This post will be a little different. In this blog we have covered Grandpa’s strategy for really being in VACA mode for a Disney vacation. The strategies outlined give Grandma and I the relaxing getaway that vacation is meant to be, instead of the anxiety inducing military campaign that is all too common with park visits. This post however, will cover the keystone of what allows us to just Crush It and go with the flow. That is being a DVC member. Like all my posts, I am not sponsored by anyone or anything so what you will see here is my opinions and not a commercial.

DVC: What is it?

DVC stands for Disney Vacation Club. This is a time-share venture that is owned and run by Disney. In a nutshell you are purchasing a deeded real estate interest into one of the 17 different DVC Resorts. The resort purchased is considered your home resort. Each year points are deposited into the Membership on the Use Year date (there are 8 different Use Years). At your home resort you can book 11 months in advance and you can book seven months in advance at other DVC Resorts. These points then can be used to reserve rooms at a DVC resort. This is much different than other time-shares where you buy a fixed week at a particular resort. DVC points can be used at any DVC property, traded for any Non DVC Disney resort, Disney Cruises, or swapped for time at an international time-share system. Points can be banked into the next year or borrowed from the next year, giving you the possibility of 3 years worth of points. That’s a lot of flexibility!

DVC got its start in 1991 with a single WDW property, Conch Flats, in 1991. This later was renamed Old Key West. To differentiate itself from other time-share ventures, Disney used a new business model, the point system, and called it Disney Vacation Club. A pretty wise move as in the early 90’s time-shares were getting a really well deserved bad reputation.

Additional history can be found on this site at dvcinfo. It is a really good read.

Current DVC Properties:

There are 17 DVC resorts. Not all of the resorts are at Walt Disney World. In fact 3 are not even next to theme parks! Some properties like Old Key West are strictly DVC, where others like Board Walk Villas, share space with a Disney hotel resort.

Between 1991 and 2017, 14 resorts were built. These are called the original 14:

Acronym	Resort	Location	Date Opened	Number of Units
OKW	Old Key West	WDW	Dec. 1991	761
VB	Vero Beach	Vero Beach, FL	Oct 1995	211
HHI	Hilton Head Island	Hilton Head SC	Mar 1996	123
BWV	BoardWalk Villas	WDW	July 1996	530
BRV	Boulder Ridge Villas	WDW	Nov, 2000	181
BCV	Beach Club Villas	WDW	July 2002	282
SSR	Saratoga Springs Resort	WDW	May 2004	888
AKV	Animal Kingdom Villas	WDW	July 2007	708
BLT	Bay Lake Tower	WDW	August 2009	300
VGC	Villas at Grand Floridian	WDW	September 2009 And October 2013	147
Aulani	Aulani	Oahu, Hawaii	August 2011	460
PVB	Polynesian Villas and Bungalows	WDW	April 2015	740
CCV	Copper Creek Villas and Cabins	WDW	July 2017	185
GCH	The Villas at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel	Disneyland, CA	September 2009	71

Since then the following resorts have been added:

Acronym	Resort	Location	Date Opened	Number of Units
DRR/RVA	Riviera	WDW	December, 2019	300
VDH	Villas at Disneyland Hotel	Disneyland, CA	September, 2023	340
FWC	Fort Wilderness Cabins	WDW	July 2024	300

So there are a lot of different resorts to choose from.

To DVC or Not to DVC

Granted DVC is not for everyone. As with any major purchase there are pros and cons. Once you have decided to immerse yourself in DVC, how do you buy in; from Disney or from a Reseller? How many points? What resort? What use year? It can be really daunting. When Grandma and I first bought in, there were only 2 resorts, Old Key West and Boardwalk Villas. We were staying at the hotel side of the Boardwalk Villas at the time and absolutely loved it. So the choice was easy. Here is the process we went through and still go through when we look to “add on” to our holdings.

• Are you going to visit every year or at least every other year? If yes go on.
• How long of a stay are you going to have 1 week? 2 weeks? This helps decide number of points
• Have you weighed the Pros and Cons. (see below)
• Can you afford the purchase price and the dues. Both are dependent on how many points you get.
• What parks/attractions are you most drawn to? For us its Epcot and Magic Kingdom
• Do you want quite time or love the buzz of activity?

Pros of Ownership.

A major pro to ownership is the feeling of coming Home. The DVC Motto Welcome Home is very heart of membership. With each stay, you feel like you are at home instead of in yet another hotel room. The staff is very helpful and friendly. The rooms are inviting. You get a real sense of belonging. You are Home! Being home makes down time from the parks a major perk. Where else can you literally walk out your door and into a Disney fantasy. In fact with DVC the fantasy never ends.

Saving Money

So DVC can save you money. However, this can be misleading. We always stay in a 1 bedroom villa. If we were just staying at a resort and not DVC, we would not stay in a suite, but opt for a standard room, which is called a Deluxe Studio(or just Studio) in DVC lingo.

