Part of the allure of Disney Vacation Club ownership is the flexibility and plethora of options! However, this can sometimes leave people feeling a tad overwhelmed. Luckily, DVC Shop and Disney Vacation Club itself have some useful tools for members to assist in their planning needs.
Choosing A Resort
Disney Vacation Club offers so many different resorts, it can be difficult to choose where you want to stay next! DVC Shop has resort information for all of DVC resorts. Be sure to click through the DVC Shop photo gallery and resort overview to get a sense of what resort you want to call your temporary home for your upcoming vacation.
DVC Resorts at Walt Disney World
- Animal Kingdom Villas – an African lodge style resort with 46 acres of savanna! Perfect for animal lovers of all ages.
- Bay Lake Tower – the DVC resort connected to Disney’s Contemporary Resort, this location is ideal if Magic Kingdom is going to be a focus of your trip.
- Beach Club Villas – featuring the grandest pool on all Walt Disney World property, this is fantastic for travel parties who want to split their park days with pool time.
- BoardWalk Villas – conveniently located between EPCOT and Hollywood Studios, and situated on the BoardWalk, this is an excellent choice for a travel party who wants a little bit of everything.
- Boulder Ridge Villas – located at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, this is the perfect pick for those wanting a peaceful retreat away from the hustle and bustle of the theme parks.
- Cabins at Fort Wilderness – one of the newest DVC resorts, this woodsy escape evokes the American frontier and is sure to be a crowd pleaser for anyone who loves the outdoors.
- Copper Creek Villas and Cabins – a sister resort to Boulder Ridge Villas, this will be a hit with anyone who loves the vibes of exploration in the Pacific Northwest.
- Villas at the Grand Floridian – Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa is often lauded as the flagship resort at Walt Disney World, and the DVC portion can be your chance to experience this elegant getaway.
- Old Key West – the original DVC resort, this has some of the most spacious rooms so is great for travel parties who like to spread out.
- Polynesian Villas and Bungalows – conveniently located steps away from the Transportation and Ticket Center where you can catch a monorail to Magic Kingdom and EPCOT, travelers who love island vibes, colorful accents, and tiki inspired decor and drinks will be thrilled to stay here.
- Riviera Resort – on the Skyliner, so an easy jaunt to Hollywood Studios or EPCOT, this posh Resort is themed to the Italian and French Riviera, perfect for travel parties looking for a bit of opulence outside of the Magic Kingdom area.
- Saratoga Springs – aptly named to remind you of the upstate New York town, this is located just across a short walk to Disney Springs so is great for travel parties looking to do some shopping and eating outside of the theme parks.
DVC Resorts at Disneyland Resort
- Villas at Disneyland Hotel – this mid-century modern addition to the Disneyland Hotel blends classic Disney stories with contemporary designs, and is steps away from Downtown Disney.
- Villas at Grand Californian – this rustic, woodland Resort is located about as close as you can get to Disney California Adventure theme park.
DVC Resorts Beyond Theme Parks
- Aulani – located in Hawaii, this resort exemplifies Disney Imagineering honoring the local Hawaiian culture in the grand design.
- Hilton Head Island Resort – located on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, this beach resort offers something for everyone whether your travel party wants to be laid back or jampack your itinerary full of activities
- Vero Beach – just a two hour drive southeast of Walt Disney World, this Floridian beach resort is a scenic getaway.
Room Type
Most DVC resorts offer a handful of different room types: Deluxe Studios, One-Bedroom Villas, Two-Bedroom Villas, and Three-Bedroom Grand Villas. Not every resort has the Grand Villas, so if you have a large travel party and require that much space, take that into consideration early in your planning. DVC Shop has a “Floor Plans” tab listed in the resort information for each and every DVC Resort. Be sure to reference those floors plans when choosing what type of room will work best for you!
- Deluxe Studios typically sleep four to five guests and feature a kitchenette. Bed configuration varies between resorts, but most often there is one queen bed, one pull-down queen bed, and sometimes a single pull-down sleeper.
- One-Bedroom Villas most often sleep five guests, but sometimes do only accommodate four guests. These will have a master bedroom, usually with a king bed. Then in the living room area a couch will either pull-down or pull-out into a second larger bed, and sometimes a single pull-down sleeper is also in the living room area. One-Bedroom Villas feature a full kitchen, plus in-room washer and dryer for your convenience.
- Two-Bedroom Villas sleep eight or nine guests, and also feature a full kitchen and in-room laundry. Layout for these can vary considerably, and the DVC Shop floor plans should be consulted if sleeping arrangements are of particular importance to you. Also note that Two-Bedroom Villas can be “dedicated,” as in built to be a two-bedroom unit, or “lock-off,” combining a Deluxe Studio and a One-Bedroom Villa via an interior adjoining door. This can mean within the same resort the lock-off and dedicated floor plans may be different.
- Three-Bedroom Grand Villas sleep 12 guests and live up to the “grand” moniker. These are immaculately themed, large spaces that are perfect for hosting a gathering. Like the One- and Two-Bedroom Villas, the Grand Villas have a full kitchen and in-unit laundry, but their expansive footprint allows for ample room to gather around a proper dining table. Some Grand Villas are split between two floors, offering a bit more separate of space if desired.
Outside of these standard room types, there’s also less common room types such as Duo Studios that accommodate only two guests, cozy Cabins at Copper Creek, overwater Bungalows at the Polynesian, and Treehouse Villas at Saratoga Springs. Exploring the floor plans that DVC Shop has curated will help inspire your next trip!
Trip Timing
Determine with your travel party the times of year you could potentially take your vacation. Naturally everyone has availability to plan around, whether that be work, school, or personal life commitments. Another key consideration is the 7- and 11-month booking window for using your Disney Vacation Club Vacation Points. Learn more about those intricacies, and some helpful hints, here. Briefly, you can book a trip at your home resort 11 months in advance of check-in day, and a stay at other DVC resorts 7-months in advance of your check-in. Typically, availability decreases as your trip gets closer, so it is very beneficial to book in advance if you are able to.
Once you have decided on a rough time frame for travel, you do not have to do the math yourself to find your 7- and/or 11-month booking window! Login to your Disney Vacation Club account, then navigate to the Plan Vacation menu and select Booking Guidelines.
On this Booking Guidelines page, you’ll find explanations for all of your booking windows–both at Disney Vacation Club resorts and at other Disney Resort Hotel exchange locations. And a highlight on this page is the booking window calculator. Simply enter your check-in date, and the calculator will tell you when your booking window opens depending on what type of stay you are aiming to book.
In this example, we are targeting a check-in date of December 21, 2025. The booking window calculator does all the work for us. We can book our DVC home resort starting on January 21, 2025; other DVC resorts starting May 21, 2025; Disney Resort Hotels in Florida, California, Paris, and Hong Kong starting January 21, 2025; Disney Resort Hotels in Tokyo on August 21, 2025; and the booking window for Adventures by Disney and Disney Cruise line are already open.
Utilizing the booking window calculator takes all of the guess work out of knowing when your booking window opens. Remember that online DVC bookings begin at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
You can also find the booking window calculator on your DVC Dashboard–it exists under your current reservations.
With the tools and information from Disney Vacation Club and DVC Shop combined, hopefully you are inspired and confident in booking your next vacation. If you have any questions, leave those in the comments down below.
Featured Photo: Emily Murray.
Written by
Jacqueline R.
Contributing Writer
Jacqueline is a PhD scientist with a passion for synthesizing detailed information in an understandable format. She is a Disney Vacation Club owner, overall Disney fan, and the primary content creator on the YouTube channel Pixie Dust PhD.
