Best Economical DVC Resorts to Purchase: Fall 2025
At the DVC Resale Market, we understand that making a DVC purchase is an investment, and finding the most economical option is crucial. That’s why we created this blog to provide you with valuable insights each season.
Our goal is simple: evaluate and rank the most economical DVC purchases based on three key factors:
- Average Cost Per Point: We analyze the current average price per point to purchase at each resort.
- Current Dues: We take into account the current annual dues at each resort, recognizing these expenses can vary from year to year and differ between resorts.
- Years Remaining on the Deed: We take into account the years remaining on the deed at each resort, providing insight into the long-term value of your investment.
Using these factors, we calculate and rank each resort to help you identify the best value for your money when purchasing a new DVC contract. Keep in mind these rankings may fluctuate slightly each season, reflecting changes in market conditions and resort offerings.
We started this ranking in the Fall of 2014, and this blog represents our 22nd in the series: Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016,Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023 , Spring 2024, Fall 2024 and Spring 2025.
Riviera Remains Top-Ranked Resort; Significant Changes Elsewhere
Riviera Resort sits atop the Best Economical Resort to Purchase rankings for the third straight time in our semi-annual report and Copper Creek, which Riviera replaced as the No. 1-ranked resort back in the Fall 2024 report, maintained its No. 2 billing once again. Other than that, it was far from status quo for this regular data-driven DVC economic report.
Case in point is the latest study perhaps had the most sweeping changes in ranking positions ever with 14 of the subsequent 15 resort spots being different from the previous Spring 2025 report. Not to mention the Cabins at Fort Wilderness, the 18th DVC resort that recently opened, is now officially included in the rankings after the DVC Resale Market team sold the first resale contract last July for $135 per point, based on the lastest DVC Resale Average Sales Prices report for Nov. 2025.
Riviera
Another noticeable change in the current report is the pricing floor for the most affordable resorts now starts at $12 per point for the first time, with Riviera being the most affordable at $12.03 per point when factoring average price, 2026 dues cost basis and years left on the resort’s deed. In the previous report there were four resorts that cost less than $12 per point: Riviera ($11.72); Copper Creek ($11.73); Bay Lake Tower ($11.90) and Polynesian ($11.93).
So what drove the upheaval in our latest rankings report? Volatile average price per point swings in some cases, and big differences in the recently announced 2026 Annual Dues in other cases. For example, the Polynesian slipped past Bay Lake Tower as the No. 3-ranked resort partly due to having the second-lowest annual dues in the club ($8.33 per point).
Conversely, Bay Lake fell two positions to No. 5 overall in the current rankings after realizing a 9.06% increase in dues for 2026, the club’s biggest increase in dues for the coming year. Nevertheless, great proximity to Magic Kingdom’s front gates notwithstanding, Bay Lake remains a very attractive resort to own considering it still has the third-lowest dues overall in the club at $8.74 per point.
Grand Floridian, Animal Kingdom Make Big Moves in Rankings
Meanwhile, the Grand Floridian jumped two positions slightly ahead of Bay Lake into the No. 4 spot, courtesy of having the lowest dues in the club at $8.31 per point after a reasonable 4.85% increase from 2025. In addition to Bay Lake and Grand Floridian, two other resorts made similar big moves.
For instance, Animal Kingdom jumped two spots to No. 7 overall, driven two-fold by a $3 drop in average price and seeing just a modest 5.32% increase in 2026 dues. On the other hand, Aulani slipped back a spot to No. 8 mostly due to having the second-highest increase in 2026 dues (8.25%).
The other biggest mover among the resorts – in the opposite direction — was Grand Californian, which fell four spots to No. 16 overall. Always known for being in the camp with the lowest dues historically, Grand Cal ad the fourth highest dues increase in the club for 2026, going up 8.22% to $9.52 for the year.
Another factor that certainly led to the Grand Californian’s diminished ranking power was a huge increase in average price per point, going from $233 in the spring to $254 this November. Keep in mind, however, the average price for this ultra-luxe resort is still down approximately 5% from what is believe to be an all-time high average price of $265 per point last September.
