In either case (rent or sell) you will come out financially ahead. Given when you purchased, you will likely have no problems selling for more than your original purchase price (HHI may be closer to a wash, but even there I bet you turn a profit). Renting each year, you should also have no problem covering your maintenance fees and turning a bit of a profit. In both cases, the process can be very easy as there are tons of businesses set up to manage the whole thing for you (Agents that specialize in selling DVC and services that specialize in renting DVC points).
As to rent or sell, which is best...that's a decision only you can make. My main thoughts are that:
1) if you sell, you're making a fairly irreversible decision on being able to easily access DVC. You will never be able to get "back in" to the system at the price point you originally purchased for. While you could still get access renting from another owner (directly or via a service) or possibly via exchange if you own other timeshares, both of these are much more cumbersome than the access you get as an owner;
2) If you keep your ownership and rent, you will have to deal with the rental process every year and the DVC payment administration every year...and there's no guarantee you will always cover your maintenance fees (although this seems likely to be a very low risk). While there are services that will rent your points for you, they take a cut of the profit and still require some minor administration on your side.
Based on my personal experience, I would look at what you're likely to get in a sale and if it's a decent chunk of change, I would sell. We purchased at BWV before it opened and enjoyed 8 wonderful years of vacations there. However, while we didn't tire of the parks generally, we did tire of feeling like we had to go there year-after-year to get the most value from our points. We switched it up a couple of years with a Disney Cruise and then a visit to Disneyland Paris (when points usage at those hotels was actually quite a good value) but eventually decided to sell. We reaped a nice profit and enjoyed using our other timeshares that offered more diverse options on a yearly basis.
Fast forward to a few years ago, and we've started to return to Orlando more regularly; partially because I am now an expat and Orlando is a nice easy place to get family together and for me to escape the cold grey winters in Amsterdam. While we sometimes miss access to DVC as members, we've learned to enjoy other Orlando timeshares, other Orlando attractions, and still get into DVC (when we feel it's a must) via an RCI exchange. We still miss getting access to some of the other resorts (RCI only ever has Saratoga Springs) and have toyed with the idea of renting. However, we just can't justify the cost given the plethora of other very nice Orlando resorts available (and the fact that SS is pretty nice as well).
Keep us posted and let us know what you decide to do.
