Disney previously updated the terms and conditions of its timeshare program, Disney Vacation Club, with changes aimed at limiting the commercial rental of points through the program. Now, Disney has commented on the current state of the effort. Renting Disney Vacation Club (DVC) points has long been a popular way for guests to book deluxe resort stays at significantly lower prices than standard rates.
Below, we break down the specific changes to the DVC policy and explain how they could affect guests who rely on point rentals for future stays. At Mickey Visit, we report on the latest news, including changes to operating hours at Disney’s most popular bar and all the Disney World updates for December. See new details on Avatar area at Disneyland.
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DVC Updates Terms to Limit Point Rentals
Disney Vacation Club or DVC is Disney’s timeshare program. Members buy a real estate interest that comes with an annual amount of points. The points are then used in place of cash to book stays at eligible Disney-owned resorts at Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and other Disney resorts. The cost of stays varies by resort, room type, and time of year the same way that a normal hotel room costs would vary. Members buy into a “home resort,” which gives them priority access to booking there. When members receive their points each year, they have the option to bank the points with certain limits.
DVC points have real cash value. Disney allows owners to rent out unused points, with certain limits. This has created a cottage industry around renting DVC points. Non-DVC members can use points to book deluxe Disney resort stays at much lower prices than posted Disney cash rates. This space has grown in awareness and popularity in recent years and now Disney looks like they are cracking down on the practices.
Earlier this year, DVC updated its Terms and Conditions to require members to certify that any reservation made with DVC points is for “personal use only” and not for commercial purposes. Members must check a box attesting to this during the booking process or verbally confirm this when booking by phone.
According to the language, “personal use” includes stays by the member, the member’s family, or friends on occasion, and states that members should not regularly or frequently rent or sell reservations made with their membership.
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Now, Disney has made additional comments about the ongoing crackdown at the 2025 DVC Condo Association Meetings. Members asked questions about how the new policy was being enforced and the impact on rental inventory.
Shannon Sakaske, the Vice President of Member Experiences & Club Management, stated the organization has increased staffing and resources to monitor point usage, yet offered no further specifics about how enforcement, the definition of commercial renting, or consequences will be applied, according to a report from DVC Fan.
He also addressed another area that impacts member availability, Disney’s “rental” of points. Sakaske also shared that a portion of “rented” points comes from members who choose not to use their points themselves but instead exchange them through DVC or via external exchange programs such as Interval International or other official exchange paths, according to the report from DVC Fan. When these points are exchanged, Disney Vacation Club then moves these rooms into the general hotel inventory that is sold for cash bookings.
Sakaske said that about 20% of all DVC utilizations overall fall into this category. At Disney’s BoardWalk Resort specifically, it was cited at around 15% according to DVC Fan. While this does not equate to commercial renting, these exchange‑based usages do have a real impact on availability and may be part of the bigger picture.
Turning back to the broader situation, let’s understand why Disney is making this change.
There has been growing concern among both some Disney Vacation Club members and Disney that certain owners accumulate large quantities of points primarily to rent them out. This practice is viewed as problematic for two main reasons.
First, it creates an uneven playing field for DVC members who use the program and must now compete for availability with professional resellers who operate point rentals as a business. Second, it can negatively impact Disney’s direct hotel sales and their renting of points, as some guests may choose to rent DVC points instead of booking resort stays through Disney directly or through authorized travel agents.
How the Updated Policy Affects DVC Point Rentals
The real-world impacts of this change are not yet completely clear, as Disney reserves the right to interpret what it considers to be “personal use or commercial use” at its sole discretion. The updated policy allows Disney to cancel or modify reservations that it considers to be for commercial purposes.
However, this update is widely assumed to be aimed primarily at owners who treat their DVC membership as a way to generate income rather than for personal vacation use. The changes are intended to stop what Disney views as misuse or abuse of the program and are likely focused on a relatively small segment of high-volume commercial renters. I imagine any enforcement will have a limited impact on DVC members who use their points as intended.
As for guests who want to rent points, this is more reason than ever to go through an accredited, well-established third party that connects owners and renters rather than working with outside forums. We work with David’s Vacation Club Rentals and DVC Rental Store to connect our readers with established, reputable options for renting points.
Both companies are Better Business Bureau-accredited and have long track records of facilitating DVC rentals. Even if Disney were to cancel a reservation under the updated policy, these companies work on behalf of their clients to either secure an alternative reservation or provide a refund, offering guests a greater level of protection and peace of mind. You can read more about David’s Vacation Club Rentals vs DVC Rental Store to see which company is the right pick for you.
We will be watching closely to understand if this change from Disney is going to have a bigger impact on the concept of renting points. We don’t have a good enough sense of how many of the points being rented on David’s Vacation Club Rentals and DVC Rental Store are from people who are purely using to make money vs people renting out points in a year that they are not using them.
If you have any thoughts or additional experience with this, please comment below. This is an area we are interested in, but is difficult to track because of the lack of public discussion on it.
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Just bought a contract through one of the reputable companies. Upon seeing the seller, it was an LLC. I’m not a commercial renter. I just wanted to add 50 pts so we can get 1brms. It’s getting harder and harder to get bookings even 11mos out due to these “renters” and “walkers”.
As much as I want to side with Disney, I can’t.
First, is because they rent the points commercially themselves. They own pints and rent them out. The second reason is because the points that these so called commercial renters rent out are already accounted for, the points are part of the pool and affect the availability of units the same as if they were owned by individuals.
That’s one the problems DVC HAS ! THE ANNUAL PASSES THEY SELL TO THE LOCALS ,, FROM FLORIDA, GEORGIA, TENN, THEY GET TO ENTER PARKS ,ALL YEAR LONG, GET OFF WORK, AND GO TO PARKS , AND DVC MEMBERS , CANT GET TICKETS ,OR BOOK VACTIONS BECAUSE THE PARKS GET FILLED , !. WHEN I BOUGHT INTO OLD KEY WEST IN 96, IT WAS GREAT , KNEW EXPERIENCE , I BOUGHT 21O POINTS FOR 10K. I WORKED OUT 4 STAYS A YEAR , DIDNT MIND SPENDING 2 ,3 K AT THE RESTRAUNTS AND PARKS , 15 YEARS LATER COUNDNT GET ANY OFF SEASON DATES EVERYTHING WAS A HOLIDAY , THIS FEST THAT
FEST , I MADE USE OF THE 10K INVESTMENT FOR 15 YEARS , I STILL HAVE INTERE FOR 20 MORE BUT I WONT RECOMMEND BUYING IN NOW WAY OVER PRICEED AND AMENITIES ARE FEW TO NONE !
We have 2 contracts. But as my children she up into teen years. It’s hard to go sometimes. Especially with sports.
So we rent out our points. We also use Dave’s.
There should be a fair way to do this. I understand the back/borrow. But that puts us into sizes and prices we didn’t want. Rental has worked very well for us.
We have had two contracts since 2001 and continue to be frustrated with the rental proccess. This was never the purpose of buying DVC. David’s does nothing but allow non-Dvc’ers the value without the commitment. Additionally, realize that when you rent points yet check the family/friends box you are being dishonest.
It’s frustrating! We have 350 points and yet it took me 2 months to get a resort booking that would work with our vacation plans (10 months in advance). We still had to split our days between 2 different resorts because they’re all booked up. That’s not what we bought into!