You Get These Things Free with DVC

The Disney Vacation Club includes many wonderful amenities. When you join the program, you gain immediate access to some of Disney’s finest restaurants, stores, and giant hotel rooms. 

While all these DVC resort features are wonderful, you’ll still spend plenty of time at Disney theme parks. That’s why I want to focus on three other amenities that you should never take for granted. You get these things free with DVC.

Early Theme Park Entry

Are you familiar with the concept of Rope Drop? It’s the moment when the theme park opens for the day. All the guests standing outside the park rush to get inside, knowing that they’ll be among the first to experience Disney’s best rides. 

Well, the Rope Drop crowd may think that, but it’s not quite true. That’s because Disney rewards its most loyal customers by offering a spectacular amenity called Early Theme Park Entry. 

This option works similar to Rope Drop, but it’s much better. Guests staying at official Walt Disney World resorts gain early entry into their theme park of choice. You can visit the park 30 minutes before guests wait for Rope Drop. 

At Disneyland Resort, the process works slightly differently in that the two theme parks rotate Early Theme Park Entry. Here’s the current schedule straight from the official website: 

• Disneyland Park: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
• Disney California Adventure Park: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday

So, you can still take advantage of this amenity every day you’re staying at Disneyland Resort. It’s just that you’ll only gain access to one park here rather than having your choice.

Other than that, everything about Early Theme Park Entry is wonderful. Since only a small percentage of guests stay at official Disney hotels, you won’t face much competition for all but Disney’s most popular rides. Thus, you can target the most important attraction for your visitation date. Then, you can arrive in time for Early Theme Park Entry and head straight to the attraction’s location. 

You’ll discover very few people in line ahead of you, allowing you to be on the ride in a matter of minutes. When things break right, you might even ride a couple of things before the park officially opens for Rope Drop!

Extended Evening Hours

At Walt Disney World, DVC members gain access to an even better amenity. On two days each week, Disney offers Extended Evening Hours. Before I explain what that is, let’s quickly discuss how it works. 

On a given Monday and Wednesday, a theme park stays open two hours after its ostensible closing time. The catch is that only a small segment of guests may stay in the park. They’re the ones staying at Walt Disney World’s Deluxe Tier resorts, and guess what! All DVC properties fall into this tier. So, whenever you stay the night by using DVC Points, you qualify for Extended Evening Hours. It’s entirely free as a “thank you” amenity from Disney.

For March 2025, the current schedule suggests Extended Evening Hours at EPCOT on Mondays and Magic Kingdom on Wednesdays. Note that Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios sometimes participate as well. In fact, Animal Kingdom offered Extended Evening Hours during the first week of February.

So, what is Extended Evening Hours? Well, it’s a lot like a ticketed after-hours event at the park. If you’ve ever attended Disney After Hours, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, or Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, you get the gist. But there’s one huge difference here.

As mentioned, Extended Evening Hours is entirely free. You’re getting an amenity guests pay $129-$199 a night to use just for being a DVC member staying on points! 

The park stays open for two extra hours during these events. So, that’s more than enough to allow you to ride several E-ticket attractions during your visit. 

As an example, the last time I used Extended Evening Hours, I did Frozen Ever After and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. I waited a total of 20 minutes for both! The amenity is that good.

Impeccable Logistics 

Finally, DVC members receive one more free amenity during a hotel stay. It’s impeccable logistics. Most DVC resorts at theme parks are only a short distance away from where you want to be. 

At Walt Disney World, Disney has placed a DVC property near all four theme parks. Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas is right by Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Riviera Resort is just a Disney Skyliner ride away from Hollywood Studios.

Similarly, several hotels reside in close proximity to EPCOT and Magic Kingdom. Even better, you can take the monorail to reach the parks from DVC’s monorail resorts. At other places like the two properties at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, you can ride a boat to the parks. 

Then, we have the resorts with the ultimate in logistics. At Disney’s BoardWalk Villas, Disney’s Beach Club Villas, and The Villas at Disney’s Grand Californian Resort & Spa, you can conveniently walk to the park. Seriously, you can leave your hotel room and be at the park entrance in ten minutes. 

Tourists pay lots of money for such logistics. As a DVC member, you receive them for free during your hotel stay. It’s one of three spectacular amenities that come included with the DVC program. How great is that?!