So I am (more than) ready to start planning my next trip. The empty dashboard blues are real!
I have decided that renting DVC points is the way to go this time around but I have never done it before so I’m feeling a little daunted by the process. I’m hoping some of you can share your knowledge and best practices with me so that I can avoid mistakes from the get go. Any tips are appreciated!
Here’s what I am thinking at this point and a few questions. I want to book early Dec through David’s DVC rental or other similar website for either a solo trip or a girl’s trip that would include me, my Mother, and DD. The problem with this scenario is that my Mother may change her mind and I would book a smaller room if it’s a solo trip. Another potential complication is that we are actually moving to Fl this coming summer. My questions are:
How early should I book a DVC rental? 11 Months? I saw a chart on David’s DVC that gave a range of 8-11 months. Does this sound right? Do I need to be up at 6am kind of thing? What was your experience?
Is it possible to change a reservation? Downgrade to a smaller room at a later date if it’s available or are you locked in?
Is it difficult to add the DDP and how late can this be added?
Will it complicate things when my address changes a few months ahead of the reservation?
I will need to get my Mother package type tickets but DD and I will have Fl resident AP after the move. This seems simple enough, however, are there any issues with linking these tickets that I may not be thinking about?
How early - that kind of depends! How badly do you care where you stay? For me, I got my request in right at 11 months, and it took them a few weeks to actually match me with an owner.
I’m pretty sure once you book you’re locked in, because the owner has committed those points and you’ve paid. You can’t change.
It’s super easy to add the DDP, you just call them and they arrange it for you. You can do it any time up to 30 days before check-in.
Doesn’t complicate anything to change your address, you just call and tell them (I know because I just did this).
I can’t speak to your specific ticket question but I can’t imagine there would be a problem - it all just gets linked through MDE.
I am currently booked thru David’s for a trip in March. It was simple. I was booking a 2bedroom suite and there are not many of those so I had to wait for a few days after the 11 month mark (Boardwalk).
You are 100% locked in once so book unless you pay for a travel insurance plan. As the poster above said, the owner has already used his points.
David’s creates you a link for you resort stay to add to MDE. Everything is added the same as any other vacation. If you add Magical Express, you need to tell David’s and they book it for you thru the owner.
It saved me over 1,000 dollars on the stay. I’m satisfied.
I have friends who have rented through David’s and they all decided to use travel insurance to protect their trip. I actual rent out points through David’s and can see the process is pretty solid from my viewpoint. David’s sends me the info and i book the stay listing the renter as the guest(s). I then send David’s the confirmation info. They pay me the bulk when i make the reservation then a small portion once the stay starts. After that the only time I’m involved is in the case that the DVC owner has to book something for the stay.
Yes, 8-11 is fine. 11-month those who have home resort advantage can book it at 11 month, every other DVC member can do it at 7. For the hard to get places (like copper creek), you’ll want to put the request in as early as possible so they can find someone who can rent the room at 11 month for you. If your mother is a wild card, I would lock her down before going this route.
No, you don’t have to be up at 6AM, I would suggest contacting them now to express your interest and they should be able to give you a better idea of when you need to get serious.
I didn’t rent from David’s, but DVC Rental Store. But I suspect it’s much the same process.
Is it possible to change a reservation? Downgrade to a smaller room at a later date if it’s available or are you locked in?
Yes, you are locked in once it’s made. I mean, it’s POSSIBLE to change things up from a purely functionality perspective, but you are asking a lot of moving parts to adjust. Renter needs to be contacted, renter needs to adjust times, new times might not be available for the particular set up, point values change, etc…
Is it difficult to add the DDP and how late can this be added?
Nope, not hard at all. The rental place/owner of the dvc points will add it for you and it can be done pretty late in the game, I believe.
Will it complicate things when my address changes a few months ahead of the reservation?
Nope, think it’s mostly just for identification and mailing things to you. So you just let them know.
I will need to get my Mother package type tickets but DD and I will have Fl resident AP after the move. This seems simple enough, however, are there any issues with linking these tickets that I may not be thinking about?
Nope. Your APs are assigned to your profiles in MDE and the NONpackage tickets get assigned to her. I say non package because a DVC Dining Plan addition isn’t added on like it is for standard guests, it’s like a separate entity (at least this was how it happened for me). So she’ll have standard tickets assigned to her and you all will have Dining Plan added through the DVC reservation. Hopefully that makes sense…cause it is confusing (it took 2 Cast Members to explain it to me).
Thank you all for the detailed input! Thinking of all the parts separately is giving me some stress but this helps.
Good to know the DDP should be easy. Sounds like I need to get Mom to commit or I will have to be content with a suite all to myself. Maybe that’s not a bad thing, hmmm.
