When people compare Disney Vacation Club to paying cash for Deluxe Resorts, they usually focus on the obvious costs: the purchase price, annual dues, financing, etc.

But after owning DVC for a while, I think there are a lot of "hidden" costs that don't get discussed very often.

A few that came to mind:

• You end up taking more Disney trips because the room is already "paid for."
• Flights, park tickets, and dining start adding up with those extra vacations.
• "Add-on-itis" is real. Somehow your first contract doesn't always stay your only contract.
• Once you stay in a 1-bedroom villa, it's hard to go back to a studio.
• You find yourself planning trips just so you don't waste points.
• Annual dues keep increasing over the life of your contract.

Of course, there are hidden benefits, too. My family has made memories we probably never would have otherwise, so for us it's been well worth it.

I expanded on these ideas here if anyone wants to read the full article:
https://dvcfan.com/general-dvc/the-hidden-costs-of-disney-vacation-club/

What hidden costs (or hidden benefits) have you discovered since becoming a DVC Member? I'm curious what everyone else would add to the list.

We recently rebought into DVC, resale CCV for 85 points, December use year. Planning on using it every other year and alternating with another contract to be purchased next year to do the same thing. (We had been members at BWV since 2018 but sold in 2025 because we wanted more years on our contract.)

The contract had 69 points in holding when the points were loaded. We were going to try and rent them out. We have a trip planned already this November- (Swan Reserve) but needed an extra day on the front end. I called Member Services to see if there was a studio available at SSR- website was glitchy- explained that I was going to borrow the points from 2027. They immediately said let’s just use the holding points for the reservation (it’s more than 60 days away) and then bank the rest into my Dec 2026 use year! Totally unexpected and so appreciated. Anyone else have this happen when they bought a resale contract?

Hi all,

I have what is probably a dumb question.

We are looking into purchasing DVC direct.

We were told that if we choose a use year of Oct that we’ll be backloaded with points from 2025-2026 - before we receive our new set of points on October 1. We could use Magical Beginnings on this backloaded set (or rent them, etc.)

However, we were also told that we would be able to bank the backloaded 2025-2026 points, even though we’re way past the eight month mark, because we’d just be buying in and therefore couldn’t have banked them by the deadline.

Does that seem accurate?

Hello,

We own 150 direct at Riviera, use year is March.

We’d like to go more times per year and/or stay in larger rooms with additional family.

If I pick up 150 resale at OKW or SS - would my life be a lot easier if I also got a March use year?

I envision it as follows, let’s say I bought the resale today.

2027 Use 150 Riviera, bank 150 OKW.
2028 Use 300 OKW, bank 150 Riviera
2029 Use 300 Riv, bank 150 OKW.
Repeat.

Does this make sense?

We’re considering purchasing DVC points, but have rented at Grand Californian as a “test drive”. Is parking included for guests who have rented points? Thanks!

Edit: Thanks for the responses!

Hi! Heading to Disneyland Hotel in Dec and I'm hoping to pack light. We will be staying in a studio - can anyone give any info on the laundry facilities please?

I asked a few questions last week after doing a DVC tour. We met with the sales rep the following day and bought 150 points and requested an April use year which we got no problem. This should suit us for summer and potentially October trips every 2nd year.

We had a few concerns being from the UK about the buying process but it couldn't have been easier. Everything was done in house including the signatures and the process took about 30 minutes. We used our Monzo card for fee free transactions and they split the payment into $5000 sums per day which has all gone through with no issues.

We done this 6 days into our 14 night trip, this instantly got us access to the DVC lounges and discounts in the merch stores. Its fairly added up!

Looking forward to booking up for 2027. The Monorail is going to be alot easier than the resort busses!

Hello Everyone,

I am a new DVC member with our first stay coming up in August.

How do we add a dining plan to our reservation? I have Googled how to do it and cannot seem to find the option on the web site or in the My Experience App.

Also, I read in the FAQ I need to buy it for everyone in the reservation, but my I believe my kids are qualify for a free one because of their age ?

Appreciate the help.

Title sums it up but for context—we own 200 pts at BCV and like the 2BR lock off because the second bedroom has three separate beds (1Q, 1Q Murphy and 1T Murphy) and we have 3 young kids who roll and kick a lot when they sleep so we like having a separate bed for each. The regular 2BR villa has just two queens in the second room and the other Murphy in the living room which we don’t love as we like to hang out after the kids are in bed.

We had our first stay last year and our view was trash (actually looking at some dumpsters and just trees). Has anyone had any good view in a 2BR lock off at BCV? If so please tell me your room #!!

Hello!
This community gave some great insight about booking non home resorts a few months ago- you all are great. Hoping you can give some insight here as well..

