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You've made a decision, you're taking the family to Disney World! The kids are excited, your husband is guarding his wallet, and you want to get the most bang for your buck. (read more)

If you do not book by renting DVC points, be sure to check out Get Away Today. They scan the sites for the best prices so you don't have to. Compare them to other sites, see how they do, and if you book, use the code TYTHEHUNTER10 to get $10 off your next package.

Okay, let's get started!

Let me give you a quick explanation about how DVC rental points work. Basically, a person joins DVC (Disney's version of a time share) and acquires so many points per year.  If they can't use the points, they'll make them available on a rental site, and the site will rent them to non DVC owners (like me).

Someone who wants to visit Disney World could visit one of these rental sites (I use David's Vacation Club Rentals), get a cost estimate for their preferred dates, and make a reservation. 

David's has an easy to use Cost Calculator that will allow you to input your dates, your room choices, and your resort choices (you will want to choose more than one, if possible).

You can make this request up to 11 months in advance. Upon making a reservation request, you will pay a $119 partial payment. This is not a fee, it is a payment toward your potential reservation. If David's cannot fill your reservation, they will refund the payment entirely.

If David's is able to fill your reservation, you must make payment in full immediately. There is no financing, meaning no partial payments, no booking early and then paying it off over a series of months. When they book it, you pay the entire balance.

Now, let's talk money! My mom and I travel in the off season, so remember that these rates can and will change depending on your particular dates of travel.

I'll give you two specific instances for when I used David's. The first was a trip I actually just got back from. My mom and I went to Disney World and stayed at Beach Club, which is a Boardwalk area resort. We could walk to Epcot or Hollywood studios, and we did walk to Epcot often. It was just so nice to be able to pop over, hit up France, eat good food, then walk back and pass out at our hotel. If you love Epcot, the Boardwalk resorts cannot be beat.

SCENARIO 1:

For my 2018 stay at Beach Club in a Studio, if I had booked through my Disney World TA, it would have cost me $2800 (for six nights) before taxes and fees.

Going through David's, a studio room in the same hotel would have cost me $1134. Now, you'd be getting just one bed and a pullout instead of two actual beds, but the pullout was crazy comfortable, so I'm calling it even.

That's a whopping difference of more than $1600! 

But wait, let me finish. 

I couldn't get the room I wanted with David's. I wanted Boardwalk, but I knew that renting with DVC points might mean I couldn't get it, so I picked other hotels in the same area as backup, meaning I told them I'd take Beach Club if I could get it.

Beach Club cost me $1600.

Still, a savings of $1200.

This is a VERY important thing to note if you're thinking of renting DVC points. You might not be able to get that room! I put my request in a year out, which is the furthest out they will accept reservation requests, (so November of 2017) and emailed them the DAY my reservation could feasibly get booked at the 11 month point.

Boardwalk was already unavailable.

Here's why:

If you're going to book DVC points that far in advance, David's has to have an owner who's home resort is the resort you want. If they have that, they still have to compete with every other DVC owner who also wants that resort on your same dates. 

SCENARIO 2:

My mom and I are going to Disneyland next year, and I wanted to rent DVC points at the Grand Californian. I put my request in a year out and dutifully sent an email a month later, the day it could be booked, just to check in.

They got back with me quickly, letting me know that while the GC did have some dates available, they didn't have an owner who had it as their home resort, and therefore could not book it until the date got closer, seven months out, to be exact.

DVC owners who have a specific resort listed as their home resort are able to book that resort 11 months out. If they want to book another resort, they have to wait until their date is seven months out, thus giving the home resort owners first dibs on the rooms.

It makes sense. If I join DVC at a specific resort, I want to make sure I have dibs on that resort before other DVC owners who paid less for points at a different home resort.

David's asked me if I wanted to wait and see, so I said yes. The next day I got an email letting me know that the first day I had planned for the trip was booked up at GC already, but I could move my dates and potentially get a room.

