What is “Home Resort Priority”?

One of the first decisions you’ll make when purchasing a Disney Vacation Club contract is which resort to call “home.” As you dig into your research on this topic, you might see a lot of talk about “home resort priority.” But what does that phrase actually mean?

Disney Vacation Club Members are held to two distinct booking windows – 11 months and 7 months. Members can book at their home resort 11 months before their planned check-in date. To book at any other Disney Vacation Club resort, they must wait to book until 7 months before that date. This means that owners at any given Disney Vacation Club resort have a four-month booking advantage over Members that don’t own there. This is “home resort priority”!

Home Resort Booking Window: 11 Months

This advantage is important for two reasons. First, Members that own at a resort with a smaller inventory have a better chance of booking the dates they want than members who don’t own there. A resort that we see this in action a lot is Grand Californian. Owners at this very small resort are typically able to secure the rooms and dates they want, while non-owners may not have much luck at seven months. Some villa types are incredibly difficult to book if you don’t own at that resort, like the Club Level villas at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House. This category of villas is incredibly small, so they are usually booked up by owners at the 11 month window.

The second reason that home resort priority is key shows up during popular vacation times. For example, lots of Members would love to book Copper Creek or Boulder Ridge around the holidays to enjoy the splendor of Wilderness Lodge’s Christmas tree. Unfortunately, members who don’t own at either property are often at a loss at seven months. That’s because owners at those resorts booked those villas months ago! We also see this trend at the EPCOT resorts. Owners at Beach Club, BoardWalk, and Riviera are able to book their Food & Wine Festival trips before Members who don’t own at these resorts, so it’s slim pickings at seven months!

Other Resort Booking Window: 7 Months

For some Members, home resort is not, well, a priority. Members who do not usually book before the 7 month window are happy to stay wherever there is availability. These Members do not typically take advantage of the four-month head start they have over Members. If you fall into this category, you may decide your home resort based on the most economical resort. That is the resort with the best combination of contract length, price per point, and projected annual dues.

While home resort priority is definitely a factor in whether you’ll be able to book your desired resort, there is another great way to increase your odds – the Waitlist! Disney Vacation Club allows Members to put themselves on a Waitlist if the villa they would like to book is not available. Members may have up to two active Waitlist requests per Membership, and these are fulfilled as the villas become available. You could also try my personal method of securing hard-to-book villas, the “Wait & Stalk.” If the villa I want to book is gone by the time my 7 month window opens, I will make a Waitlist request, but continue checking (or stalking) the Availability Tool at random times. By doing this, I have secured almost every villa I wanted, usually before the Waitlist.

Need help deciding which Disney Vacation Club resort you’ll call home? Reach out to our team! Once we learn about the future vacations you have in mind, we’ll help you secure a contract at the perfect resort for you. If you get home resort priority at Grand Californian, maybe you’ll even invite us, (fingers crossed)!

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