Is the Disney Vacation Club Right for You?
We have recently had this discussion as a couple and a family about is the Disney Vacation Club right for us? The decision for us was Yes, but for many families it may not make sense to join the Disney Vacation Club. We didn’t decide overnight to join as it took a few months for us to make this big decision. Here is why we decided to join the Disney Vacation Club and why it was right for our family.
Why the Disney Vacation Club?
We didn’t make this decision overnight and it actually took us months if not years to join. When we went on vacation back in October, we had made the decision on the way down that we would like to do a DVC Tour and learn more about the Disney Vacation Club. It was something that Jason and I had talked about for years in learning more about it, but we knew there was no way we could afford it then. We were staying off-site using our other timeshare points that we traded to stay at the Holiday Inn Vacation Club location in Davenport, Florida. This was a nice location as it was a 2 bedroom with 2 bathrooms and a full kitchen. But we honestly didn’t have the best experience there as it was less than magical for us the very first night. This was another reason we really wanted to do the DVC Tour, so we wouldn’t have to use our points here again in the future. This really made us want to be able to stay on-site and be able to take advantage of the features you get when staying at a Disney resort. No more trading points for locations we didn’t really want to stay in again for our Disney vacations.
The DVC Tour
When we went to Epcot that Sunday, we really wanted to do a tour with the Disney Vacation Club. We talked to an amazing DVC Guide at Epcot over near America and scheduled our tour for that Monday. We were going to be at Animal Kingdom the very next day so we decided that we would have DVC pick us up from the park and take us over to Saratoga Springs. Saratoga Springs is where the DVC Tour was being held and we could have our many questions answered. We met with our guide who talked all about the Disney Vacation Club and answered all the crazy questions we had. We wanted the low down on the price of the club and how many points they recommended for us to get. We thought originally we would get the minimum through Disney which happens to be 75 points then. We decided on another amount later but we will get to that later on in the post. We then got to tour a few of what the DVC Rooms looked like such as Copper Creek Villas & Cabins, Aulani (in Hawaii) and the Polynesian. We learned about the value of the points and the value you get when you purchase direct through Disney or resale. After our tour, they gave us each 3 Fastpasses into our MDE (My Disney Experience) App and we were treated to some ice cream. Then we were whisked away back to Animal Kingdom for a bit before it started to storm and we left the park.
Direct vs Resale
I had joined a few Disney Vacation Club groups on Facebook and read everything that they were writing. I learned a bunch of new things and we even looked and considered purchasing a resale contract. But when we did the tour we learned the value of purchasing direct vs resale and we decided to purchase direct at first. We wanted to be able to take advantage of getting several things such as the “Blue” DVC Membership Card so that we could have the chance to do a Moonlight Magic event or even get the discounts on dining and so on. Plus if we purchased direct, we would be able to take advantage of the DVC Member Lounge in Epcot and a few other things we wanted. Buying resale is another great way to be able to save on your vacations in the long run and stay on site as a family. We looked at several different contracts but decided to start out buying direct from Disney and if we wanted to add on more points later on, we’d consider buying resale. There is no right or wrong answer for which way to go is right for you, you’d have to check into it to see if it’s right for you and your family.
How Many Points?
I had said before that we looked into purchasing the minimum from Disney which happens to be 75 points. But after we did some looking at where we’d want to stay each trip and so forth, we knew that 75 would not be enough. So in January we made the decision to join the Disney Vacation Club as a family. We originally went with 100 points and after talking to a new vacation guide (the one we did the tour with was no longer there) we decided to do that. But after signing the paperwork and sending it back in, we knew that 100 points would not be enough. So we called Nick our guide and told him that we wanted to bump up the amount of points to 130. He told us no problem, we will get the new paperwork on out to you this week to sign. It was so nice to have a guide that helped us out in making this big decision. We would like to add more points on in the future, but for now we will stick with 130 points each year.
Where Can You Stay?
This is another question that we had answered when we did the tour back in October. We wanted to know where we could stay and how many points it would take. We found out that there are different point values depending on when you like to vacation. So this was another leading factor in how many points we needed. Since we first initiated our interest in the Disney Vacation Club back in October, we were granted with an additional 130 points for this year that we could use. Because of this we decided to look at when we could go on vacation as a family. But you are able to stay in any Disney Vacation Club resort including Vero Beach, Hilton Head Island and Aulani with our points. The other resorts you can choose from are Copper Creek Villas & Cabin (our home resort), Polynesian Villas & Bungalows, Saratoga Springs, Bay Lake Tower, Villas at Grand Floridian, Beach Club Villas, Boardwalk Villas, Old Key West, Boulder Ridge Villas, Animal Kingdom Lodge – Kidani Village & Jambo House, and The Grand Californian (Disneyland).
What is a Home Resort?
A home resort is where you can book your vacation 11 months before your vacation. Since our home resort is Copper Creek Villas & Cabins, we have the opportunity to book our vacation 11 months out. If you don’t want to stay in your home resort on your next vacation, then you can book your vacation 7 months out. This is what we did for our trip in June and we can’t wait either. However, we are staying at Copper Creek in September and can’t wait for that vacation. We will be staying in a studio since it’s just the 3 of us in September.
When is our Next Trip?
We are going on vacation in June with my mom to Walt Disney World. We are staying 2 nights at the Polynesian Villas & Bungalows and 5 nights at Bay Lake Tower. Olivia has been wanting to stay at the Poly for as long as I can remember and I have as well. And Bay Lake Tower has been a dream of mine for years now. One thing that I love about being a Disney Vacation Club Member already is that I can stay at many of the resorts that we would not have stayed at before. We can’t wait to go home and enjoy each of our vacations.
Joining the Disney Vacation Club has always been a dream of mine and since I work full-time now it’s something that we could make come true. While there are annual dues every year, you are able to pay them by the month which helps out in the long run. Plus we felt that this was a great investment for us to join in. It’s not like any other timeshare and yes we do still have our other one in the mountains in case we want to use it. But for now we will be vacationing at Disney and relaxing on each trip.