For example our latest stay at Bay Lake Towers was the first 2 weeks in December in a 2 bedroom villa with the Grandkidlets. The cash price, or rack rate is $1953 a night the first week and $2379 a night the second week. (note I am just taking the Sun – Wed price here for comparison to keep it simple). That stay would have cost over $30,000! Now as I said, we would not stay in a 2 bedroom if going cash, so the comparison is a little unfair, but you get the drift.

The one bedroom villas have full kitchens and laundry. It is great to make breakfast or a quick lunch in the room. Laundry comes in real handy as we do not have to pack so many clothes allowing us to travel pretty light.

Location

DVC resorts occupy some of the best locations in all of Disney World and Disneyland. All resorts are on property and have easy transportation to the theme parks. At the Boardwalk and Beach club you can walk to Hollywood Studios and Epcot. Riviera is on the Skyliner so it is very easy to get to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Bay Lake Towers is a very easy walk to Magic Kingdom and it is on the monorail so Epcot is also very easy. Grandma and I love Epcot so Boardwalk was a natural. We also want to take the grandkids to Magic kingdom so Bay Lake Tower was a choice for our first add on. The vibe of being on property and immersed in the Disney bubble cannot be overstated.

Theming

All Disney resorts have great theming that suspends the reality of day to day life. DVC Resorts are no exception. Staying at a DVC resort extends the magic. Many resorts have excellent views of the firework shows and theme parks. Animal Kingdom villas have views of the animals. There is a theme for almost every Disney taste. Many of the recent refurbishments have toned down the theming a bit, much to my dismay, but still much better than Marriot!

Perks

DVC Members get nice perks. These range from discounts on dining and merchandise to special events. In WDW a huge perk is the Annual Pass that is open only to DVC and Florida residents, the Sorcerer Pass for only $999.00. That is a savings of $450 over the standard Annual Pass. That makes it a great deal. Note there is no similar pass available for Disneyland.

DVC also has special events called Moonlight Magic that is a members only night at a park. You only need to be DVC member for these events and it does not cost anything extra.

Cons

So I would be lying if I said that it was all pros. Of course DVC has its Downside. The main one is COST. That’s right cost is a pro and a con. So lets get into it.

Cost

Owning a DVC membership is expensive. Our first contract back in 1996 was around $16,250 at $65 a point. That was a lot of money for us back then. Our latest contract was much north of that at $300 a point for the Villas at the Disneyland Hotel. That is a lot of money for us now! But the cost per point is not the full story. Dues are a recurring cost for each contract. Condo Association dues cover things like maintenance, staff, updates, utilities, etc. Each resort has a different dues rate and accessed on a per point basis. The following is a chart of the DVC Dues.

Resort	2024 Dues	2023 Dues	% Increase
Animal Kingdom Villas	$9.0820	$8.8099	3.09%
Aulani	$9.7620	$9.1424	6.78%
Aulani (Subsidized)	$7.3385	$6.8727	6.78%
Bay Lake Tower	$7.5902	$7.4255	2.22%
Beach Club Villas	$8.6256	$8.1655	5.63%
BoardWalk Villas	$8.6711	$8.5309	1.64%
Boulder Ridge	$8.6790	$8.5110	1.97%
Copper Creek Villas	$8.0938	$7.9203	2.19%
Disneyland Hotel	$9.5307	$9.0600	5.20%
Grand Californian	$8.5544	$8.0409	6.39%
Grand Floridian	$7.5740	$7.3332	3.28%
Hilton Head	$11.3140	$10.7305	5.44%
Old Key West	$9.8666	$9.3570	5.45%
Polynesian	$8.2301	$7.9475	3.56%
Riviera	$8.8508	$8.5049	4.07%
Saratoga Springs	$8.1388	$7.8622	3.52%
Vero Beach (Before 1/1/96)	$10.8906	$10.1298	7.51%
Vero Beach (On or After 1/1/96)	$13.8628	$12.8503	7.88%

Dues are a yearly cost that must be taken into account when considering a DVC membership. These dues increase every year. Be sure to look into how much dues will cost when choosing a DVC resort, otherwise it could be a very nasty annual surprise!

Wrapping Up

So owning a DVC membership can be very cost effective for those of us that vacation at Disney a lot! It can also be great for occasional visitors. By using our points we get to stay in a very luxurious room with great amenities. We are very close to the action and have more of a home than just a hotel room. DVC is a very magical stay and we have not ever regretted being members.

The next post will cover the various ways you can purchase DVC. Hint its not just direct from Disney as well as strategies for choosing a home resort.

If you have any questions about DVC please let me know in the comments.

If you want more content such as this please let me know in the comments.

Until Next Time