2026 Disney Vacation Club Buying Guide
Our Disney Vacation Club Buying Guide covers best & worst home resorts, buying DVC direct vs. resale, how to use points, pros & cons of joining, membership perks & more. We share our story of why we joined, and also answer frequently asked questions.
Although we are DVC members, we weigh the benefits and drawbacks of joining. In other words, this isn’t a sales pitch for Disney Vacation Club. The fact is, DVC is not right for everyone. So, rather than presenting the kind of emotional and rosy marketing message you’ll hear from a DVC guide trying to make a sale, we’ll present a more balanced perspective here.
Let’s start with a little background. Disney Vacation Club is Disney’s twist on the traditional timeshare concept, and Disney advertises it as a way to save money on future vacations at Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and beyond. There are currently 17 Disney Vacation Club resorts, with more projects in development.
Speaking of which, it’s probably worth delving into some recent developments before getting down to the basics. Here’s a rundown of recent and upcoming projects at Walt Disney World and Disneyland:
- Villas at Disneyland Hotel – The newest DVC resort in California and the second addition at Disneyland Resort. That tower is a huge addition to the DVC portfolio for the California parks, where Disney Vacation Club is incredibly popular, but also has significant supply constraints at the Grand Californian. We’ve already stayed in the tower–check out our look at the new rooms in the Villas at Disneyland Hotel.
- Cabins at Fort Wilderness Campground & Resort – These have officially opened, but “construction” is still in progress. The explanation for that is the new cabins being pre-fabricated off-site and installed unit-by-unit, not built on location. We stayed in one of the new “controversial” cabins during Christmas and absolutely loved it.
- Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort – This new tower opened right before Christmas, as a massive addition between the existing Polynesian Village Resort and Grand Floridian Resort. The outside of the Island Tower is hideous, but the inside is rather nice. Avoid having to look at this eyesore by staying here, I guess.
- Disney Lakeshore Lodge – First announced in 2018 as Reflections Lakeside Lodge, DVC officially revived this project as Disney Lakeshore Lodge over a year ago and massive construction progress has been made since. Despite that, DVC hasn’t shared anything about it–probably to avoid overshadowing the Island Tower and Cabins at Fort Wilderness. Disney Lakeshore Lodge is expected to open in 2027–probably in the first half of the year, judging by progress as of early 2026.
Until Lakeshore Lodge opens, Riviera Resort is still the newest standalone DVC property, having debuted 6 years ago. Its main selling point is a Skyliner station providing gondola access to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot. Check out our Disney’s Riviera Resort Review for thoughts on the resort as a whole. You should also be aware of the restriction for resale buyers at Disney’s Riviera Resort if you’re considering buying there via the secondary market or directly from Disney.
It’ll be interesting to see what DVC sales look like in the year to come. On the one hand, there’s been a slowdown of late in direct sales. After booming business for over a year, November 2025 had the fewest number of points sold since April 2024 according to DVCNews.
Despite that lackluster month, DVC point sales for last year (through only the first 11 months of the year) surpassed the previous year’s 12-month point total (1,703,032 points to 1,693,637). Whether November was the beginning of a downtrend or an anomaly remains to be seen.
Our guess is that it’s simply where the properties stand in their sales-cycles, with the Island Tower now being over a year old and there being next-to-no interest in the Cabins at Fort Wilderness (less than 6% of the total points have sold, despite nearly two years on the market). Of course, a lot could change in 2026. At some point this year, Lakeshore Lodge is likely to go on sale–and it’s impossible to say what will happen with the economy as a whole, so we’re probably getting ahead of ourselves!
Then there’s the resale market, which has been largely flat since 2022. There was one stretch when prices declined for 11 consecutive months, but that streak was broken. Last year was mostly a story of stagnation, much like the year before that. Resale prices down from their peak, which is also not inflation adjusted.
With regard to forward-looking prices, a couple of things are worth noting. The first is the new $500 Contract Administration Fee (CAF) that Disney Vacation Club now charges on every resale contract closing as of January 1, 2026. This is a flat-fee that exists regardless of contract size.
DVC’s CAF will almost certainly put downward pressure on prices for smaller contracts, as it amounts to a $10 per point premium (in essence) for those coveted 50 point contracts. It’ll make less of a difference at the higher end of the spectrum since its per point cost is diluted, but we’d expect this alone to result in lower per point prices and slower sales.
Additionally, DVC resale inventory was on a downward trend for much of last year due to Disney Vacation Club exercising its Right of First Refusal (ROFR) more frequently than in the last couple of years. We’ve seen this less in the last few months, but if DVC resumes ROFR activity, that could put upward pressure on prices. A direct price increase in early 2026 would have a similar impact.
As with anything, it’s exceedingly difficult to time the market. We should note that we expected prices to drop during COVID, and after that briefly occurred they quickly bounced back and hit all-time highs by early 2022. We then expected the last two years to be golden windows of opportunity to buy, which they sort of were.
Now, our expectation is that the tides will continue turning as DVC resales become more of a seller’s market throughout 2026. But of course, we’ve been wrong before. As you might expect, Disney Vacation Club sales correlate with the broader market as a whole, so if U.S. economy and Wall Street keep booming, so too should DVC. If there’s a recession, all bets are off.
In other news, Disney also has released its 2026 Disney Vacation Club Resort Refurbishments & Construction Timeline. The upcoming year is currently quieter than the last few, with nothing brand-new scheduled at the condo association meeting in December. Still, more could be added for 2027 and 2028.
If you’re thinking about buying directly from Disney, it could be advantageous to do so now. This is because Disney Vacation Club is increasing prices again on February 10, 2026.
