What Are the Benefits of Using DVC Points?

Since Disney ended the Magical Express program, you may wonder about the remaining benefits of using DVC Points.

I’m happy to tell you that extra benefits remain plentiful. Here are several huge positives that come from using DVC Points.

Early Theme Park Entry

The Walt Disney Company wants to reward its most loyal guests. For this reason, it has introduced a unique amenity called Early Theme Park Entry.

With this benefit, you gain access to a Walt Disney World theme park 30 minutes before it opens to regular guests.

You can utilize Early Theme Park entry at all four Walt Disney World parks. Please understand that you’ll still need a Park Pass, though.

Courtesy of Disney Tourist Blog

With Park Pass in hand, you should arrive about 60 minutes before the park officially opens.

Sometimes, Disney lets in guests early during Early Theme Park Entry. Every minute counts at this time of day.

Veteran Disney vacations can ride one or two of the most popular rides before the park is even open to everyone else!

You’ll loooove this benefit, especially when you’re hoping to ride popular E-ticket attractions like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Avatar Flight of Passage, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure.

Extended Evening Theme Park Hours

What’s better than 30 minutes of exclusive access at a Disney theme park? How about two hours?!!!

Yes, Extended Evening Theme Park Hours work similarly to Disney’s after-hours ticketed events.

You get to visit a park at a time when virtually nobody else is there. I say this because Extended Evening Theme Park Hours is only available to guests at Deluxe Disney resorts.

Courtesy of Disney Tourist Blog

When you use DVC Points, you’re staying at one of these resorts! So, you get to visit a theme park for two hours after it’s closed to almost everyone else.

We’re talking about a few thousand people in the parks at most. Attraction line queues are virtually nonexistent.

The sole drawback is that Extended Evening Theme Park Hours are available only twice per week. In contrast, Early Theme Park Entry is a daily amenity.

Currently, Disney hosts Extended Evening Theme Park Hours on Mondays and Wednesdays. Usually, EPCOT stays open on one day and Magic Kingdom on the other.

However, Disney has scheduled Extended Evening Theme Park Hours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on one upcoming date. So, this park might become part of the rotation as well.

With this amenity, you can check off most of your to-do list at a park after it has theoretically closed for the night!

Pool Hopping

Disney Vacation Club members tend to take this option for granted. Many don’t even realize it’s an exclusive amenity for guests using DVC Points.

Still, the rules at Walt Disney World resorts remain firm. Guests at All-Star resorts may only use the pools at these locations.

Similarly, the only Pool Hopping in the Moderate tier involves the twin locations at Port Orleans.

Even guests in the Deluxe tier resorts must stay at their own pools rather than using others.

Thankfully, Disney’s official site spells out the fact that DVC Points users gain this tremendous benefit. You can Pool Hop to other locations!

Courtesy of Disney Tourist Blog

Please understand that some blackout periods apply. Also, some resorts maintain privacy by disallowing Pool Hopping.

The one that will impact your trip the most is Stormalong Bay at Disney’s Beach Club Villas. Access here remains exclusive to hotel guests.

Still, you’ll have your choice of approximately 10 DVC pools during your resort stay!

Other Amazing Benefits

Disney proudly offers tours of its various DVC villas. During these walkthroughs, you can look at the rooms.

Disney wants you to visualize what a hotel stay would be like. However, you don’t have to imagine anything when you use DVC Points.

Instead, you get to live out the experience of a DVC hotel stay!

While you’re there, you’ll better appreciate the various amenities that embody the DVC experience.

You’ll enjoy unique transportation options like the Disney Skyliner and monorail.

Photo Courtesy of DisneyTouristBlog.com

Yes, all Disney guests have access to these. Nobody appreciates their convenience more than people staying at Disney’s Riviera Resort or the monorail resorts, though.

You can exit your hotel room and be on the Skyliner/monorail in a matter of minutes! These logistics fundamentally change the way you vacation at Disney!

Of course, you may not want to leave the hotel. Allow me to explain.

Unfortunately, few Moderate/Value tier restaurants offer Table Service dining.

Meanwhile, most of the shopping options lean toward general store options.

At DVC resorts, you’ll discover some of the best restaurants on the Disney campus.

Courtesy of Disney Tourist Blog

As for the shops, the best ones like Bay View Gifts and BouTiki rival anything you’ll find at the parks. I’ve bought luggage and art at these DVC gift shops!

So, you can save some of the aggravation that occurs during a crowded park visit by eating and shopping at the hotel where you’re staying!

Little touches like these embody the overall excellence of the DVC program.

You pay a fraction of the hotel cost when you use DVC Points, but you gain all the amenities!

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