Avoid These Common Mistakes of New DVC Owners

So, you’ve made the great decision to join the Disney Vacation Club. You’re ready to get started with your membership, but you probably have a nagging concern in the back of your mind. You don’t want to make any huge errors right at the start. Here are common mistakes new DVC owners make and tips on how to avoid them.

You Waste Too Many Points

Let’s start with the massive mistake I made. When you’re new to the DVC program, you’re overflowing with excitement and cannot wait to make your first Disney visit. If you’re anything like me, you’ll probably overdo it.

My mistake was that I immediately Borrowed points from the next Use Year. That decision worked phenomenally well during my first visit, as I booked an eight-night visit at Disney’s Old Key West Resort. We had a wonderful time, and it reinforced the wisdom of purchasing a DVC contract.

Here’s the problem with the strategy. As soon as I returned from the Disney bubble, I was ready to go back. This wasn’t just something that happened to me. It’s a known behavior that Disney encourages. During a cash Disney Resort stay, you may even receive a bounce-back offer. Your resort will offer you up to 35 percent savings if you book immediately afterward. That’s how much Disney fans hate returning to the real world once our vacations end.

Sadly, when you borrow points like I recklessly did, you cannot go back for a while. That’s because you’ve already burned through part/all of the next Use Year’s DVC Points. 

I’d strongly encourage you to take a small trip to Disney at first. Try to save some of your points this Use Year to Bank for the following one. By adopting this measured approach, you’ll have a better vacation next time as well as a clearer understanding of which hotels you prefer.

Another option is to book a split stay. Use some/all of your points during the first trip. Then, if you want to stay longer or return to Disney quickly, you can rent points from, DVC Rental Store.

You Forget to Pay Annual Dues

Once a year, DVC requires all its members to pay a modest fee to ensure that the hotels remain up to Disney’s lofty standards. You’ll read lots of terms describing the same thing, but we call them annual dues here.

Presuming that you pay them annually rather than monthly, DVC expects you to pay your annual dues in mid-January each year. Should you not pay your dues by the deadline, Disney will freeze your hotel bookings. The same statement applies to monthly annual dues. Basically, you must be current with your membership to use your DVC Points.

Long-time DVC members rarely have a problem remembering this. But I’ve heard more than one rookie say they didn’t find out until it was nearly time to take their trip. 

None of this is a problem, and DVC will happily work with you to bring your membership up to date. It’s just something to remember to avoid a surprise during your hotel stay.

You Wait Too Late to Book

Here’s one that legitimately took me five years to learn. I’m not a planner by nature, which burned me when I would make hotel plans later than most. 

The rules of DVC membership allow owners to book a reservation up to 11 months before their visit to their home resort. At other DVC properties, you can book up to seven months in advance. 

I used to work in the hospitality industry for one of the largest hotel chains. When booking reservations, I could reserve any room for that weekend except during Mardi Gras and Christmas. That’s a slight exaggeration, but not as much as you think. 

Few hotels, even in tourist areas, operate above 90 percent occupancy rates. Disney does, and the DVC program partially explains why. It allots some of its inventory to DVC members.

At some resorts, that inventory lasts longer than at others. During the seven-month window, your success in booking a hotel depends on the Travel Period and the property itself. Some DVC resorts, like the ones with Monorail stations, book more quickly. Similarly, everything at Disneyland Resort goes fast.

So, you should train yourself to plan your vacation eight months early. When you’re booking somewhere other than your home resort, you should be ready literally the minute your seven-month window opens. Also, I’d strongly encourage you to read the rules for Wait Lists. They will make your dreams come true when the perfect one comes through.

Overall, all these mistakes are easy to make, but they’re even easier to learn to avoid. I’ll discuss a few more in a future article. So, keep checking back for that one!