Disney Vacation Club typically increases prices around the start of each calendar year. Here’s a look at the upcoming change:
- Villas at Disneyland Hotel – $248 (previously $245)
- Cabins at Fort Wilderness – $243 (previously $235)
- Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows – $243 (previously $235)
- Disney’s Riviera Resort – $243 (previously $235)
- Aulani, Disney Vacation Club Villas in Ko Olina, Hawaii – $243 (previously $235)
These increases are about par for the course. Lower than the biggest increases we’ve seen in recent years, but still notable given the sales slowdown and lack of popularity with the Cabins at Fort Wilderness and Aulani. Don’t be surprised if there’s a promo shortly after February 10, 2026 to create the illusion of a killer deal on the Cabins, especially.
There’s an alternative to paying the skyrocketing prices from Disney Vacation Club directly. Since you’re purchasing a real estate interest, DVC can be bought and resold on the secondary market, similar to a house. As of the time of publication, the average per point price is ~$115 (and trending downward). In other words, you can save considerably by purchasing DVC via resale!
This may sound too good to be true, but it is. That’s in large part because the vast majority of buyers have no clue that resale is even an option. Disney relies on an emotional sales pitch, uninformed buyers, and the aforementioned restrictions in an attempt to minimize the resale market. It’s a surprisingly effective strategy (few companies can tug on the heartstrings like Disney!)–so if you’re reading this, you already have a huge advantage over the majority of buyers who don’t do their homework!
Similar circumstances existed when we bought into DVC back during the Great Recession, and we couldn’t be happier with our decision to take the plunge then. We paid considerably less than today’s prices–or even the costs shortly after we joined and the economy began recovering.
For our part, we’ve been waiting to add-on DVC points for several years now. We are now waiting to see what happens next, partly with pricing but also with the upcoming Disney Lakeshore Lodge (we love the Cabins at Fort Wilderness, but don’t want to purchase there due to high maintenance fees–so we’re hoping they end up being part of the same trust). This is not to say history will repeat itself completely, or even that DVC is right for you. That’s what we’ll try to help you figure out through the rest of this guide, though!
With the ‘current events’ addressed, let’s turn to the threshold question: whether buying into Disney Vacation Club is actually a good idea for your family? Maybe you’ve recently taken a Disney Vacation Club tour or heard a sales pitch and are now wondering if it’s really as great as that it sounds.
The good news is that saving money with DVC is still possible. The bad news is that it’s not nearly as easy as Disney Vacation Club reps might lead you to believe. From a purely economic perspective, Disney Vacation Club won’t make sense for a lot of people.
Even if it doesn’t make sound fiscal sense, there are other compelling reasons for you to make the purchase. If your main motivation for buying an interest in Disney Vacation Club is to save money, whether it’s a good deal for you depends of your party size, resort tier preference, and how often you’ll visit Walt Disney World.
It’s also worth noting that Disney Vacation Club is a pre-paid vacation plan, which differs slightly from the traditional definition of a timeshare. In the strictest sense, Disney Vacation Club can be viewed as an asset, but not a tangible one. This is an important distinction to some people, but it doesn’t matter to a lot of people.
With that said, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of buying into Disney Vacation Club, and what you should think about before you decide whether to make the purchase…
Is Disney Vacation Club A Good Fit?
Accommodations Preferences – This is the threshold question, because if you’re (voluntarily) a Values and Moderates type person, Disney Vacation Club may never make financial sense for you. However, it can be a difficult question to answer, because it’s tough to anticipate your vacationing habits in the future. If you only roll Deluxe, and anticipate demanding posh accommodations in the future, Disney Vacation Club might be right for you.
Where DVC makes even more sense is for those who have kids or anticipate soon having kids, and are tired of sleeping in the same small quarters with them at a Moderate Resort. Disney Vacation Club, and its one-bedroom units and larger, may be right for you as it gives you the option to separate yourself from the kids at night. If you’re frequently booking the Art of Animation Family Suites, DVC is a great–nicer–alternative. Similarly, if you have to book two or more rooms at a Value or Moderate, it might be for you.
If you are a commando park tourer who primarily books All Star Sports, find the Value Resorts acceptable, and you stay up until all hours of the night and get up for rope drop daily, Disney Vacation Club may not be a good option for you. This is for two reasons.
First, the initial cost of Disney Vacation Club plus the cost of the annual maintenance fees will be higher than the sum of the yearly cost of a room at a Value Resort over the life of the Disney Vacation Club contract. This assumes reasonable price increases and accounts for the time value of money.
Second, because you simply don’t need one of the vacation-home style rooms offered by Disney Vacation Club. If you’re a no-frills or ‘bottom line’ traveler who just wants a place to shower, sleep, and will barely spend any time in your hotel room, it’s highly unlikely that DVC is for you.
With that said, even if you do presently stay at Value Resorts, after one stay at a Disney Vacation Club resort, you may be hooked. For many people, it’s one of those, “I didn’t realize what I was missing until I tried it” scenarios. Our first stay at the BoardWalk Villas definitely made it tough for us to stay in Value accommodations again.
If you’re not sure whether Disney Vacation Club accommodations will be a good fit, rent Disney Vacation Club points. There are a number of sites from which you can rent points, and they offer a cheap way to ‘get your feet wet’ with DVC, so to speak. You can also book Deluxe Villas from Disney directly, although this isn’t as cost-effective.
A final consideration in terms of accommodations: Disney Vacation Club still might not be right for you if you can’t stand the idea of MouseKeeping not cleaning your room daily. To us, this is such a minor, unimportant thing, but it bears mentioning.
Conversely, if you like the idea of being able to do your laundry, prepare a meal in your in-room kitchen, or enjoy a whole host of other “home-away-from-home” amenities, Disney Vacation Club may be right for you.
Advance Planning – If you can’t regularly plan your vacations 7 months or more in advance, and Saratoga Springs Resort and Old Key West Resort, which are typically the two resorts that fill up last, aren’t acceptable resorts to you, then Disney Vacation Club may not be right for you.
