DVC costs: picture of money representing the costs for Disney Vacation Club.

I’m a Disney Vacation Club member who has written extensively on the topic and spent many hours researching various aspects of DVC. My family loves it and I feel like it’s been a great investment thus far, but it’s a major investment, and there is a lot to understand about both the cost and the value to you and your family.

We’ll walk through the real costs for DVC to help you make the right decision in this post, and you can also check out our post on whether Disney Vacation Club is worth it in another post as well.

How Much Does Disney Vacation Club (DVC) Cost?

This is a strong “it depends” answer.

When you purchase a DVC membership you can buy “ownership” in different Disney Vacation Club resorts, and you can buy varying numbers of points (check out the DVC points charts for more on that). You can also purchase DVC points “resale” (we’ll get into this in much greater detail later on as well). 

How much you buy, whether you buy direct or resale, and your “home resort” (the resort where you have ownership – this gives you an 11 month window when you’re looking at DVC availability, versus 7 months for other resorts), as well as annual dues (which tend to increase year-over-year) will determine the cost.

That said here are some quick things to keep in mind:

  • Different resorts have different minimum numbers of points you need to buy (this number is often 100 but varies by resort for new owners, and is subject to change)
  • Once you pick a home resort, you pay a price per point for that resort. 
  • Additionally, you also pay annual dues (which tend to increase a few percent each year)

Here are the current costs per resort both direct from Disney and via resale (via DVC Resale Market):

Resort Resale

(Based on

Dec. ’21 Sales Data

Direct*

(Disney Vacation Development)

Difference Per Point

(Direct – Resale)

Percentage Savings with Resale
Animal Kingdom $144 $186 $42 23%
Aulani $129 $201 $72 36%
Bay Lake Tower $172 $245 $73 30%
Beach Club $163 $245 $82 33%
Boardwalk $149 $210 $61 29%
Boulder Ridge $125 $190 $65 34%
Copper Creek $170 $225 $55 24%
Grand Californian $287 $310 $23 7%
Grand Floridian $193 $255 $62 24%
Hilton Head $94 $140 $46 33%
Old Key West $126 $180 $54 30%
Polynesian $173 $250 $77 31%
Riviera Resort $143 $201 $58 29%
Saratoga Springs $136 $180 $44 24%
Vero Beach $78 $125 $47 38%

These are some of the “raw” costs, but don’t forget about some additional, somewhat “hidden” costs of DVC membership:

  • Dues – Dues are currently $7-$12 per point, and will be paid for the life of your membership, and will likely increase anywhere from 0-7% each year. 
  • Park Tickets – Obviously if you’re planning a vacation you’ll need to factor in park tickets – there currently aren’t any DVC discounts for park tickets, but this is obviously still a large expense.
  • Plane / Travel Tickets – If you don’t live close to the Disney property you’re visiting this can obviously be a major expense as well.
  • Food / Merchandise Costs – Again here DVC offers a discount (typically 10-20% off at select locations) but if you’re planning regular vacations you’ll need to factor in these costs as well.

DVC Cost Calculator

There are a number of different tools you can use to help calculate DVC costs. For membership costs, there’s Disney’s own tool. If you’re looking to find costs to rent DVC points, DVC Rental has a tool as does David’s.

DVC Cost FAQs

How much does DVC cost per year?

The annual cost of DVC depends on a few factors:

  • The resort you pick as your home resort (some are better than others)
  • The number of points you have
  • How much you financed versus paid in full
  • Your annual dues (which change over time)

Disney has a cost calculator that can help you figure out your costs based on home resort and points that you can access here.

How much does DVC really cost?

The true cost of DVC depends on a few factors:

  • Your resort and number of points
  • Whether you finance (and subsequently pay interest) or not
  • Annual dues (which Disney adjusts each year)

Is Disney Vacation Club a one time purchase?

No. You can pay a lump sum for your points for the life of your contract if you decide not to finance, but even then you’ll still have recurring dues to pay for the life of the contract.