How Long Does It Take to Break Even on an Animal Kingdom Contract?

DVC resale contracts can save you thousands of dollars compared to buying a contract directly through Disney, but how long does it take for you to break even on your purchase compared to cash stays through Disney?  Let’s walk through an example with an Animal Kingdom Lodge resale contract.  

What Does a Resale Contract Cost?

As of July 2024, the average price per point for an Animal Kingdom Lodge resale contract is around $107 per point.  If you were to purchase a 250-point contract at $107 per point, it would cost $26,750.  

How Many Stays Can You Book with 250 Points?

Based on the 2024 Animal Kingdom Lodge points chart, a 250-point contract is enough points to get you a week in a Standard View One Bedroom Villa for most times of the year (except around Christmas and Easter) or a Savanna View One Bedroom Villa for 4 of the 7 travel periods.  You can even spend a week in a Standard View Two Bedroom Villa for 3 of the 7 travel periods!  

This would work for stays in either Jambo House or Kidani Village.  The beauty of owning a contract at Animal Kingdom Lodge is that you get the 11-month booking window for both Jambo House and Kidani Village.

How Does That Compare to Cash Stays?

An average night in a Savanna View One Bedroom Villa at Jambo House costs $967.83 per night when booking a cash stay through Disney’s website.  For a weeklong stay, that would be $6,774.81 or $7,621.66 after the 12.5% resort tax.  

Prices for cash stays on the Walt Disney World website

If you were to take that same weeklong vacation in a Jambo House Savanna View One Bedroom Villa every year for 4 years, you would be paying Disney more than the cost of that 250-point Animal Kingdom Lodge resale contract!  That’s without adjusting for the fact that the cost of Disney resort stays increases every year.  

What About Annual Dues?

Once your DVC contract is paid up, the only other cost is the annual dues.  Animal Kingdom Lodge dues are currently $9.08 per point, so for that 250-point contract, you’d pay $2,270 for the year.  This is far less than the cost of that weeklong cash stay at Jambo House ($7,621.66).  While dues do increase from year to year, the increase for Animal Kingdom Lodge has been low with an inception-to-date compound annual growth rate of 4.1%.  On average, cash stays have an average annual increase of 7.7%.

Interested in purchasing a DVC contract?  Access all available Disney Vacation Club resale listings, or learn more about buying and selling with DVC Resale Market.