During various times of year, popular Disney Vacation Club resorts fill up quickly. In fact, during the Christmas season, it can be difficult to get even Saratoga and Old Key West inside of 7 months. If you can plan more than 7 months in advance, DVC is probably a good fit.
One thing we recommend doing before buying into Disney Vacation Club is doing some sample Disney Vacation Club availability searches to get an idea of how far in advance you’d need to book to secure the resort you want. This can also be helpful in determining which home resort is right for you.
Disney Vacationing Frequency – Thanks to the banking and borrowing system, it isn’t necessary to take a Disney vacation every year. However, to make DVC a pragmatic option, you pretty much must visit WDW or DLR once every two or three years.
Using DVC points for non-DVC vacations offers terrible value. Since many DVC contracts expire in 2054 (contracts for Disney’s Riviera Resort will expire on January 31, 2070), you better hope the Mouse won’t break your heart anytime soon. Although if he does, selling your contract on the resale market is an option, and thanks to Disney’s Right of First Refusal, contracts retain a somewhat inflated value on the resale market.
Even this isn’t a hard rule. A lot of Disney Vacation Club owners who aren’t able to use their annual allotment of points safely rent them out through point-rental businesses. Rather than using the exchanges for other vacations, you will always come out ahead by renting out your Disney Vacation Club points and paying out of pocket for whatever the other thing is. The amount owners can make through point rental is usually more than enough to pay for accommodations elsewhere!
Interval International & Point Exchanges – Disney Vacation Club touts the ability of members to use Interval International exchanges for access to thousands of resorts in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Caribbean, and beyond, with a portfolio including resorts from Marriott, Sheraton, Hyatt, and Westin.
In addition, DVC Members are able to use their points for National Geographic Expeditions, Disney Cruise Line, Adventures by Disney, and even stays at Shanghai Disney Resort. These options are great…in theory. However, in actuality, trading DVC points into these exchanges is not a smart use of points. Let me repeat that again because this is pretty much the opposite of what you’ll hear from DVC reps: don’t use Disney Vacation Club points anywhere but at DVC resorts.
We won’t belabor the point too much here since this is something covered in exhaustive detail in our Best & Worst Uses of Disney Vacation Club Points, but using DVC points on any of the various “Collections” or anything other than DVC is a bad idea. Being able to use points elsewhere is an illusory Membership Extra–a selling point touted by salespeople that has no actual value. Always has been, always will be.
This applies even to other Disney destination. You should never use Disney Vacation Club points for Disney Cruise Line, Adventures by Disney, the international parks, etc. Simply put, using DVC points at non-DVC resorts is also a poor use of points.
If you buy into Disney Vacation Club thinking that you might cash-in your Disney Vacation Club points for any of these options every once in a while, you are going to have a difficult time getting adequate value out of your membership. One reader recently emailed me, indicating that she saved $15,000 by canceling her direct purchase at the Polynesian Bungalows and instead purchasing the same number of points via resale after reading this article. $15,000.
Suffice to say, one of the main reasons DVC reps are able to convince people to purchase directly from Disney is the “perk” of using the points on Disney Cruise Line, Adventures by Disney, or otherwise outside of the Disney Vacation Club resorts. It’s not an actual perk if you shouldn’t or won’t use it. Save the money and pass on the value-less perk.
Actual Membership Perks – Disney Vacation Club Members get discounts on Annual Passes for Walt Disney World. There are several Members-Only DVC pins, events, a small magazine mailed to members, and other offerings throughout the year as well. In our Top 10 Disney Vacation Club Member Perks post, we discuss all of our favorites.
It is important to note that none of these perks are contractual rights, so Disney is free to terminate or reduce these benefits at any time. A “Membership Magic” promotion runs from time to time that gives Disney Vacation Club members discounts on Disneyland and Walt Disney World Annual Passes. Disney Vacation Club members may also purchase the Disney Dining Plan.
These Membership Perks are no longer available to those who purchase their contracts via the resale market. Unlike the restriction on using the non-DVC resort collections mentioned above, this is potentially a big deal. If you intend upon purchasing Annual Passes with the DVC discount, this can eliminate a $100-200 per person, per year savings. In our post covering the “new math” for buying Disney Vacation Club direct vs. resale, we analyze prospective buyers should do given this change.
Hard Economics
It’s important to note from the outset that all of the monetary considerations below assume that you are purchasing Disney Vacation Club via the resale market. This is the ‘best case scenario’ and definitely the way to buy into DVC given the presently high prices direct from Disney. The incentives Disney offers for direct-from-Disney DVC purchases rarely make sense.
If you are savvy with your money and saving it is your paramount concern, you should almost always purchase from the resale market. Before making a purchase, you crunch the numbers to determine what your vacation costs would be for the next 40 years if you do purchase DVC and if you don’t.
Since these numbers will vary widely for everyone researching the matter (based on party size, at which type of resort you’d prefer to stay, etc.), it’s difficult for me to offer sample calculations here. Instead, I’ll offer a few important considerations to make sure you take into account when doing the math.
Total Cost – When you’re looking at DVC, it’s tempting to just consider the initial, total purchase price and not pay much attention to Maintenance Fees. This is a mistake, as Maintenance Fees end up costing more over time at every resort, and can make a significant difference when comparing resorts.
We highly recommend using figuring out the total cost of DVC over the life of your contract, which is pretty easy thanks to DVC Pro Plan’s free calculator. Then do similar math for your current room expenses. However, this is not where your calculations should end, due to two very important things (see below) that the calculator overlooks…
Financing Disney Vacation Club – Not factored into the calculator is financing. Whether you have to finance Disney Vacation Club is an incredibly important question and definitely shouldn’t be glossed over. If you have to finance your Disney Vacation Club purchase, a lot of potential savings are wiped out by the interest you pay on the purchase.
