If you're looking to save even more money on your accommodation, then we do recommend looking at DVC - Disney's Vacation Club. Disney's Vacation Club is available to all guests as you do not have to be an owner to be able to rent a room. DVC owners have "points" they can use to secure rooms for their vacations, however, sometimes they may not be able to use them due to various factors, they might not be going away, they might have already been away and have points that are expiring and need to be used for example. Rather than letting these points go to waste (they can "bank" them to use at a later date however they still need to be used by a certain time), they can reach out to DVC sites, such as - David's Vacation Club Rentals - and look to sell their points. This way, they can rent out their unused points and receive payment in place of loosing the points. This is win - win for everyone including you! Currently you can rent a room at the following Resorts in WDW: Animal Kingdom Lodge, Bay Lake Tower (Disney's Contemporary Resort), Beach Club Villas, Boardwalk Villas, Grand Floridian, Old Key West, Polynesian Resort, Riviera Resort, Saratoga Springs, Boulder Ridge Villas (Wilderness Lodge), Copper Creek Villas (Wilderness Lodge) and the Cabin's at Fort Wilderness. There are different types of rooms at each of these Resorts and they can vary from: Resort Studio, Studio, One or Two Bedroom, Cabin, Treehouse Villa, Bungalow or a Grand Villa. They can sleep anywhere from 2 guests up to 12 guests. DVC rental is a bit different in terms of booking, as you can't book so far out as you can with a normal booking due to restrictions that Disney puts in place, but don't let that put you off. Typically you can book a DVC Resort about 11 months prior to your travel dates. Cancellation - this will also vary depending on who you book with as some companies do not offer any refunds at all (we always recommend travel insurance anyway) though some companies do offer their own cancellation policy such as David's Vacation Club Rentals and they offer a credit which is valid for 3 years, how much you get back till be dependant on when you cancel, ie more than 120 days in advance or 15 days in advance. Again, still don't let this put you off, savings are to be made!
Now, you maybe wondering, how on earth is it cheaper?! Well, lets get into that. You can save A LOT of money by booking a DVC room as they are all on Disney Property (Deluxe Resorts only) which also gives you perks such as free parking and the extended evening magic hours which are only avaliable to guests staying at deluxe resorts. This we find is extremely helpful as it can be nicer to go to the parks during the evening since it will be cooler and there won't be as many guests which in turn, means much shorter queues for rides and shops. Each park will have select evenings so it's good to check the MDE app before you go to see what park is offering the extended hours.
Back to money saving, with DVC rooms, you could end up paying the same (or less!) amount of money for a deluxe room as you would staying at a Disney Value Resort room! Yep, we know, it sounds crazy and too good to be true, but, it is true as we've done it ourselves! For example, in November 2022, we stayed at Disney's Polynesian Resort Hotel in a Studio room (pic's below), we stayed for 11 nights in total and paid £2,800 for the whole stay!! Now trying to book that directly with Disney was going to costs us over £11,000 which was just unreal to us as we are sure it is to you. We've also stayed at Old Key West in September 2023 for 14 nights which was £2,000 and via Disney, would have been over £5,500! So the savings are truly unreal.
There are many places out there on the internet that offer DVC rental and it can be tricky to see who is real and who isn't. Be careful of Facebook groups that you join, where you ask about renting as you can and will come across people that say they have a confirmed reservation, send you pictures of this "confirmed reservation" and even show pictures of a "contract" however, it will most likely be a scam and they'll want you to send over money via paypal but as friends and family (you have NO protection this way at all) or another way where you are not protected and could end up loosing all your money which is not the way you want to start of your holiday.
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