OVERVIEW
Disney Vacation Club members often rent the “points” which they are granted as members of DVC to non-vacation club members.
At a going rate of around $12-15 per point, this perfectly legitimate and Disney-approved approach can greatly reduce the cost of a Walt Disney World visit.
It can make sense for those either looking for a 4-person deluxe room (who would target a DVC Studio—see this for more on the DVC resorts and their room types).
It also makes sense for large families targeting an 8, 9 or 12 person DVC room to fit their family at bargain prices. (See both this and this for more on large families.)
For example, during the least expensive season of the year, you can rent a Studio at the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge for the 8 nights of my itineraries for 126 DVC points.
At a typical cost of $12 per point, this will cost $1512 for the 8 nights.
If you rented this same room through the Disney web site, it would cost $1400 more. The Studio arranged through points is even $400 cheaper over the period than the already inexpensive (for a deluxe) Wilderness Lodge regular rooms.
MORE DETAILS
Successfully renting and using DVC points requires first finding out how many points you will need—points vary by resort, by room type, and by season.
Second, you have to find a DVC owner willing to rent you this quantity of points.
Third, you need to confirm that your desired room type is available on the dates you wish to go.
Finally, you need to work with the DVC point owner to have them set you up at the resort.
One approach is renting “points” from Disney Vacation Club members. Mousesavers.com has a wonderful entry on this topic, covering all the details you need to work though, on this page.
LINKS FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD
- For where to stay, see this
- For your next best choices, in order, see this
- For picking your resort based on appeal to kids, see this
- For picking your resort based on convenience, see this
- For where not to stay, see this
- For what you get in each resort price category, see this
- For Walt Disney World resort price seasons, see this
- For differences among value resorts, see this
- For the moderate resorts, see this
- For differences among moderate resorts, see this
- For differences among deluxe resorts, see this
- For the Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) Resorts, see this
- For suites at the deluxe resorts, see this
- For a (geeky) overview of comparative room size, see this
- Large families should look at this, and also at
- Military/DOD families should look at this
- Families seeking the most comfortable place to stay should see this
Your website has some of the most helpful info I’ve found yet! We are trying to surprise our kids with a Disney trip April of ’18. Our boys are 17,15,12 and girls are 10&9. It is expensive to stay on site with our size family, esp since I’d prefer Bay Lake Towers or Polonysian since they have monorail and are so conveniently located. I placed a bid on time share stay for each, but can you tell me more about how I find out if the rooms we’d want are available for specific dates (not flexible due to school) if I buy DVC points? You may very well have that info on your site and I’m having trouble finding it on my phone! Thank you for taking the time to help others like this!!
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Hi Krista, and thanks! I don’t track that, so personally can’t help. Suggest you ask in my buddy Josh’s forum here: http://www.easywdw.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?17-Disney-Vacation-Club-(DVC)
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If I rent DVC points from a private seller (someone I know) am I eligible for free dining? I’m looking at a 1 bedroom villa at AK lodge for a week in October. I am definitely open for other dates if I can book free dining. My family just wants to be there for the Halloween season. By the way your website is great! Very informative. Have a great day
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Marion, no. DVC rooms booked using points (either by the point owner, or for someone who is getting DVC rooms by renting points) aren’t eligible for free dining. Moreover, the last few years there’ has been next to no October free dining.
Sorry to be so unhelpful!!!
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Hey Dave, we need some guidance, we have 3 couples and two teenagers and two small children that can sleep on a pullout couch. It seems for the price Animal 3 bedroom villa savanna view would be a good choice, anything else you could recommend? We would like to be closer to the park. Also, do they ever give free dining? Or would it be best to get two separate villas?
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Charles, not sure of your dates, but free dining in September and bits of October and some of November and December (and not much before late August) has been common for years now. However, three bedrooms are excluded. The least expensive approach for your group would be a two bedroom plus a studio (putting the teens and the small children on a pull-out couch)–I’d price that out compared to the three bedroom.
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Dave,
Again, great great website… very helpful. Earlier this year I asked you for your opinion on where a group of 20-somethings should stay for maximum enjoyment/entertainment and you mentioned the Boardwalk Villas. I’ve also done some research into DVC points and the 8 hotels they represent (AK Villas, Beach Club, Boardwalk, Old Key, S Springs, Wildnerness, Bay Lake and Grand Floridian).
Could you quickly elaborate on why you ranked Boardwalk Villas highest and maybe rank the above 8 for us (group of mid 20 yr olds)? Cost will definitely play a role for us, since we’re coming from California, and flights, etc add up.
I also mentioned I want to bring my golf clubs, which makes the Grand Floridian Villas attractive, as I could literally walk acorss the street to the courses. Basically I want to get your opinion on the various villas.
A quick initial search for the week of Nov 28 – December 5, 2014, revealed DVC point values of 151 for a 1 bd villa at AK Villas, which at $14 a point is ~$300 a night… not bad considering we might be splitting that 5 ways. Is there a reason the AK Villas are the cheapest of the bunch? Are they that much worse? Again, we really aren’t going to spend that much time in the room. Thanks in advance and keep up the amazing work!
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Michael, I like the Boardwalk Villas for you guys for the simple reason that you can walk to multiple bars, both on the Boardwalk itself (see https://yourfirstvisit.net/2012/01/17/review-disneys-boardwalk/ ) and, if you buy park-hopper tickets, in Epcot.
AKL is a little complicated. There are actually two DVC at AKL–Kidani Village and Jambo House.
Kidani rooms are more spacious but its bar is totally lame. Jambo has a great bar.
Both sites have two basic views: Savanna, which is wonderful and thus more expensive, and “others” which are cheaper but less fun.
Moreover at Jambo there’s also “value” studios and “value” 1-bedrooms, which are smaller, sleep only 4…and cheaper still.
I can’t get your points to foot, but based on this chart I think you are pricing a “value” 1- bedroom at Jambo with an “other” view that sleeps only 4… http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-vacation-club/ak-points.htm
GF is much more expensive, and you can’t really walk to the Palm and Magnolia. The only DVC which also has a golf course start is Saratoga Springs, which is a lousy choice in every other respect but price…However, WDW resort hotel guests with a tee time get free transport to and from the golf course (via a cab voucher), so don’t let golf affect your choice!!
You’ve probably already seen this, but reviews of all these are here: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2010/04/26/walt-disney-world-resort-hotel-reviews/
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