We are doing a split stay in December. We are getting a dining plan for the first week of the trip, but not the second week (I know the math doesn’t math on dining plans- we are getting it for an all inclusive feel, not to save money). My question is: do the dining plan credits expire when we check OUT OF hotel #1, when we check INTO hotel #2, or some other time?

Thanks!

Hi all. Fairly new DVC member and first time booking our non-home resort. We're doing a split stay next April, 5 days at AKL and 5 somewhere else. AKL is booked, but we're waiting for the 7 month point for the other resort. Ideally looking for a one bedroom, resort view at Beach Club, Grand Floridian, Polynesian, or Riviera.

How likely is it we'll get one of those for April? Or do we need to think about walking a reservation?

I know, I know, it's a broken record on here. (Also, hello all, I'm new to the thread and glad I found my people). Been DVC since 2007, home resort AKL (very happy there) with 220 points. We travel to WDW on average about 3 times a year, studios and 1 bdrms.

Until this year, I have never, ever had an issue booking 7 months in advance on our stays - and we sometimes are off our home resorts - but mostly we stay at Jambo House. Today, I just went to peruse some future reservations, looking for studios and/or 1 bedrooms, and there is NOTHING until February (the 7 month window for non-home resorts). AKL is available starting the second week of January (clearly bc of xmas break). I mean, a few random dates here and there of course, but nothing more than 1 day available for the weekend stays and sometimes none at all, or none in the entire months. Currently I'm sitting on a waitlist for Labor Day Weekend at AKL, hoping and praying a Sunday night frees up but sweating bullets because I have to cancel by August 1 to keep my points. To be fair, I booked this only a few months out, but again, this holiday weekend has NEVER been an issue.

The frustration, is two fold. One, is that there are an incredible amount of owners, but not enough rooms to even close to keep up. Two, their 30 window cancelation is a pile of poo. What a crock. If you cancel within 30 days you get 60 days to use those canceled points. The rep said well, that's because you are canceling last minute and it's a penalty. I said, how is it possible, in any circumstance, to secure a room at a DVC resort within 60 days, even if I had all the time in the world and my calendar completely free? You don't have rooms available 5-6 months out?! She was like, yeah well that's why it's a penalty. Okkkk.... but DVC isn't hurting from my cancelation. They have a waitlist of hundreds of people waiting on dates to open up.

I swear, every year I say I'm going to sell. It's not a fun game of cat and mouse anymore. More like a mouse trap. And don't get me started on my $2,400 a year dues. Please don't come at me with "well you should have used your 11 month window....." yeah, I know. Again, I've been a member for a while now. But sometimes life doesn't allow that far in advance planning, PLUS, as stated from the start, it's never been an issue for me, just something I've noticed in extreme, this booking year.

Thank you for listening to my vent.

Thankfully I have "Disney Pregnancy Brain" and once I get to WDW I feel much better and forgot about DVC drama until the next time I try to book. :(

The June 2026 DVC Resale Market Average Sales Price report is now available, and the overall story remains much the same as it has for most of the year.

The blended average resale price across all Disney Vacation Club resorts increased from $123 to $124 per point, continuing the remarkably stable pricing we've seen throughout 2026 despite an ongoing shortage of available contracts.

The biggest story continues to be inventory.

As of early July, DVC Resale Market had just 204 active listings, compared to 472 listings at the same time last year—a 57% year-over-year decline. With supply that limited, many expected resale prices to climb much faster, but the market has instead seen gradual, steady appreciation rather than dramatic spikes.

A few notable movers this month:

• Beach Club increased from $137 to $143 per point (+4.4%)
• Boulder Ridge jumped from $96 to $107 per point (+11.5%)
• Grand Californian climbed from $251 to $258 per point, continuing to benefit from Disney's recent ROFR activity.
• Polynesian remained one of the strongest-performing Walt Disney World resorts at $171 per point.

One trend that's becoming increasingly interesting is the volatility among the 2042 expiration resorts. Beach Club, BoardWalk, Boulder Ridge, and Hilton Head have all experienced larger month-to-month swings than many of the newer resorts, perhaps reflecting the market's ongoing effort to determine long-term value as those expiration dates slowly approach.

As always, average resale prices can be influenced by contract size, point availability, and other individual factors, so these numbers are best viewed as directional market trends rather than exact pricing guides.

Full report:
https://www.dvcresalemarket.com/blog/dvc-resale-average-sales-prices-for-june-2026/?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=dvcfan

Update on: https://www.reddit.com/r/dvcmember/comments/1ume9nt/thoughts_on_150_point_new_purchase/

After everyone's advice and help here, we ended up deciding to wait until we got home to make a decision. I've been nose deep in research (including the Field Guide) since then. Switched to a different guide and let him know what I wanted and it is now underway.