Interest will vary from purchaser to purchaser, but it’s a very important consideration. Unless the intangible reasons that will be discussed below strongly apply to you, we usually advise anyone considering a purchase of Disney Vacation Club who would have to finance it NOT to make the purchase.
Time Value of Money – Another thing unaccounted for by the calculator. If you don’t have to finance your purchase, Disney Vacation Club should look a lot more appealing, but there still is a pitfall. In doing the math, time value of money is the most frequently overlooked aspect of any equation when people are crunching the numbers on Disney Vacation Club. Time-value of money is the principle that money at the present time is worth more than the same amount in the future due to its earning capacity over the course of time.
To illustrate this principle, imagine you have $1 today. If you invest that dollar today in something with a 6% yearly rate of return, and let it sit for 20 years, at the end of that 20 year period, that dollar is worth $3.21. Since you’re paying for all of your future Disney Vacation Club vacations up front as opposed to when they are incurred, large portions of the initial investment in Disney Vacation Club could be invested in other ways (with a similar return on investment rate, if not better) if you were instead paying for your room each year as you vacationed.
The calculations here can be pretty complex given that you can’t take that entire initial investment and perform a time value of money calculation on it to determine what it would be worth in 10, 20, or even 40 years, as you would be paying out portions of that initial investment each year for your hotel stays.
That said, by even doing rough math here, you should get a pretty good idea of the “actual” cost of Disney Vacation Club. Now, if you have suitcases full of one-hundred dollar bills sitting under your bed that you wouldn’t invest anyway, maybe this is not a consideration for you. Use this Time Value of Money (TVM) Calculator to see how it makes a difference.
Home Resort – If you’re interested in maximizing the economics of Disney Vacation Club, it’s very wise to purchase a contract with a home resort that expires in 2054 or later. When we first started crunching numbers over a decade ago, Saratoga Springs Resort was the very clear winner.
The arguments in favor of Saratoga Springs Resort are threefold. First, it frequently has the lowest per-point cost of any of the Walt Disney World-based resorts. Second, even when other resorts are lower in per-point costs, they’re higher in per-point maintenance costs, which is more important than the initial cost-difference.
During the intervening years, a number of other resorts have opened that are more expensive but have even later expiration dates. Disney’s Riviera Resort and the Villas at Disneyland Hotel expire in 2070 and 2074, respectively. That’s 16 and 20 more years than Saratoga Springs at this point, so amortizing those higher up-front costs over the life of the contract can mean they end up being cheaper on a per year basis.
So in other words–don’t overlook expiration dates. Some of the oldest Disney Vacation Club resorts have less than 20 years of life now, and those are (finally) starting to come down in price as a result. At the other end of the spectrum, many newer resorts have 30-50 years, which is pretty lengthy by comparison.
You should never overlook maintenance fee costs, as over time, you will pay more in maintenance fees than the actual contract cost itself. That $.20 to $2 difference per point in maintenance fees may not seem like much now, but over time, it really adds up. It may be tempting to buy at Aulani, Hilton Head, or Vero Beach, but consider the maintenance fees before doing that.
You also need to keep in mind that your home resort is where you have an 11-month window. This is of no value whatsoever at Saratoga Springs, whereas it’s incredibly valuable at any of the monorail loop or EPCOT-area resorts.
Copper Creek at Wilderness Lodge, Grand Floridian, and Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary all hit this ‘sweet spot’ of desirable location, lower maintenance fees, and longer contract durations (later expiration dates). While these are not the cheapest contracts on the resale market, the price premiums are not bad considering all of the above. (They are better than, for example, the Polynesian or Grand Californian.)
Although we opted for Saratoga Springs Resort as our home resort when we purchased Disney Vacation Club, things have changed since then. If we were doing it all over again, we’d probably buy at the Grand Floridian, BLT, or Copper Creek. In fact, that’s precisely our plan–to target one of those three resorts–the next time we add-0n.
Locking In Your Vacation Costs – One of the huge benefits of Disney Vacation Club is locking in prices for future vacations. In other words, you know up front what your vacations will cost for the next forty years or so (depending on the expiration date of your DVC contract).
This is something you can’t accurately predict without DVC, but one thing you can predict is that room prices directly from Disney will increase. In fact, since we purchased Disney Vacation Club–and even since we first published this article–rack rates at Walt Disney World have skyrocketed, far outpacing Disney Vacation Club maintenance fees.
Depending on how dramatically these prices increase, you could realize significant savings by purchasing Disney Vacation Club. When performing your calculations, make sure to account for this yearly increase in room rates you’d be paying if booking a room from Disney each year rather than using your DVC membership.
Non-Economic Considerations
Okay, I wrote up a lot of “stuff” above, and it’s funny to think that one sentence can wipe away all of that, but it very well might. That sentence is, “will owning Disney Vacation Club increase my quality of life?” If the answer to this question is yes, all of the economic considerations in the world may very well be meaningless. It may be a good idea to purchase DVC anyway.
If things, such as the “Welcome Home” doormats, Disney Files Magazine showing up in your mailbox, going to bed at night knowing your vacations are partially paid in advance for the next 40-some years, the “forced vacation” aspect, owning a piece of the Magic, or being able to share trips with friends and family in awesome and unique accommodations are a big deal to you or will make you happier, then you might want to disregard everything I’ve written above.
As with everything in life, “happiness” is that ace-up-the-sleeve trump card that can render everything else meaningless. Quite simply, you can’t put a price tag on happiness and peace of mind.
Try Before You Buy!
We highly recommend trying Disney Vacation Club before you buy to see if it’s right for you. You can either do this by booking a Deluxe Villa directly from Disney or by renting Disney Vacation Club points. We highly recommend renting Disney Vacation Club points, as you will save considerably over booking directly from Disney (typical savings over even a discounted Deluxe Villa price are around 50%) and you will get the true “Owner” experience.
