DVC Buyers Guide: Which Resort and How Many Points

Check out our previous post discussing the factors in selecting direct vs. resale contracts. 

In this guide I will discuss how to choose the resort you’d like to purchase your Disney Vacation Club (DVC) contract at, also known as your home resort. As much as I’d like to tackle each of these questions separately, they are very closely related – primarily because the point charts vary greatly from resort to resort. The first point I will emphasize in this guide is a mantra you’ll see in every other DVC guide on this, “buy where you want to stay.” Even though you can trade into other resorts, it has been very hard in the post pandemic era. DVC members can book their home resort 11 months before a trip and can trade into another resort at 7 months. During busy times of year it’s not uncommon for all Walt Disney World (WDW) resorts to be fully booked at the 7 month window. Grand Californian is always fully booked at 7 months, as is Vero Beach during turtle hatching season. So, starting with the “book where you want to stay philosophy,” the key factors to consider when deciding these questions are:

• Which DVC destination are you after?
• What are you after in a resort?
• What room type do you want?
• What is the resort’s expiration year?
• Does the resort have special restrictions (a.k.a. is it the Riviera Resort)?
• How often will you be going?
• What works for your budget?

Which DVC destination are you after?

DVC has five main destinations: Aulani in Hawaii, Disneyland, Vero Beach (on the Florida coast), Hilton Head island in South Carolina, and Walt Disney World. If you are after Hawaii, Vero (outside of turtle season), or Hilton Head, it doesn’t matter much where you buy as they are all relatively easy to trade into. However, if your main trip destination will be Disneyland or Disney World I’d strongly recommend picking a resort at that locale.

What are you after in a resort?

For this question I’m focusing solely on the Disney World resorts as it’s currently the only destination with multiple options. Disneyland will soon have multiple options, but the latter questions (like price) are most likely to be the differentiators there. For Disney World resorts there are a few things to think about:

Theme

While all the DVC resorts have a relatively high class theme, there is a distinctly different feel to each resort. From the old south feel of the Grand Floridian, to the savannah of Animal Kingdom Lodge, to the mid-century Atlantic shore feel of Boardwalk – each hotel has its own look and feel. If you’re unfamiliar with the options, we have reviews on a few in our resort section, check out Disney’s site, or another third party site.

Park Access

DVC boasts several resorts with the best park access on WDW property. The below chart outlines ways that several resorts let you access Diseny’s parks without having to ride a bus. As useful as the buses are, they just don’t compare to the Skyliner, monorail, boat, or just walking. If you want to quickly get back and forth between a park and your room, these resorts should be high on your list. Some even have access to the International Gateway, a back entrance to Epcot in-between England and France. Although not parks, a few resorts also have easy access to Disney Springs – something shoppers and diners may greatly appreciate. Lastly, you’ll notice that there is no special access from Animal Kingdom Lodge to Animal Kingdom. While the resort and park are near each other, you do need to take a bus between them.

• Magic Kingdom
  • Walk – Bay Lake Tower, Grand Floridian
  • Monorail – Bay Lake Tower, Grand Floridian, Polynesian
  • Boat – Bay Lake Tower, Grand Floridian, Polynesian, Wilderness Lodge
• Epcot
  • Walk (International Gateway) – Beach Club, Boardwalk
  • Boat (International Gateway) – Beach Club, Boardwalk
  • Skyliner (International Gateway) – Riviera
  • Monorail – Bay Lake Tower, Grand Floridian, Polynesian
• Hollywood Studios
  • Walk – Beach Club, Boardwalk
  • Boat – Beach Club, Boardwalk
  • Skyliner – Riviera
• Disney Springs
  • Walk – Saratoga Springs
  • Boat – Saratoga Springs, Old Key West

Dining

While all DVC resorts have at least one quick service and one sit down restaurant, they do vary in their menu options and quality. Just as important as what is available at the resort is what is easily accessible. The resorts in the Magic Kingdom resort area offer easy access to restaurants at all the other Magic Kingdom resorts. Similarly, the Epcot area and Skyliner resorts have easy access to each other’s offerings. And of course, those resorts with Disney Springs access will find some of the best restaurants on property right around the corner. Also lumped in with restaurants are bars and lounges, many of which are attached to restaurants. Some resorts have dedicated bar space like Trader Sam’s at the Polynesian, the Enchanted Rose at the Grand Floridian, or Geyser Point at Wilderness Lodge.