DVC Resort Economical Rankings: Fall 2025
The chart below provides a long-term economic ranking of each Disney Vacation Club resorts. The long-term value takes into consideration the resale price at a point in time (this report uses May 2025), annual dues, and the years remaining on the deed to ultimately get to an estimated price per point per year. This ranking may provide directional information in choosing a resort to own, especially for those members or potential new members who are less concerned about Home Resort priority and more focused on economic savings.
| Resort | Avg. Cost Per Pt. | Years Left | Cost Per Pt. Per Year from Price | 2026 Dues | Total Cost Per Pt. Per Year | Rank: Fall 2025 | Rank: Spring 2025 | Rank Change |
| Riviera *** | $113 | 44 | $2.57 | $9.46 | $12.03 | 1 | 1 | — |
| Copper Creek | $139 | 42 | $3.31 | $9.02 | $12.33 | 2 | 2 | — |
| Polynesian | $163 | 40 | $4.08 | $8.33 | $12.41 | 3 | 4 | +1 |
| Grand Floridian | $161 | 38 | $4.24 | $8.31 | $12.55 | 4 | 6 | +2 |
| Bay Lake Tower | $131 | 34 | $3.85 | $8.74 | $12.59 | 5 | 3 | -2 |
| Saratoga Springs | $97 | 28 | $3.46 | $8.54 | $12.65 | 6 | 5 | -1 |
| Animal Kingdom | $103 | 31 | $3.32 | $10.16 | $13.48 | 7 | 9 | +2 |
| Aulani * | $92 | 36 | $2.56 | $10.96 | $13.52 | 8 | 7 | -1 |
| Disneyland Hotel *** | $152 | 48 | $3.17 | $10.54 | $13.71 | 9 | 8 | -1 |
| Old Key West (Extended) | $104 | 31 | $3.35 | $11.21 | $14.56 | 10 | 10 | — |
| Cabins at Fort Wilderness *** | $135 | 49 | $2.76 | $12.28 | $15.04 | 11 | NA | NA |
| Boulder Ridge | $101 | 16 | $6.31 | $9.77 | $16.08 | 12 | 11 | -1 |
| Boardwalk | $114 | 16 | $7.13 | $9.67 | $16.80 | 13 | 14 | +1 |
| Old Key West | $90 | 16 | $5.63 | $11.21 | $16.84 | 14 | 13 | -1 |
| Hilton Head | $64 | 16 | $4.00 | $12.86 | $16.86 | 15 | 15 | — |
| Grand Californian | $254 | 34 | $7.47 | $9.52 | $16.99 | 16 | 12 | -4 |
| Vero Beach** | $48 | 16 | $3.00 | $14.89 | $17.89 | 17 | 16 | -1 |
| Beach Club | $136 | 16 | $8.50 | $9.81 | $18.31 | 18 | 17 | -1 |
| Notes: | ||||||||
| * Avg. cost per point based on DVC Resale Average Sales Prices for Nov. 2025 | ||||||||
| * Aulani contracts that originated pre-July 6, 2011 have 2026 annual dues of $8.24/point | ||||||||
| ** Vero contracts that originated pre-January 1, 1996 have 2026 annual dues of $11.69/point | ||||||||
| *** Points purchased via resale at Riviera Resort & Villa, Villas at Disneyland Hotel and Cabins at Fort Wilderness can only be used for stays at their Home Resort or within the Interval International network | ||||||||
Additionally, this yearly cost per point metric from the chart above can be used to help determine what a DVC Member theoretically pays for a Disney Vacation Club Villa. For example, let’s say you purchased a Polynesian contract and were going to stay at the Polynesian in a deluxe studio (standard view) for one night on a weekday during the popular summer timeframe of June 11-Aug. 31, or Travel Period 4, when looking at the respective DVC Point Charts. The number of points needed for that one night is 20, and the estimated cost per point per year according to the above chart is $12.41. So multiply the number of points needed by the cost per point and the result is 20 x $12.41 or $249/night. For those not using points, the room’s retail price in the same summer months is typically in excess of $800/night plus taxes.
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