the excess on the gift card for the gratuities you'd otherwise be paying for out of pocket.

 

[imsosarah]

Ah, ok. Yeah, I would ideally like to do the Dining Plan even if it doesn’t really save me money. I like the idea of pre-paying for my food in advance so that the vacation feels all-inclusive and I don’t have to stress so much about budgeting food along with other expenses when I get there like gas, souvenirs, alcohol, etc. And I would hate to waste thousands of dollars if some kind of emergency were to occur. Hopefully the cost of insurance doesn’t negate too much of the savings from renting points though. I’ll definitely have to look into that.

We do the dining plan even though it often breaks even just for simplicity. If it is just the two of you and you want to go really crazy with amazing dinners...just upgrade to the platinum with 3 table service a day. Do a character meal for breakfast (lots of adults do this alone) or the Sunday Brunch and have signature dinners every night! Have fun

 

[aliceismad]

There are several sites with spreadsheet you can use to estimate whether DDP will save you money. I just rented points for our vacation next year through a reseller and bought tickets through UT. They're already both linked to my MDE. Super easy.