Honeymoon Help!! DVC rental and Resort Options!!!

[crisi]

I did a honeymoon at WDW 25 years ago. We stayed at the Poly, which was very romantic.

Note that a DVC room will not have regular housekeeping - no one makes your bed or changes out your towels. Also, a DVC studio will have a queen bed and a pull out couch or murphy bed/couch - there is no king bed option. Check in is AFTER 4....We've always gotten in earlier, but some people don't get into their room until 6 or 7 at night. There is no late check out.

The points per night at Riveria are more, so it will be more expensive to rent points there. I'm not a huge fan of either resort (we own Boardwalk and like it there, I also like the Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom DVCs - and I LOVE Hilton Head, but that isn't on your radar). With any DVC rental there are two issues - the first is finding someone with points they are willing to rent....normally (and it has been anything but normal) there are more people looking to rent points than owners - particularly at the high demand resorts like BCV - and newer resorts - like Riviera also tend to have issues finding an owner. Once you find the owner, there has to be availability - that can be difficult - even eleven months out, if you are looking for a studio - but its far easier at eleven months out than it is as you move closer to your travel date.

Assume your reservation is non-refundable. If you rent private, some owners will do their best to work with you - but points expire, cancellations need to be made well in advance or your points go into holding, and availability is a challenge (DVC reservations are fairly complicated things) - there may be no way to help you. Brokers usually have non-refundable arrangements. Do get trip insurance, it can save you headaches.

Personally, for a honeymoon trip, I'd stay in a cash hotel and splurge on concierge (which is not really an option with a DVC rental). And honestly....we honeymooned at Disney - but did so six months after our wedding - the vacation immediately after the wedding was a B&B in town where we just enjoyed each other and books. Disney is a lot of stress post wedding.

 

[purpliequeen]

Congrats, OP, so happy for you!

Agree with previous poster, WDW is a lot of stress post-wedding. I highly recommend if you can take some time between the actual wedding & WDW honeymoon. I also would suggest, if you can to do a cash-hotel stay or stay concierge. AKL is the only DVC resort with a concierge option, but the rooms at the DVC concierge level aren't great - they're on the 6th floor of the resort and don't have great savanna (or pool) views, unfortunately.

I'd recommend booking the Poly. I'm a huge fan of Trader Sam's, which I know you're familiar with if you're a DL native. Super fun place to enjoy spending time with your new hubby. The pools are great. The views are fab. Yes, juset seems very romantic. I also would recommend Riviera. I know some people don't love it, but I find the resort to be very classy and European. In other words, very romantic. Dinner at Topolino's would be icing on the (wedding) cake. The other option that hasn't come up yet is AKL. I love AKL. It's so peaceful and beautiful and there's so much to do at the resort. I think this would be a great place to spend a lot of time in the hotel room - esp if you have a savanna view! The pools are great, Jiko is top notch (as is Sanaa), and breakfast buffet at Sanaa.... just wow. It also feels very "adult" to me - sure there are kids, but there's also lots of programming by the resort that caters to adults. You could even do a special experience like Wanyama Safari.


I wanted to touch upon BCV, which is one of our fave DVC resorts. I love BCV; the location can't be beat. This resort is a great resort to stay in, but perhaps not that romantic. Stormalong Bay is a fabulous pool, but it is very kid-forward. Sure, there's a quiet pool like all DVC resorts, but neither pool screams "romantic" to me. Hope this helps.