I declined, they refunded my deposit, easy peasy. I booked an offsite hotel instead using Get Away Today.

So, this is the IMPORTANT thing to take away from renting DVC. If you do it, be prepared to have to take something other than what you asked for.  If you're absolutely set on a certain resort, be sure to book 11 months out, and even then, you may have to compromise.

Other important things to note: Your booking with David's is final. If your plans change, you can't cancel or reschedule. You can add or remove people from your booking, but only as long as you do it with at least 30 days to spare.

Also, you will not get daily "Mousekeeping" when renting Disney points. You will get trash and towels on the fourth day of your stay, and a full cleaning on anything past eight days, but if you want daily housekeeping you will have to request it at the front desk and pay extra for it. I believe the rate while I was there was $20 per day, times as many days as you wanted housekeeping.

*You can still add a dining plan if you rent DVC.
*You can still book Fast Passes at the 60 day mark if you rent DVC.
​*You can still ride Disney's Magical Express to and from the airport if you rent DVC.

Now, let's talk booking through Get Away Today, and let's see how my $1600 hotel bill could have been a $700 hotel bill.

Obviously booking through Disney would have cost me more money if we're comparing apples to apples, we've established that, but what we haven't established are the different options Disney has.

This is something David's cannot offer since Disney only has so many resorts that are Vacation Club. You can only rent DVC points for resorts that are Vacation Club, which means there are a lot of resorts you will not be able to book.

If you book through Get Away Today, you can book a Deluxe Resort, a Moderate Resort, or a Value Resort. If you're going to Disneyland, you can stay at any of their three onsite hotels, or any of the 30 or so that are Good Neighbor hotels

When I went in February with my son, we booked a Value Resort. It was lovely, transportation was easy to use, the room was clean, quiet, and well kept. The resort property had two pools, immaculate housekeeping and landscaping, and was every bit as awesome as any Deluxe Resort I've booked. 

I've stayed at Animal Kingdom, Yacht Club, Beach Club, Coronado Springs, and All Star Music. I'd stay at any of those again, no questions. 

So what if you aren't a person who cares about having a Deluxe Resort? What if you don't want to look at animals or be able to walk to one or more of the parks?

For me, if this were the case, that same visit my mom and I took in November, instead of costing us $1600, would have cost us $700.

Yep, $700. 

When you book directly through Disney (or Get Away Today), you can see exactly which rooms are available. There's no guessing.

If I'd really wanted Boardwalk, I could have booked my room and gotten Boardwalk. You can choose your room, your view, your tickets, everything, and you never have to wonder if it'll be available.

Renting DVC points does not give you that luxury. Compromise is the name of the game.

In summary, these are the things you need to consider when deciding if renting DVC points is worth it.

1. Are you set on a Deluxe or Moderate resort?
2. Are you flexible with your dates and/or resort choices? If so, you can also try David's Dedicated Reservations For Rent, which will discount reservations made by owners that can not be changed, the dates are already set. 
3. Can you pay in full when your booking is made?
4. Are your dates set in stone once set, or will you be willing to purchase separate travel insurance in case you need to cancel?
5. Are you okay with no housekeeping?

If you can answer those questions with a firm YES, DVC rental is an awesome choice!

If the answer to those questions is NO, or "not on this trip", go through Get Away Today and get the room that will make you happy.

Don't forget to check out my Disney Tour reviews. I've done a lot of them, many I've done more than once. 

Thinking of doing a day at Disney with a dedicated VIP Tour Guide? Here's how it went when our family did it.

Have you been eyeing The Ultimate Day Of Thrills VIP Tour? I've done it three times (and counting, since I'm doing it again in April). Here's my review.

Could you not get that Fast Pass for Pandora at Animal Kingdom? Check out my review of The Ultimate Nights Of Adventure VIP Tour. You get both Pandora rides, and so much more!

I've put together a list of the things we don't do Disney without. If you'd like to check it out on Amazon, just click the button below.

Happy Disney-ing!
Ty