DVC…an acronym you hear thrown around a lot when researching Disney. DVC resorts, DVC points, but what the heck is DVC?

DVC or the Disney Vacation Club is a flexible timeshare through Disney via a point system where you can book beautiful accommodations at Disney and abroad. So, how do you get these points? Let’s dive in. Memberships are customized to you and your budget. In most of the resorts onsite at Disney as well as in Disney springs, you will be able to find a desk with knowledgeable cast members that can walk you through how it works and even take you on a tour of what the typical villas look like. There are 11 DVC hotels at Walt Disney World, 1 at Disneyland as well as 3 beach locations in Hawaii, Vero Beach Florida and South Carolina. You can also use your points for the Cruise line as well as at other resorts around the world and national geographic experience travel. I will say that the best value for your points is at the resorts at the actual parks.

There are many different point values or price points as well depending on time of year and type of room you are booking. The villas or Disney vacation club rooms offer several options. From the “studio” which is a slightly larger hotel room style accommodation with a mini fridge and microwave, and typically sleep 4 but some of the resorts like the wilderness lodge can accommodate 5. The one and two bedroom villas include a family room as well as a full kitchen and the best part, the piece de resistance if you will, in room laundry. There is nothing better than being able to throw in a load of laundry or to put wet bathing suits in the dryer prior to heading home. These rooms sleep between 4 and 8 people comfortably. Now, the “Grand Villas” are the ultimate in luxury and sleep up to 12. These are huge! I mean huge! We got the pleasure of staying in one at Old Key West and was it ever beautiful. There are also some cabins, bungalows and tree houses around the resorts as well and they can sleep anywhere up to 9. All of these take a varying number of points, so you need to consider the number of people that you would typically be travelling with, the number of times you would like to travel and the room type you would require when setting up your membership.

Now along with the luxury accommodations, there are other benefits as well such as discounts on dining, merchandise, tickets and experiences. When ordering food, or buying a souvenir, they cast members will typically ask if you have any discounts such as dvc in case you forget, as we often have. There is a member area in Epcot where you can go and grab a soft drink cool off and charge your devices. There are definitely some nice perks to becoming a member

Now, let’s talk dollars. Is this affordable for many? No. Is it worth it if you plan on making Disney a destination for you and your family for years to come? Yes. As I stated earlier, the plan is flexible. When you sit down with your Vacation Club Guide, they will walk your through all the options and ask you how often you want to travel, what types of rooms do you want to book, how many people and what times of year. These questions and more will help your guide determine what your membership might look like. You will then pick a “home” resort. This will give you priority booking at this resort up to 11 months in advance. Our home resort is the Boardwalk and we couldn’t be happier with this choice. Now once you have determined the number of points you need and the types of vacations you would like to take, they will talk about the numbers. There is a down payment that needs to be made. The starting amount of this is roughly 31,000 USD and can go up to 55,000. One top of this there are yearly dues that are a lot lower than you might think and can be paid in a lump sum or paid monthly throughout the year. The down payment can be financed over 10 years. I know this sounds like so much money, and it is, but if it works for you, it’s worth it. We have been vacation club members since it’s inception and we really couldn’t be happier. You can also borrow or save points within a year in order to have a really big trip one year. Again, it’s flexible so it can be catered to exactly what you want.

There are other ways of taking advantage of vacation club points without actually having to become a DVC member and that’s by renting points. If you don’t use your yearly points and you forgot to “bank” them by the right date, you will lose them. So some members that wind up in this position will rent or sell them through Davids DVC. This might even be the perfect way to see if this is something you are interested in or if it makes sense for your family.

We love being Vacation Club members and we have made the best use of our points over the years. If you are interested, please feel free to ask questions on your next Disney Vacation, but feel free to comment any questions you may have, or let us know if you have and DVC stories as we’d love to hear! Until next time friends!