7 DVC Rental Tips You Need To Know
Are you planning to join the 157 million people who head to Disney theme parks each year? If your Disney trip involves heading to Orlando, a DVC rental could be an affordable way to enjoy luxury accommodations. Disney Vacation Club members often rent out their DVC points, allowing you to stay at a DVC resort for much cheaper than you could reserve a room yourself.
While there are DVC properties at Disneyland, Aulani, and other locations, the majority of them are located in Orlando at Disney World. Before you choose a DVC rental for your dream vacation, keep reading for tips on the process.
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Start Planning Early
Starting early with your Disney trip planning is always important, whether you choose DVC rental or not. By planning ahead, you can ensure you hit all of the must-do items on your list. It also gives you more time to research the DVC rental options to help you decide where you want to be.
Disney vacations often include non-park days, so finding a resort that has plenty of activities and surroundings that you enjoy is important. You also have more choices for DVC rentals when you start planning early. With all of the basic research out of the way, you can jump on the rentals early when they become available to have a better selection.
Decide What You Want
Think about the kind of accommodations you want when staying on Disney property. Each of the DVC resorts offers different amenities, themes, and room configurations. They vary in proximity to different Disney parks as well as the number of DVC points they require.
By knowing what you want from your rental, you’re better able to find a match. Decide which features are necessities and which would be nice to have. Having enough beds for everyone is a must, but you might decide to compromise on location for example.
Decide on things such as the length of your stay and how you plan to spend your days. This can also help narrow down the options. Setting a budget is one of the biggest factors in choosing a DVC rental. When renting, you’ll pay a certain price per point, and you’ll need enough points to cover the stay, which varies depending on the resort and length of your stay. Learning more information about how the pricing works helps you set your budget and decide on a resort.
Know When to Rent
Timing your DVC rental search right can land you the best deals at the resort you want. Ideally, you want to start looking around the booking window available to DVC members. DVC members all have a home resort. At that resort, they can book stays 11 months before the check-in date.
If they book at a different DVC resort, they have to wait until 7 months before the check-in date. This also means there’s typically less availability since people who have that other resort as their home resort already had four months to book.
Starting your DVC rental search either 7 or 11 months before your planned trip could give you the best results with the greatest DVC rental availability. That’s when the person you’re renting from can book the reservations. It’s also the time when there’s the greatest availability of rooms.
Stay Flexible
Being flexible with your travel dates and your preferred resort can make it easier to rent DVC points. If your dates are flexible, you might be more likely to find the type of room you want at your preferred resort.
With strict travel dates, you might have to give up your dreams of being at a certain resort. Considering alternative resorts can help you book the trip you want. Unless you have your heart set on a particular DVC resort, stay open to all of the options. You might find something that’s more affordable or a DVC rental that’s available on your preferred dates at a different resort.
Understand the Process
When you rent DVC points, the DVC owner actually creates the reservation and puts it in your name. However, only the DVC owner can make any changes or talk to customer service about the reservation. Even though your name is on the reservation, you can’t call directly to get information or make changes.
That means the owner has to do things like adding Disney Magical Express or the Disney dining plan to the reservation. This can be a hassle for you and the DVC owner. You can either rent directly from the owner, often handled through forums, or use a points broker. You’ll often pay a little more for a points broker, but it can also give you peace of mind.
Consider Travel Insurance
You’ll likely find that you can’t cancel your vacation if you do a DVC rental. In an ideal world, you won’t have to worry about canceling. However, sometimes things come up that force you to put your Disney vacation on hold. Buying travel insurance for your trip can give you peace of mind. If you can’t make the trip, you have that insurance to offset the financial loss.
Expect Less Housekeeping
Staying in a DVC rental gives you a taste of luxury at a lower price, but it also comes with some differences from regular Disney resort rooms. One of those things is less frequent visits from housekeeping with stays of 7 nights or less, only receiving trash and towel service on the fourth day.
If you stay longer, you’ll get a full cleaning on the fourth day and a trash and towel service on the eighth day. You have the option to pay for more frequent housekeeping stops. You can ask about this at the front desk when you arrive at your DVC resort.
Claim Your DVC Rental Benefits
A DVC rental can save you a lot of money on luxury accommodations for your next Disney vacation. Understanding how the rentals work makes the process less stressful so you can enjoy your magical vacation. Head to our travel section for more useful information for your next trip.