Check out our Guide to Renting Disney Vacation Club Points if you want more information about the process! For renting points, there are a few options. The most popular and least expensive option is renting points from David’s Vacation Club Rentals, which specializes in DVC points rentals.
This is actually another place where you might want to stop and do the math. Not to see if renting is cheaper than booking through Disney (it unquestionably is), but to see if renting Disney Vacation Club points for all of your trips is a better option than buying Disney Vacation Club points. We know a lot of people who go this route year in and year out because it provides great savings without locking them into an actual contract. It is something to give serious thought, and you might be surprised just how attractive renting, rather than buying, can be!
I Want To Purchase DVC, What’s Next?
Home Resort – If saving money is the impetus behind the purchase, and you’ve crunched the numbers and think it can be done, this is a no-brainer—you buy into Saratoga Springs via resale.
If money is a concern, but you have a definite resort preference, you should buy where you want to stay. If you won’t be happy unless you are able to stay at the Beach Club Villas every trip, you should purchase points there. This is especially true with the popular and small resorts, such as the Beach Club Villas, which are difficult to book at the 7 months mark throughout much of the year.
At the bare minimum, your home resort should be somewhere you wouldn’t mind staying—because you just might have to stay there during busier seasons where other resorts are booked at the 7 month mark. If you are not sure which resort might be the one you want to call “home,” read our article ranking the Disney Vacation Club resorts.
Start Watching The Resale Listings – There are several sites that can assist you in purchasing Disney Vacation Club via the resale market. The most popular ones include ResalesDVC.com, DVC Resale Market, The Timeshare Store, and DVCByResale.com, and I’ve mostly heard positives about each.
Figure out what you want, whether your contract needs to be ‘loaded’ and start making reasonable offers on contracts. Another resource to use for searching Disney Vacation Club resale listings is DVCFinder.com. It’s basically a search engine of active listings on the main DVC resale sites.
Research, Research, Research! – This post is aimed at whether you should buy Disney Vacation Club. Once you’ve made the decision, you need to understand various aspects of ownership. With regard to those things, this post barely scratches the surface. You might have seen passing references to the “7 month window” above. Do you know what that is? Do you understand terms such as “banking,” “borrowing,” “ROFR,” or “use year,” just to name a few terms?
Disney Vacation Club practically has its own lexicon, and it’s important to fully understand the product before you buy. I spent two years reading and posting on the MouseOwners.com forums before we made our purchase. It’s worth hanging around there or the other sites mentioned above before making a purchase. The members there can impart far more wisdom on you than I ever can. Many of them are true experts.
Our Story
We are Disney Vacation Club owners, and the economics work well for us even though we don’t have a larger party or a demand for always staying in Deluxe Resorts. We save money with DVC, but more importantly, owning makes us happy, which is the paramount consideration. We reviewed these same factors when contemplating a DVC purchase. Ultimately, we decided it was right for us. After doing the math every which way, we determined that buying a Saratoga Springs Resort contract was what we needed.
Our circumstances were a bit different than the norm, though. For our honeymoon, we wanted to stay at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, or Disney’s Beach Club Resort. Unfortunately, for the busy summer season, we couldn’t get much of a discount on any of these rooms. We found that if we purchased a modest contract, we could bank & borrow enough points to use for our 10-day honeymoon. In comparison to paying out of pocket for a stay at the BoardWalk for our honeymoon, buying the DVC contract outright on the resale market provided a very short break-even number of years.
With the math working out well, it was an easy decision, as the hotel stay would have no residual value, whereas the DVC contract would be useful for years. Plus, as Annual Passholders, the DVC membership would save us over $250 per year total for our Disneyland and Walt Disney World APs, which comes close to covering our dues. On top of that, we have access to a variety of member perks including lounges, special events, and more. Those are all hardly make or break, but they’re nice bonuses that make us feel valued as members.
While our touring style of staying out late and getting up early didn’t really necessitate DVC accommodations when we joined, things have changed. We now have a daughter, and we’ve done several stays with her as a toddler. Already, we’re seeing that the amenities DVC offers are vital. And we’re also realizing that studios no longer cut it, so we’re thinking about adding on more points.
The math worked for us, and so too did DVC increase our happiness. There are few pieces of mail I look forward to more than the Disney Files magazine, and hearing “Welcome Home” from the Cast Member at the front desk of our resort gives me an ear-to-ear grin every time. It may not work for everyone, but it certainly works for us–and we’ve “grown into” the membership even more as we’ve gotten older and our party size has increased. Hopefully this guide helps you determine whether DVC is right for you!
Looking to plan a trip using your Disney Vacation Club points? Make sure to read our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide and Disneyland Trip Planning Guide. We also have an Aulani Trip Planning Guide for those of you using your points in Hawaii! For updates on Disney Parks including the latest news, discount information, and tips, sign up for our free newsletter!
Your Thoughts?
A lot of you reading this are probably either members who stumbled upon it while looking for Disney Vacation Club content, or prospective buyers weighing their purchase? What do you all think about Disney Vacation Club? Owners, are you happy with your purchase? Potential owners, how does this article impact your decision to buy? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Very informative article. We were just on a cruise and decided to buy into the DVC. I have been doing a little research now that we are home, and am questioning if we made the right decision. The maintenance fees seem high for the next 45 years, And I think we may have purchased too many points. We bought 330 points, but now that I am looking at the points charts, it seems like a lot. We are a family of 5 and take atleast 1 week vacation per year. I don’t think we would stay at Disney for more than a week per year. We also like to cruise with Disney, but it doesn’t seem like this is a good value for the points used. We have 7 days to cancel if we decide that we didnt make the right decision. Also, is it better to just rent points if you want to stay at Disney? And what are your thoughts on the buying points in the resale market? Any advise you could give would be great!
1) You don’t need 330 points. Way too many.
2) Using points for cruises is terrible value.
3) I would not buy directly from Disney. The resale market is the only way to go if you’re concerned with value.