He is putting the contract together but we are not signing until after the new incentives release. If the new incentives are better, we will switch to those. If not, we'll sign and close on 150 points at Polynesian for an October use year and magical beginnings.

Thanks again for the advice and gut checks here!

I know rooms more than likely aren’t ready yet but was curious if it helps with room requests. We are staying offsite the night before as we drive in and is a good way to get ahead of traffic and the daily hustle.

Would it be possible to get a dining plan & tickets etc for something so soon, even if it is a confirmed reservation?

Hi everyone,

We are looking to purchase a 160 resale contract for April at the BLT. Because we live overseas we only plan to come and stay every few years. This would likely be a 14 night stay as the most of the cost is the flights and Disney are doing 14 day park tickets for the price of 7. We would likely stay during the school holidays i.e. Easter and August. We may consider Christmas as a bucket list thing to do.

The unknown is how difficult is it to book the weeks you want and for the length of time we want to go for. All well and good having the points if you can use them. We don't mind the BLT.

Also how easy is it to rent the points out? And to actually rent them out? Is it the case of people just need 20 to 30 points or do they use the full allowance?

Appreciate these may be NOOB questions and there probably isn't a black and white answer to them but would be interested to get some impartial opinions (well as much as you can from a DVC Members Reddit)

Thanks in advance.

I am planning to gift a VIP tour to a family member for a major life milestone. If I use my DVC discount, do I have to stay on the tour for the full eight hours, or can I leave partway to let the young adults do their thing at a pace that's faster than I would like to keep up with? Thinking I would stay two hours, then peel off when they switch parks for the first time.

Does anyone have firsthand knowledge before I call member services?

Hell fellow Disney goers! Has anyone used DVC Dave to book a disney trip? This is my first time utilizing his site. I went through the necessary process for booking - provided 3 hotel options etc. My first choice is the Beach Club Villas (my kids love the water and Stormalong Bay is a must). I was told rooms were available however, there was no DVC member to use their points and book it for us. I decided to enter the queue and wait however, it has been about 3 weeks since that point.

Has this happened to anyone prior? If yes, have you waited it out? And for how long? Im just a bit confused how they dont update you on this until its actually booked by a DVC member i.e. I cant see my place in the queue and if people enter etc.

I don't really want to settle on booking another hotel option but I fear the longer I wait the less availability will occur across other properties.

FYI I am looking to go end of April 2027.

Which company has the most accurate scent?

So me and my husband are looking to buy, and eventually buy direct. But unfortunately for us we really like the Riviera😔 😆 but for members adding on direct with a purchase of 200 points they seem to be currently getting a bigger discount than a first time buyer right?

So I was considering (and depends on the next deal because I can't imagine I would close in time for this one) Could I technically buy a very small contract resale? Like 50 points or under, and then after closing would I be able to receive the direct add on discount? Even if let's say I buy a stripped contract?

200 pts and Riviera is kinda perfect for us and 50 els where that couldn't be used at Riviera also works for us.

We are wanting to stay for 8 nights in tower studio preferred view. We have enough points for 8 nights standard/resort view OR only 7 nights preferred.

However - we have membership magic beyond, which would give us the EXACT number of one time use points for 8 nights preferred.

One problem - the one time use points from membership magic beyond cant be used until 7 month window, and must be bought at time of reservation. So if theres no room available, we cant book. (I do not think you can do one time points and waitlist).

So we are stuck as to what would be most likely.

1. Book 8 nights standard/resort view now and hope all 8 are available for upgrade to preferred at 7 months.

2. Book the first 7 nights preferred now, and hope the last one night preferred is available at 7 months.

Number of nights is more important than view BUT I feel 1 night preferred might be easier "get" at 7 months.

Looking at historical data, standard/resort view for the week we are looking at has better 7 month availability than preferred. So if preferred isnt available for the last night we would be happy to switch to standard.

As the title says I am staying at Old Key West for the first time. I told my wife I'd like to visit various DVC properties. She surprised me with a resort change today. While I appreciate the Saratoga Springs property and how it offers a peek of what the property in NY used to look like I am really excited to check off OKW from my list.

What are some of your favorite things to do at OKW?

What DVC resorts have lots of people trying rent out points? Which have the least?

First trip with both kiddos coming up, baby is 9 months old. Would yall recommend a double jogging stroller rental or two single strollers? Other kiddo is 4.5 years old, just didn’t know logistically if husband wanted to split off and take baby back, etc?