For the first time since the start of the pandemic, direct Disney Vacation Club point sales topped the 200,000-point mark for three consecutive months.
In July 2023, 278,741 points were sold for the 11 DVC resorts located at World Disney World and The Villas at Disneyland Hotel. In the last three months, these 12 resorts have sold 857,742 points, the most number of points that have been sold in a three-month period since DVCNews started tracking direct sales in July 2010. The next best three-month period was June, July, and August 2013 when 813,404 points were sold.
The 184,361 points sold for the Walt Disney World resorts in July is noteworthy for several reasons. It is 9.0% more than sales in July 2022; 40.0% more what the Walt Disney World resorts averaged in the previous 12 months; and 30.2% more than its average sales over the previous two years. Lest we forget the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on DVC sales, July 2023 sales are almost 12-and-a-half times the 13,715 points that were sold in July 2020.
Disney’s Old Key West Resort, benefitting from short-term incentives that ended on July 10, 2023, sold 4,335 points in July. It was the largest number of points that resort has sold since 6,809 points were sold in April 2022.
The largest deeds sold in July were for Disneyland Hotel. One set of owners bought 3,000 points split between two 1,500-point deeds; another buyer bought a 1,250-point deed; and another set of owners bought 2,400 points split into six 400-point deeds. The largest single deed sold for a Walt Disney World resort was an 800-point deed for Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort.
Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort — In July 2023, Grand Floridian led all resorts, including Disneyland Hotel, in sales with 128,117 points. It is the second best month for sales since they resumed for the resort in March 2022
Disney has sold 1,272,300 of the 1,779,822 points (71.5%) allotted to the 202 Resort Studios located in Big Pine Key. It still has about 497,000 Grand Floridian points it can sell to the general public.
Given the fluctuations in Grand Floridian’s monthly sales data, it is difficult to estimate when Disney could consider it to be “sold out.” But now that Disney has less than 500,000 left in its inventory it is likely Grand Floridian will reach that status early next year. Of course, Disney could speed up or delay that process by manipulating the incentives it offers in the coming months.
One Fixed Week deed was sold for Grand Floridian in July 2023, bringing to 42 the number of such deeds it has sold for the new Resort Studios. Since sales resumed, Disney has not sold any Fixed Week deeds for the Deluxe Studios or larger accommodations at the original Grand Floridian DVC building. Nor has it drawn any points from the Residential Units in the original building to support sales.
Disney’s Riviera Resort — In July, Riviera sold 43,969 points. Although it is the most since 44,665 points were sold in January 2023 it is only about half as much as the 82,420 points the Riviera sold in July 2022.
Disney has sold 3,745,065 Riviera points, or 55.6%, of the resort’s 6,739,966 points. It still has about 2.86 million Riviera points that Disney can sell to the general public.
A Fixed Week deed was sold for Riviera in July. Disney has sold 113 Fixed Week deeds for the resort: 94 Fixed Week deeds have been sold for Deluxe Studios, eight for one-bedroom villas, eight for two-bedroom villas, and three for three-bedroom grand villas.
Disney has declared 224 of Riviera’s 341 vacation homes for the DVC inventory. There are still 117 vacation homes that have not yet been declared and are under the control of Disney. The declared inventory accounts for about 4,458,999 points, or 66.2% of the resort’s total points.
Villas at Disneyland Hotel — In July, 94,380 points were sold for Disneyland Hotel, DVC’s newest resort. Disney has sold 404,075 points in the three months that sales have been ongoing, about 12.4% of the resort’s estimated 3,255,992 total points.
The July sales for Disneyland Hotel are 41.7% less than what the resort sold in its second month. Such a drop-off in sales after the initial start-up is not uncommon for new DVC resorts. When Grand Floridian debuted in 2013 sales dropped 42.5% from the second to the third month. When sales resumed in 2022 for Grand Floridian its sales dropped 43.7% in the third month.
Because the data available from the Orange County (California) Clerk-Recorder’s Office is limited, it is not possible to track some items such as Fixed Week sales. Even the exact number of points sold cannot be measured directly; instead, the number of points can only be estimated based on the Transfer Tax paid on each deed.
The sales data includes all 11 DVC resorts at Walt Disney World, as well as Disney's Vero Beach Resort, and Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort. Point sales data is not available for the Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel. The data is compiled from deeds filed by Disney Vacation Development and recorded with the Orange County (FL) Comptroller, the Indian River County (FL) Clerk of Court, and the Beaufort County (SC) Register of Deeds. Thanks to Chris for assisting in the compilation of the sales data.
Wil Lovato is a contributor to DVCNews.com and has been a Disney Vacation Club owner since 2009. His DVC Home Resorts include Copper Creek Villas, Bay Lake Tower, Animal Kingdom Villas, and Aulani. He can be found posting on many Disney discussion forums under the username of “wdrl.”
