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!
Me gusta tu blog, acabo de descubrilo y a partir de ahora soy Fun. Saludos
My wife and I purchased our first contract back in 2000. Up until that point, we’d been staying at Deluxe Resorts for periods of 10 to 14 days per year. Our last trip to the Poly in 2000 ran us $389 per night (before tax), so when we did the math, DVC was a no-brainer. We purchased our original 300 points at VWL for just $62 per point. When we were offered an add-on at Beach Club for the same price a year or so after, we purchased another 100 points there. Both contracts had been direct through DVC….hadn’t heard about resale at that point. Two years ago, my 3 shares of Disney stock (which I’d purchased as a teenager in ’76 for roughly $45 total) was worth more than a 200 point resale at VWL. As my daughters are now in their early 20’s, I found that “investing” these stock $’s (which I was probably never going to sell) would actually make more sense put into DVC, since within a few years, they’ll probably both have families, and we’ll all be able to vacation together in VERY comfortable surroundings. So with 500 at VWL and 100 at BCV, we’ve got a lot of points to play with. The only trouble we’ve ever had was with the 100 points at BCV, as it really didn’t “work” when booking 11 months out, as we prefer a 2 bedroom unit when we travel together. Luckily, I’ve been doing a couple 5 or 6 day solo trips each year, and I’d use those 100 points for studio stays at Kidani or Saratoga, or whatever was available, but they are still the “odd points out”. Call me crazy, but for the past year, I’ve been looking for those perfect BCV points (Dec use year, and more than 150 points). BCV resales go fast, as they don’t seem to come up very often, and when they do, they’re not in my use year. Well, I finally got my wish (actually 252 points), and for just a couple dollars more per point than those original BCV points in 2001. In my opinion, resale is the only way to purchase now, considering that the small restriction is really no restriction at all when you plan on using them at DVC resorts. Obviously, we’re huge fans of DVC as we will always stay on property and always want the Deluxe Resort amenities. Since every point we’ve purchased has been less than $70, no matter how we look at it, we’ve saved dollars, but once we were in, it wasn’t so much about saving $’s, but about getting the most out of those $’s. We’re definitely getting Deluxe accommodations as a very, reasonable price. Is $150 per point worth it? Not to me, but for the price I’ve paid, DVC has more than met our expectations. Of course, having both Wilderness Lodge and Beach Club as our homes couldn’t be better, but then there’s nothing like a boat ride home from the Magic Kingdom, or a stroll around The Boardwalk to finish a day at Walt Disney World.
Thank you Tom for the words of wisdom! My wife and I are seriously considering buying into DVC but wondered this… We would really like to get into the Grand Floridian’s new estate that opens in October, the price point is $150 and we can buy in as little as 100 points.
I was considering purchasing the 100 points to give us access to as our home resort than buying additional points for Saratoga Springs in resale to make up minimal points needed for our vacations. Something like 50 to 75 points would work.
What are your views on this? Maybe renting would be a better way of going about it for additional points?
I know we wouldn’t be able to make the initial booking of our vacations with the additional points we buy resale but if we book 3 out of the 5 nights we want to stay @ our home resort 11 months in advance, what are the chances that we wouldn’t be able to get the additional 2 nights @ 7 months out? This has been bugging me for quite some time and one of the main reasons I haven’t pulled the trigger… PLEASE HELP!
Thank you
Personally, I don’t see the advantage in that. It requires you to bank on two nights being available at 7 months out and being able to predict which two nights will be available. How are you going to know which 2 nights are most likely to be available later when you book the other 3 nights at the 11 month window? You’re not. If those two nights ARE available at 7 months, it’s almost as likely that all 5 nights will be available.
My advice would be doing it all directly from Disney or doing it all via the resale market. Since I do not recommend buying anything from Disney, I won’t recommend buying the Grand Floridian points from Disney, either. You’re basically paying DOUBLE the price you would for a resale property. To me, that makes very little sense, but I suppose if you really (and I mean REALLY!!!) love the Grand Floridian, it might make sense.