Additional Amenities

This is a broad category, but many of the resorts have unique aspects with no direct comparison to other resorts.The most prominent of these is the savannah at Animal Kingdom Lodge. While we’ve never stayed there, it’s hard to imagine much compared to waking up to a giraffe outside your window! Below I have a list of unique features at each of the resorts. I don’t address pools, splash pads, slides, hot tubs, or fitness centers because while they do vary they’re relatively comparable.

• Grand Floridian – Spa, Bippity Boppity Boutique (currently closed), boat rentals, Magic Kingdom fireworks viewing
• Bay Lake Tower – Magic Kingdom  fireworks viewing, Top of the World Lounge (Direct Members only), boat rentals
• Polynesian – Dole Whip stand, boat rentals, Magic Kingdom fireworks viewing
• Saratoga Springs – Spa
• Boardwalk – Boardwalk food and entertainment area
• Beach Club – Expanded pool area including a sand bottom pool and lazy river
• Animal Kingdom Lodge –  Savannah, special savannah tours
• Riviera – Lawn games such as corn hole and bocci, Epcot fireworks viewings (from some rooms/Topolino’s)

What room type do you want?

DVC has a few standard room types available at most resorts: Deluxe Studio, One Bedroom, Two Bedroom, and Grand Villas (three bedrooms). But, there can be quite a lot of variance from resort to resort. The most obvious of these is size. A Deluxe Studio at the Polynesian has almost 30% more square footage than the same room type at Bay Lake Tower. Aside from size, units have been built with different floor plans and accommodations over the years. Key features to look at when comparing the room types beyond size are guest capacity (some studios and one bedrooms can hold four, others five), sleeping accommodations (some have pull out sofas, while others have the more comfortable Murphy beds), and some have multiple bathrooms. Villas in particular are unique experiences per resort, ranging from treehouses at Saratoga to cabins at Copper Creek and Bungalows at the Polynesian. One last note is that there are a few other room types that can only be found at certain resorts:

• Animal Kingdom Lodge – Concierge level rooms and Value Studios, which can be had for a lower than usual point amounts
• Riviera – Tower Studios, which are an extremely compact studio that sleeps only two in a murphy bed
• Grand Floridian – Resort Studios, created from converted hotel rooms featuring two full beds and lacking a kitchenette (though they still have a microwave and beverage cooler)
• Polynesian – The Poly doesn’t have any special room types, but is unique in the room types it doesn’t have; only has studios and bungalows, with no one or two bedrooms.

What is the resort’s expiration year?

One of the key differences between DVC and other timeshares is that all DVC contracts have an expiration date. This expiration date is 50 years from the inception of the resort. What happens when that date comes up? Your contract expires and you no longer have a DVC membership. There’s a great deal of speculation from members that Disney will offer some sort of renewal or conversion deal, but that’s just speculation. Aside from this meaning you won’t have a DVC membership anymore, it also means that the value of contracts are likely to sharply decline as their expiration date approaches. While most don’t buy DVC with the intention to sell it, the option to do so to recoup your upfront payment is a major benefit. The first round of expirations will occur in 2042 for Vero Beach, Hilton Head, some of Old Key West, Boulder Ridge, Boardwalk, and Beach Club. The shorter deed length also factors into any savings calculations. While DVC is undoubtedly a good deal compared to paying cash, the value proposition decreases considerably with less years. While many love these resorts and are unphased by the prospect that they have a short contract with only 20 years left, it’s important to understand before you purchase one.

