David’s Vacation Club Rentals Review: I Paid $1,100 for a $3,000 Disney Resort Stay

I’ve been booking Disney trips for a long time, and until this trip, I had always done it the same way: directly through Disney. It’s what I’m comfortable with, and I’ve never really felt the need to look anywhere else.

So when I saw that the exact same room at Disney’s Old Key West Resort was coming out to nearly $3,000 through Disney, but could be booked for around $1,100 through David’s Vacation Club Rentals, I was genuinely surprised. I had heard of renting Disney Vacation Club (DVC) points before, but I didn’t realize the difference could be that big.

This was my first time trying it, and I had a lot of questions going into it. How does it actually work? Is it legit? And what, if anything, feels different once you’re there?

In this post, I’m sharing my full experience using David’s Vacation Club Rentals, including exactly what we paid, how the booking process worked, and whether I’d use it again.

What I Paid vs Booking Direct Through Disney

Before getting into how the process works, this is the part that made me take it seriously: the price difference.

For our stay at Old Key West, I priced the same room both ways:

• Booking directly through Disney came out to $2,988
• Booking through David’s Vacation Club Rentals was $1,100

This was for a 5-night stay in a Deluxe Studio from February 8–13, 2026.

Same room, same dates, same resort. The only difference was how it was booked.

I knew renting DVC points could save money, but I truly didn’t realize it would be that big of a difference.

🌴 See what your Disney resort stay could cost. 🌴

How I Ended Up Using David’s Vacation Club Rentals

This trip came together through my aunt and cousins. Last summer, they started planning a Disney World trip for February and asked if we wanted to join them. I never pass up a Disney trip, and I was really excited to travel with them.

My aunt used to be a Disney Vacation Club member and had owned at Old Key West for years, so she has a lot of history with that resort and already knew she wanted to stay there again. She was also the one who had looked into renting DVC points and felt comfortable using David’s Vacation Club Rentals based on what she found.

She was originally going to stay in the same room as me and my kids, so she handled the booking for our reservation.

I had heard of renting DVC points before, but I had never actually done it myself. I’ve always booked directly through Disney, so this was completely new territory for me.

But once I saw the price difference, it felt like something worth trying at least once.

Is David’s Vacation Club Rentals Legit?

This was one of the first things I looked into before booking, because even though I had heard of renting DVC points before, I had never actually done it myself.

It did not feel scammy to me, but I did want to understand how everything worked before committing to it.

I had questions like:

• What happens if the room you request isn’t available
• How cancellations are handled
• What the process actually looks like once you book

I spent some time reading reviews, going through their policies, and leaning on my aunt’s experience with DVC, since she was much more familiar with how the points system works.

By the time we booked, I felt comfortable with how everything worked.

And after going through the full process, I can confidently say that yes, my experience booking with David’s Vacation Club Rentals was legitimate and straightforward.

🌴 Check DVC rental availability for your dates. 🌴

What Is Renting DVC Points (and How Does This Work)?

If you’ve never heard of this before, the short version is that Disney Vacation Club is Disney’s version of a timeshare. Members get a set number of points each year that they use to book stays at Disney’s deluxe villa resorts.

If they’re not using those points, they can rent them out. That’s where a company like David’s Vacation Club Rentals comes in. They act as the middleman, connecting DVC owners with people who want to book those rooms.

So instead of booking directly through Disney, you’re essentially using someone else’s points to reserve the same room, which is why the price can be so much lower.

How the Booking Process Works

For this trip, my aunt handled the booking since she was originally planning to stay in the room with us, so I got to see how the process worked without being the one to submit the original request.

With David’s Vacation Club Rentals, you don’t book a room instantly the way you would on Disney’s website. Instead, you submit a request with your dates, resort, and room type, and then they check availability with DVC owners.

In our case, she filled out the request form and paid the $105 deposit. Within about two days, she got an email confirming that the reservation had been secured.

Once that happens, they send a payment link for the remaining balance, which is due right away in order to lock in the booking.

From start to finish, everything was very straightforward, and their communication was clear the whole time.

If you want to see what’s available for your dates, you can check here:

What Happens If Your Room Isn’t Available

This was something I didn’t fully understand at first, and it’s worth knowing.

With David’s Vacation Club Rentals, you’re submitting a request rather than booking something instantly, so even if it looks like a room is available, it still has to be confirmed.

