DVC Rental Tips – Timing Your Rental Request

Posted: May 3, 2012 Resorts

A recent question on our facebook page inspired today’s post. Kristin asked, “Which [Disney Vacation Club] resorts have the best luck on requests?”

Several factors determine which resorts or types of rooms fill up the fastest. Understanding what some of those are will help you choose the best time to make your rental request.

One factor to consider is location. Some resorts are more popular than others simply based on where they are located on the Disney property. For instance, Bay Lake Tower is the closest DVC resort to the Magic Kingdom and is located on the monorail loop. Both of these make it a highly sought after resort, especially for guests with small children.

Along with location, special events taking part in the parks also have an effect on resort popularity. The Epcot International Food & Wine Festival is a very popular event that takes place in the fall. You must get your request in early if you want to secure a room at either the Boardwalk or Beach Club Villas, both of which are within walking distance to Epcot.

Resort size is another thing to consider. Obviously, it’s much easier to get into the larger resorts, like Saratoga Springs and Old Key West, simply because they have more rooms overall. Contrary to that, Beach Club and Wilderness Lodge Villas have fewer rooms, so it’s a little more difficult to get into them without a lot of lead time.

Room type also plays into the equation. I know from personal experience that if I want a studio at Boardwalk Villas with a view of the boardwalk and Crescent Lake, I better get my request in at the earliest possible time. If I wait, the only choice I may get is a one bedroom with a pool/garden view.

There’s a lot to consider and, especially if you are new to the Disney Vacation Club Resorts, it can be overwhelming to know when the best time is to put in a request for the particular resort and room type that you want. The good news is that here at David’s Vacation Club Rentals, we’ve been doing this for quite awhile and I’m happy to say that we can help you out. On our website, we have a list of recommended times to put in your reservation for each room type and resort. For convenience, I’ll reprint the list below.

Keep in mind, these are just recommendations and many factors, even things we haven’t mentioned, will effect availability. It’s always possible that there have been cancellations, or some fluke has caused rooms to be available even when we think they won’t be – so it never hurts to have us check to see if your particular request can be met, even if it isn’t within our recommended time frame.