There are times of year when every DVC resort is available at the 7 month window. Personally, I’d bank on that rather than paying the excessive direct-from-Disney cost. But that’s just me.
Tom, any special considerations re: points to purchase and value of DVC, for a family of 10 that required 2-bedroom suite?
We bought an extended OKW contract in 2010 for 300 points. we had saved up enough money for a 7 night Disney Cruise in June along with 5 days at Animal Kingdom for our family of 4 – due to health reasons we had to cancel the trip – except now we had saved up $15,000 that was meant for a one time vacation which we then applied to DVC. Sure if cost a few thousand over the $15,000 but the way we see if that was our cost to “get into DVC” and now our cost is our yearly dues – quite a bargain from our point of view!
we bought resale through Kinn Tuta’s site and they were wonderful and spent lots of time explaining and answering all of our questions many of which were the same as listed by others
As noted in the article (not by his name), that’s who we used when buying our contract, too. Agree on the GREAT service!
Yep, it works out well when you have money to allocate for an expensive vacation and can put that into buying DVC instead. Certainly helps the purchase make more sense.
Just wanted to say thank you so much for posting this. My wife and I were considering DVC but after reading this will move more cautiously. I was mostly thinking of researching the partner properties and your email addressed a lot of what I was wondering. Thank you so much for taking the time to write and post this.
I am new to the idea of DVC ownership and don’t understand the details yet but I have a question…
How bad of an idea is it to buy a small amount of points (like 150) with the thought being that our family will take a Disney vacation once every 2-3 years? Therefore, allowing your points to add up before you use them.
That’s not at all a bad idea. In fact, I think that’s a great idea, as it prevents you from being “stuck” with too many or “forced” to take Disney trips when you otherwise wouldn’t. I’d probably do less than 150 points if that’s your plan, but that depends on what type of room you’ll want.
glad to hear this…we talked our sales person down to 85pts as we plan on doing disney every other year. I have a few days left to cancel our contract….so I am trying to educate myself on this..thanks for the info.
Can anyone tell me how comfortable the queen sleeper sofa is for tall teenagers? I have two teenage daughters who are taller than me and hate sharing a bed. Spending so much money for them to share a pull out couch or a sleeper chair is counter-intuitive. It looks like to make this work for us, I would have to get 300 or more points so I can get two-bedroom villas and insure they have a comfortable bed. Comments?
Hi Patricia.
I actually just returned from a trip to Aulani with my parents one week ago. We stayed in DVC studio accomodations for 7 nights there. My bed there was the queen sleeper sofa.
For me, it was one of the more comfortable sleeper sofas I’ve ever seen. It has a decent amount of give, but is firm enough that you don’t feel the frame.
I’m about 5’5″ and 135 lbs, so I fit head to toe on the sleeper with a little room to spare. (I really wouldn’t recommend it for anyone much taller, as their feet would hang off.) That being said, it isn’t very wide, so sleeping two people on it would be tight. While it is listed as a queen, I would say it’s more akin to a good size full bed.
Whether your two teens can share the sofa bed would really depend on their size and whether they would be upset with sleeping so closely together.
We just did the DVC tour and I am wondering if what we are being offered is a good deal. We are getting 200 points at the Animal Kingdom for the price of 100 points. I have read most of the comments and have read your guide, but the initial purchase is still scary. We do like to try and vacation at Disney every other year and my husband does the prefer the plush resorts over the value resorts. You also have the cost of the park hoppers and food.
What is a girl to do???
What’s the price per point? Compare the per point price to the current per point prices on the resale market.
the 100 points are at 145.00. But I also am wondering will we be charged the annual fee on the 200 or 100. I have a feeling it’s on 200 so the extra 100 isn’t exactly free.
Is this just for a year, or for the duration of your ownership? I haven’t heard of any promotions that essentially give you 50% off the points.
after further review of my packet that just came, the free points are from 2012 so I will only have to pay the fee on 100 every year.
So how long would I have to carry over the 100 points from 2012. I guess I am still confused on the carryover part of the point system.