I actually ran into this when I tried to use them for a second trip.

My sister and I were planning a last-minute trip in October to see Hanson at EPCOT’s Food & Wine Festival and go to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, and I told her how easy this process had been the first time around. We decided to try to book two rooms at Animal Kingdom Lodge, even though we were only about two months out.

We each submitted a request separately and paid the deposit, and within a few hours we both got emails back saying the room wasn’t available for our dates.

They offered Saratoga Springs as an alternative and made it clear we could either move forward with that or get a full refund of our deposit.

We decided to skip it and booked Port Orleans Riverside directly through Disney instead.

The whole process was very straightforward, and their emails were clear and easy to understand. It made me realize that this works a lot better when you’re booking farther in advance.

🌴 Check availability early for your dates. 🌴

Payment and What Feels Different

For our booking, the deposit was $105 at the time we submitted the request. Once the reservation was confirmed, the remaining balance was due right away.

That’s probably the biggest difference compared to booking directly through Disney, where you can put down a small deposit and then pay the rest closer to your trip.

With this, you’re committing to the full amount much earlier, which definitely felt a little different to me at first.

That said, the payment process itself was simple, and everything matched exactly what we expected.

Linking the Reservation to My Disney Experience

Once everything was paid, we received a Disney confirmation number, and I was able to link the reservation in My Disney Experience just like I would with any booking made directly through Disney. That was the moment it really started to feel real.

We did have one small issue with the names being entered incorrectly, but I sent a quick email and they fixed it right away without any problem.

Leading Up to the Trip

Once the reservation was linked, everything worked exactly like a normal Disney booking.

With Disney resort reservations, you can make dining and experience bookings at 60 days out, and then select Lightning Lanes starting 7 days before your trip if you are staying at a Disney resort.

I was able to:

• Book dining reservations at 60 days
• Schedule Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for my niece
• Book my daughter’s first haircut at Harmony Barber Shop
• Select Lightning Lanes

One thing I was a little unsure about going into the trip was check-in. My aunt, who had made the reservation, ended up not being able to come last minute due to some health issues, and she was listed as the lead name on the booking.

I wasn’t sure if that would cause any issues when we arrived, but it didn’t at all. Since my name was also on the reservation, everything went completely smoothly.

What It Was Like During Our Stay

Once we arrived, everything felt completely normal.

We checked in, headed to the parks, and fell right into our usual Disney rhythm. We used early entry each morning, spent time at the pool and Community Hall in the afternoons, and just moved through the trip the same way we always do.

At no point did anything feel different or more complicated because of how we booked. It genuinely felt like any other Disney stay.

🌴 If you’re curious what this would look like for your own trip, you can check your dates here. 🌴

Things to Know Before You Book

There are a few things that are helpful to understand going into this, especially if you’re used to booking directly through Disney like I was.

The first is availability. If you tend to plan last-minute trips, this can be a little limiting. In my experience, booking earlier gives you a much better chance of getting the resort and room type you want.

The second is the cancellation policy. It’s different from Disney’s, and you need to be comfortable with that before booking. At the time of my booking, if you needed to cancel, you received a travel credit based on how far in advance you canceled, and that credit could be used within three years.

Always read the current cancellation and payment policies directly before booking, because they may not work for every family or every trip.

And finally, you do need to be comfortable paying in full earlier in the process. That’s just part of how this type of booking works, and it was probably the biggest adjustment for me personally.

My Honest Take After Using It

For me, the savings alone made this worth it.

Paying $1,100 instead of nearly $3,000 for the exact same room is a huge difference, and once we were there, nothing about the experience felt any different.

I’ve honestly been telling people about this ever since that trip. I would absolutely consider using David’s Vacation Club Rentals again, especially for trips I can plan in advance and when I feel comfortable with the payment and cancellation policies.

I’m already planning ahead and waiting for the 2027 booking window to open so I can try to book the Grand Floridian next.

Want to Check Prices for Your Dates?

If you’re curious what the price might look like for your travel dates, you can check current availability through David’s Vacation Club Rentals below.

Have questions about this post or want help thinking through the logistics for your own trip? Join my free Facebook community for parents planning family travel. You can ask questions, share what you’re working through, and get real-life advice from other parents who understand how many little details go into traveling with kids.