Disney World Forces Luxury Guests Into Legal Agreement, Strict Restrictions in Place
Disney Vacation Club (DVC) members are feeling the heat as the company enacts stricter guidelines regarding the rental of unused points. For years, renting out unused points has been a popular way for DVC members to recoup some of their membership costs, especially for those who cannot use all of their allotted points. Now, Disney is taking a firm stance against this practice, putting new legal restrictions in place.
For those unfamiliar, Disney Vacation Club is a timeshare program where members pay an initial buy-in fee and receive a certain number of points annually. These points can be used to book Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort’s most luxurious hotels, Adventures by Disney vacations, or other Disney properties around the world, like Aulani in Hawaii, Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort, and Disney’s Vero Beach Resort. While DVC members can use their points for personal vacations and “friends and family,” many have taken advantage of the opportunity to rent their unused points to other guests.
Third-party companies have sprung up around this point-rental system, helping guests without DVC memberships book stays at Disney’s high-end resorts at a more affordable rate. However, as point rentals became more popular, many DVC members noticed a significant drop in availability at the most in-demand hotels. In response to growing complaints, Disney has now updated its terms and conditions to address this issue head-on.
Effective June 1, 2025, new guidelines are now in place. The updated terms explicitly state:
You agree that any reservations made under your membership are solely for personal use and not for commercial purposes, as required by governing documents for each DVC Resort, including but not limited to the Declaration of Condominium and Membership Agreement. DVCM reserves the right to interpret personal use and determine if reservations are booked for personal or commercial purposes in its sole discretion.
Personal use may include enjoying the benefits of a DVC Membership with family or allowing use of any reserved Vacation Home to friends and family on occasion. Additionally, personal use means that the member does not regularly or frequently rent/sell reservations booked using their membership.
This new rule forces members to confirm that reservations are for “personal use” when booking online. Members making phone reservations must inform Disney cast members whether the reservation is for themselves, their family and friends, or a rental guest.
While the policy still allows members to book reservations for friends and family occasionally, it specifically prohibits renting or selling reservations on a regular basis. The lack of a clear “occasional” ratio leaves some ambiguity, but Disney’s message is clear: they are trying to clamp down on frequent point rentals.
Disney’s move comes in response to concerns from DVC members about declining availability at highly sought-after Disney Resort hotels, which many believe has been caused by the prevalence of third-party point rental services. Last year, Shannon Sakaske, Vice President of Member Experiences & Club Management, commented on the situation, expressing that Disney was aware of the issue but did not intend to target members who occasionally rented out their points.
“They own a lot of points and it’s a frequent occurrence,” Sakaske said. “We are actively figuring out ways to go after that, and stop that to the best of our ability. Hopefully this is not a conversation we will be having in future years. We’re going to go after that and try to remedy it as best we can.”
While Disney Vacation Club has implemented these new guidelines, it has not yet specified any legal actions or enforcement measures. The long-term impact of these changes remains to be seen, but Disney is clearly signaling that it wants to take more control over how DVC points are used.
Have you ever rented Disney Vacation Club points? Share your experience with Disney Dining in the comments!