4) I would cancel, take some time to do some research, and go from there.
Hope that helps! Best of luck with your decision!
Hi Tom,
I was wondering your reasoning for 330 points being too many? We are researching buying into DVC and love Hawaii and would like to go there some and in order to get a one bedroom with ocean during prime season I think it was at least 400. (I think pool view is even in the 300s) We’d also like to take advantage of 2 bedroom villas at Disney World/Land at times as well and those are pretty costly too.
We are considering resale as well, one of the main reasons is of course cost. We figure we can buy more points on the resale market and it would be comparable to 160 direct from Disney. But also, we’re disappointed with the lack of resort choices that you get when you buy direct.
We are also wondering how difficult it is to get into some of the more popular resorts (at the parks) if they are not your home resort? Is it next to impossible? We were considering buying into Aulani but are worried we’d never be able to get into the popular resorts at the parks if we did.
Would love to hear your reasoning to help us make our decision!
Thanks,
Jen
Would love to know more about any downside of buying used and about what I should pay
curious to know if you ever ended up buying resale or not…if you did what downfalls have you come across…if you didn’t, what stopped you? we are looking into the resale market now but trying to gather enough info to make a sound decision…
Great pictures! For us, it made sense to purchase. We have pretty much always gone deluxe. We also know that we will be going for some time to come, our youngest is 8.
Terrible experience with them. We have a DVC (disney vacation club) account with them and we banked points. Problem is they expire in one year.
Ok so I tried to book a cruise, home resort and other disney properties for my vacation week for the past 3 months and nothing is available.
Although there is availability at the resorts and on the cruise ship there is no more vacation transfers during the time period ( first week of november) available.
SO at the end of the day I lose about $1000 in points which will expire and they will not let me use them in 2013 EVEN if I book a vacation for 2013 now.
Spoke with supervisors but no help.
I’m pretty disgusted with the whole experience. Bottom line is be careful or you will lose if your vacation gets messed up.
Not the Disney I grew up with
“Although there is availability at the resorts and on the cruise ship there is no more vacation transfers during the time period ( first week of november) available.”
What the heck does “vacation transfers” mean? Been a member since 2004 and have never had a problem with borrowed and/or banked points.
I’ve never heard that term either. I’m betting he just means no room availability.
There are certainly a lot of potential traps for the unwary in Disney Vacation Club, but I think all of the rules are by necessity. It’s a complicated program, and as such, has a lot of rules to follow. No different than a FF program where the miles expire if you don’t pay close attention.
After owning for 10 years, I have only allowed 29 points to expire (mostly due to my laziness) and used and/or rented over 1500 points successfully. Not knowing all the ins and outs of the DVC contract and points is the member’s fault, not that of Disney.
Really great write up. We’ve been looking into getting a disney vacation club membership as we love some of the places they offer.
Great article and write up, Tom! I’ve been contemplating becoming a DVC member for years, and your blog made some very salient and interesting points. It was nice to read it all in one place. Unfortunately, I have a non-Disney fan wife, so it is difficult to convince her (don’t suppose you have advice for that!). Anyway, thanks for a great informative article.
Tom, an update to this … Free In-room internet is now available to all WDW guests. Also, Renting DVC points for $10 (from a group of trusted DVC owners I have built up) comes with some risks, but it is a great way to experience DVC at our pace without any of the obligation of a timeshare.
renting for $10/point that is.
Great article Tom, and your images are , of course, stunning. I just love that Bay Lake Tower image.
As you mentioned, renting DVC points is a perfect way to “try before you buy”. I thought I’d throw in a personal plug for David’s Vacation Club Rentals (dvcRequest.com). He’s been renting points since 2005 and has an exemplary reputation. I highly recommend using his service, whether you are a renter looking to stay at a DVC resort or an owner who wants to rent out some extra points.
We have owned since 2000. Have I enjoyed it, Yes. Would I buy now. No. 50 years is a long time to pay dues and they continue to rise. While we love Disney, we have gotten tired lately of going there year after year and even though with DVC you have your accommodation, just getting there and doing everything is very expensive.
I would recommend for anyone buying that you start small until you see how it fits. As to resale, with the recent limitations I am leery of going that route, as I feel more limitations will be forth coming.
All of the new limitations applied to new purchases (so they didn’t apply retroactively) and prevented people from using their points in a terrible way, anyway. Resale prices are often HALF what you pay direct from Disney, too.
Plus, Disney can only do so much. Most of the “rights” of DVC owners are contractual, and Disney can’t take those away without breaching the contract. I have little concern about new limitations being imposed for this very reason.
As for dues, yes, they do continue to increase. I figure that if we ever get sick of Disney, we’ll just sell our contract. I don’t anticipate that happening since we’re still young, but it’s not as if there’s no way out. I do agree with your “start small” sentiment, though.
Just found your blog and thought I would add my $.02.
We have been members since 2004, Saratoga is home base. Our two kids were post college age at the time and we all love Disney going back to the ’80s when we were in so. CA.
We made a conscious decision to buy 200 points based upon the desire of all of us (now 6 adults + one grandchild) to go to WDW every year. We go the last week in January when we can get three rooms Sun-Thurs nights for low points and the lines are short. We arrive mid day Sunday and don’t leave until late Friday, six solid days of fun.
There have been a few glitches, yes, but for the most part I don’t regret it for a minute. As you know they played around with the points charts but have them back to a livable level for those of us who go Sun-Thurs. Perhaps my ‘words of encouragement’ had something to do with their rethinking that whole idea.
We bot from Disney (didn’t know about resale in 2004). Their prices rose several times over the years. I follow the resale market by emails so I am aware of the current pricing. Right now I would say that Saratoga and OKW with the extension to 2057 offer the best price per years remaining. My original price is was $1.48 per point per year for the 50 years. In today’s resale market you get about that same price per point per remaining years for the two resorts I mentioned.
