We are members. They call it Disney’s “Best Kept Secret”. What is it? Is it for you?
In short, Disney Vacation Club is a timeshare. Yes, a timeshare. If you’ve ever been to Disneyland or Disney World, you probably have seen Disney Vacation Club booths. It’s been marketed as a “vacation club”, but underneath the surface, it is still a timeshare. How they grab your attention is proclaiming that you will be able to save significant amount of money. So what is it exactly? How does this timeshare work? Does it save you money? In this blog series, we will dive into how it works and how much it costs. Hopefully shedding light on that most important question: Should you buy and join Disney Vacation Club?
A Point Based Timeshare That Expires
Disney Vacation Club, in short – DVC, is different from a traditional timeshare. In a traditional timeshare, you are pick a set week(s) at a designed resort, and you’re locked in. If you don’t go or can’t go, you lose it. With a DVC membership, you get a set amount of points per year. In exchange of points, you can get different kinds of accommodations which we will dive deeper in the next section.
What is not different, however, is the dues. Same as a timeshare, you’ll still need to pay annual dues. These annual dues goes to the management association – kind of a like an HOA – which pays to maintenance and property tax associated with the property ownership. Again, we can’t stress enough; these are annual dues, if it’s not paid, points can’t be used. Annual dues can also go up (although capped) per year. So when considering if DVC is for you, annual dues is a very important factor.
Though perhaps the most major difference between DVC and other timeshare is that your ownership is not perpetual. Each ownership contract comes with an expiration date, which is usually 50 years from when the resort originally opened. We were told that after the contract expires, we no longer get points and property returns to Disney. This is can be both good and bad. The good is that annual dues is not perpetual. The bad is that when the contract expires, you don’t get any more points to use for vacations. With that said, we really don’t know what will happen when the contract expires as there hasn’t been any DVC contract that has expired. The firsts of them are set to expire 2042, so time will tell exactly what will happen.
Vacation at Various Disney Resorts
Disney Vacation Club points can be used to book any DVC properties at any time. All Disney Vacation Club properties are located in the US. Most of them (10+) are located at Disney World in Orlando, FL. There are also 2 resorts at Disneyland and 1 located in Ko Olina on O’ahu Island of Hawaii. As we can see, DVC is great if you really like to vacation at Disney World. Each resort comes with different types of accommodations. Studio, 1 bedroom suite are the most abundant, followed by 2 bedrooms suite, 3 bedrooms suite. For a splurge, there are also a number of cabins and bungalows on Seven Seas Lagoon near Magic Kingdom.
One simple way of think of these DVC points is that they are another kind of currency. Instead of booking with money, rooms can be booked with these points. Each different type of accommodations costs different amount of points. What this translates into is that with the same amount of points, we can choose between more vacations with a smaller room on our own or shorter vacation with a bigger room hosting our friends/family.
Vacation outside of Disney
Another way of using Disney Vacation Club points is through an exchange. While we don’t recommend using DVC points this way, it is possible through “The Word Collection.” Through this method, we can book non-Disney owned resorts.
How much does Disney Vacation Club cost?
Joining Disney Vacation Club does not have a total set price; cost depends on how many points you want to buy. Cost per dollar multiplied by the number of points gives the base cost of the membership. However, since DVC is a timeshare, which involves owning actual property, various fees will be tacked on when you buy. As of September 2024, each point costs $230. So for example, a membership of 100 points will cost $23,000 + fees (about $600 dollars.) Disney occasionally raises prices of cost per point, so a 100 point membership next year could cost more than the same membership this year. In addition, every year, we pay an annual dues.
Worth every cent, but it depends on your preferred vacation style
For us, joining Disney Vacation Club is worth every cent. We love the various accommodations that Disney Vacation Club offers, and we can host our friends and family to our Disney Vacations. That and in combination of the perks of being a member was worth every penny we spent so far. We’ve been members since 2018 (relatively new), and we are starting to see the savings Disney advertised. In short…
Disney Vacation Club may be for you if…
- You enjoy going to Disney (mainly: Disneyland, Disney World, Aulani) every year, or even multiple times a year
- When you visit Disney, you enjoy premium rooms.
- This point is very important: You can plan your Disney visit well in advance, like 9 months in advance.
Disney Vacation Club may NOT be for you if…
- You don’t mind what kind of rooms you’ll be staying at for your Disney Vacations
- You don’t visit Disney every year or don’t foresee going to Disney for year after year.
- You want flexibility in travel or you’re an impulsive traveler that books your vacations on a short notice.
In upcoming posts, we will dive deeper into each different aspects we mentioned in this blog post along with our various experience with Disney Vacation Club. Be sure to check back!