150 Saratoga Springs DVC points, year one: an owner's story
DVC Owner Stories 002. A family of three from North Carolina spent years in the anti-timeshare camp, then bought 150 resale points at Saratoga Springs this spring. In year one they booked six resorts across three trips and borrowed 104 points from next year to do it. This is their story, mostly in her words, with the numbers from her closing figures and her bookings.
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- Listed at $104 a point, offered $95, settled at $99: $17,487 upfront with closing and prorated dues.
- 29 days from offer to points in the account, 11 of them in Disney's right of first refusal.
- Three trips, 245 points: Grand Floridian and Saratoga in September, New Year's at Bay Lake Tower, Saratoga and the Polynesian, then Kidani and Old Key West in May.
- 141 points in the first use year plus 104 borrowed from the next, which leaves 46 for 2027.
- It pays for itself in about 4.7 years against Disney's prices, or 8.1 against renting points at $20.
Meet the owners
A family of three who get to Walt Disney World about every other year. It's an easy drive from North Carolina, 8 to 9 hours by car. Both parents grew up going to Disney; their daughter's first trip was at 18 months, and she's in college now.
After years of park-first trips, the plan now is “slower trips, with more time enjoying the resorts.” As Mom, the planner, puts it: “I'm already thinking about my next trip before I've even left!”
It started with a free upgrade
- 2010: booked at Pop Century, Disney emailed an upgrade offer: a deluxe studio at Old Key West or Saratoga Springs. They picked Old Key West.
- Check-in: a second upgrade landed them in a two-bedroom villa. “We never stayed at a value again.”
- The 2010s: still saying no. “Firmly in the anti-timeshare camp.” Learning how DVC differs from a timeshare slowly changed that.
- March 2026: home from a trip, “we realized that DVC could be a great fit for us.”
They know they'll keep coming back, and they have the vacation time to use the points.
Listed at $104. Offered $95. Settled at $99.
| Purchase price (150 points × $99) | $14,850.00 |
| Prorated annual dues | $1,295.79 |
| Disney administrative fee | $500.00 |
| Title, escrow and other fees | $841.68 |
| Total upfront | $17,487.47 |
150 resale points at Saratoga Springs through DVC Resale Market, on an August use year, with the deed running to 2054. The contract was slightly stripped: 141 of the 150 points were available for the 2026 use year.
29 days from offer to points
- Mar 18 (Wed): offer accepted at $99.
- Mar 19 (Thu): contract signed.
- Mar 20 (Fri): sent to Disney for right of first refusal.
- Mar 31 (Tue): passed ROFR, after 11 days.
- Apr 3 (Fri): signed closing documents.
- Apr 8 (Wed): seller signed; final payment.
- Apr 16 (Thu): account created, points added.
ROFR is Disney's right to buy a resale contract instead of the buyer; it passed on this one in 11 days. Our own Saratoga contract spent 27 days there. “I booked our first trip immediately!”
Trip 1: a Mother's Day waitlist win, 73 points
September 13 to 18, 2026, just the two of them, “much to our daughter's dismay!”
- Grand Floridian resort studio, Sep 13–17, 4 nights: 64 points. The favorite.
- Saratoga Springs deluxe studio, Sep 17–18, 1 night: 9 points. Downtime and Disney Springs.
Only a theme park view night was open at the Grand Floridian when she booked, so she took one night and waitlisted the other four in a resort studio. The waitlist came through.
Trip 2: New Year's Eve at Bay Lake Tower, 124 points
December 31, 2026 to January 7, 2027.
- Bay Lake Tower deluxe studio, Dec 31, 1 night: 26 points, by waitlist.
- Saratoga Springs deluxe studio, Jan 1–3, 2 nights: 30 points, on borrowed points.
- Polynesian deluxe studio, Jan 3–7, 4 nights: 68 points, switched at 7 months.
The original plan was Saratoga, Jan 3 to 8. By May she had given up on a Grand Floridian waitlist, so they added New Year's Eve at Bay Lake Tower and borrowed from the 2027 use year to cover Jan 1 and 2. When the 7-month window opened, she moved the Saratoga nights to the Polynesian.
Trip 3: booked at 11 months, split at 7, 48 points
May 10 to 14, 2027, the whole family.
- Kidani Village deluxe studio, savanna view, May 10–12, 2 nights: 28 points.
- Old Key West deluxe studio, May 12–14, 2 nights: 20 points, with a waitlist in for BoardWalk.
She booked a Saratoga Springs standard studio at the 11-month window, borrowing again: “I somehow forgot, or confused, the booking window.” At 7 months she split the stay. The Saratoga studio for those four nights was 12 points a night, 48 in all, and the split costs the same 48. “No additional borrowing!”
Three trips, 104 points borrowed
| 2026 use year (Aug 2026 – Jul 2027) | 2027 use year (Aug 2027 – Jul 2028) |
|---|---|
| Her points 141 | New points 150 |
| Borrowed from 2027 +104 | Lent to 2026 −104 |
| Used 245 | Left 46 |
Trips 1 to 3 add up to 73 + 124 + 48 = 245 points. “While borrowing so heavily isn't something we'd necessarily want to do every year, we're comfortable with it as we get started.” The 46 points left in 2027 are one more family trip, maybe stretched with hotel points at the Swan or Dolphin. Borrowed points can't be sent back, so the 2027 use year starts at 46.
Pays for itself in about 5 to 8 years
| Measured against | Pays for itself in |
|---|---|
| Paying Disney (points worth $30 each) | 4.7 years |
| Renting the same 150 points a year from an owner at $20 each | 8.1 years |
Breakeven: each year's 150 points at $30 (or $20), minus dues, until they add up to the $16,192 she paid before dues. Prices rise 5% a year and dues 4%. If rent stays flat at $20, it takes about 13 years. Nothing is counted for selling the contract later; it's the same math as the Buying Guide's breakeven.
Year one's trips are worth $13,311 at Disney's prices against $18,921 in (upfront plus the estimated 2027 dues): 70%. That's $4,221 for Trip 1 (Grand Floridian and Saratoga), $5,993 for Trip 2 (Bay Lake Tower, Saratoga and the Polynesian) and $3,098 for Trip 3 (Kidani and Old Key West).
What's next: “We'll likely buy more points, but not immediately.”
- Year one covers every monorail resort, a savanna view at Kidani, and a return to Old Key West.
- The plan: get through this year and “see how often we genuinely want to visit Disney.” They love other kinds of travel, too.
- Favorite so far: the Grand Floridian. “But honestly what I really love about DVC is the variety.”
“For now, we're enjoying the adventure, learning as we go.”
Saratoga Springs DVC points chart: every room and season →
Your turn: Who else borrows from next year? Tell us in the comments on Instagram.
Her dates, prices and closing figures, shared for this story; every resale contract is different. Points from the 2026 and 2027 DVC point charts; room views are the ones that match her point totals. Cash values are Disney's published prices for the same rooms and dates. Breakeven uses the Buying Guide's math with points at $30 or $20, rising 5% a year, and dues rising 4% a year. Not financial advice.
