There’s no doubt about it: people all over the world love Disney. Every year, 58 million people visit Disney World and 18 million visit Disneyland!
Whether you’re an adult or have a family of little ones who love the magic of Disney, you probably want to get your fill of these theme parks. In that case, you should consider taking advantage of the Disney Vacation Club.
Are you interested in joining the Disney Vacation Club? Then keep reading, as we’ll tell you all about it in this article!
What Is the Disney Vacation Club?
The Disney Vacation Club (DVC) is basically a timeshare program, but Disney style. If you don’t know how timeshares work, here’s a quick rundown.
When you buy into a timeshare, this means you partially own that property. As a result, you get to use it at certain times of the year.
As the name suggests, you’ll have to share property usage with others. But because you’ve all pitched in for the property cost, this means you get to enjoy something like a resort home for a part of the year by paying a small fraction of what it’d cost to buy on your own.
With the Disney Vacation Club, you don’t actually “own” any properties. However, you own the rights to go vacation at DVC resorts all around the world. DVC even allows you to book cruise vacations and more!
Other benefits of a DVC membership include no resort taxes, free resort parking, home resort priority, and discounts on park tickets. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, so make sure you read more in the fine print when signing up.
How Does the Disney Vacation Club Work?
To be a part of the Disney Vacation Club, you have to buy rental points. With these points, you can redeem them for stays at Disney properties.
When you buy points, you choose a “home resort”, which is a set Disney resort you’ll enjoy additional benefits at.
Do note that not all Disney resorts are available to book through DVC points. For example, in California, the only resort you can book using DVC points is the Villas at the Grand California Hotel.
However, what’s great about Disney Vacation Club points is they’re not just for booking resort stays!
As we mentioned in the introduction, you can also book Disney cruises with your points. In addition, there are some non-Disney hotels you can stay at. They include Concierge Collection Hotels and RCI timeshares.
As you can see, with your DVC points, you’ll be able to enjoy lots of flexible options when it comes to booking vacations.
Buying Points
Every year, you’ll buy the same amount of points; this will remain unchanged from year to year. However, you can always choose to add points later on.
Point Allocation
Points for a vacation at a resort aren’t static either. Depending on the time of the year you want to vacation, the size of the room, and how long you want to stay, you’ll have to spend different amount of points.
For example, if you want to stay in a luxury villa for an extended period of time during high season, you’ll be shelling out significantly more DVC points than if you stayed at a smaller, more basic room during the off-season for a few days.
A room’s point cost won’t stay the same throughout the year either. Again, it’ll cost more points during high season than in off-season.
There are 5 different seasons when it comes to Disney World. So keep this in mind when you’re buying and spending points, as the point allocation won’t always stay the same.
Other Information About DVC Points
What’s great is if you don’t use all of your points in one year, you can roll them over to the next. On the other hand, if you run out of points for a year, you can borrow some from the next.
Of course, these actions do come with some restrictions. For example, there are only certain times of the year you can do so, as well as the number of times you can perform such actions.
Disney Vacation Club Cost
There’s no one single answer for how much DVC costs. Several factors impact your cost, such as which home resort you choose (the more popular it is, the more it’ll cost).
Also, the cost will depend on if you buy directly from Disney or from a resale company. Buying directly will always be more expensive.
In addition, you’re not just paying for your points. There are also dues you need to pay, which will change from year to year. For instance, the 2021 DVC annual dues will most likely be more than what they were in 2020.
Lastly, an important factor to consider is whether you’ll finance your membership or not. By paying upfront, you’ll save some money.
Is Disney Vacation Club Worth It?
It’s hard to say if Disney Vacation Club is worth it for you specifically. It really depends on how often your family vacations and what your preferences are for your stay.
What we’d recommend doing is sitting down and calculating all your current annual costs without a DVC membership. Then, compare it to the price and dues to see if it’s more or less.
From there, you can determine if a DVC membership is cost-effective for your household.
Treat Your Family by Joining DVC
After reading this article, you should now have a good idea of what the Disney Vacation Club is, how it works, and if it’s worth it for your family.
If you do decide to join DVC, then make sure you take full advantage of it. That way, you’ll ensure you get the most bang for your buck. So be sure to read all the terms and conditions, as that’ll get you more mileage out of this club.
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