What Do Your DVC Annual Dues Cover? An In-Depth Review

Many DVC members wonder, what exactly are my annual dues paying for? In this article, we’ll cover the exact expenses that are covered by paying your annual dues, as well as some surprising revenue generators that you might not be familiar with.

Revenue Components

Member Late Fees and Interest

This is income that comes from members that pay late fees as well as interest from not meeting the February 15th deadline for paying annual dues.

Breakage Income

Breakage income is any room that was allocated to member inventory that was not booked at day 60 before check in. At day 60, DVC will try to rent that room and apply it to member dues as revenue. After they hit a specified  cap of revenue, Disney can keep the remaining funds.

Member Annual Dues Assessment

This is the largest revenue component and what is paid by DVC members in their annual dues.

Parking Revenue

This is a positive for DVC members since some resorts are most commonly occupied by non-members that are paying parking fees. DVC members don’t pay for parking at DVC resorts, but this surprising revenue generator still contributes to DVC’s bottom line.

Cost Components

Administration & Front Desk

Administration & Front Desk is generally the third largest expense in terms of cost but has actually gone down this year. These costs cover the salary and technology costs of running the front desk, as well as the administration of the resort’s staff.

Insurance

Property insurance ensures that, in the event of catastrophic loss of the structure, owners will have limited liability in being assessed new fees. Just as you would insure your home, the DVC resorts carry insurance, in which costs can fluctuate from year to year.

Annual Audit

An annual audit is paid for every year. The purpose is to show what the expenses were for the resort for the entire year.  The audit is performed by a neutral third-party to ensure funds are allocated appropriately each year. This ensures a level of transparency for how funds are allocated each year.

Legal

Legal costs pay for a legal team that ensures all legal matters can be taken care of by professional. The legal costs is $1000 annually on all budgets except Riviera is $2000.

DVC Reservation Component

This part of the costs are reserved for maintaining and upgrading the reservation system that allows owners to reserve their vacations each year. Not only does Disney maintain the online and phone-based reservations systems, but historically has rolled out many upgrades that make reserving your vacations easier and more convenient.

Maintenance

This includes the cost to keep the resorts up to DVC standards. Each resort will vary in the amount allocated to maintenance. This can include renovations, refurbishments, roofing costs, and general up-keep of the resort and rooms.

Housekeeping

Housekeeping costs are usually the second highest cost next to transportation, and they cover the cleaning and day-to-day maintenance of the resort and each villa within it.

Management Fee

The management fee is paid to Disney, and is a flat 12.5% based on the budget of the resort. This can rise or fall each year, based on the total projected budget for the year.

Security

Security costs cover on-site security to ensure guests and members are kept safe and secure during their stay at the resort.

Income Taxes

None of the Disney Vacation Club resorts are tax except and therefore they must pay income taxes. This cost is allocated in the budget, and can change from year to year depending on the tax costs for the state the resort is operating within.

Transportation

Member dues are used for a certain amount of the cost of transportation. This amount will vary resort to resort, as some resorts share their transportation with non-members, while other resorts like Riviera, have their own exclusive system. Transportation costs are the most expensive thing next to housekeeping costs, and can change from year to year.

Utilities

This includes the cost of electricity, gas, water, sewer, cable television, and telephone services at each resort.

If you’re not using your membership, now is the time to sell!