Does the resort have special restrictions (a.k.a. is it the Riviera)?

With the introduction of the Riviera Resort, special restrictions were added for trading into and out of it. These restrictions apply to resale owners, with resale owners at Riviera being unable to trade into any other DVC resort. Likewise, resale owners at other resorts are unable to trade into Riviera. This has minimal impact if buying a non-Riviera contract but has a huge impact for those wanting to own at Riviera. For a resale buyer, you need to be certain the Riviera resort is the only one you will be staying at. For a direct buyer, you should understand that the resale value of your contract will be lower than most DVC resale contracts.

When will you typically be going?

We covered earlier that if you are going less than once every three years, DVC won’t be for you. But after that you may be going every year, every other, or once every three. Because of the banking and borrowing rules DVC has, a DVC owner can use the current years, previous years, and the next years points. This allows for the purchase of half or one-third as many points if you only go every other or every third year. This strategy has some risks after the pandemic, where we saw the rules temporarily changed to limit borrowing, but it has been reliable for 30 of the 32 years DVC has been around.

How often will you be going?

Point charts vary by “season,” with peak times costing many more points than slow times. Knowing roughly when you will be making your trip in the year lets you buy the points you need for that travel period. Disney currently has seven travel periods (which can change as they used to only have five) and the point cost in period seven is almost double that of period one. Knowing which period(s) you’re most likely to travel during has a huge impact on how many points you need to buy.

What works for your budget?

This blog is not official financial advice – every buyer needs to look at their own finances – but probably the most important piece of your DVC decision is what your budget is. An upcoming article will dive deeper into the finances of DVC, but at purchase time you’ll be putting up tens of thousands of dollars for the initial purchase. It’s generally advised that this be paid in cash, but financing is an option. The challenge with financing is that the interest payments often eat up a large chunk of the savings that DVC provides. Either way, there’s probably no bigger factor in determining how much DVC to buy than what you can afford.

Example

Everything above can feel a bit overwhelming, but let’s walk through a few examples and you will see it’s not too bad! For a real world example, I’ll start with our first purchase:

1. First off, park proximity was one of my top priorities. We wanted a home resort that offered something other than buses as transportation. The Wilderness Lodge resorts didn’t make the cut since they only had this for one park instead of two. This narrowed the list down to 
   • Polynesian
   • Grand Floridian
   • Bay Lake Tower
   • Beach Club
   • Boardwalk
   • Riviera
2. We bought our first contract in 2021. For me, this took the 2042 contract expiration resorts off the table. Only getting 21 years out of the purchase didn’t make sense to me and I felt it would quickly hurt the resale value if we found we needed to sell. This left the list at:
   • Polynesian
   • Grand Floridian
   • Bay Lake Tower
   • Riviera
3. We’d decided that our family was fine with studios – that’s essentially what we were getting when staying with cash at WDW. Of the three resorts on my list Bay Lake is known for having small studios, while the other three are known for having big studios with extra bathrooms. As a result, I took Bay Lake off the list.
   • Polynesian
   • Grand Floridian
   • Riviera
4. My family was going to be planning our trips during travel period six. This meant that we would need about 200 points for any of the three resorts we had narrowed it down to. Price wise, 200 points resale was about two-thirds the cost of direct at the time. That difference was too much to justify buying Direct and the restrictions meant we didn’t want to buy Riviera resale, so we were down to just two:
   • Polynesian
   • Grand Floridian
5. The final decision was just about which of the two we liked better. Visiting these places on previous trips, the Grand Flo was nice but had not really felt inviting. The Poly, however, always felt magical and made us wish we could stay there some day (though we believed we never would). So that sealed our decision and our family bought 200 points, resale, at the Polynesian Villas and Bungalows!

In my next article I will discuss picking your use year, and then in my final piece of the DVC buyer’s guide, I will break down the financials – how to calculate savings, and delve a little bit into the financing question.

— Dave