For frequent travelers potentially considering entering a timeshare program, two of the biggest options are the Marriott Worldwide Vacation Club and the Disney Vacation Club. But the question is: Which works better? Well, it depends…
As someone who’s been traveling for well over 30 years, I can speak firsthand to the fact that all of us develop our own travel habits based on preferences. It’s no different for those entering the timeshare game, as choosing between Marriott and Disney arguably has more to do with what they want out of travel than it does with the perks each program offers.
Marriott’s program includes “a wide range of timeshare resorts and city properties that meet your needs in the most desired destinations.” Owners access these destinations using Club Points, a vacation currency that replenishes every year at whichever level of ownership in a beneficial Florida land trust a member belongs to.
However, Club Points aren’t limited to Florida. The Abound by Marriott program offers 15,000+ vacation options in a network of premium timeshare resorts, all using Club Points. According to Marriott, owners can “choose from 8,000+ hotels around the globe” by converting Club Points to Marriott Bonvoy points to “access an extraordinary collection of 30 hotel brands.
The Disney Vacation Club, founded in 1991, is a timeshare-style program that allows members to purchase a real estate interest in a home DVC resort via a flexible points-based membership system.
Disney’s current DV offerings at Walt Disney World are as follows:
- Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary Resort
- Animal Kingdom Villas at the Animal Kingdom Lodge
- Beach Club Villas at the Beach Club Resort
- BoardWalk Villas at the BoardWalk Resort
- Polynesian Villas & Bungalows at the Polynesian Village Resort
- Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
- The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
- Boulder Ridge Villas at Wilderness Lodge
- Copper Creek Villas and Cabins at Wilderness Lodge
- The Cabins at Fort Wilderness at Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground
- Disney Lakeshore Lodge and Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground
- Old Key West Resort
- Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
- Riviera Resort
The Disneyland Resort offers the following:
- The Villas at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel
- The Villas at Disneyland Hotel
Disney has several DVC resorts unconnected to larger Disney resorts, including the following:
- Vero Beach Resort in Vero Beach, Florida
- Hilton Head Island Resort in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
- Aulani in Ko Olina, Ohau, Hawaii.
Looking at Disney’s list kind of exemplifies the big difference between the two programs. Disney’s DVC resorts are primarily located at Florida’s Walt Disney World Resort and the Disneyland Resort, meaning that the majority of DVC experiences are tied to the company’s two U.S. resorts. Furthermore, their three additional resorts are located in the U.S. states of South Carolina, Florida, and Hawaii. DVC does offer some international exchange options as part of the World Collection, Interval International. Through this program, Disney Vacation Club Members do gain access to “thousands of wide-ranging vacation accommodations around the world—from condo-style to traditional hotel stays. However, it’s fair to say that Disney’s primary appeal is to guests who want to stay at Disney-owned properties.
In other words, travelers who want to spend most of their vacations at the Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland – and even want to remain in the Disney bubble while they travel somewhere like Hawaii – would likely be better suited to the Disney Vacation Club. In comparison, Marriott’s program is arguably more beneficial for travelers who want to explore internationally with the widest possible range of accommodation options, and not repeat destinations.
Marriott and Disney’s respective vacation clubs offer different experiences, each tailored to a different kind of traveler. Stay tuned to AllEars for more on travel.
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Have you considered a timeshare experience? Let us know in the comments below.
A little clarification: DVC allows you to purchase a short term real estate interest in your home resort? I purchased points for the Beach Club in 2002. But my ‘ membership’ ends in 2042. And then?????????? Disney, officially, has no answer when you ask “What then?” So I paid , upfront, $30,000 and I pay Association dues which were $2600 last year (and they go up every year). When I was at WDW a month ago, I asked someone at a DVC booth if any decision had been made for what will happen in 2042. And the person (have no idea if he has correct information) said…” It ends. You will have to start over”. If that is the case then its like putting a down payment on a house and making every mortgage payment for 40 years and then being evicted. If you want to keep your membership, apparently you will have to make that down payment again. If that is accurate, I wonder how many loyal Disney customers will re-up?