Anyone who loves visiting Disney Parks should probably consider joining Disney Vacation Club. The point based Disney timeshare makes Deluxe hotel stays much more affordable. The per stay price is a bargain when compared to renting points every year. However, if looking at the overall price of a DVC Membership raises your brows, there might still be an option that works for you. Let’s talk about how to pay less for a DVC Membership. There are actually a few different ways and some strategies to consider based on your wants and needs.
How to Pay Less for DVC Membership
Have a decent budget but want to get the most DVC points possible?
If you have a nice sized budget but want to make sure you can get the most out of it, resale Disney Vacation Club is likely your best option. When you buy resale instead of direct you can save thousands on DVC points. Your money will go much further if you purchase resale points, allowing you to buy a contract with more points for the same price in many cases. There are a few differences between buying from Disney and buying resale but we’ll get to that in a minute. Resale DVC operates the same in most ways, giving Members flexible booking options for Disney stays at amazing Deluxe Resort hotels. The biggest difference is the per point price. Let’s take a look at some pricing for comparison. Disney Vacation Club is selling points at The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa for $207. Even on a very popular resort like the Grand Floridian, you can still save a lot of money with resale. On the resale DVC market, the Grand Floridian has been selling for around $183 per point in price as of early 2022. At those rates, if you purchased 175 points, you would save $4200 buying resale instead of direct! You can use the Disney Vacation Club Cost Calculator to price out resorts Disney is actively selling and compare them to similar resale DVC listings.
Buy Less DVC Points and Bank or Borrow
One way to pay less for DVC points is to buy a smaller contract. If your budget for this is super small but you really want to get started with DVC, this can work. This might not be your best case scenario but it’s one strategy that will suffice for certain types of vacationers. Buying a smaller contract will be especially helpful if you want to book Disney stays regularly but would still be happy going every other year.
First of all, let’s discuss point values, banking and borrowing. DVC is pretty flexible with booking partly because of the ability Members have to bank or borrow their points. When you buy a DVC Membership, you choose a contract at the home resort you prefer, that has the amount of points you’d like to own. Those points are what you spend, or use, to book. So picking a point value is an important part of the decision. The point value also determines the length of the stays you can book each year. See the DVC point charts for a look at how far different point values will get you at different resorts and at different times throughout the year. If you want to use your DVC points to enjoy long weekend trips or just a couple nights at a time, a small point value might be fine for you. Your Disney Vacation Club overall cost is also calculated per point so the lower the point value, the lower the price. You can often find a 25, 30 or 50 point resale contract for just a few thousand dollars. What’s exciting about this is you can buy more points very easily later on. It’s called adding on. If you add on points with the same use year, they will be especially easy to book with as all points will be available at the same time. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
Now that we’ve covered point values, banking and borrowing can come into play. Banking is like officially saving your points to use them later. Borrowing points is defined by DVC as , ‘moving Vacation Points from the next Use Year to apply toward a vacation in this Use Year. By borrowing next year’s unused Vacation Points, you could enjoy larger accommodations, a longer stay or more than one vacation this year.’ This is exactly my point. If you’re not wanting to spend a lot upfront, buying a smaller amount of points and banking and borrowing points to stay every other year is a lower cost option. If you bought a 50 point contract at Old Key West and banked a year of points, you could book a week long stay, every other year, almost any time aside from the busiest weeks like Christmas and Spring Break for example. At the time this post was written there was a 50 point contract available at Disney’s Old Key West Resort for $6700. Including the annual dues of about $441 that’s not too bad at all considering it’s the cost for many vacations! You could easily spend that much booking a one week stay at Walt Disney World with cash.
Considering Resale Disney Vacation Club Differences
There are some differences between buying direct from Disney and resale Disney Vacation Club. Not all of the perks are included. For example, resale doesn’t come with all of the discounts and access to special DVC events. You would need to purchase directly from Disney if those are a priority for you. There are also some booking restrictions with resale, especially for Disney’s Riviera Resort. When you buy resale with Riviera as your home resort, you can only book there. On the contrary, if you buy resale and have any resort but Riviera as your home resort you can not book at Riviera. These may be important details to some. If everything here mentioned is negotiable, amazing savings await with retail!
Disney Vacation Club Savings
When considering buying direct, Disney Vacation Club savings are offered from time to time. These opportunities might afford you savings in the thousands. However, even with these savings the prices rarely come close to resale. We have lots information here are on our blog to help you decide if DVC resale is right for you. If value is your top priority, we’ve got you covered. It’s also possible to buy the minimum amount of points needed to be eligible for all of the DVC perks and buy the rest resale. Yes, you can get the best of both worlds as Hannah Montana once sang. These days, new Members need to purchase 150 points directly from Disney Vacation Club in order to qualify for all of the perks. After that, any points you add can be bought direct or resale and your status doesn’t change. Even buying a portion of your points resale can amount to decent savings, especially depending on the resort.
Buying DVC Resale is Easy
With resale the shopping process is transparent because you can see all of the contracts available at the time and all of the details for each one. Disney Vacation Club often works to sell what they have in inventory which may or may not be what you want to buy. The main priority for direct DVC sales is resorts they are actively selling. Those resorts, as of May 2022, are currently Aulani, Disney Vacation Club Villas, Disney’s Riviera Resort and The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. Something to consider.
DVC Resale Experts Sells DVC Points
DVC Resale Experts is a licensed real estate broker that specializes in DVC. Our Experts used to work for The Walt Disney Company as Disney Vacation Club Guides. Now, as licensed real estate agents, the team continues to provide magical experiences to DVC sellers and buyers. If you’re ready to buy DVC at the best possible rate, take a look at our current resale DVC listings. Not seeing your dream contract? Join the DVC Resale Buyer Wish List and you’ll be contacted as soon as it becomes available.
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