Hi Debbie,
We are considering the DVC timeshare as well. I’m shocked to read you were offered 200 points for the price of 100. Were you at a Disney property? We weren’t offered anything that good. I think we are paying $150 a point for Grand Floridian – we were not told about the Animal Kingdom offer. Can you please elaborate.
Carletta
They very likely aren’t getting 200 for the price of 100. They are simply getting what dvc must give them. For a use year month later than the current purchase month, it is still the 2012 use year. I.e. a September use year runs from September 1 to August 31. So this is still the 2012 use year for a September use year, and thus dvc must give the purchaser 2012 points. I dont know what use year the OP bought, but it was very likely for a month after the purchase month. If you bought an April use year in June (if dvc would let you), they would not have to give you 2012 points. 2012 use year points must be used by the end of their use year or banked into the next year by four months prior to the end of the use year. However when buying direct and already past the banking deadline, dvc will normally let you bank right at purchase time.
However maintenance fees are paid on a calendar year basis. So dvc may charge the buyer maintenance fees for the portion of the calendar year remaining.
So to summarize, a purchase in June of a september use year contract will give the buyer the full complement of 2012 points but likely require six months worth of maintenance fees. This is all relative to buying direct. (And by the way, you can buy any resort direct from dvc. You have to go on a wait list for resorts not currently being sold, though, and wait until dvc acquires some points back for the old resort.).
Having said all that, I agree with Tom that resale is the only way to go for dvc unless you absolutely must own at a resort that is not yet available via resale (GFV) or are adding on a small number of points that are difficult to find via resale. AKV is available via resale for half the price Disney is selling it for direct.
My grandparents bought the Disney Vacation Club membership in 1992. I assume they probably got a better deal upfront because the program was so new. They used to be frequent visitors at WDW because we have family down there, and they would (and still) share their points with the rest of the family. Between our DVC member benefits and having family members who are Disney employee’s and AP holders we’ve been able to save quite a bit of money. The real downside to the DVC package is of course that it does work like a time share and it’s very hard to understand. My dad and I went to one of the sales things they give out at Saratoga Springs to get the free ice cream at the end – and after they told us all about how the point system works we STILL came out confused.
I think DVC is a good deal if you have a lot of people in your family who like to go to Disney frequently, that way you can share points and never feel like your having your points go to waste.
If they bought in back in 1992, they got a GREAT deal. No doubt about that. Prices had close to tripled since then.
My husband, two children and I are scheduled to go on our 2nd Disney cruise in October 2014. The cost for the four of us will me about $3,600 (October, 7 day Carribean). If we add the cost of this cruise with our prior cruise, we will have spent almost $7,000 on Disney cruises. However, after experiencing a Disney cruise, we can’t imagine going back to another cruise line.
So here’s my question…we assume this won’t be our last Disney cruise. We’re thinking since we’re spending the money anyway, why not buy a timeshare interest from DVC and every few years use our points for cruises. I know they’re not the best use of points, by our thoughts are, if we’re going to be spending the money on the cruises anyway, why not do it this way and have the residual benefit of added points for stays on the off years when we do not cruise…any thoughts?
This could work, but you’d be better off renting out your points to others in years you’re going to cruise and then paying for the cruise out of pocket. DCL is *that bad* of a use of points.
To illustrate the point, you’d be WORSE off buying a DVC membership and only using it for DCL than you would if you paid rack rate on all of your cruises.
Great post! I know its been there for awhile but just found it. We have been proud DVC owners since 2005, would do it again in a heartbeat! Own at SSR (never stayed there once…)and VGC in California which is very special. We have had only one issue booking at 7 months, using our Saratoga points but staying somewhere more fun for the kids…(AKV,BLT, etc.), and that was trying to book Alumni this past winter for this June. Hoping it was just the newness of the resort and we’ll get another opportunity next summer. You have brought up so many good points concerning ownership and its cost effectiveness, but we like others who have posted feel its worth every cent for the excitement, happiness and quality it brings for every vacation. Being able to return to your room for naps, prepare meals in your full kitchen, shower all three of our kids at once in the evenings (3 full bathrooms in the 2 bedroom unit…!) not to mention bringing friends and other family members with us on vacation and putting them up in first class accommodations is priceless!! Thanks again for the info and allowing us to share!
