My parents 50th anniversary is in early 2022 and we would love to all take an epic Disney trip and stay in a Grand Villa. It would be my family, my brothers family and my parents so a grand villa would fit all of us. 3 or 4 nights. How do I book one of these? I know it’s WAY too early now to book but even playing around on the Disney page, whatever dates I pick this year the grand villas show no availability. About how far in advance do you have to book one of these? Can you only book by calling? Any advice would be appreciated!
You can rent points online. I used David’s DVC rentals but I only booked a suite.
2 Likes
Yes, A Lot of the Grand Villa inventory are DVC villas so renting points not only is less expensive than $ rack rate, but you can book 11 months out from the DVC inventory if you go through a rental service.
And what a Lovely idea! I dream of doing this with my extended family using my DVC points some day!
3 Likes
If you want to book through Disney you would only be able to do that 11 months ahead. But Disney only hold 2-5% of points at resorts, getting a Grand Villa through them would be difficult.
Your best bet is probably renting. The problem will be getting an owner with enough points to book it.
Personally I would look carefully at the sleeping arrangements. As much as they look amazing, when I thought about a trip with family I quickly realised two 2-bed villas would give more bedrooms and a better space for us all. And it would cost less points. The downside would be that you may not be close to each other.
I would contact Davids and the rental store and ask them for advice.
2 Likes
Thanks
Nickysyme says it very well. I am trying to this very thing (get a Grand Villa room) right now for a 9-person family trip next January. The devil is in the detail. Here is what I’ve learned so far.
When I called Disney to ask about renting one directly thru them I was informed that they would not be available until about 6 months before our stay as they want to give all the DVC owners 1st opportunity to book, which is only right. So I have placed an order last week with a broker to see if I can rent a GV room from an owner beginning February 1st when the 11 month booking window opens for our trip. Like all rooms at WDW, GV availability varies depending on how popular of a resort you want to stay at. Renting a GV room is even more difficult as you need to find a DVC owner with enough points who is also willing to rent those points out when you need them instead of using them. And GV rooms take a lot of points. Yes, I am worried that in our case at least, we are requesting the proverbial “needle in the haystack” room. There is a disneyvacationclub.com web site where you can research the various DVC resorts and room configurations, which I found helpful. Like Nickysyme advises, a 2 bedroom villa might also work, but in our case a 2-bed “lockoff” bedroom will not. Like I said, the devil is in the detail. The room layouts and bed configuration varies greatly, so pay attention to that (and bathrooms) depending on the number of adults and children in your party. Coincidentally my wife and I have a trip to WDW planned for next month. We intend to book a room(s) somewhere before we leave as a backup just in case we are unsuccessful renting a GV room.
1 Like
I suggest you go to Davids vacation rentals website and spend some time checking the floor plans and costs. You can do this for free without committing to anything. If you decide to go with a Grand Villa, then Old Key West will be your cheapest (fewest points) option by far. Also, Friday and Saturday nights have the largest point requirement for DVC rentals, so if you can avoid staying on those nights, then it helps keep your total point requirement down. For early 2022, you won’t even be able to put your request in for a year, so you have lots of time to research.
winnieandzurg FWIW, I wanted to let you know that we secured a Grand Villa rental on the very 1st day (at the 11 month start) the broker was able to make a rental request on our behalf. It was an unexpectedly fast response, and we are very happy. If our experience is any indication, you too should be successful if this still what you want. Good luck
2 Likes