The Disney Vacation Club is a timeshare program where members purchase a quantity of points and then use them to make reservations at any DVC resort or partner program. The number of points required per room per night varies by season, day of the week, resort and room size.
What you do to rent points is find a Disney Vacation Club member who has points s/he isn’t using and arrange to use them for a certain amount per point. I usually go through the Rent/Trade board in the DVC section of the DIS or on MouseOwners.com, but you can also use a service like DVC-Rentals.com or David’s Vacation Club Rentals. You can find out how many points you need for your stay by looking at the points charts posted on the DIS or other online DVC member communities. For instance, say a reservation in a studio at BoardWalk Villas for Sunday-Thursday is 13 points per night. If you rent points at $11 a point, you’re getting your stay for $143/night—far below the $300+ rack rate.
It takes trust on your part because the member controls the reservation at all times—as a guest, you can’t phone up DVC and check on it. When you are thinking about renting from a member, check their posts on the DIS or MouseOwners to see if they’re a longstanding community member or someone who just signed up to rent their points.
Usually the member makes the reservation and sends you the printed confirmation from DVC, and you pay the member half the cost of your reservation (Paypal is good for this). Then you pay the balance a month or two before your arrival date—it depends on when the member would need to cancel the reservation to get his/her points back if you flaked.
If you want to add Disney’s Magical Express service or purchase one of the Disney Dining Plans, the member must make the arrangements for you (free Disney Dining Plan promotions are not available with DVC reservations because they are offered exclusively as part of a traditional resort room-and-ticket package for which you must pay full price).
Here’s a link to the Rent/Trade FAQs on the DVC board of the DIS and the Rules, Guidelines and Helpful Tips forum on MouseOwners.
Michele
October 23, 2014Great! Thanks!
Michele
October 23, 2014Hi I’m renting points from a relative. Do I still get perks like charging things to my room or purchase delivery? We are staying at Old key west
Carrie
October 23, 2014Yes! Just be sure your credit card is added to the room when you check in or your relative is going to get a bill for those purchases after you check out.
Kelly
June 19, 2014Hello, How can I rent a Grand Floridan villa from owner direct for feb 2015? Thanks so much
Carrie
June 19, 2014Hi Kelly! You can use a broker of rented DVC points like David’s Vacation Club Rentals, or you can put a request on one of the message boards mentioned in my instructions on this page.
Samantha Camp
June 2, 2014Would you prefer in terms of renting DVC points going throught a site such as David’s Rentals or through a board on DIS boards or something of the such through an indepented owner of DVC??
Carrie
June 2, 2014I prefer to go through independent owners, just because they will rent you smaller numbers of points and they will sometimes give you better prices. But there is a trade-off when dealing with real people. So far I’ve never had a bad experience, but it can be tricky to get a hold of them when you need to, and it’s a drag to have to go through them to add things like Magical Express and the Dining Plan.
Jon Thompson
May 12, 2014You can rent them through dvcrentalstore.com they will give you 11.25 per point, a little more than David gives.
Carrie
May 12, 2014They give owners $11.25/point, but renters pay the same $14/point David’s Disney Vacation Club Rentals charges. The only differences are, you don’t have to pay DVC Rental Store a deposit just to have them check availability, and they will rent you smaller amounts of points (for the higher price of $15/point).
Angela
October 1, 2013Thank you for the great tips! Booked a Savannah view studio in Jambo House (on wait list for Boardwalk) for a fabulous price!
Carrie
October 1, 2013Awesome! 🙂
Kim
September 20, 2013Hi. I’m using all this great info to possibly book points at BWVilla (studio) for Nov/Dec 2014. I hear it’s very hard to get. Can you use the rent boards to look for your date and “pre-book” it with someone before that 11 month date?
Also, does a BW studio with boardwalk view have a nice balcony usually? I’ve seen some pics of more cement than railings which would certainly hurt the view of course. Thanks for any help.
Carrie
September 23, 2013Hi Kim! I have never heard of anyone “pre-booking” with an owner. Maybe some owner would do it, but in general you’re supposed to wait til you have proof of a reservation before you give anybody money, so I wouldn’t risk it. Also, I don’t think Novemebr is as tricky to get as December at BWV. I have never stayed in a DVC room at the BoardWalk, so on the subject of balconies I’ll point you to http://www.mouseowners.com and http://www.dvcnews.com—two super-helpful sites that I’m sure will have the info you’re looking for!
Kim
September 24, 2013Thanks for your help Carrie!
Tracy
August 14, 2013Oh nice! Thanks for the tips!