Is it for everyone? No. Should one consider any stay other than Disney with the points? I think not. I can’t see it working at all. But if you love Disney you can make something work for you. The kids will inherit some day and hopefully go on forever.
We are DVC – we bought Saratoga before it opened as well and it was a bit less for points as stated above. We LOVE DVC. We didn’t finance as much. Ours is paid off and we use it often. Sometimes we go 3 to 4 times a year. Honestly when they say “welcome home” we feel it. I love my condo, love the washer and dryer and I’m fine with not having someone in and out of my room daily. I’m a clean person so I can take care of my room – hang a towel to dry and/or make a bed. It just me, I make my bed in a hotel room too. (not everyone does) Our fold outs have always been very comfy. (not like most hotels). The kids LOVED the beds at Bay Lake Towers. My nieces thought they were fun. We also enjoy the discounts and we do take advantage of them!
We purchased Saratoga Springs before it opened. With incentives, our final price was 67 per point + annual member fees. When I do the math, I think we have great value.
For our most recent trip, I thought about adding a pre-stay night at Pop, the best summer weekend price I could find was $160/night. When I consider that and the current pricing of the moderates, I feel very comfortable with our purchase and we’ve had seven great years of vacations with stays at Saratoga Springs, Boardwalk Villas, Animal Kingdom Villas and Old Key West.
One Thanksgiving we took extended family and stayed in the Tree House Villas — the rack rate for that time was nearly $900 per night — something we would not have paid without being members!
Would I pay $150 a point for DVC? No, but there are some great re-sale options that make a DVC vacation viable for a Walt Disney World enthusiast.
People limited to summer travel have a great incentive for DVC because discounts are rarer. Since my wife is a teacher, we’re limited to travel times that have few if any discounts.
Excellent price all around. If you’re vacationing in a period that typically offers no discounts, DVC definitely looks a lot more appealing!
Great write up Tom, I started to follow your website ever since you were on BetaMouse talking about photography!
Another consideration with DVC is the size of family. My family size is 6 in all, and that forces us to rent 2 rooms a night in order for us to be comfortable- or try to find a suite in the WDW resort (not a cheap proposition). If you vacation to WDW regularly with a large family I could argue that DVC may present a cost value if done correctly. Great website!
Another excellent point! A family of 6 is definitely well-served by DVC!
Thanks so much for all the valuable information. we are currently looking into DVC ownership, even though my children are grown (19 and 22). DVC seems to make even more sense now…we always were able to get good discounts at the hotels and stayed mostly in deluxes but now at these ages even a deluxe is getting too small. It would be nice to have a 2 bedroom to stay in for the price of DVC. I know its considerably more points but to pay cash for those rooms would be far more expensive over the long haul. And having a kitchen is also such an added benefit and savings. Cant wait to own a piece of the mouse!!!!
great write up. Happiness is paramount, but there are also some other factors besides how one tours. I’ll use myself as an example. I am a commando tourer right now. Likewise I probably will slow down at some point. But, one must also factor in discounts- AAA, gov, etc. I am a military member and either book a discount through Disney or wait till SOG fills and then they overbook. When SOG overbooks- they place you at a WDW resort- at higher rate than SOG but less than WDW rates. So I think if you know you have a long term discount- teachers, AAA, gov- that should also play a role.
Does SOG still overbook? My dad is retired N’tl Guard, and I remember way back in the day being pushed to Dixie Landings for a couple of trips when we were bumped from SOG. I figured once they expanded, that wouldn’t be such a problem.
We also didn’t know about resale back when we bought. But, I tend to never buy used. I know it costs me more money, but I just don’t. I buy new and keep forever.
But even if I would consider buy resale now, I wouldn’t because the inability to book stays outside of an actual DVC resort would cramp our style. We go to Disneyland far more than WDW and I’ve been informed that the point-basis for the Disneyland hotels (Grand California, Disneyland Hotel, and Paradise Pier) are more economical than points used to stay at WDW resorts because of the fact there are only a few dozen DVC units at DL. So, we will stay for “free” at the Disneyland Hotel for 5 days and still have points left over.
We did hear the Time Value of Money argument before we purchased, but we don’t invest money in anything other than our company 401(k) and only at an amount that the company will 100% match. So, we aren’t losing money since the money wouldn’t be in anything making the kind of returns you talked about.
BUT…..Now that we are on the Dave Ramsey plan, we will be investing once we are out of debt and have our emergency fund filled. So, sometime in 2013
According to the calculations a CPA friend helped me derive to determine the value per point per year I broke even last year (not taking into account interest) but we are now paid off and don’t owe any money.
We are currently looking into buying more points, but we won’t EVER finance again
So funny that you mentioned taking that class. I read this and thought, “What would Dave think about this?” I would LOVE to become a DVC member, but until the house is paid off, I just can’t do it! And I certainly couldn’t finance it.
I understand about what would Dave Ramsey say. He would say, “no way.” But we did Dave’s steps and now are at a phase in our lives to travel. We love Disney and their accommodations. I think we will buy for the happiness value, especially now that we have grandkids. Cash of course to make Dave less unhappy with it.
Great article! While we’re huge Disney geeks, my family doesn’t make it Disney often enough to justify owning DVC. But its great to have someone demystify an incredibly complex process!
Thanks for all the great info!
This is perfect. Thanks for the great post!
I am a DVC member. I didn’t do much investigation before investing… I didn’t even know about the resale market at the time, so I purchased straight from the Mouse. And I financed as much as I could.
That being said, I am a ‘number cruncher’ and liked what I was seeing when I did the math. I am staying in a savana view room at Animal Kingdom Lodge for seven nights later this year. Taking everything into consideration (including total lifetime interest on the loan and maintenance costs,) I am paying $850.55 for that room. That’s $121.51 a night.
