What Are the DVC Contract Priorities?

Shopping for a Disney Vacation Club Contract is always exciting, whether you’re a first-time buyer or someone happily giving in to Add-onitis. You want to make smart decisions with such a big investment, though. 

So, which considerations matter the most when deciding when to buy? That’s a good question that I’ll try to answer today. Here are the DVC contract priorities for your next contract. 

What’s Your Price Range?

Let’s start with the simplest one, as it’s imperative for you to lock down a budget before you go in search of a contract. Otherwise, you run the risk of overspending or, just as problematically, purchasing a contract that won’t meet your goals. The maxim “In for a penny, in for a pound” applies here.

You don’t want to waste your money. Buying a cheaper contract sounds good at first, but you’ll quickly regret it if/when you discover that you lack the points you need. Fortunately, the DVC program is modular enough that you can correct it with another contract later. However, you can avoid that by setting the correct range initially.

So, just be honest with yourself about what you want and what you can afford. You’ll be surprised by how instructive this process is in establishing your boundaries. Once you know your budget, you can pretty much eyeball contracts and know whether they make sense for your budget.

How Many DVC Points Do You Want/Need?

Now that you know how much you can spend, it’s time to evaluate your wants and needs, which is easier than it sounds. You can use straightforward criteria to evaluate your goals, even if you’ve never visited a Disney theme park. 

First, you must estimate how often you plan to vacation at Disney. This aspect impacts how many points you’ll need on an annual basis. Should you visit the parks multiple times each year, you should consider buying at a DVC resort with cheaper points.

What I mean by this is that every DVC property includes a DVC Points Chart. When you examine this chart, you’ll notice that some resorts charge less per night than others. For frequent visitors, it’s in your best interest to target these resorts for multiple reasons. 

The first reason is clearly the discount on DVC Points. But the second may matter more. Disney uses precise calculations to determine the DVC Points Chart. When a resort requires fewer points per stay, that’s usually an indicator that its rooms don’t sell out as quickly as the most popular properties. Therefore, you’ll find more frequent hotel room availability at the cheaper resorts. 

Conversely, should you plan to vacation at Disney once a year or less, you can do one of two things. You can lower your travel budget and target a cheaper contract once you’ve done this math. Alternatively, you can search for contracts at the most expensive resorts. Since you’re still safely within your budget anyway, you might as well enjoy the best that DVC has to offer, right?

How Long Is the Contract?

Finally, we have a consideration of growing importance. Right now, the expiration year of your contract honestly isn’t a big deal at all. The earliest a DVC contract can expire is 16 and a half years from now. None of us have any idea what we’ll be doing on January 1st, 2042. So, it’s not anything anybody should worry about.

While shopping for a DVC contract, you should keep in mind that every contract expires, though. Some end in 2042, while others last until the 2070s. You can and should use this knowledge to your advantage while contract-shopping.

You shouldn’t pay as much for most 2042 expiration year contracts as you will for those ending in the 2070s. I recently explained the math of this, but let’s just state it in the simplest terms. You get 16 more years of DVC Points with a 2042 contract as opposed to 44 years or more for a 2070+ expiration year. 

That fact shouldn’t preclude you from purchasing a contract with a 2042 expiration. No, it should embolden you to shop for the best value, which can be a contract of any remaining duration. The point is more that you should factor in the number of remaining DVC Points while contract-shopping. 

A savvy shopper can find the sweet spot wherein you find the contract you want at the price you want. You’re evaluating purchases on a more efficient basis than other consumers. So, you’ll better understand the worth of each contract. It empowers you with a strong bargaining position.

Learn more and access all available Disney Vacation Club resale listings, or learn more about buying and selling with DVC Resale Market.