OK, after my initial post (above) I went back and read all the previous comments and did a little more research on buying resale on other sites (and still researching)…so it looks like there was some concern back in Dec 2012 that Disney sales reps were starting to tell people that DVC resales were going to start being restricted to their “home base” only…so buying DVC resale points in Vero Beach wouldn’t help you get a room at SSR…many posts/pages and months later, nothing ever materialized but there was still an overall concern that it still would be possible that it could happen, so people were pretty much recommending to buy were you would like to stay…
A few more questions that I have that hopefully someone can chime in on, is it just me or is the general consensus here that given the choice, most people would rather not stay at SSR or OKW? Why is that?
Also, how hard is it to get a room in the 7 month time period vs the 11 month (if you are booking where you own)?
Has anyone heard of or had any experience/trouble booking a room in less than 7 months advance?
Lastly, if there is a forum that I should be going to for these questions, please point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance.
MouseOwners is a great forum to try, but you’re basically going to get the same answer there as the one here on the 7 month window–it depends. If you’re trying to get an Epcot resort for Food & Wine, you’re not going to have much luck. Same goes with popular resorts at Christmas.
As for people not liking SSR and OKW, SSR is unpopular because of size, location, and theme. It’s rather bland. OKW is a mixed bag. Some people love it (I do) for the large rooms, lush vegetation, and relaxed themes. Others (like my wife) think it’s “just like the rest of Florida,” and too spread out.
As for rumors from DVC reps…well, they have a vested interest in selling units. I highly doubt anything will ever change with booking at non-home resorts. There would be an incredible backlash. The only thing they’ve ever restricted have been pretty pointless perks (and terrible uses of points) for sales after a certain point.
Thanks for the followup, my continued research has turned up the same conclusions about SSR and OKW…location
and as far as resale restrictions the only stuff I have found so far was not being able to trade for a cruise or to trade for non-DVC stays, which from my understanding was/is a bad use of points anyway, so it wouldn’t concern us…
so the resale market looks like the way we will be going…now where to call “home” is the next question…
We stayed 2 weeks in Saratoga Springs in April 2013 — with several sets of our grandchildren and children each week. Since this was our very first time at WDW, we didn’t know that SSR was “not as desirable”. We haven’t bought a DVC….yet — so we paid rack rate, and it was a lot. But we thought SSR was just fine! we had a 2-bedroom unit, and a 1-bedroom unit, both very nice although somewhat dated. The pools were great! Restaurants were so-so.
Just came back from our 3rd trip to WDW in 3 years (our 6th overall in the last 10 years) it was our first time staying onsite and think this is now the only way to stay going forward …so we are now considering DVC…we have 2 younger children and can definitely see us coming back for many more years…we are looking into the resale market but have one question, if points are trade-able to use at different resorts, what does it matter where your home base is? I am a little confused.
We are considering going through the resale market. We live in Orlando and like to spend about 2-3 long weekends a year at the resorts. We like to stay in nicer resorts when we go. We are also annual pass holders. We don’t “need” to stay at any one particular place, but we would probably not “want” to stay at Saratoga or OKW, at least not often. We also like the idea of going to Hawaii at some point in the next 3-5 years. I am wondering how difficult it is to get a room at the Hawaii resort and others without the 11 month window. I hear and see both, “never had a problem” and “it is very difficult” from my investigations.
I also wonder about the trade off between higher/lower up front costs and the yearly maint. fees. For example, it seems as if Bay Lakes has fairly low annual fees. that would eventually even out the overall costs over the years vs. a resort like Animal Kingdom. Am I correct?
Thanks for the help and info.
Just starting my research on DVC so excuse my ignorance but was wondering what is wrong with staying at Saratoga or OKW?
