How to Choose a DVC Home Resort
A DVC "Home Resort" selection is an essential first step in determining how you will use your DVC membership. The designation of "Home Resort" is the location where your DVC timeshare is contractually located. The Home Resort determines the initial purchase price and the annual maintenance cost the owners must pay to get their yearly vacation points from Disney. It also determines the owner's home resort reservation priority.
Being a member at a Home Resort doesn't mean that you can only stay at this location, but it does determine your DVC Membership's upfront cost and your annual dues to maintain the property. The initial cost of membership at one of the 15 Home Resorts will range from $80-$300 per point, and the yearly maintenance cost can range from $7-$12/point. So why wouldn't I always purchase the lowest-priced resort? There are many reasons owners prefer certain DVC Home Resorts, even if they are not the lowest cost. This chapter gives you some insight into some of the factors to consider.
How Important Is Home Resort Priority?
After you purchase a DVC contract, Disney will put vacation points into your account annually. That's what you get in return for being a DVC Member. There are many uses for these points, but the most prominent use is to convert them to reservations at one of the DVC resorts. All DVC reservations are made on a first-come, first-serve basis. However, resort reservation priority at the home location allows owners to make reservations at that resort before anyone else, at 11-months before check-in. This priority continues for these owners until 7-months before check-in. At that time, the reservations open up for all DVC membership regardless of the Home Resort designation.
The 11-month priority almost guarantees that all accommodations at your Home Resort will be available for booking. Owners must act early in the reservation priority period.
Like any hotel, room availability will be different for the many accommodations at a resort. To help make your decision, the DVC Field Guide provides an availability index so you can see how likely it is to get a reservation at any DVC resort, at any of the 141 accommodations categories, and at any time of the year. This data will give you an idea of how tight the reservation will be when it's time to book. Below is a roll-up of days available by DVC resort at different weeks from your potential reservation. Of course, looking at individual accommodations is the best way to look at the data, but it does give you a sense of how tight the reservations at a resort will be throughout the year. (Click to see Availability Tables for each of the 141 DVC Accommodation) The highest rating is 7, meaning there were seven days of a vacancy during the week for every resort's accommodation. A score lower than seven indicates how many consecutive days were available to book during an average week. The snapshot is taken for every week of the year at five intervals: 11-months (Home Resort privilege), 7-months, 5-months, 3-months, and finally 1-month from check-in.
For the most part, Home Resort owners should expect that 11-months before their vacation, they will be able to book an entire week at their Home Resort for almost any accommodation. There are only a few exceptions.
When the seven-month window opens, you can see how the availability has tightened as owners have used their priority to book a reservation at their Home Resort. For some DVC members, the 11-month window is not a factor in their Home Resort decision. They simply can't make a reservation that far in advance, so the advantage of priority booking at any Home Resort may not be a factor. The decision is strictly economic, and the choice comes down to the best value for those prospective owners.
For guests who can book a reservation at eleven months out, the question becomes, where do you book? A response you'll hear often is "buying a contract at a location where you don't mind staying." Typically, guests will book their Home Resort at eleven months to secure a reservation and then modify it at seven months to reserve a room at another resort that they may want. If nothing is available during that time, then the owner is ok with keeping the Home Resort reservation or being put on a waitlist to get what they want. This does work. I've heard from several DVC owners who have never stayed one night at their Home Resort and always found an alternative.
Home Resort-Analyzing Which One Is Best For You
The remainder of the article is devoted to helping you understand the advantages and disadvantages of choosing a home resort. The remaining points compare the up-front cost, the annual maintenance cost, and the time left on Home Resort contracts.
Secondary factors may also impact your decision, such as room size and inventory, transportation to/from the resort, and the location of the resort. These may or may not come into play because even though you own membership at a particular Home Resort, you aren't locked into only staying there. Finally, we've touched on it briefly already, but availability may also be a factor in deciding where to buy a membership.
Home Resort-Differences In Initial Cost
A DVC contract is made up of two costs. There is a one-time charge for membership and maintenance costs assessed every year to pay for the operating expenses, taxes, and property upkeep. These costs are specific to your Home Resort location. By far, the highest one-time fee an owner will pay will be the initial cost to get a membership. As one can see, there is a significant difference between the cost per point when comparing resorts across the DVC network. To the right, you can see differences between resort contracts bought either directly from Disney or through a reseller.
The range in resort contracts can vary by as much as $200/point. For example: Using a DVC contract of 150 points, a $200/point cost differential will be $30,000.
Home Resort-Direct vs. Resale Initial Cost (Click for current prices)
There are significant differences in initial cost/point buying a contract from Disney direct or purchasing through the resale market. However, restrictions on using points bought on the resale market compared to buying them directly from Disney need to be added to the evaluation. There are also discounts and membership perks that may not be available to owners who only have resale contracts.
