My family has been true Disney lovers for as long as I can remember. It started with me as a child, it grew on my husband, and my girls were born into it. We all have the Disney magic inside of us! One thing I have always wanted to do was own the Disney Vacation Club (DVC). Sometimes the price can scare you. Believe me, it scared my husband and I for quite some time. We knew many people who had owned it so we had an idea of how it worked and knew we wanted it eventually.
The Disney Vacation Club allows you to “own” a spot at a deluxe Disney resort for a certain amount of years. Disney determines the length based off when the resort was built. Some resorts now have an ownership years of 20, 30 or 42 years. The newer resorts will have the longer ownership time. Some of the older resorts are obviously the ones with the least amount of years on the contract. Now, whenever you travel to Disney you always see stands set up for the vacation club. There is usually a guide there who is offering to schedule a DVC tour for you. During certain times, Disney offers a resort as the one they are advertising. If you chose to buy at that time, this resort will be considered your home. This is where your contract will assigned. This does not mean you cannot stay at another resort. This just means that at 11 months you can book your home resort. At 7 months, you are able to change to another Disney Vacation Club resort. If the resort you would like to stay at does not have availability you can then choose to wait list. You will be put on a list for your room accommodations based on the date your wait list was made. This means you can be on the wait list, and if someone cancels their reservation and a spot opens, your reservation may become available. Your reservation will automatically be changed and updated.
It is good to have a home resort if you are buying the Vacation Club at a place you love. You would not want to buy at a place you might not like. If a wait list does not come through, then your home resort is where you would stay. What many people do not know is that you can choose your own home resort if you are interested in buying the Vacation Club. I never knew this, and most people who I have spoken to did not know this either. After many years my husband and I finally purchased the Vacation Club recently. We wanted to buy direct from Disney and become real members.
You do have the option to buy resale, as well however the benefits of Disney Vacation Club Member are different. Effective April 4, 2016, nembers who have not purchased an ownership interest directly from DVD will not have access to Membership Extras. Membership Extras are perks offered exclusively to DVC members. If you chose to buy resale, you can pick your home resort and at a lower per point price. The extra money was worth it to my family and we wanted to buy direct. You can also purchase a Disney Vacation Club membership through DVC Resale Market where there are many resale contracts that may fit your needs!
Right now, Disney is offering a home resort with buying the vacation club at Copper Creek Villas at The Wilderness Lodge. Right now, you have the option to purchase 75 points or more at this home resort at $182.00 per point (which will soon increase in 2019) So, if you wanted to purchase 100 points, that would be $18,200 to own the vacation club for about 40 years. We like Wilderness Lodge, but it’s not my favorite. If we are spending the money that we are on this we wanted a different home. Our absolute favorite is Bay Lake Tower. Since Disney is not offering that resort now I called to ask if we can choose that as our home. The Disney Vacation Club Guide said you can choose ANY resort you like. He told me how much money Bay Lake was per point and it was reasonable in my eyes. So the next step after agreeing to the price was to go on a waiting list. This waiting list is a separate list for only Bay Lake. Once Disney received contracts back from a member that is how the choice of any resort becomes available. He told me the waiting can be 3 days or 3 months so we agreed the waiting was fine. So two weeks ago, our waiting came through and it took 8 weeks for 100 points at Bay Lake to be available. I was happy i called because many people i have spoken to did not know they can choose any home, even though you have to wait it is not too bad at all.
I think it is important for people to know that you can choose a home resort. Some people may be ready to purchase the vacation club but may hesitate due to the home resort offering at that time. I would hate to see some people waiting years for a home resort they may be interested in to pop up when they could have had their choice all along. Disney Vacation Club is a huge investment, but if you are an avid Disney lover and traveler, it is worth it in the end! This gives you the opportunity to build so many memories with you family and friends, and to me, that make it all worth it.
Even when purchasing resale, you will still be a Disney Vacation Club Member. Depending on when you purchase, you will receive a lower level of membership benefits than when purchasing directly from Disney. But, you will still be treated with respect by Disney Cast Members, and will hear “Welcome Home” at arrival at any DVC resort.
Yes, sorry if that was not clear – Effective April 4, 2016, Members who have not purchased an ownership interest directly from DVD will not have access to Membership Extras. Therefore, if you purchase resale now, your benefits will be different then those purchasing directly from Disney today. Thanks!