With all Disney Vacation Club resorts set to be reopened by May 2nd, 2021, DVC is taking this opportunity to return to some sense of normalcy by reinstating pre-pandemic booking policies related to reservation cancellations and holding points.
In their announcement earlier this week on the Member website, Disney Vacation Club states, “Some of the temporary adjustments made last year to certain Disney Vacation Club policies will end April 30. Previous policies will be reinstated on May 1. Please visit the Member website for details about policies related to reservation cancelations, the borrowing and holding of Points, exchange fees and more.”
Confused about what this means? Here are some of the important details you need to be aware of when planning a trip for after May 1st:
Holding Rules Apply to All Cancelled or Modified Bookings
Guests looking to cancel or make changes to an upcoming reservation will need to be more cautious as Disney Vacation Club reverts to their previous policies regarding vacation points and holding accounts.
Throughout the past year, members making a last-minute change of plans have seen their points return to the use year in which they came from. This policy change will end on May 1st with the following reinstated rules applying to vacation points:
Cancellation and Modification Rules
| 31 Days Before Check-In or More | Vacation Points are returned to the Use Year of the reservation. |
| 30 Days to Day Before Check-In | Vacation Points placed in Holding Account in the Use Year of the reservation. |
| Check-In | Vacation Points are forfeited. |
Points placed into a Holding Account are bound to certain use rules due to the timeframe in which the cancellation or modification occurred. These points are bound to the following restrictions:
- Holding Points can only be used to book a new reservation 60 days or fewer before check-in.
- These points may not be used for Disney Collection or Concierge Collection reservations within four months of the end of their Use Year.
- All Holding Points will expire by the end of their Use Year and cannot be banked or borrowed.
Banking Rules Have Returned to Normal
Disney Vacation Club never officially changed their vacation point banking policies but did extend some banking deadlines and point expiration dates due to last year’s closures. As we return to a new sense of normal, members should be aware that these policies have returned to normal. DVC Members can bank their current Use Year points into the next Use Year if they do not plan to use them. Points must be banked four months before the end of your Use Year and then expire at the end of the next year. Be sure to follow this handy chart so that you don’t miss out on your vacation point banking deadline:
| Use Year | Banking Deadline |
| February | September 30th |
| March | October 31st |
| April | November 30th |
| June | January 31st |
| August | March 31t |
| September | April 30th |
| October | May 31st |
| December | July 31st |
50% Borrowing Restriction Remains in Effect
Now for the news that no one wants to hear. While Disney Vacation Club remained vague in their announcement, they made sure to emphasize the ongoing 50% borrowing restriction that has been in effect since April 2020. In their release, DVC states, “As a reminder, Members who want to borrow Points to complete a reservation will temporarily only be able to borrow up to 50 percent of their future Use Year Points per contract. Doing this will help manage inventory and accommodate more Members who want to schedule their vacations. Learn more about these policy changes.“
We are making a small assumption here, but it appears that the 50% borrowing restriction will remain in place when these changes go into effect on May 1st. Fun Fact: When Disney Vacation Club first opened, the borrowing rule was that only 50% of your vacation points could be borrowed. It is unclear when this changed but emphasizes that this new normal may be sticking around for a while.
Hopefully we were able to clear up any confusion you have regarding the upcoming changes to Disney Vacation Club cancellation and holding policies. Keep in mind that these policy changes will not go into affect until May 1st. Until then, the more relaxed rules that have been the norm throughout this pandemic will continue.
We want to hear your thoughts! Share with us in the comments what you think about these policy changes. Do you think the borrowing restrictions should be removed? Should cancellation policies remain more flexible? Also, feel free to ask us any comments you may have!
I don’t agree with only being allowed to borrow 50% of the next yes points. They are our points and we should be allowed to use them.
I feel the same. We were told that we could borrow or bank our points in order to rent a Villa for our Family vacations. I think changing the rules is wrong. Disney has sold too many timeshares and now due to Covid they by law have to limit the people in the park. Changing the game and sales pitch they used as a selling point to sell the timeshare to us allowing us the opportunity to go with our family to a Villa every 3 years is illegal. I do not feel we should be punished as DVC owners. I personally will discuss it with my Lawyers because Disney sold points under false pretenses if they make this change. You pay top dollar for fees and taxes, you have reservations cancelled, you have rules put in place for a pandemic which you are told will be temporary and now this. Enough is Enough! This is Evil and disturbing of the Disney Corporation and I believe many owners were told to buy a certain amount of points so the could bank and borrow and go ever other year or every third year. This is a Company only concerned about selling more points. disgusting and deceptive!
Just to clarify… While they do actively discuss banking and borrowing as part of the sales presentation, it has always included the disclaimer that this can be changed at any time. This is also in all of the legal disclosures you sign off on during closing. I understand it is frustrating, but give these unprecedented circumstances, these are the mechanisms they have to ensure that the system functions and that there is some level of availability for all members.
Quit making excuses for them. These times are no longer unprecedented. We’ve been living through it for a year and things are starting to improve in a big way.
What you’re going to start seeing now is companies using covid as an excuse to make permanent anti-consumer changes. So let’s not sit here and start making excuses for all these corporations.
I don’t believe I’m making an excuse for them. These are facts. I’m looking at the data driving these decisions and trying to think of it from the middle. How would members feel if borrowing was allowed completely, but there was zero availability? I honestly think we would see more unhappy members. In that situation, DVC would potentially have a legal issue because it cannot provide fair and equal availability to all its members. That’s the situation they are faced with due to the number of points currently backlogging the system. While we may be improving in terms of the pandemic, the DVC system is still flooded with millions of unused points, and we have yet to see the full effects of that. I don’t agree with how they are currently handling this and have made that known on numerous occasions. If we are going to criticize them for anything, let’s criticize them for not thinking outside the box and finding a creative solution to this problem.
How about monthly maintenance on many resorts tat were closed? I asked about them still collecting fees and was told they would look into it.
Great idea on the cancelations! This way, if my family or I come down with COVID right before our trip to a DVC resort, we’ll be going regardless so our points don’t get shoved into the holding account. I love it! So smart Disney!
I believe the DVC Point System should be revised by doing away with banked points, borrowing points from the future and maintain a point balance system where the member is allotted points per year based on his initial investment and allowed to save up to 4 times his yearly allotment until maintaining a maximum balance. When they reach the maximum point balance they will not earn anymore points until they start using the points they saved up. Every year the member will receive his annual point allotment up to not to exceed his maximum point balance.
For example if a member earns 200 points per year he will be allowed to save up to 800 points which would be his maximum balance.