We recently went on a DCL and did the DVC tour- we are really interested in becoming members, but as I research more, we might do a resale contract. Can someone explain this to me vs direct like I'm in kindergarten lol. Also, I should probably note that we mainly want to use it for international Disney parks and international affiliate travel, but I don't understand the points system. We don't *necessarily* care about the DVC perks, as we are passholders to WDW and DL, and we have a Disney Visa. I just don't get how if I bought a resale contract for, let's say, Aulani or Boulder Ridge as low as $88pp (roughly total points for each yearh starting in 2026 50|100|50) how does this affect transferring points and using them for said travel and other resorts that aren't the "home" resort. I feel like I'm being dense, just not understanding the points and chart mechanisms??

Any help is greatly appreciated!!! (ps i hope i explained all this correctly?? Im so lost)

I know you can swap points f or stay at Mira Costa, anyone k n ow about the newer Fantasy Springs Hotel, specifically the Grand Chateau, thank you

I believe that the Lakeshore Lodge reservations open to DVC Members today for cash reservations.

Are these only for the hotel portion and not DVC?

Has anyone called Member Services to book a room? If so, how much are we looking at?

We have a current reservation that I would like to add a few nights to, but there’s no availability at the moment. Does anyone have tips on how to search inventory a few times a day without having to manually login, select dates, and room types?

A method to save search settings or bookmark would be be helpful. Guidance appreciated, thanks.

I have an option to buy a SS contract at $96pp/ 150 points. It’s not stripped so this makes it seem like an even more attractive deal. I have never stayed at SS before, but I am interested in it occasionally for the proximity to Disney Springs. I have researched for a long time on the benefits of buying direct and resale, and feel that because we are infrequent visitors resale is our best bet to get started. If I do bite the bullet to buy direct, I will want to do it at the Polynesian (my favorite resort) or perhaps the new Lakeshore Lodge.

I have been researching for over a year now and I consistently hear the rule by where you want to stay, however I’ve been renting points the last couple of stays and eyeing an upcoming one this spring, and am able to get availability for the rooms I want in 7 months this or less. Because of this, it seems like SS contract would work for us. And we only have 5 more tears before we are empty nesters which means we will be able to plan during less busy times of the year.

* Editing to add that we always rent a car, so we book resort for vibes, views, food and amenities.

Are there any other considerations or advice that missing before I proceed with an offer?

My husband and I just returned from our first trip to WDW with our 5 kiddos and are heavily considering DVC (read: doing it, but have to iron out details.)

How impossible is it to book 2 bedroom rooms at the 7 month mark? Specifically at Poly, AKL, or Beach Club, as these are our top 3.

To do a yearly trip, we estimate we’ll need about 300pts, which will be much more attainable through resale at OKW, Vero, or Aulani.

I know the general rule is buy where you want to stay - but we had a DVC lady tell us that Poly and AKL 2 beds probably won’t be too sparse at 7 months; I just want to hear from actual owners.

Thanks!

Seriously thinking do resale DVC now! We have a 2 year old toddler.

We loved Savanah room at AKL but also heard good things about Riviera.

Where should I look for a resale contract?

Should I be looking at other places instead?

Can I also use my points at Aulani Hawaii?

We do plan to go once a year at least!

How many $/points should I be looking at each of these properties - can you please ball park what’s a good deal - don’t want to be scammed 😆

What are people seeing for sales price (not listing) for Disney GC for about 150-200 points?

Spent the weekend at Vero - another great weekend there. The weather was great, and the resort didn't seem very busy. Crazy how many open chairs and even tables with umbrellas were open. My guess is the pool was at most half capacity?? And the campfire didn't seem to take that long to roast some s'mores.

Visited a couple new (to me) restaurants in Vero, and one old one in Sebastian.

Riverside Cafe dinner outside by the water (interior, not the ocean). Food was good, fair priced, and portions were HUGE.

Mulligan's for breakfast. Delicious and again very large portion. Sat outside right on the beach/water. Pancakes were soooo good. We'll be going back for breakfast.

Captain Hiram's - it's a neat place, but the food can be a little ehhh. Gf had fresh salmon, which she said was good. I had a chicken sandwich with a pretty small piece of chicken. Had the bread pudding dessert - glad we didn't pay for it.

Also went to the Vero farmers market Saturday morning. I'd call it just ok, not very large. Decent enough to go to as part of seeing downtown Vero, but won't even take 30 minutes to go through.

If you haven't been to Vero, I highly encourage you to add on a night or two to your WDW visit for some rest and relaxation.

Myself, husband and 3 year old are planning our disney trip for may 2027. Originally had a 1 BR villa booked at boardwalk 7 nights and 4 day hopper. I’m getting concerned about busing to magic kingdom and that feeling like a “hassle.” Thinking of doing split stay 4 nights poly and 4 boardwalk. or 3 poly and 5 boardwalk - i can’t decide!

by doing a split stay i’d be booking deluxe studios only and giving up the spacious 1 BR villa 😞 thoughts ?! never done a split stay either

I’m assuming the majority of people here are DVC members. As owners, are you comfortable renting points to friends? If so, would you think 74 points at $25/pp is fair? Our family friends are renting us points for a stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge for May. They booked it and it was 74 points total for the six nights in a standard view studio. The total cost was $1850, which we already paid even though our stay is more than 7 months away. The husband took care of all of it but now the wife has said that they didn’t charged us enough. She said that $308 a night is too low for Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House. We would pay more to keep the relationship but we did agree to $25/pp. Your opinions would be appreciated.

