Disney Vacation Club (DVC) is a collection of 13 Disney owned resorts throughout the United States. Nine of these resorts are located within Disney’s theme parks.
DVC members purchase a number of points at a home resort to be used towards reservations throughout Disney’s network of resorts. Home resort reservations can be booked as early as 11 months in advance. Club reservations throughout DVC’s 13 resorts can be made within a 7-month reservation window.
Points purchased on the resale market may be used normally. However, they are restricted in their use towards Disney cruises, tours and other vacation opportunities.
Disney Vacation Club (DVC) members purchase an allotment of points. Vacation Club Points are replenished on an annual basis. Owners may use their points to make reservations for a full-week or any number of days. Ownership is a Right to Use (RTU) interest that expires after about 50 years.
The number of points required to make a reservation is determined by the season, resort and residence type for which the booking is made. There are five seasons: Adventure (off-season), Choice (low demand), Dream (moderate demand), Magic (summer and high demand weeks) and Premier (Christmas and Easter). Residences range from studios, which sleep up to four people, to three-bedroom grand villas, which can sleep up to 12.
It costs 102 points to reserve a Savanna View Studio for a week at Disney’s Animal Kingdom during the Adventure Season. During the Premier Season that same residence would cost 181 points.
New owners can choose to begin their use year on any month. Owners may make a reservation as early as 11 months in advance at their home resort.
If this reservation is cancelled, the owner has the longest possible period of time to rebook.
Disney Club Points purchased on the resale market retain the use year chosen by the previous owner.
Members have the highest priority in making reservations at their home resort. Home resort reservations can be made as early as 11 months before arrival.
Reservations made at other resorts throughout DVC’s network can be made as early as 7 months before arrival.
There are no minimum requirements on the number of nights for each reservation. Reserving a Friday or Saturday night tends to cost about 20% more points than reserving a night from Sunday through Thursday.
Points may be banked for use the next year and borrowed from the next year for use in the current year. Once points have been banked or borrowed, they may not be returned to their original use year.
Banking and borrowing over a three year cycle allows owners to get the most out of Disney’s point management system. On the second year of this cycle, owners may use all of their banked points from the first year and borrow all of their points from the third year. During this middle year, owners will be able to accumulate a maximum of three times their standard point allotment.
A maximum of 24 additional points can be rented from the club each year. Points are rented at a price of $15 per point. Rented points are not added to the owner’s annual allotment of points. Rented points allow owners to complete a reservation when they do not have enough points to do so.
DVC members can transfer their points to another DVC member. Transferred points must be used before the end of their original owner’s use year.
Owners may use their Vacation Points to stay at any of Disney’s 13 resorts. Reservations at non-home resorts can be made as early as 7 months prior to arrival.
External exchange is handled through RCI. Owners must deposit a week’s worth of points to exchange their ownership throughout RCI’s 4,000 resorts.
Cancellations made 31 days prior to arrival will not result in a loss of points or restrictions on their use. Points used towards reservations cancelled 30 days to 1 day prior to check-in will be placed in a holding account. These points may be used for reservations made 30 days in advance. Cancellations made on the date of arrival will result in a loss of all points used towards that reservation.
For a fee of $95 per reservation, DVC members may use their Club Points to reserve a stay at dozens of resorts around the world, from the United States and Canada to the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Owners who purchased directly from Disney may also use their points towards Disney Cruises.
DVC member perks include, but are not limited to select dining, recreational activities, discounts on theme park tickets and merchandise opportunities.
Points purchased on the resale market may be used towards reservations at Disney’s 13 timeshare resorts. However, resold points may not be used towards reservations at additional Disney hotels, as well as Disney Cruises and tours, available through the Disney Collection.
* Vacatia has compiled details about each club from multiple sources of information, such as member guides and owner manuals. Please note that details regarding any club, such as use rights, reservation policies, exchange privileges, etc., are subject to change from time to time. Please contact clubs@vacatia.com if you have suggested edits.
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