I can’t answer most of your questions. I’ve used David’s 1 1/2 times. The first I got a nice deal at Kidani Village. ( Safari view for the same price as a preferred room at Pop. ) The second time I had less wiggle in my budget and ultimately decided to go with a value room.
I definitely recommend them. They’re wonderful. I went back and forth a few times on maybe doing OKW. They were responsive, helpful and good sports when I finally passed.
I am going to add that this past December studios were very hard to find very quickly. I don’t know if 8-9 months will be reasonable. You might want to use this tool
If you want to add the DDP, the owner has to do that. You will need to contact the broker and either provide a CC number that the owner can use, or a gift card. The owner has to pay for it when they book it.
If your address changes, the owner will need to change that on the reservation.
When you rent you cannot speak to Disney about it until you check in. Member Services will only speak / contact the owner. Any room request that you want added to the reservation will need to be made by the owner. Or just use the TP one.
The brokers will not allow changes. Although sometimes if you rent privately you might be able to, members’ points expire at certain times so even if there was availability the points may not be valid even a week earlier or later.
Early December is a very popular time with DVC, since points charts are lower. The closer to the 11 month mark you can book, the better your chances of getting what you want.
I just rented from David’s and I was very pleased by the process! It’s a little cheaper than DVC Rental Store and I still got what I wanted. It saves money over the equivalent rack rate, but keep in mind you are still paying for a deluxe room! You can often save more by going moderate or value.
As far as how far in advance to book, I found this page to be extremely helpful. It gives you a range based on the resort and room type. If you are ok with a 1-bedroom villa at Saratoga Springs, for instance, you are fine booking as little as 1-2 months in advance. But if you want a studio at Boardwalk, you should submit your request 11 months out. They will accept requests up to 12 months in advance but do not process them until 11 months in advance.
Because it’s basically impossible to alter your reservation (other than to add / remove names of your party - and even that takes some administrative work), I would recommend not booking until you are fully committed.
Did you scroll to the bottom of that page you linked to?
For popular times, which includes December, at least 8 months is recommended. And believe me, any time between October and early January, plus any race weekend, you do not want to be leaving it later than 10 months unless you are happy at OKW or SSR.
In any case, you should always remember that the brokers cannot fulfil every request. Demand far outstrips supply when it comes to DVC rental points.
Thanks for the helpful context. Personally, I submitted my request at the exact 12 month mark just to be safe! But the timeline is generally helpful to see which room types are most popular. If you’re ok with OKW or SS, you probably don’t need to worry as much.
I went searching through MouseOwners for a thread about October SSR studios I remembered. In April the poster could not find any October standard studios, including SSR. I know there was a lot of concern what that Copper Creek owners (lots of small contracts and no one booking the cabins) were doing to the market. I don’t know if we have a handle on this yet. Studios are getting harder to book. Some resorts(Copper Creek) 1 bedrooms hold few and are limited.
Just finished a stay at BLT renting points through the DVC rental store - couldn’t be any easier!!! I think though even if you have 3 in your party, renting a studio would be fine (just not BLT - loved it but studios were small) and then if mom backs out and you do solo you would be fine.
This will be the ONLY way I stay at Disney in the future unless some other incredible offer comes along. I do suggest the insurance like others said
I have crunched the numbers so many ways over the past few years and this seems to be the most bang for your buck. I’m happy to hear about good experiences.
How early should I book a DVC rental? I have booked through DVC Rental Store 4 times now - don’t think I’d ever book a Disney trip any other way! The first 3 times were 6-7 months out and next week’s trip was booked 9-10 months out. If you are 100% set on a particular resort, room type, and view then I would book as early as possible. Some rental sites offer a minimal discount if you book closer to departure date but the discount isn’t worth it for me personally - I just book whenever I have dates set in my mind/calendar!
Is it possible to change a reservation? Nope! I believe trip insurance can be added but I don’t think that allows you to make adjustments/downgrades.
Is it difficult to add the DDP and how late can this be added? I can only speak for my experience with DVC Rental Store - but it’s super easy. I just tell them to add it and they do! I always have them add it before 180 days so that I can make dining reservations. I believe the dining plan needs to be paid in full when added (unlike the room reservation that can be paid in installments!).
…are there any issues with linking these tickets that I may not be thinking about? No. I usually buy tickets directly through the Disney site so they link to your account/bands seamlessly. For our trip next week, I purchased tix through Undercover Tourist and just added those to My Disney Experience. Super easy!
Previous posters have provided a lot of info and pretty much answered all of your questions, but check out this TP blog post for additional useful information: