Visiting Disney is expensive. There are small choices you can make that will greatly inflate the cost of your stay. If you choose to stay on property, you'll probably pay more than you would if you stayed at a non-Disney hotel. Of course, in my family, we won't stay anywhere that isn't Disney property.
When you choose your Disney hotel, there are three different categories: value, moderate, and deluxe. For the most part, we can't afford to stay in the deluxe hotels. Mark and I spent one weekend at Animal Kingdom Lodge, and it wasn't really worth the extra money. It was nice but not that nice. There are people that feel the price for the moderate hotels are too much.
While researching prices at various Disney hotels for our upcoming weekend trip, my mother mentioned renting points for our trip. Now, renting points is when you buy points from a Disney Vacation Club member to stay in a vacation club property. Sometimes, people who have bought into the Disney Vacation Club can't make a trip but don't want the points to go to waste. They'll sell them to others to use.
Not being well versed in the process, I decided to look into renting points through David's Vacation Club Rentals. I discovered them through the Disboards, and I had read good things about them. After navigating their website, I've come to the conclusion that they really make it as simple as they can.
First, let me explain why you might want to rent points instead of booking through Central Reservations at Disney. For three nights, if I book through Disney directly, a room at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for three adults staying three nights costs $790; the view would be the standard one. For only $650, I can rent points and stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. That is $140 less with a huge view upgrade for a room that's pretty similar in size. The room rented with points does not include maid service, but it does have a kitchenette area.
My favorite feature on the site is the points calculator. You choose your dates, and it gives you the points you need to rent to stay at every place with every view in one place. You mouse over the point totals, and it shows you how much those points will cost. It is incredibly user friendly and simple to use.
The website is nice, with your options listed down the side. The FAQ has a great deal of information in it that is actually useful, and you can always submit questions to them. They also have a section where past customers talk about their experiences. It's always scary to give money to someone that you don't know is trustworthy. He even links to show you that he is Better Business accredited.
Because I was missing some information, I decided to submit a question. I needed to know if our group could pay with multiple forms. My mother and I were going to split the cost, and I had to make sure that was possible. With-in ten minutes, they had emailed me a response. Now, this email was sent later in the evening on a Sunday, so I was surprised that they go back to me so quickly.*
After that confirmation, I went ahead and submitted my request. You do have to give them a $91 down-payment. If they can't book what you want, they refund the money. I requested three different options, hoping one of them would be available. Since it is so close to my dates, I was not expecting to get a reservation. I wanted to try though.
Even though it was a holiday weekend, they got back to me quite quickly. Unfortunately, there is no availability at my choices. Because they want to help, they will tell you if there are any other options open. For example, they let me know that Saratoga Springs was available for two of my three nights, but that was the only available options.
While I'm sad I couldn't work with David's Vacation Rental for my upcoming trip, I was incredibly pleased with their service. They were quick with answers, and the website is very user friendly. Maybe for another of my trips I'll be able to utilize their services. They've definitely earned my business.
*In case you're wondering, you can split it up. You just figure how many points you want to pay with each method and break it out.
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