Disney Vacation Club for Beginners
What is Disney Vacation Club?
Disney Vacation Club, or DVC, is a vacation ownership program, or timeshare.
Most people are familiar with the traditional timeshare model; owners buy a specific week at a specific condo, cabin, villa, or hotel and return to that same destination year-after-year for that specific week. They are typically inflexible and illiquid. Over the years, traditional timeshares have earned a reputation for sleazy sales tactics, lackluster property management (which leads to
runaway annual dues), and the dramatic loss in value after the initial purchase.
DVC is quite different, however.
Disney pioneered the use of the point system for timeshares. A point system is very flexible, allowing a member to book individual nights for any room at any resort available. It may take a little while to understand the nuances of booking a stay, but the basics are pretty straightforward.
To become a Member, you purchase a real estate interest in a Disney Vacation Club Resort, represented by an annual allotment of points. There are virtually no limitations placed on when and where one uses his/her points. For instance, a DVC member could spend 10 nights in a Studio villa at the BoardWalk Villas one year, and 5 nights in a Two Bedroom Villa at Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary Resort the next year. The only requirements are that the member have enough points to book the accommodations desired, and that the resort has enough capacity for the member.
For example, a DVC purchase of 200 points means that the member will be allotted 200 points to use every single year until the contract with Disney expires. These points can be used to book reservations at any of the
Disney Vacation Club resorts. Program guidelines even allow members to “bank” their points one year into the future and “borrow” from the next year, adding another layer of flexibility. This is particularly useful for members who would like to plan for a particularly expensive or extravagant trip where they will need more than their allotted amount of points. It’s also very handy for families that don’t travel every year.
What is a Home Resort?
Disney Vacation Club members actually own a portion of a Disney Resort hotel. This is their home resort.
There are 3 attributes that make each Home Resort unique:
1.) Booking Window: Owners can book at their Home Resort 11 months in advance. Reservations at non-Home resorts can only be made 7 months in advance.
2.) Annual Dues: Annual dues are based upon one’s Home Resort. Regardless of which resort the points are used for, members are only responsible for their Home Resort’s published annual dues. For example, if an owner’s home resort is Old Key West, but vacationed at the Grand Floridian, he or she will only be responsible for the Old Key West annual dues. A list of 2017 Annual Maintenance Dues as well as the CAGR of those dues can be found here: 2017 Disney Vacation Club (DVC) Annual Dues
3.) Expiration Date: Ownership at every resort has a stated expiration date. After this date the DVC ownership is effectively over and points will no longer be issued. The ending dates vary greatly from one resort to another and can impact purchase prices.
What is a Use Year (UY)?
Points are not issued by calendar year, ie: Jan-Dec. Rather, they are issued by Use Year (UY). A UY is simply the 12 month period over which an owner can use his/her points.
Every DVC contract has an assigned UY. For example, a contract with a March UY will receive it’s 2017 points on Mar 1, 2017, and they are valid until Feb 28, 2018.
Is Disney Vacation Club worth it?
DVC Closing Process – How does it work?
More Questions?
If you have any questions, or would like to talk about a specific contract, please feel free to contact me at dvcguy@dvcguy.com. I’m happy to help.