Tracy
August 13, 2013Hello! I’m wondering if renting DVC points can apply to a DFTWeddings room block. So say if we (the bride and groom) or any of our guests rented DVC points under someone else’s name, would we be able to apply those rooms to our room block minimum if we gave the booking people the confirmation numbers just like if someone were to book a room NOT under our room block but gave their confirmation numbers so the rooms could be applied to our minimum? And could this even be applied to bride and groom since there is a requirement to stay on property?
Carrie
August 14, 2013Yes, exactly. Any Disney-owned resort counts toward the room block no matter how it is booked. But if you don’t book by calling the room block group reservations number (which you would not if you’re renting points), the reservation number must be manually added to the block in order for it to count. And anyone’s room counts—bride, groom, family, helpful DISBoards members who share their reservation numbers with you, etc. Just call your room block coordinator with the reservation numbers so s/he can add them.
Matthew Ives
April 19, 2013Thanks for the excellent info. Is renting DVC points limited to US residents. I’m from the UK and would love to take advantage of these deals.
Many thanks,
Carrie
April 19, 2013Because you’re dealing with individual point owners, you’re only limited by their willingness/ability to work with someone from outside the US—payment would probably be the trickiest part, although PayPal makes things so easy now. And there are plenty of UK residents (along with Canadians and other Europeans) who own DVC, so working with one of them would be even easier. The UK-based DIBB message boards have a forum for DVC point rentals that you might find helpful.
Sarah
December 30, 2012This was so amazingly helpful! I get so overwhelmed on the Disney information out there. The links you have provided have been great and I have bookmarked this page for future use! Thanks so much for taking the time to share your knowledge with others! Hopefully you’ll have a hand in making our 10th wedding anniversary very special at the Animal Kingdom Lodge in 2014! (yes, I like to research far ahead!!!)
Thanks again!
Carrie
December 30, 2012Oooh! Happy planning! Let me know if I can help with anything. 🙂
Sarah
December 31, 2012well actually, if you know of any reputible sites that sell their points for non-villas, that would be great. We’d like to stay in the Animal Kingdom resport but don’t necessarily need a villa.
Carrie
December 31, 2012You can rent points for a studio if you don’t want a 1- or 2-bedroom unit or a Grand Villa. All the places that rent points rent them for every type of accommodation DVC offers. I recommend David’s Vacation Club Rentals for ease of use, but you might also want to contact the Timeshare Store or look for owners renting points on Mouseowners.com—that can be cheaper.
DVC Nigel
July 2, 2012You can also rent points over at http://www.mouseowners.com specifically at the thread http://www.mouseowners.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=48
A lot of people on dis “usually” want $12pp cause they “usually” have to pay dis for the priv of renting points there. At MO you can usually get the going rate a little cheaper around $10-$11 cause owners don’t pay fees and because they are nicer over there too. 🙂
Carrie
December 31, 2012Thanks for the tip!
Tammylynn
June 25, 2012Hi I’m looking for a time share in HongKong Disney we are Military Family looking about Dec 15th 2012 thank u
Carrie
June 26, 2012Unfortunately, Disney Vacation Club does not have a resort in Hong Kong. Theoretically you could rent DVC points and use them to stay at the Disney hotel there, but the number of points required is so high that you wouldn’t be saving any money. 🙁
Greg
June 9, 2012Should I insist on a Rental Agreement from the DVC owner? I thought I read somewhere that Disney required this?
Carrie
June 10, 2012Disney has no say in the rental process (other than not banning it). I’ve rented numerous times and only once signed a contract with the owner. But if you are worried about that particular owner, it might be worth asking for one.
Greg
June 4, 2012Can you rent for short stays of 1 or 2 nights?
Thanks,
Greg
Carrie
June 5, 2012Yes! It just depends on the owner. Some don’t like to rent fewer than a certain number of points, but others have small amounts of points they’re trying to unload before they expire. The DIS Boards is a great place for finding those owners.
Ellen
April 4, 2012Can you rent from two different renters and somehow combine these points to rent one unit?
Carrie
April 4, 2012The only way to do that would be to get one owner to agree to transfer points to the other, which is a big deal and is only allowed once per year. So I would say that finding two owners willing to do that for you would be extremely difficult.
Melanie
March 29, 2012Thank you! And yes, we are paying at least half price to stay at a 2 bedroom BCV for the week-can’t wait!!
Melanie Robinette
March 28, 2012If we rent/purchase points through DVC member and they include on the reservation that we want the dining plan, what happens then if there is free dining for the week of my stay? Currently there is not, but if they extend it into our week, I wanted to know if we are eligible or not since going through a DVC member vs. a package deal. Thank you!!
Carrie
March 28, 2012Unfortunately, no. Free dining is never available with a DVC points stay because the way you get free dining is to pay full price for a resort room-and-ticket package. If it makes you feel any better, you’ll be paying FAR less than rack rate for the room by renting points, and the savings may equal what you’d spend on food!
