In a previous article, I demonstrated how easily you can plus your Disney vacation. By renting Disney Vacation Club points, you can stay at the best onsite hotels for roughly the same cost as a moderate resort. If you’ve ever fantasized about spending a few days at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort or Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, DVC points rental or membership purchase makes the dream possible.
Something you’ll need to keep in mind when you prepare for your trip is that you’ll have to plan differently. Once you’re onsite, everything will work the same, but a DVC vacation requires a bit more strategy. Don’t worry, though. It’s easy once you know what to expect. Here’s everything you need to know about the differences between a DVC-based trip and a regular one.
1. Plan WAY ahead
The Walt Disney Company predicated the entire premise of the Disney Vacation Club on a simple philosophy. They wanted to book as many guests as possible at Disney-owned hotels. That way, Disney would wind up with most of the money that visitors spend on vacation. Other than flights and the occasional trip outside the famed Disney bubble, everything else stays with Disney.
To achieve this goal, they constructed a new resort in 1991, boringly naming it Disney Vacation Club Resort. We now know it as Disney’s Old Key West Resort. In the 25 years since its inception, the company has added a dozen more properties, all but three of which reside near Disney theme parks.
Unlike the moderate and value hotels, the DVC participants aren’t massive in scope. While thousands of DVC rooms are available every night, the situation isn’t like, say, Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside, which has more than 3,000 rooms. Most DVC properties have less than a thousand rooms, and the shared resorts (ones with regular AND DVC rooms) don’t offer full inventory for DVC booking.
2. Location matters
If you don’t plan ahead, you’ll wind up staying at either Disney’s Old Key West Resort or Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa. These are the two resorts that tend to book their inventory last. When virtually nothing else is available for DVC members, Saratoga Springs has a reputation as the last, best hope.
I should add that Saratoga Springs is a lovely property with more DVC inventory any other Walt Disney World resort. The problem is that the overwhelming majority of DVC owners would rather stay elsewhere, with the primary exceptions being older theme park tourists who love to relax (and golf) and vacationers who plan to hang out at Disney Springs more than the parks. Saratoga Springs is only a walkway away from the mecca of Disney shopping. For guests who plan to hang out at the theme parks, however, it’s the least convenient option.
Anyone who wants to use DVC points to stay close to Magic Kingdom will want to book at one of the monorail resorts. Those are Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, and Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. Similarly, travelers who love Epcot will choose Disney’s Beach Club Resort or Disney’s Boardwalk Resort. Not coincidentally, these are the five properties that sell out fastest at Walt Disney World. The same is true of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa near Disneyland. In fact, many people buy into DVC with home ownership at one of these locales so that they can book *11*months in advance. That’s how far ahead some DVC members plan ahead.
You may not like the idea of planning a vacation, but the DVC participants that do force your hand. If you don’t book early, you won’t have your choice of resorts. Instead, you’ll wind up at Old Key West or Sarasota Springs, both of which are lovely (Old Key West is actually my home resort) but inconvenient to the parks.
That’s why you should have an idea of your preferred resort(s) at least seven months and a few days ahead of time. At the seven-month window, DVC members can book at any resort. Even if you’re renting points rather than buying, this date is important. It’s when you or your surrogate can book anywhere, not just the resort where you (or they) own a membership interest.
3. Understand the points chart
The time of year when you vacation at a Disney theme park will influence the amount of points you spend. The same room at the Polynesian that “costs” 16 points on a weekday in January could be 31 points during a peak season like the week of Christmas. You have to pay nearly twice as much to stay at a busier time. Over the course of seven days, that’s a difference of 105 points! You should consider this when planning your trip.
If you’re not married to a certain time of the year like Spring Break, the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot, or your birthday/anniversary, you can save yourself a lot of points. January, September, October, and the early part of December generally cost loss on the points chart. You could even aim for May if you want to enjoy some Florida sun without blowing all your points.
Theme park tourists who are renting points might not understand what points mean in terms of dollars. Here’s what it means in terms of actual dollars. As a baseline, expect a single point to cost $15. That means a trip that requires 100 points would have a total DVC resort charge of $1,500. The good news about this calculation is that you won’t pay tax, meaning the price is the price. So, just figure out the numbers of points you need then multiply by 15. That’s your room cost for a DVC room rental.
4. Think bigger AND smaller
Image: Disney
One of the novel aspects of booking via DVC instead of a regular reservation system is that you gain unusual options. DVC resorts feature room designs that are universally larger than regular ones. You’ll gain a lot more space to stretch out and, if you’re anything like me, throw around your luggage and daily necessities.
How much extra space are we talking about? Even the smallest standard studio hotel room in the program is 339 square feet. The largest ones are at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. Those are 465 square feet, larger than many extended stay accommodations. You can also sleep either four or five people in a DVC studio, depending on your designated resort.
As an fyi, staying via the DVC program can give you more than space. If you choose to spend more points for a one-bedroom (or larger) villa, you gain an extra option. These rooms come with excellent kitchenette facilities. You’ll have the ability to cook in your room. While not everyone likes the idea of cooking while on vacation, selecting a villa can actually save thrifty travelers some money.
Meals at Disney theme parks are almost all more expensive than what you’d pay for the same food at a standard restaurant. Guests who are willing to cook in their room or, at the very least, order takeout that they can refrigerate then reheat later, will save a great deal of money. Since Disney park restaurants have extravagant food markups, the financial savings on meals can counterbalance the points total to go from a studio to a villa. Play with the math here to see if the option works for you. My family is HUGELY pro Disney Dining Plan, so we don’t employ this particular tactic, but a lot of DVC members swear by it.
5. Other considerations
Image: Disney
Booking via DVC does come with its own set of quirks. As an example, you can’t purchase an all-inclusive tickets package with your room. You’ll have to buy your park entry separately. DVC members who purchase directly through the company will receive the occasional discount offer for tickets or a season pass, but even that option is unreliable. When you use DVC, plan to frequent a site like Undercover Tourist to get the best ticket deals, too.
As mentioned above, the Disney Dining Plan operates the same way for DVC members as regular guests. The same rules apply, too. You must purchase the plan for every listed guest in your hotel room, and you must buy it for each day of your hotel stay. Similarly, you can use Magical Express since you’re staying onsite.
When you book your room, the two other important considerations involve logistics. You’ll want to consider transportation options to and from the properties. This goes hand in hand with the conversation about locality above. Some resorts offer better access to the various theme parks than others. Many of the options are straightforward. If you want to hang out at Animal Kingdom, Jambo House and Kidani, the twin Animal Kingdom Villas, are the obvious choices. A Magic Kingdom fan should choose Bay Lake Tower if they don’t want to bother with transportation at all. The DVC side of the resort is only a short walk away from the Most Magical Place on Earth.
Location isn’t the only consideration, though. How do you enjoy spending your Disney vacations? Do you love to hang out by the pool? If so, Beach Club is your best bet since its pool, Stormalong Bay, is like a mini-water park. Guests who love to play golf or tennis will have a differing opinion of Old Key West and Saratoga Springs than people visiting Walt Disney World for the rides. Those two resorts cater to an older and more outdoorsy crowd.
To a larger point, each DVC participant has its own strengths and weaknesses. You should sketch out what you want to do on vacation and then research which property is best for your needs. As long as you do this, you’ll love every second of a Disney hotel stay using DVC points. It’s the only way for theme park tourists to travel to Disney, at least according to my family.