I’m waking up to giraffes and zebras and Boma and resort epicness for less than the cost of the cheapest moderate resort room.
That is why I DVC. And I’m a ‘worst case scenario’… imagine how cheap that room would cost if I had gone through resale… or paid cash? Mind-boggling.
This is why we did it as well. The rack rate cost we’ve had to pay occasionally was just incredible per night and we love the “nicer” accommodations and always will. GIven how fast that coast has been rising, we knew we’d be priced out of it entirely within the next 6-10 years or less. This way, we know we’ll have that vacation every other year at the least and be LOVING it in the villas. They are the best way to stay away from home. Don’t regret our decision an iota and are now going into our 5th year as owners.
Even if Disney gave you the contract for free with no financing costs the maintenance fees would probably be more than $800 for a week.
Not true.
Excellent write up Tom! You hit on every point that has really ever crossed my mind. I think the hardest part for me is just making the economics work, which becomes even harder when a CM discount is still in play. When the norm right now is values for around $40-$75 per night, it practically washes out with just the annual dues, no purchase price taken into consideration. I think it ultimately comes down to the sense of happiness that you had pointed out combined with being able to stay at deluxe resorts. Now if they get one at the Polynesian, it might become a pretty quick decision!
Thanks for sharing from the experience you went through!
Hey! They are building one at the Polynesian – it will be done in 2015!
Good Luck!
I bought in November of 2014 at the Villas at the Grand Floridian. I am giving an all out effort to make the numbers work for me and my family of four until the financing is paid off.
I must warn you all that are considering buying. I have 11 months to book my trip for December of 2015. I want a deluxe studio, standard view. I have tried for three days to book online to get my room at 8:00 am sharp and I am unable to find an available room at my home hotel. As of now DVC is unable to help. It’s not a lot of experience, but if I had known about this, I would not have bought at this beautiful hotel.
That being said, any buyers out there? I’ll listen to offers.
Well Stephen, I cannot say I’m surprised. I do completely feel your pain. Being a DVC member has had some good points, but it’s getting worse every time we try to plan a vacation.
We are Saratoga Springs members since 2012. With the low maintenance costs, and the lower price, we bought directly from Disney (and the guy was able to get us the prior year’s 160 points in addition to our initial 160 points, and we didn’t have to pay dues on the prior year points) it was a great deal.
We figured with 2 small kids, we only need a deluxe studio. It’ll be great.
Now, even at Saratoga, we have to switch resorts mid trip because they don’t have rooms “available.” What a crock! Liars. They do, they are just holding them for a cash sale to the general public.
I feel terrible for you and your family. The Grand Floridian was a pricey package to say the least. It’s not even fair. You can write to the BBB. They have cases on there where people like yourself seek help for your situation. Please do so. I hope it all works out for you.
I actually was at the Polynesian just to check it out a few months ago (Feb 2016). I wasn’t impressed. It’s a cement jungle. If you want the real thing with the real experience, save your points and money and book a flight to Ko’Olina for Aulani.
I concur with the other two gentlemen – this is a very thorough description of the Disney Vacation Club. I’m going to have to bookmark this page for future reference.
I’m not a huge fan of timeshares, but I do understand why some people like them. The way to buy them, if you’re stuck on getting one is to buy resale like Tom stated.
You really have to understand what you’re getting yourself into before you sign on the dotted line.
This article will help you make up your mind one way or another.
Good Luck!
I bought in November of 2014 at the Villas at the Grand Floridian. I am giving an all out effort to make the numbers work for me and my family of four until the financing is paid off.
Please read my warning in the following paragraph.
The buyer of DVC may book their trip 11 months in advance. I have been trying to book my trip for December of 2015. I want a deluxe studio, standard view. I have tried for three days to book online. I log in at 7:30 am to book at 8:00 am sharp. I have failed for three days and I am unable to find an available room at my home hotel. As of now DVC is unable to help.
It’s not a lot of experience, but if I had known about this issue with reserving a room, I would not have bought at this beautiful hotel.
That being said, any buyers out there? I’ll listen to offers.
wow great post tom you write about every small detail in Disney Vacation Club, you give us real prices for every thing i just put this value article in my favorite, and i will be thankful if you write about Romantic vacations and travel insurance.
thank you for this great post
One of the better write-ups. Enjoyed it!! I signed a contract and later cancelled it. I have a great spreadsheet that I created with many variables (including the value of money over time). No matter how I modified the variables, there was no savings to be had. Now, we’re a family of 5 (soon to be 6!). The problem with DVC is the fold-out couch. It’s hard to pay that much money and only get one actual bed in the one bedroom. You have to jump to a two bedroom for it to make sense for my family. Just too much money. Resale is the way to go, if you don’t mine losing out on the ability to exchange points in the Disney Collection, Adventurer’s Collection, etc.
Hi Steve, would you be willing to share your spreadsheet analysis for DVC resale? Thanks in advance!
J°o°celyn
I paid cash for 450 points at Saratoga Springs in 2005 at $80.00 per point from Disney. The current resale value is close to what I paid. So, if I decided to sell I would recoup most of my initial investment. This is a very important factor to consider when building a spread sheet and crunching the numbers. When we book our stay I go online and check for the best rate to see what it would cost if I were paying out of pocket. I subtract my annual maintenance dues from the rate I would pay as a non DVC member to determine the savings. Example: Saratoga Springs Treehouse Villa during peak season would cost approximately $6000.00 for a week stay. My maintenance dues are $2300.00 for the year. The week stay would use up most of my 450 points. That is approximately a $3700.00 savings. After 8 years that is approximately $29,600.00 in savings (8 x $3700.00). If I sold my DVC points for $65.00 per point I would recoup $29000.00 of my intial $36000.00 investment. DVC is not an investment but it still works out to be good deal when factoring in resale value. Also, DVC members pay no additional charges for additional adults staying in the room or sales tax.