What if I told you that you could stay in a Disney deluxe resort for a fraction of the price? Well, cue Disney Vacation Club (DVC) point rentals because that's exactly what you can do. DVC is basically Disney's timeshare program (eeek, did I say timeshare?), which is a point-based system that can be used at Disney deluxe properties across the US. The great thing is, you don't need to own the DVC contract yourself, you can rent the points from another owner that isn't using them (more on how you can become a DVC owner if that's more your speed at the bottom of this post). The DVC villas are generally a different tower or building of the Disney hotel and currently includes:
Walt Disney World
Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas — Jambo House and Kidani Village
Jambo House is part of the main Animal Kingdom Lodge building
Kidani is a separate DVC only building
Disney’s Beach Club Villas
Disney’s BoardWalk Villas
Disney’s Old Key West Resort (DVC only resort)
Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
Disney’s Riviera Resort (DVC only resort)
Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa (DVC only resort)
The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
Other
The Villas at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa (Disneyland)
Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort
Disney’s Vero Beach Resort (about a 2 hour drive southeast from Walt Disney World)
Disney Vacation Club Villas — Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa (Oahu)
They are also currently constructing a new DVC building at the Polynesian and at Disneyland Hotel in California. Fun fact: you can actually book DVC villas using cash on the Disney World/Disneyland websites, but you'll pay a lot more than if you just rent the points through a DVC owner. So this all sounds great but how the heck do you rent points?
RENTING POINTS FROM A DVC OWNER: There are plenty of sites and Facebook groups you can use to rent points from a DVC owner. Some of the popular sites include David's Vacation Club Rentals, DVC Shop, and DVC Rental Store. These are essentially brokers that connect owners that want to rent out points to renters that want to rent points for a stay. Point rentals are charged as a rate per point, and these sites will charge you a few $'s more per point than renting directly from an owner. However, they can be less risky than renting directly from an owner through a Facebook group (think BST groups for DVC point rentals).
Disney Vacation Club publishes all of the points charts so you can look up how many points you'll need for a stay. The points charts list the points needed per night by room type by travel date.
Generally the room types available range from deluxe studio (for 4-5 people based on the resort) to one-bedroom, two-bedroom, or three-bedroom villas. The three-bedroom villas are often multiple levels and the ones at Animal Kingdom Villas even have a pool table inside. Within a room category, there can be further differentiation based on the view type (e.g. standard, lake view, theme park view, etc.) that changes the points required.
There are two ways you can rent points: you can rent a confirmed reservation or request a certain date and see if an owner can find availability and make a reservation for you on those dates. The availability changes all the time as people book and cancel reservations.
A confirmed reservation is a reservation for a set date at a specific hotel in a specific room type. The owner already holds the reservation and can confirm availability.
Requesting a date, hotel, and room type is more flexible, but will depend on the availability and generally cost more per point.
The price per point can vary a lot, typically ranging from $15 - $25 per point. A few things that can lead to higher cost per point rentals:
Each DVC owner has to buy into a "home resort". The owner can book reservations up to 11 months prior to the stay at their home resort. At 7 months, the reservations for all DVC resorts open to all DVC owners regardless of home resort. Therefore, stays that are booked 7-11 months prior generally cost the most $'s per point.
A DVC rental site will generally charge more than renting direct from an owner because of the brokerage fees that the rental site charges the owner. But, you have to make sure you are renting from a reputable owner if you are renting direct, as they could just cancel the reservation after you've already paid them and then you'd be out money and a room. Note that cancellation policies will differ as you generally can't cancel if you book direct with an owner.
Certain resorts and certain times of years (holidays!) may cost more per point due to demand.
So let's say you've found an owner that will rent you points and there is availability at the resort you want for the dates you want. The actual process is pretty easy. The owner makes the reservation on the DVC website and puts your name and your guests on the reservation. They give you a reservation number. You go to your My Disney Experience (MDE) app and link the reservation number to your account. It'll ask you to assign each guest to a friend or family member on your account and then show up in your MDE plans. You can check in online when the time comes and arrive at the resort just like you would a Disney hotel that you book directly. Voila - you are on your way to the most magical stay! Note that DVC stays only get housekeeping on the 4th and 8th days and not every night.
BUT WHAT KIND OF ROOMS WILL I BE STUCK IN? Some of the nicest rooms we've stayed in are DVC rooms. Here's a sampling of some of them but you can find room tours or pics for almost every type of DVC room online.
My all time favorite room we've stayed in are the cabins at Wilderness Lodge. They have their own private hot tubs overlooking the lake and even come with a special section for parking. These will require a lot of points but you'll pay a fraction of what you would pay to book direct with Disney.
Another favorite is the new resort studios at Grand Floridian. It also helps that there is a walking path directly from Floridian to Magic Kingdom.
Here's a two-bedroom savannah view villa at Animal Kingdom Villas - Kidani.
And we can't forget about the Epcot resort area, which is one of my favorite areas of Disney. Here's the Beach Club one-bedroom villa.
All one-bedroom villas and larger also have a washer and dryer in the unit!
BUYING A DVC CONTRACT: As promised, here's the section for those of you that want to buy a DVC contract. You can either buy direct from Disney Vacation Club or buy in the resale market. You buy a contract with a certain number of points at a "home resort". Then you have that point allotment every single year to use until the contract expires (contract expiration varies by home resort). You can bank points to the next year or borrow points from another year to combine your points across years, but there are deadlines to do this. You also have to pick a "Use Year" which basically dictates the timeline for banking and borrowing points. A few things to remember:
Contracts are usually priced at a price per point. The price per point varies widely based on the home resort chosen (typically ranging from $100 to $250+ per point).
Buying direct from Disney will usually cost more but you're guaranteed that the contract will close. You'll also get your points almost immediately to use. Note that not all home resorts are available to purchase directly from Disney.
Buying on the resale market will generally cost less but is a long process. Once your offer is accepted, it will go to Disney for right of first refusal. Disney can choose to buy the contract themselves, and then you'll have to go find another contract. Or they may waive their right and then it'll take a few more weeks for your contract to close. You don't get all of the same membership perks if you buy resale.
What is a home resort? For any stays at your home resort, you'll be able to book reservations 11 months in advance. Once you are at the 7-month mark, all resorts will open to any DVC owner and you can book at any resort, if there is availability.
In addition to the contract price you pay at closing, you pay dues on an annual basis to Disney Vacation Club. These are charged per point and can change over time and also vary by home resort.
We are owners at Grand Floridian, Beach Club and Animal Kingdom villas so reach out if you have questions or are looking to rent points. I don't promise we'll have points (reference the 4 trips we already have planned for 2023, plus Aulani!) but you never know! And I can help to look up availability and points required as well. Warning: I can talk about Disney and DVC for hours and hours, so beware.
That's a wrap on the ABCs of DVC. Hope you have the most magical DVC stay ever!
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