Disney Vacation Club
If you’ve been to any of the Disney parks you’ve probably seen many signs for Disney’s Vacation Club.
Disney’s Vacation Club (DVC) is a timeshare. I am a DVC owner and will try to give a brief overview, and some of our thoughts both for and against ownership. Unlike most other timeshares, you buy points which can be used at any time during the year, banked for the next year, or borrowed to use a year earlier. The lowest number of points on a contract is 25, I do not believe there is a maximum. Each year DVC send out a points chart, using this chart you can see how many points are needed at each resort each day of the year and you can use this information to plan your vacations. Since bookings are point based, the length of stay, location, and size of accommodations are decided by you (and availability) when you book your stay.
Here is an partial point chart for 2013 from: www.resalesdvc.com
| DVC Animal Kingdom Villas Walt Disney World Resort |
V – Value Accommodation S – Standard View SV – Savanna View C – Kilimanjaro Club Concierge |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
2013 |
STUDIO |
ONE-BEDROOM VILLA |
TWO-BEDROOM VILLA |
||||||||||||||||||||
| Adventure Season |
V |
S |
SV |
C |
V |
S |
SV |
C |
V |
S |
SV |
C |
|||||||||||
| Jan 1-31 Sep 1-30 Dec 1-14 |
Sun-Th |
9 |
11 |
14 |
17 |
Sun-Th |
19 |
22 |
29 |
35 |
Sun-Th |
25 |
30 |
37 |
47 |
||||||||
| Fri-Sat |
12 |
13 |
16 |
20 |
Fri-Sat |
22 |
26 |
32 |
39 |
Fri-Sat |
30 |
35 |
44 |
54 |
|||||||||
| Weekly |
69 |
81 |
102 |
125 |
Weekly |
139 |
162 |
209 |
253 |
Weekly |
185 |
220 |
273 |
343 |
|||||||||
So if I wanted to stay at Kidani, from Friday, January 11 to Sunday, January 13, 2013 (Fri. and Sat. night), in a Savanah View Studio, I would need 32 points. It would be 16 pts. each night of the stay.
DVC member have a “Home” resort, this is the resort you are a part owner of. Your yearly maintenance fees go towards the upkeep of your home resort and you are able to book stays 11 months in advance. You can book at other resorts 7 months in advance. We own at Kidani at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We chose this resort mainly because it was for sale when we were ready to buy but also because a one bedroom sleeps 5 and has 2 full bathrooms. In the older resorts, a one bedroom has only 1 bathroom. With three children moving into their teens year we thought we’d like the extra bathroom and now that we have three teens ages 14, 16 and 18; we NEED the extra bathroom.
View from Fire Pit to Kidani Lobby
Kidani Savanah view from room
Pros for my famiy:
We love staying at different resorts. With DVC, we’ve been able to stay at Kidani, Bay Lake Towers, Saratoga Springs and Grand California (Disneyland). So we’ve been lucky and reserving at the 7 month mark has worked for us!
Bay Lake Tower Courtyard
View of Grand Californian Hotel from Disney’s California Adventre
View from our room at Grand Californian Hotel
All the DVC rooms (except studios) have a washer and dryer in the unit. We pack lightly (carry-ons only) and do laundry. Each night we through a load of dirty clothes into the washer, move to the dryer in the morning and when we get back from the park, we have clean clothes.
With a full kitchen or kitchenette, we eat breakfast in the unit most mornings. Food can be delivered to the resort or brought at a local store. It’s nice to eat without waiting in a line for breakfast and we save some money. We personally have never eaten dinner in the unit but it would be easy with the full kitchen.
DVC perks are great. DVC members get discounts on annual passes, water parks admission, some dinning and shopping. DVC members can also pool hop (not to all pools or all dates though), can buy the Tables in Wonderland dinning discount card, and can add the dinning plan to their room without buying a package. The lounge at the top of Bay Lake Towers is open to DVC members; what a fun way to see the Magic Kingdom fireworks. However, perks are not guaranteed and can end at any time.
Bay Lake Tower Rooftop View
Staying at a deluxe resort in a one bedroom with a kitchen and laundry for the price of a value resort (Meaning the amount of yearly maintenance fees and the cost of ownership spread over the 50 years).
Having a living room to sit and relax or wait for the rest of the family to get ready instead of sitting on the bed or waiting in the hall.
Cons for my family:
No discounts on room rates.
No free dinning plans.
Must pay maintenance fees every year.
After 50 years your ownership is over and you own nothing.
So is DVC for everyone? No. Is it for us? Yes! We have vacationed at Disney World, Disney Land or Disney Cruise Line 13 times in the past 13 years. We’ve stayed at values, moderate and deluxe resorts. As our family got older and bigger we wanted more room. DVC was the answer for us. We joined about 5 years ago and are looking forward to the next 45 years. Some day we hope to take grandchildren to Disney World!