Gail
March 21, 2012Can I add the dining plan at check in or do I have to do that before we go? We have already purchased/rented our vacation at the OKWR from a DVC owner but we haven’t added the dining plan. I personally would rather pay disney directly if that is possible!
Carrie
March 21, 2012The member has to add the dining plan for you—you can’t add it when you check in. However, you don’t pay for it til you check in, so you won’t need to give the money to the member.
Gail
March 21, 2012Great! Thank you very much!!
Caina
March 5, 2012Hi! I know that if I rent points I can’t make any changes what if I’m celebrating something like my anniversary 😉 can I make that change myself or does the person I am renting from have to do that?
Carrie
March 5, 2012Something like that is just a note on your reservation, so I’d just call the resort, give them your reservation number, and ask them to note it on the reservation. (I have always asked the person I’m renting from to note it when they made the reservation, too, just for good measure.)
Joe Ford
January 24, 2012I am intersted at making a reservation for a boardwalk villa and i am traveling with five people the smallest being 12 year old. I am intersted in traveling August 6th to the 10th. I would need a room that sleeps 5. Is there a place to rent or purchase points?
lurkyloo
January 25, 2012Hi! First, you should know that the studio and 1-bedroom accommodations at the BoardWalk Villas only sleep 4, so you would need to get a pricey 2-bedroom villa. If your plans are flexible, you might want to investigate renting at Animal Kingdom Villas, which has units that sleep 5. I usually rent points from independent DVC members who post on the DISboards’ Rent/Trade forum (you must be logged in to the DIS to see it), but the easiest (if priciest) way is to use David’s Vacation Club Rentals, a service that works more like a regular booking engine.
Joe Ford
January 25, 2012Thank you that was very helpful.
John
October 24, 2011Great information! A question about the dining in conjunction with renting DVC points. Who makes the reservations for the meals?
lurkyloo
October 24, 2011Renters make all their own dining reservations. The only time you’d need to get the owner involved is if you want to buy one of the Disney dining plans—he or she would have to add it to the room reservation for you. But then you’d make the actual restaurant reservations. Hope this helps!
Caina
August 2, 2011Just wondering if you knew how to add the dining plan if you rent points….? Also if we don’t plan on renting a car can you take the magical express?
Thanks for the help!
lurkyloo
August 2, 2011Yes on both counts—you just need to ask the member you’re renting from to make these arrangements for you. Usually they offer when they are getting all your info to make the reservation.
shoshanna
July 15, 2011Have you ever stayed at any of the DVC units at the GCH? What did you think?
lurkyloo
July 15, 2011We were not knocked out, but that’s prolly because I was bitter about getting my third accessible room in as many stays. We had a 1-bedroom on the ground floor facing a concrete walkway, so nothing to look at, and very dark. We’ve also stayed in a studio at GCH with a partial view of DCA, which was nice. But they’re just so dang dark! I guess that’s why I’m such a Beach Club fan.
Norma
July 11, 2011Just wondering how far in advance you should start looking on the boards to buy points. If I’d like to go in April, should I start looking now or wait till January?
lurkyloo
July 11, 2011Booking windows for members who own points at the resort you want open at 11 months out; booking windows for all other DVC members open at 7 months out. So if the resort or room type you want is hard to get, it’s best to start looking 11 months out. But you can start looking now and still beat all the DVC members who don’t own points at the resort you want.
Rebecca
April 7, 2011Thanks for the help!! Becuase of this we got to book a Villa AKV for the same price as the Pop room we had already reserved. We always wanted to stay at Animal Kingdom but it was always too pricey. So thanks 🙂
lurkyloo
April 7, 2011Wow – congrats on the super deal! I’m so glad you found this helpful!
Lauren Nicole
January 31, 2011Can DVC points be used for any room at any Disney Resort or only certain ones?
lurkyloo
January 31, 2011Theoretically, yes. At the designated DVC resorts, they can be used for any room that you have enough points for. At the non-DVC resorts, they can be used for certain room categories, but the number of points required is extremely high. For example, you could stay in a 1-bedroom villa at the DVC resort Saratoga Springs for fewer points than it would take to stay in a regular hotel room at, say, the Yacht Club, which is not a DVC resort. So it’s usually best to use points for DVC resorts. This is about to become more complicated because Disney has instituted a policy that people who buy their points through resale (rather than Disney) will only be able to use the points at DVC resorts, not other Disney resorts.
Matt Furstenfeld
November 25, 2010This is FABULOUS! I’d love to get into one of the DVC places for a Florida vacation and now I’ve got a plan on how to do it, thanks to you! Seriously, THANK YOU for the info!
lurkyloo
November 27, 2010I’m so glad you found it helpful—the process can definitely be intimidating when you’re starting out.