Buying a DVC Membership requires a substantial one-time cost. The price is determined based on the number of points and the Home Resort selection. This table is based on a 150 point contract.
Home Resort-Differences In Annual Dues
Annual dues (maintenance fees) are the assessment that club members pay for annual operating expenses, ad valorem taxes, and capital reserve additions. These are used for future repairs and upgrades, such as roof replacements and room refurbishments. The cost/point is calculated by taking these costs for the Home Resort and dividing it by all the club members' points.
All owners at a resort pay the same annual dues regardless of where they bought the contract. You can expect your yearly dues to increase every year you own the contract as expenses to maintain the property increase. These dues have increased at an average rate of 3-5% each year in the past.
For example, in 1996, the Boardwalk Villas had annual dues of $3.70/point. For 2022, the dues have increased to $8.08/point. If we look into the future in 2042, when the contract ends, guests will be paying over $17.00/point if dues go up 4% each year.
Once a DVC Member, your contract requires an annual commitment of annual dues. Historically, these costs have increased in the 3-5% range each year.
Home Resort-Differences In Contract Expiration Dates
Another consideration in purchasing a DVC contract is the number of years remaining on the agreements. Home Resort contracts don't go on forever. All have end dates. After the contract end date, no DVC points or benefits are available to owners at that resort. If you buy a DVC membership at Beach Club, you get vacation points until January 31, 2042. If you buy a contract at the newest resort, Riviera, the contract will continue until January 1, 2069. A Riviera contract will have over twice as many points available to the owner as Beach Club one, but currently, a Beach Club contract is priced higher.
Current DVC contracts last for 50 years. However, some older Home Resort contracts have been around for a while and will end as early as January 31, 2042. These resorts are Beach Club, Boardwalk, Boulder Ridge, Hilton Head, Old Key West, and Vero Beach. Old Key West contracts have two expiration dates-2042 and 2057.
The remaining years left on a contract isn't a real driving factor in DVC Home Resort choice. At least from a financial perspective. Beach Club and Boardwalk still maintain higher resale values than Saratoga Springs and Animal Kingdom, even though there are 12+ more years on these contracts. Currently, other factors are causing these prices to remain higher. At some point, as contracts get closer to end dates, the price will go down. There simply won't be enough vacation points left to justify a higher value.
DVC contracts have differing contract lives. This is determined by the Home Resort choice. The earliest a contract will end is 2042.
Home Resort-Combining Initial Cost, Annual Dues, And Expiration Dates
Some Home Resorts may have a low initial cost but high annual dues. How do you factor both of these into an overall cost to compare? A popular and straightforward index will help understand the sum of the DVC cost components. This simple calculation compares ownership cost across all the Home Resorts annually, considering the initial fee, yearly dues, and years left on the contract.
First, take the initial cost and divide it by the years remaining on the contract. This will convert the initial value into a cost/year. Secondly, add the cost of annual dues, which gives a comparative cost of yearly ownership.
For example, a Home Resort with an initial cost of $180/point and 30 years on the contract has an annual expense of $6.00. If the annual dues were $7.00, then the average cost for Home Resort ownership will be $13.00. Looking at the chart below, one should consider purchasing Copper Creek, Saratoga Springs, or Polynesian. At the same time, the index says that Beach Club, Vero Beach, and Boardwalk are less financially desirable locations. The analysis doesn't consider that the initial cost is paid in today's dollars, and the annual dues will go up over time. Still, it does give you a way to put both the comparative cost of initial ownership and annual dues together.
Home Resort-Resale
Even Disney Vacation Club timeshares may have to be sold from time. Families change, interests waiver, economic situations become desperate. Disney timeshares hold their value very well. The DVC Guide Resale Index is a snapshot of DVC listings at some of the most significant resellers. Using the information gathered over the last three years, we can spot trends in resales. Overall the market is holding up reasonably well. Most DVC properties over the last two years have gained in property value. As we approach the 2042 DVC contract closing date, the resorts with this date should see resale prices start to go down. The remaining years won't support the same rate as we currently see on these properties.
Home Resort-Availability
The popularity at certain times of the year can be a factor in deciding which Home Resort to choose. For example, if you want a Beach Club or Boardwalk reservation during Food and Wine Festival, you might need to be an owner at one of these locations. At 7-months, these rooms are usually taken. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's are hard weeks to get a 7-month reservation for all Walt Disney World resorts. This could change, a few years ago, summer was hard to get booked, but it now has more vacancies. The DVC Field Guide has details about every DVC accommodation for every week of the year. This information should be valuable to members and potential members to see what accommodations might be available for any week of the year. Here's the Walt Disney World DVC accommodation availability roll-up for the last three years.
We’ve tracked the average room vacancy rate over the last three-plus years. The table shows the average consecutive days across all DVC resorts that are available to book at various times from the start of your vacation by week. A 7 means that all days are available. The higher the number, the better chance a room will be open.
