Here’s the thing – one trip to Disney World is never enough. David and I are living proof of that. Our friends always groan, and say ‘you’re going to Disney World AGAIN?!’. But the truth is, there really isn’t any other place on earth that provides the environment for magical, funny, or wholesome memories for any age group like Disney does. So, we keep going, and keep on having a grand ol’ time. Once you go, you understand. You get bit with the magic bug, and you never fully recover.
One thing that almost anyone who has been to Disney will remember seeing in the parks, is kiosks with signs touting ‘Disney’s Best Kept Secret’. That not-so-well-kept secret is the Disney Vacation Club, a timeshare system based on points that will guarantee you magical vacations for a lifetime (or 50 years – whichever comes first.)
Considering buying into the Disney Vacation Club can be overwhelming. Today, we’re trying to break it down for you, the way we like – simply. We’re going to show you if it would be a good fit for you, and your family, as well as how to buy into the Disney Vacation Club ECONOMICALLY (you know I’m all about those savings!).
1. How Often Do You Go?
You can use your DVC points in a variety of ways, but the most cost effective way is to use them at a DVC Resort. The question you need to ask yourself, when trying to figure out if DVC is a good fit for you, is how often am I going to go to stay at a DVC Resort? If you plan on going to Disneyland, Disney World, or Aulani at least once every other year (or more), DVC is probably a good fit for your family. The current DVC resorts are as follows:
Disney’s Old Key West
Disney’s Aulani
Disney’s Saratoga Springs
Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
Disney’s Bay Lake Tower
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas
Disney’s Beach Club Villas
Disney’s Boardwalk Villas
Disney’s Saratoga Springs
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort Villas
Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Villas
Disney’s Grand Californian Villas
Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort
Disney’s Vero Beach Resort
2. Where Do You Stay?
The second question you need to ask yourself, when considering buying into the Disney Vacation Club, is what kind of accommodations do you prefer when you travel to Disney? If you like to go bare minimum-couch surfing at a vacation rental, DVC might not be the best fit. If, like David and I, you think that the Deluxe Resorts of Walt Disney World genuinely add to the overall experience of the trip, and help build onto the memories of your vacation, you should seriously consider DVC.
3. How Do You Plan?
In our opinion, DVC members need to be able to plan ahead – ideally they should be okay with planning their vacation 7-11 months in advance. In our opinion, you SHOULD be planning any Disney trip this far in advance anyways, so that you can have a plan in place to get the dining reservations you want when the six month mark hits (but that’s just our opinion).
How To Make DVC Make Sense Financially?
We know that’s the one question on everyone’s mind. If it wasn’t, everyone would be a DVC member. Let me tell you the same advice that my father told me, after buying several timeshares in Hawaii – the only way to ever make buying a timeshare make financial sense is to buy it on resale. Buying from resale means you buy a contract from someone that already owns it, at a reduced price, instead of buying it from Disney directly. People sell their Disney Vacation Club property for a myriad of different reasons – that’s where the DVC Resale Market comes in, to act as a third party and broker the deal.
In our opinion, the only way to buy DVC, and get the best deal for your family (and the years of magical memories to come), is to buy on the resale market. We recommend ALWAYS using our friends at DVC Resale Market. There are a lot of DVC resale places you could use, but none that have the experience, or commitment to customer service that DVC Resale Market has. The company is lead by people that actually used to work for Disney, so you can be rest assured you’re getting outstanding service, but paying a fraction of the price.
We hope we’ve helped untangle the mystery surrounding Disney’s ‘best kept secret today’, and made the thought of buying DVC a little easier! We know you won’t go wrong buying into the Disney Vacation Club, especially if you use our friends over at DVC Resale Market!