Disney Vacation Club is undoubtedly one of the best vacation clubs in the industry. There are a lot of resources out there about the club to inform new buyers, as well as owners looking to add more DVC points to their contracts. With so many details and information, it’s important to note all that Disney Vacation Club offers with ownership. Did you know, DVC is technically a “leasehold” contract? Meaning, all DVC contracts have an end date or an expiration. Make sure to know these important years before you buy, so you can make sure you have plenty of time to enjoy your ownership before your DVC points expire.
When Do DVC Points Expire?
If you didn’t know already and are just starting to look into buying DVC points on the resale market, all DVC points expire. Whether you buy directly from Disney or resale, every contract at each resort will have the same expiration year. See the table below to check when the contract expires for each resort you may be interested in.
DVC Contract End Dates
The contract end date is important to consider when buying Disney Vacation Club points because you will want to make sure it fits in with your travel plans for the future. Keep in mind, whether you buy DVC points at Grand Floridian today or ten years ago, all Grand Floridian contracts will end on 1/31/2064. Same goes for each resort we have listed below, with varying expiration years.
| DVC Resort | Contract Expiration |
| Vero Beach | 1/31/2042 |
| Hilton Head | 1/31/2042 |
| BoardWalk Villas | 1/31/2042 |
| Boulder Ridge at Wilderness Lodge | 1/31/2042 |
| Beach Club Villas | 1/31/2042 |
| Old Key West | 1/31/2042 – OR – 1/31/2057 |
| Saratoga Springs Resort | 1/31/2054 |
| Animal Kingdom Villas | 1/31/2057 |
| Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary Resort | 1/31/2060 |
| Grand Californian | 1/31/2060 |
| Aulani | 1/31/2062 |
| Grand Floridian | 1/31/2064 |
| Polynesian Villas & Bungalows | 1/31/2066 |
| Copper Creek at Wilderness Lodge | 1/31/2068 |
| Riviera Resort | 1/31/2070 |
What’s Up With Old Key West’s DVC Contract End Date?
The standard across most of the DVC resorts is 50-year contracts. However, you might have noticed that Old Key West has two expiration dates. That’s because in 2007, owners were offered the option to extend their OKW contracts for 15 years at $15 per point initially, and now for $25 per point.
When you are buying DVC resale and looking specifically for Old Key West points for sale, make sure to always note the contract’s expiration. You’ll see both expiration years floating around the resale market, and that’s because some owners at the time chose not to extend their contracts! You can find our listings separated for this resort:
- Disney’s Old Key West – Expires in 2042
- Disney’s Old Key West (Extended) – Expires in 2057
Why Do DVC Contracts Expire?
A leasehold property is when a developer leases a piece of land for a certain number of years. Disney Vacation Club leases from Disney Vacation Development Inc., where they build upon their leased land with resorts. For this reason, all DVC contracts have an expiration, because DVC is leasing land from Disney Vacation Development.
Contrary to what you may expect, DVC is not a right-to-use (RTU) timeshare. Being a leasehold property, however, it does have some similarities because the contracts expire.
Timeshare right to use means the contract or deed that is owned has an expiration date. The timeshare owner has the “right to use” their unit for a specified number of years. These are usually found in Mexico, Aruba or other international countries where an international buyer cannot hold land ownership in.
How Long Are DVC Contracts? What if I Buy Resale?
As Disney Vacation Club offers a leasehold contract to buyers, each one has an expiration date. These contracts may last 50 years or more, but they remain the same for all owners of the particular resort. For instance, if you were to buy a DVC resale at Bay Lake Tower, every contract for sale on the resale market will have an expiration date of 1/31/2060. Even if you were to buy a Bay Lake Tower resale in 2025, the contract will have the same expiration date and you will still no longer own it by 1/31/2060.
What Happens When a DVC Contract Expires?
Sometimes, like in the case of Old Key West, DVC will offer owners to extend their contracts. If DVC does not offer owners to extend, DVC simply takes back the units sold.
What DVC will do with those timeshare units isn’t known yet, but we can guess that they will either build a newer, bigger resort to replace the one before it or re-sell the units. Either way, once your DVC contract expires, you will no longer own a piece of the resort or have the option to use those DVC points for vacations.
What About DVC Subsidized Dues?
For certain Disney Vacation Club resorts like Aulani, you might come across a contract on the resale market that has “subsidized dues.” DVC subsidized dues contracts are a hot commodity because they usually mean lower maintenance fees for the owner. Coming across a DVC contract with subsidized dues is very rare these days and it’s likely that Disney will exercise their right of first refusal.
Contracts with subsidized dues will still have the same expiration dates as ones without, so the maximum contract length will not be affected.
Are you looking for more information about Disney Vacation Club? Our blog covers some of the most asked questions about DVC resales and their popular resorts. Get the inside scoop by subscribing to the newsletter.
