Tips for Picking the Best DVC Rooms

I’m convinced that room selection matters more to Disney Vacation Club members than to all other tourists. We care so much about room selection that we spend our hard-earned money to buy into the program. So, when we book our Studios and Villas, we want to get it right. Here are a few tips for picking the best DVC rooms.

Use the Process of Elimination 

Analysis paralysis happens to the best of us, and it’s especially challenging with DVC. Virtually all the participating resorts offer a tantalizing set of room options. So, merely starting the process can feel daunting at times.

For this reason, I’ve learned to narrow the options immediately. I use the process of elimination to rule out several booking choices. In the process, I make my life a lot easier. 

Here’s how I’d advise you to use this strategy. First, establish how many people will take the trip with you. The size of your traveling party directly impacts your booking options more than anything else. 

When you travel with three or more people over the age of twelve, you’ll need more room. So, a Studio may not suit your purpose. Rather than having awkward conversations about how to share bedding, you can simply book a Villa instead. With the additional bedding options, nobody should need to share. 

Conversely, when you’re traveling as a couple or solo, a Villa becomes overkill. I’m speaking from experience here, as I always feel wasteful when I stay in a suite. The upside involves the full-sized kitchen and washer-dryer yet. However, I almost never cook on vacation. So, I rule out a suite for the most part. 

I’d advise the same for you unless you feel like splurging on yourself. Personally, I’d save Villas for DVC vacations such as birthdays, anniversaries, and special occasions. Otherwise, it’s overkill. 

Conversely, when a large group of people who are at least teenagers travels together, you’ll want your space. At that point, a Villa almost becomes a necessity. 

When I use the process of elimination, it’s basically a flowchart. “Do I need multiple beds? Is a washer-dryer a necessity?” This strategy works for me, and I believe it will for you.

Bay Lake Tower: Deluxe Studio vs. 1 Bedroom Villa

Determine What Matters

This step still applies to my flowchart, as you’ll notice I didn’t say to choose a hotel yet. I’d argue that you shouldn’t do that until you’ve settled on the type of room you need. By doing so, you’ll immediately rule out some DVC properties. Then, you can determine where you should stay based on this information.

You’re not done yet, though. First, you should determine what matters to you. When I choose a DVC room, I use three criteria, starting with whether location matters.

Do I need to stay near a specific theme park? For example, on a recent trip, I knew I would spend a great deal of time at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Given this information, I immediately rule out Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas and the various Magic Kingdom area resorts. Just like that, I’ve reduced my options to three primary resorts. 

Conversely, had I prioritized Magic Kingdom, I would have narrowed the list to four resorts. You’ve just reduced your room options by 75+ percent with one simple question.

Do You Care about Amenities?

Then, you can winnow the list even more by thinking about amenities. Will you spend plenty of time at the hotel? If you’ve been in the DVC program for a while, the answer is almost assuredly yes. Once you’ve visited the parks a lot for several years, you’ll begin to appreciate the various resorts more.

In such scenarios, the onsite amenities will matter. Sure, you can visit the other resorts as often as desired, but Disney has eliminated Pool Hopping. So, choosing the hotel with the best pool will matter to you…if and only if you plan to do any swimming and/or sunbathing.

Similarly, the hotel’s lobby and restaurants aren’t necessarily dealbreakers. After all, you can visit the ones you like even when not staying there. However, we all tend to get a bit lazy and territorial about this after a while. 

You’ll find that you’ll choose resorts based on their restaurants and hangout areas. Once you start doing that, you’ve again reduced your options. 

Deluxe Resort Pools

Be Reasonable about Using Your Points

Finally, we have the economic decision that sadly matters in this conversation. You may not want to admit it, but you’ll need to factor in your DVC Points allotment. 

Sometimes, you can afford a room, but you still probably shouldn’t book it. In other instances, you’ll have extra points and realize you may want to splurge. The amount of DVC Points you have right now will go a long way in determining the rooms you pick. When you have more points, you can select better rooms. That’s just math.

There’s a corollary, though. Even when you have fewer points, you’ll still pick a great room. They’re all amazing in the DVC program. You’ll merely need to be more selective. Once you know the size of your traveling party, which amenities matter to you, and whether location is important, you can make better booking decisions. 

You have X Points while needing Room Size Y and Location Z. I know none of us have used Algebra since high school, but that formula proves oddly plug-and-play. You’ve reduced the number of variables to the point that you can make a simple, high-quality decision. 

Now, you can simply choose the best room for your needs. You know which resort you want as well as the size of the room you desire. So, you’re almost done. You’ve just got one final question to answer.

Do you care about the view? Generally speaking, this is the final Room Type decision. So, if you want a BoardWalk View, Lake View or Theme Park View, you’ll choose that. If not, you’ll simply select the regular room.

Obviously, a few resorts offer different choices such as Value Accommodations or Club Level access. Those should be relatively easy choices, though. You’re either trying to save DVC Points or splurge with them. 

Once you’ve decided, you’ve just chosen the best DVC room. Remarkably, you’ve done it without facing any analysis paralysis. Your decision tree did almost all the work for you!

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