If you're thinking about renting Disney Vacation Club (DVC) points for your next vacation, you probably have seen that there are a ton of companies to work with. To make it all even more confusing, they all claim to be the best! We recommend both The DVC Rental Store and Davids Rentals for all things DVC rentals! Below we've got all the details you need in this comparison of DVC Rental Store vs Davids guide.
You might now be wondering, what's the difference between the two? Are there key differences I should consider? Hakuna Matata! We'll compare these two great companies and show you how they're each unique and where they each stand out. We hope that this guide will help you make a decision when determining who to work with for your next Disney vacation.
Curious to learn more about The Disney Vacation Club? Be sure to check out our Disney Vacation Club guide that'll give you all the background you need to understand this amazing program!
So, stick around and keep reading to see what happens when we put The DVC Rental Store vs Davids!
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DVC Rental Store vs Davids: Price
Starting with perhaps the biggest detail, let's compare how much it costs to rent DVC points from each of the two companies. We know this is one of the most important things you'll consider when making your decision so let's jump into that first thing.
DVC Rental Store
The DVC Rental Store runs promotions all the time to make their prices competitive and affordable. At the time of writing this DVC Rental Store vs Davids guide, The DVC Rental Store is running a promotion with the following prices:
- For bookings within the next 7 months you'll pay just $19 per point.
- For bookings within 7-11 months from now at Animal Kingdom, Aulani, Bay Lake, BoardWalk, Copper Creek, and Riviera you'll pay $22 per point.
- For bookings within 7-11 months from now at Hilton Head, Saratoga Springs, Old Key West, and Vero Beach you'll pay just $19 per point.
With these prices, it means you can sometimes end up paying up to 75% off of the Disney rack rate (GASP)! The DVC Rental Store also has a lowest-price guarantee. They'll match whatever you find against certain major competitors. This is great peace of mind so you know you'll never overpay!
Book via DVC Rental Store NOW >
As you can see, the timing of your vacation is important when renting DVC points. If you're someone who makes plans well in advance, you'll pay a little more of a premium to secure a reservation. However, if you're more flexible and don't mind staying at some of the ‘lower tier' DVC resorts, then you'll save by paying the lower price per point.
Disclaimer: let's make something clear. The term ‘lower tier' does not mean less of anything. All of the DVC resorts are beautiful deluxe resorts. The DVC Rental Store simply categorizes the resorts by those that are more in demand. So, don't think you're missing out if you choose to stay at Saratoga Springs, for example. Our guide to this wonderful resort can show you how great it is!
Davids Rentals
Similar to The DVC Rental Store, Davids has a pricing model dependent on the timing of your reservation.
- For all reservations within the next 7 months, you'll pay $21 per point.
- For reservations within 7-11 months, you'll either pay $21 or $23 per point, depending on the resort you choose.
Book via David's DVC Rentals NOW >
To denote the higher-price resorts, Davids puts some of the resorts into what they call a ‘premium' resort category. The following are considered premium resorts, per Davids, and thus will carry the higher price point for reservation within 7-11 months:
- Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas
- Bay Lake Tower At Disney's Contemporary Resort
- Disney's Beach Club Villas
- Disney's Boardwalk Villas
- Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge
- Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney's Wilderness Lodge
- The Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Hotel
- The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel
- Disney's Aulani Resort and Spa
- Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
- Disney's Riviera Resort
With so many resorts to choose from, you're probably wondering what makes them all different! Our DVC Resort Rankings guide will show you what makes all of these resorts stand out!
DVC Rental Store vs Davids: Payment Process
Let's take a look at the payment process for each of the two companies. They each have a slightly different method of collecting payment. One might make more sense for you and your family, depending on your preference and/or budgeting needs.
DVC Rental Store
The DVC Rental Store is for you if you want to secure a reservation, but still have the time to save up for the cost of your vacation. With The DVC Rental Store, you only need to pay 25% upfront of the total cost of your stay. The remaining balance of your reservation will be due no later than 75 days before your arrival date. This means that you can score a great reservation and not have to worry about paying for it all upfront. This makes budgeting a lot easier!
The only exception here is for reservations that are made within 75 days of check-in. In this case, since the reservation is soon, you will need to pay the entire cost upfront.
