2024 Condo Association announcements and direct pricing increases

My DVC Points is proudly sponsored by: DVC Resale Market - Industry Leader in DVC Resales DVC Rental Store - DVC Point Rentals Monera Financial - Exclusively Financing DVC Contracts Patreon supporters in the My DVC Points VIP Producer Club. DVC Removes the Ability to Pay Monthly Dues with Gift Cards Disney Vacation Club has removed from the system the option to enroll in monthly dues payments and still use a gift card to pay dues. In previous years, Members could enroll in monthly autopay and then pay dues each month with a gift card just before the deduction of the payment.  Now, DVC has indicated this will not be an option. In a statement, DVC has shared the following: While you are enrolled in Auto-Pay for Annual Dues, Disney Gift Cards and Disney Rewards Redemption Cards are not acceptable forms of payment per our terms and conditions. To make a payment with a Gift Card or Rewards card, please first un-enroll by selecting My Annual Dues > Manage Auto-Pay > Cancel Autopay. After making your payment, please re-enroll in Autopay by February 14 for any remaining balance due. If you are not re-enrolled in Autopay by February 14, any outstanding Annual Dues balance will be considered past due on February 15, subject to late fees and interest, and due in full. If you removed Autopay to pay in full, please remember to re-enroll if you want to continue with automatic payments for future years. Source: DVC News Bits of news from Condo Association meetings Lots of good info came out of the recent annual Condo Association meetings. Thanks to DVC News.com for gathering all this information.  Soft goods refresh on Copper Creek is expected to start in late Spring 2025. Changes include a new color palette, more Disney Intellectual Property, artwork, fabrics, and more. 12 to 16 rooms will be taken out of service at a time. The project is expected to take just under 12 months. There is no word on the installation of Murphy Beds. Bay Lake Tower refurb planned in four stages. The current set of rooms is expected to open  All rooms to get murphy style bed. Twin sleepers were added to 1- and 2-bedrooms, NOT studios.  The design of the studios won’t change (galley kitchen). USB ports are being added to rooms. Skybridge will close January 2025, guests will have to go to ground floor to walk to Contemporary. Hard goods for AKV will start in October 2025, starting in Kidani units. Kidani will also refresh the lobby and community hall. Expected to last 9 months. Jambo will start in 2026. Grand Californian hard goods refurbishment is still expected to start in 2025. Saratoga Treehouse villas are planned for late 2025 as well, with Old Key West on deck for 2026.  Board members spoke out about commercial renting of points: Shannon Sakaske, VP, Member Experiences & Club Management: "There’s two types of renting that members do. One that you alluded to, which is ‘I’m not going to use my points this year. They’re going to expire and I want to get some money to offset my dues.’ That’s allowed within our rules. We allow members the flexibility to rent.  The other category is someone who is doing it commercially. They own a lot of points and it’s a frequent occurrence. 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." Senior Vice President and General Manager Bill Diercksen confirmed that DVC has "added resources to our core team at DVC in order to pursue this and make sure that it is fair" to everyday members. According to Yvonne Chang, Executive Director, Business Operations "We’ve got a whole team of folks focused on this. Hopefully by next year when we have this conversation, we will see some improvement.” In a later session Sakaske was even more direct, saying that while they have no issues with members occasionally renting points, "[y]ou just can’t do it commercially. That is against our rules. We are actively pursuing plans to go after those people and stop that behavior." The Board was also asked about the practice of walking reservations. “Walking” involves booking a reservation weeks or months early, and then adjusting the times on the Resort Tool to ensure you get hard-to-get dates and/or room categories. The board seemed less interested in resolving this issue as the focus seemed to be on not causing “unintended consequences” with any changes. Sakaske said, "[w]e’re aware of that dynamic and the impact that it can have on others who are waiting on the 11-month window to book. We set those rules and we could change it if we find a better approach." Yvonne Chang later added: "One of the responsibilities obviously as a board is always to listen to feedback and act on behalf of the membership as a whole. To make sure that whatever rules are changed are…because of your input and because it benefits everyone. Everything that is done sometimes has unintended consequences." Steve Whittington, Director of Strategy and Development: "The members that are walking—they don’t like to do that either. So we’re looking at different solutions as Yvonne mentioned. How do we maintain the spirit of what we want, which is fewer calls to the reservation center [or going online] to make the booking? But at the same time, make sure we aren’t creating any unintended consequences." Source: DVC News Direct Price Increase February 10th, 2025 Starting February 10th, base direct prices are scheduled to increase for most resorts, including Riviera, Fort Wilderness, Polynesian, and Aulani; the base price increases by $10 to $235 per point, while the Villas at the Disneyland Hotel will increase from $239 to $245 each.  Source: DVC News Room Distribution at Poly Island Tower With the opening of the Polynesian Island Tower, it is now possible to break the number of rooms down to determine the quantity of room types and categories. Rooms facing the golf course/parking lot are considered resort or standard views. Rooms facing the pool are considered Preferred View Duo Rooms facing the lake but with restricted views are considered Premium View All other rooms facing the lake have views of Magic Kingdom and are considered Theme Park Views. Source: DVC Help My DVC Points is a fantastic community of DVC members. 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