We just want to be able to get the parks easier with the kids. Want a place with easy access.
ahh, I see, I haven’t looked at a map yet to see where all the properties are located in relation to the parks…Thanks!
So it seems to me that buying at Vero Beach via resale would be more economical than buying Saratoga Springs. I’m considering buying in the next year and those are always the cheapest points and considering the author’s point about “never being stuck with Saratoga” when he books, I’m not worried about not being able to make a reservation 6 months out and getting something good, or at least Saratoga Springs. Am I missing something about buying Vero Beach points? Does booking at the parks work differently with Vero Beach points than if I was an “on property” owner?
You’re missing maintenance fees. Vero Beach maintenance fees are $2+ more per point than Saratoga Springs. You’re also overlooking expiration. Vero Beach expires in 2042, whereas Saratoga Springs expires in 2054.
Vero Beach is appealing because of front end low prices, but you’re worse off buying there in the long run.
Ah…the big picture. Thanks for the answer I’ve been pondering this for some time and I just couldn’t figure out what the detail was.
I am looking into buying property right now. I’ve looked at going through Disney directly, but have found much better deals through resale. What benefits would I be losing if I went resale rather than going through Disney directly? I did bring up resale when speaking with Disney’s rep, but the answers were obviously vague.
been wondering the same thing, did you get any answers to your question?
I pulled this quote from http://disneydvcresale.com/Why-Purchase-Disney-DVC but couldn’t find any more details
“However, you also need to know that buying a Disney DVC through a reseller will disqualify you from joining the incentive program of Disney. Also, there are certain privileges that you and your family may not be eligible to receive if you opt to buy DVC through Disney time share resale.”
Have enjoyed reading all the posts. I am thinking about the DVC thing but I don’t know if it is too late in the game as I am 62 and have 2 daughters- 30 and 33yrs. One is married with two children (6 & 9) and we have stayed at the deluxe resorts for 2 trips in the past 3 years. I would be interested in a two bedroom. Love the boardwalk location as home because I have stayed there but haven’t been to OKW or SAratoga Springs area. I could see us visiting DW every year or two and as the boys get older having to go during some higher peak times . Any suggestions would be helpful 🙂
The most important point of this article is how DVC improves your quality of life. We were guilty of getting caught up in life and often postponing or skipping vacations. We purchased a DVC resale in 2011 with the guidance of our DVC owner son. Our first vacation with him, his wife, our granddaughter,our daughter and her husband was a dream come true. We feel that after our upcoming 2013 vacation with our other son and his family, the purchase will almost have paid for itself economically, and more than paid for itself in quality of life. Disney is a carefree vacation from the time you check your bags at the airport till you pick them up again on return. It gives us opportunity to spend quality time with our children and grandchildren. No regrets at all.
Great story, thank you for mentioning the rental option. We are annual renters, we usually rent a studio for an average of $139-$189 a night. We love it. We go once a year, but really don’t want the big commitment of buying. Next year we’ll be in a 2 bedroom from a friend for $240 a night. Well under rack rates.
Those are really great prices for Deluxe (Villa) rooms!
I too am still kind of confused on the restrictions on resale. We are very close to signing with DVC directly, but obviously the price difference for resale is worth considering. What exactly is the restriction – something to do with non-DVC Disney hotels? What does that mean. This article and all of the comments have been extremely helpful and this is by far the best article on this subject, but hoping for a little more clarification. We definitely will visit Disney, but likely not every year as we too would like to travel to other places (internationally mostly as our kids are getting of a better age for long plane flights). Can we still do that? Is the experience better if we buy direct? Am I correct that you cannot use DVC points from resale purchase for cruises? Can I use them for their new Hawaii resort? So many questions that obviously by DVC sales person didn’t want to answer about resale properties. Thanks in advance for answering all of my questions – I know there are a lot!
If you go to one of the resale sites like the timeshare store they will tell you the differences.I too have talked with Disney and decided to go with resale. The savings vs. what you’re losing might make the difference.