Davids Rentals
In contrast to The DVC Rental Store, Davids handles their payments differently. With Davids, it's more straightforward. Regardless of when your check-in date is, you will be required to pay the balance of your stay at the time of booking. Now, this might seem harsh compared to The DVC Rental Store, but we think that some families actually would prefer this model. Rather than having to worry about paying more later, some families might prefer the ‘one-and-done' approach.
Davids has no exceptions to this policy, which, again, makes it straightforward to follow.
DVC Rental Store vs Davids: Cancellation Policies
It's sad to even think of it, but from to time, things come up and a reservation must be canceled. This is always a worst-case scenario, but we know that life happens and things get thrown at us beyond our control. This is where a cancellation policy comes in. Let's compare the two!
DVC Rental Store
The DVC Rental Store really stands out in this arena. They offer a stress-free cancellation policy that'll leave you with total peace of mind upon securing your reservation. Every reservation made through the DVC Rental Store is secured with its amazing cancellation policy. This means you don't have to worry about searching through different types of reservations.
If your plans were to change, for any reason, The DVC Rental Store will issue you travel credits to use towards a future reservation with them. They will issue refunds/credits based on the following structure:
| Cancellation Window | Credit Received |
|---|---|
| >120 Days | 100% of funds paid |
| 120-61 Days | 75% of total reservation price* |
| 60-16 Days | 50% of total reservation price |
| 15-4 Days | 25% of total reservation price |
| <Days | 0% |
As you can see, you have nothing to worry about when booking through The DVC Rental Store. Their cancellation policy is an industry leader and incredibly generous. The best part, it's free! You might see other companies who will offer additional cancellation insurance as an upcharge, but not with The DVC Rental Store.
Davids Rentals
Unfortunately, Davids does not offer any sort of cancellation policy. That said, they will issue you a cash refund in the beginning stages of your reservation process if they cannot secure a reservation for you. This could happen as availability is always in flux.
DVC Rental Store vs Davids: Inventory
Moving away from money talk, let's look at overall inventory and availability. Since each family is going to have their own specific desires and requests, a large pool of availability is important. So how do our partners stack up against each other? Let's take a look!
DVC Rental Store
The DVC Rental Store site has a robust availability search tool that can help you determine what is available when looking to secure a reservation. By simply entering dates and number of guests, they'll show you which resorts have current availability in the various types of accommodations (studios, 1-bedrooms, grand villas, etc.).
At the time of writing this DVC Rental Store vs Davids guide, we put in random dates to simulate a reservation. In looking at a reservation from December 1st through the 5th, 2023, we found 93 available reservations. Now, not all of these were Disney properties (more on that later), and not all Disney resorts had full availability. A handful of the resorts did have full availability, but some only had partial dates. That said, by and large, The DVC Rental Store does have a high inventory and you're bound to find something you're looking for.
To be fair, however, availability is not something that The DVC Rental Store can control. They rely on the same availability that DVC members have and cannot create accommodations out of thin air!
Davids Rentals
All of what we just shared about inventory stands true for Davids as well in that they can't control what is out there. However, a key difference is that Davids does not have a live search tool to see what reservations are currently available. When making a reservation, you simply input the details of your desired vacation and they'll take care of the hunting for you. This boutique approach could be desirable for those who don't want to worry about a thing. Some, however, may like to do some digging so it really depends on your personal style.
David's will communicate with you every step of the way and if what you're hoping for isn't available, they will offer you similar accommodations or simply keep searching in the background over time. If something were to pop up, they would immediately snag it and confirm your reservation.
DVC Rental Store vs Davids: Confirmed Reservations
So far we've talked about a custom approach when it comes to renting DVC points. We've described scenarios in which you're requesting a precise vacation. However, another way to go about renting DVC points is to secure confirmed reservations. Confirmed reservations are pre-booked reservations made by DVC members that are all set and ready to go. This means that instead of searching for your dates, you search for what is already booked and rearrange your dates to make it work. This process eliminates any chance of your request not being available.
This is where availability is in the hands of two companies and obviously the more they have available, the likelier you are to find something that works for you. Let's see who has the higher inventory!
DVC Rental Store
Without even putting general timeframes, at the time of writing this DVC Rental Store vs Davids guide, The DVC Rental Store shows a whopping 596 available confirmed reservations-wow! This is an incredibly impressive number that'll surely facilitate you in finding something that works for you.