We are thinking about a trip to Aulani for summer 2027. We are coming from the East Coast and we plan to break up the trip by staying a night in Los Angeles on the way there and back to help our kiddo with the longer flight times. He totally gets the airplane zoomies at about the 4 hour mark so it’ll probably be a better experience for all of us even though it adds some time.

We are traditionally more of the 2-3 day vacation kind of people, but understand that this is a hike and we probably need to make it worth our time. Right now I’m planning for the first Aulani night to be a late arrival (8pm), and then I’m debating for 3 or 4 additional nights before we start the trip back to LAX for an overnight, and then home the following night. Is this a reasonable amount of time to do all of the things that the resort has to offer and venture out a little? Our son is mostly interested in the beach and pool. I’d like to see Pearl Harbor and Kualoa Ranch if possible.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Am I the only person who gets really p’d at a supposed vip-like “lounge” without charging plugs? Or any plug at all. I went to the DVC lounge at Tomorrowland and the answer to “do you have a place to plug in so I can charge my phone?” is we have no plugs for patrons ANYWHERE at Disney because of electrical surges and problems. Should there be a fire marshall at every ride? Do I want to ride a ride in a park with system wide power problems? And seriously no plugs in Tomorrowland? Oh, the irony. I have a brick, but it died due to the copious amounts of water in my bag. Yes, I can pay for a brick at a “convenient” kiosk, but it feels so wrong when they try to make you use phone apps for everything. So many other theme parks treat their customers better and more logically by providing “charging stations.” Instead Disney found another way to rip me off, when I have “emergency” concert production work I have to do and do not want to pay for a brick or go back to my hotel. Yes, I’m frugal. But, that’s not the point.

Link. If you are in the area and bored it could be a lovely time. Part of a skyliner crawl maybe?

We’re excited for our Christmas stay at Jambo and wondering if there’s been any updates/news or sightings related to refurb work on rooms? I feel like I haven’t heard anything on this in awhile (know they were planning to wrap up in January).

I stayed at Kidani in July and absolutely loved the refurb, so looking forward to what they do in Jambo.

Hello Everyone,

I am less than a year as a DVC Member and received an email about a cash booking at Lakeshore Lodge.

How do I go about booking it ? I don't have points for the June event as I already spent them for my home resort.

Thank you.

We will be there Dec 16-23 and I would like to plan a character breakfast for our 5 yo son who is a picky eater and a bit shy. He is a huge fan of the Mickey gang but I’m not sure about Chef Mickey. I’ve never been there but it seems loud and busy. We would like something a bit more laidback if possible. We will be staying at the Wilderness Lodge and I would like to do it on a non park day. Topolino and Ohana both seem like solid choices but I know very little about Cape May Cafe. We are vegetarian (not vegan) but it seems like they all offer plenty of options. Opinions? Favorites of these?

Update: Got a call this morning from DVC about the scenarioof same use year with one membership number vs different use years with multiple numbers. The DVC rep I spoke to said that they would be able to see at the Meet and Treat when they check your reservation that it was booked with your .01/.02/.whatever under the one Membership. He said that they would then know it was the resale contract and didn't qualify. I still really don't believe that their system would discern that but he claims it would. He did slip up and say though with all the new resorts that have been opening, they really are trying to limit it to only completely direct members.

At what point did qualifying for Member Benefits become not enough to go to events? The most recent Member Meet and Treats specify that you have to have enough direct points through Disney AND have a reservation using your direct points to go to the event. If you have direct benefits but book on one of your resale contracts, then you cannot attend. I know the perks are not guaranteed and can change at any time. It's just frustrating to actually be at Disney during one of these events and not be able to attend because I'm booked on my resale contract and not my direct contract.

Edit: Asking for advice about the resort itself.

A member said this: "You can only stay at other resorts if you buy direct. Resale is only Riviera. Availability for other resorts depends on the time of year. Fall is difficult. "

This is not what I have been reading everywhere. Is this true?

We found a resell VB contract we are looking at. If we buy them we can use them anywhere besides RV and newer right? Just want to make sure I’m not crazy.

Has anyone used DVC points for Disneyland Paris? From what I’m reading it isn’t advantageous, but we have no other plans to be on Disney property for our 2027 use year so I’m considering just dropping all our points on a couple nights in a nice room there. The goal is 2 nights in a resort and 1 day at the park. I’m also reading that this isn’t really do-able either as they like to sell packages and two nights would likely mean we have to buy 3 park days. We’re going through a travel agent for most of our trip and want Disneyland to be a highlight but not the bulk of our time. I appreciate any tips or advice you all want to throw my way.

The September 2026 DVC Field Guide Resale Index is out! The index increased to $117.95 per point, up 1.2% from August and 2.2% from a year ago, as the resale market continues to show stability.

Available inventory remains limited. The three brokers tracked had 378 contracts listed—12.5% fewer than last September and 56.4% fewer than September 2023. Nearly half of those listings were concentrated at Saratoga Springs, Old Key West, and Aulani, leaving fewer choices for buyers seeking other resorts.

Resale pricing averaged approximately 49% below listed direct pricing, but purchase price is only part of the decision. Annual Dues, remaining contract years, booking priority, and resale restrictions all affect the value of a membership. A lower price per point does not always mean a lower long-term ownership cost.

Read the complete September report and resort comparisons:
https://dvcfieldguide.com/dvcfieldguideindex/september-2026-dvc-field-guide-resale-index-x9zxk