Disney’s Bay Lake Towers – Renting DVC Room Points

When we were planning our surprise trip to Disney World, I found it really helpful to look online at videos of room tours. We were thinking about staying in a Disney vacation Club rental for the first time, and I wanted to see what made those rooms different than a regular hotel room. So below, you will find a video tour of our DVS Studio room, hopefully it will help you decide if renting DVC points is for you.

We stayed on a Disney Vacation Club property (Bay Lake Towers), and there were some key differences between DVC, and a typical “on property” hotel room.

Differences between Disney Vacation Club &  Regular Disney on Property Rooms:

• DVC rooms often include washers & dryers
• DVC rooms do not offer “mouse-keeping” everyday, but instead empty garbage and leave new towels on your 4th day.
• DVC rooms often offer multiple bedroom configurations making them better for large groups.
• DVC rooms can be rented at all different price points just as regular hotel rooms can.
• DVC rooms have kitchens or kitchenettes in room, as well as microwaves, toasters, and other appliances.
• DVC rooms have access to community game rooms and laundry rooms.

For us, the biggest difference between staying on a Disney Vacation Club property vs. a Disney hotel was the cheaper price of the DVC room since we rented DVC points. Renting a Disney Vacation Club room allowed us a deluxe hotel for a moderate hotel price. We did miss having the room all clean and neat when we came home from the park, but that was a small sacrifice given our overall savings.

What does renting DVC points mean?

DVC rental is a one time use of a  Disney Vacation Club member’s points to book a Deluxe Villa room at a Disney Vacation Club Resort. The owner of the points agrees to “rent” the points out to a rentee,  in exchange for payment to the points owner. The DVC owner makes a room reservation for the rentee in the rentee’s name. The amount of the payment is determined by the number of points needed for the booking. Also there are several DVC points brokers – and they all vary a little on how much they charge per point. DVC properties in highly sought after locations, and on popular travel dates will be more money per vacation point than those less in demand.

What did our Bay Lake Studio Room look like?
Because we went for a studio room at Bay Lake Towers, our room was among the smallest that the DVC offers. Last time we stayed in a regular Contemporary hotel room, and I would say that room was slightly bigger than the studio. That said, the DVC studio had a separate kitchenette that the standard room did not. We had a standard view room, although Magic Kingdom views are an option at Bay Lake Towers as well.

One thing I really liked about the Bay Lake Tower Studio room, was all the storage options. We couldn’t have filled up all the drawers and cupboards if we’d wanted to. They make it easy to put your stuff away and feel at home.

Where did we Rent our points from?

We rented from The DVC Rental Store.  I looked at several DVC rental companies and I liked that the DVC Rental Store did not require a deposit to look up the dates I was interested in, and tell me what was available. Other companies wanted a deposit before even looking – and that wasn’t going to happen. Over all I was very happy with the DVC Rental Store, my only caution would be that you need to keep track of your own Disney Deadlines. I almost missed the window for adding Disney Dinning to our trip, and only made it in the nick of time by continuing to inquire about when I could do it. If I’d relied on DVC Rental Store to give me the heads up I would have missed it. So just be sure when using a DVC rental company that you keep track of your own dates and deadlines, the company may be too busy to let you know you are missing one. Its less like using a travel agent than I was expecting – but now that I know that I’d go in with different expectations, and have no problem.

What was your Room Number, and can I look inside?

Our Bay Lake Towers room was a standard view  studio. Our  room was #7925 – which was the 9th floor. This video shows you what it looked like inside in more depth…