Upon filtering through the different types of accommodations, almost all types of rooms were available, including the Copper Creek cabins! This means that no matter the size of your party, you'll have options to choose from. Also, all resorts had at least a handful of confirmed reservations to choose from.
So, in sum, The DVC Rental Store is almost guaranteed to have something ready to go for you if you're not particular about your dates.
Davids Rentals
Davids does not get left behind in this category! While they don't have the exact number listed on their site, at the time of writing this guide, they had tons of confirmed reservations to choose from! Similar to The DVC Rental Store, all resorts were on the list of reservations with various accommodation types.
Plus, you can even see that some reservations were reduced in price! This means that if you have total flexibility in your plans, you could score a reservation at a lower price.
Confirmed reservations are not for everyone and do require ultimate flexibility. However, both of our partners stand strong in this category!
DVC Rental Store vs Davids: Other Services
If you're looking for something other than DVC properties, both of our partners may be able to help! Each of them offers other services that range in types of vacations. So, let's compare the two and see what other services they offer!
DVC Rental Store
The DVC Rental Store offers lots of other services to members and guests. They offer more to make your reservation process a one-stop shop. At the time of writing this guide, The DVC Rental Store offered the following additional services:
- Member Point Swap Current DVC members are able to swap their Disney points for use at other Disney and non-Disney experiences such as Adventures by Disney, Disney Cruise Line, and Universal Studios. This allows for members who want to try something different to have The DVC Rental Store take care of all the vacation-planning needs.
- Vacation Home Rentals Similar to an Airbnb, The DVC Rental Store also has an inventory of non-park-based vacation homes up for rent. While most of the homes are around the Orlando theme park area, they allow for something completely different with a lot more space.
- Sunshine Flyer Transportation All guests can book transportation from Orlando International Airport to an Orlando-based resort using the Sunshine Flyer Transportation option.
- Stroller Rentals The DVC Rental Store can help you reserve discounted stroller rentals for your next Orlando vacation. This is a neat perk as it's such a pain to travel with large strollers.
These are some of the other major services you can count on when working with The DVC Rental Store. As you can see, they are varied, especially if you're looking to expand beyond the Disney bubble.
Davids Rentals
Davids Rentals also has some other neat services of which you can take advantage, depending on your needs. Similar to The DVC Rental Store, they can include it all in your reservation so that you'll have one less thing to worry about! At the time of writing this guide, Davids Rentals offered:
- Cruise Packages Davids can help you put together the perfect cruise for you and your family! Plus, they offer cruises on Disney, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and Norwegian. This means that you can determine the type of cruise experience you're looking for and choose the best cruise line for you.
- Grocery Orders Part of staying in a DVC villa is that you'll enjoy kitchen amenities of some sort in all of the villas. Davids has partnered with a local grocery delivery service so that you can get fresh groceries delivered right to your deluxe villa! This is a great perk for those who want to create those memories of having home-cooked meals on vacation!
- Stroller Rentals Davids can also help you save up to 50% on your stroller rentals compared to theme park prices.
DVC Rental Store vs Davids: Final Thoughts
As you've seen by now, both of our DVC rental partners have lots to offer and come with their unique approaches. The DVC Rental Store is going to be your most affordable and all-inclusive option. Davids, on the other hand, is going to be for those who want to do less and check things off the list right away. In all honesty, we don't think you can go wrong either way. This guide has broken down the key differences, in our opinion, and it's up to you to decide what works better for your planning style and vacation needs.
Both companies come with an impeccable reputations and a solid team of experts who are ready to make your vacation dreams come true!
Plan your next Disney Vacation!
All of this Disney talk might have you ready to book your next Disney adventure. If so, let us take care of that for you! Our team is standing by to put together a FREE quote for your next Disney vacation. Plus, you won't have to worry about missing out on any discount. We search far and wide to make sure you're getting every possible discount out there. We'll even customize your vacation to include our best tips and tricks to make the most of your vacation. If you're curious to learn more, check out our other informative guides below:
- DVC “Use Year” Explained – 2023 FAQ for Disney Vacation Club Buyers
- Selling DVC Points: Everything DVC Owners Need To Know!
- Animal Kingdom Lodge Review DVC Villas Jambo House PLUS Money Saving Hack for Deluxe Resorts
- Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort Review 2023 – Mary Poppins Rooms, Worth It?
- Disney Vacation Club Villas at Disneyland Hotel – Opening DATE, Prices, Concept Art
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