Anyone who’s not a Disney Vacation Club Member already, but who knows a little bit about the DVC will probably have asked themselves this question at some point. I’ll try, and help out a bit here, and give you some idea of why we became Disney Vacation Club Members.

Your Disney accommodation’s (almost) paid for

One of the biggest draws for us was knowing that our accommodation, primarily at Walt Disney World, would effectively be more or less paid for. Ok, so we have to pay dues annually, which currently range from $4 to $7 per point, depending on which resort is your home resort. These pay for maintenance and capital improvements at your resort. So that’s an ongoing payment that you do need to factor in when considering whether to buy into the Disney Vacation Club or not.

Almost free accommodations at the Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary, thanks to Disney Vacation Club membership

For us though, that’s a comparatively small price to pay, compared to the full price of staying at Walt Disney World. You’ve also got to remember that, being British, before we became DVC members, we were buying holiday packages through the major travel agents. That didn’t come cheap. I still never cease to be amazed by how much some of the packages are. Ok, so they include flights from the UK, but to give you a rough idea, you’re looking at something in the $3,000 per person range. Take the flight price out and accommodation is still about $2,000 per person for a two-week stay. Faced with prices like that, there was no way we could vacation in Disney regularly. However, since we’ve been Disney Vacation Club members, on average, we’ve headed for Walt Disney World once a year, something we could never have done without our membership.

You get to experience other Disney vacations

The beauty of being a Disney Vacation Club member is that it’s not all about Walt Disney World. DVC resorts are also located at Hilton Head, South Carolina, Vero Beach in Florida, Disneyland in California, and ‘Oahu in Hawai’i. But there’s so much more than that to explore, and we’ve already done a lot of it!

Stunning Alaskan scenery in Tracy Arm Fjord

Thanks to our points, we’ve taken a three-night cruise many years ago on the Wonder, paid for one person using our points on the inaugural Mediterranean cruise in 2007 on the Magic, and paid for both of us on the last Alaskan cruise of the inaugural season in 2011. There is absolutely no way that we could’ve done any of that without using our points.

The Victorian splendour of the Disneyland Hotel at Disneyland Paris, a stay paid for with our points

Before the Villas at the Grand Californian, a Disney Vacation Club resort, opened at Disneyland in California, we used our points at the Disneyland Hotel for our first stay there together. Again, that saved us so much money. We did the same thing with our stay in 2010 at the Disneyland Hotel in at the Disneyland Resort Paris. If you know anything about this park, you’ll know that not only is the Disneyland Hotel right at the entrance to one of the parks, but it’s also extortionately priced. Without using our points, there is no way we could have afforded our two-night stay there.

We’ve not done badly with other Disney experiences, and we’ve still yet to use our points for stays at Tokyo Disney, or Hong Kong Disneyland (both options) or Adventures by Disney. Much as I’d love to do an Adventures by Disney tour, having heard nothing but amazing reports about them, that would use about a year’s points for each of us to go, so that would limit our vacations for some time before and afterwards. I’m not sure that’s something I’m prepared to do just yet…

You can even enjoy non-Disney vacations (shock horror!)

Yes, it’s true. Apparently, so I’m told anyway, there is vacation life outside Disney. I appreciate that’s a bit of a shock to some of us (me included!) but your Disney Vacation Club points can even be used for such stays.

Inside London's Royal Garden Hotel

There’s the Concierge collection, opening up the door to some of the world’s most exclusive hotels. We’ve stayed in three so far, the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego (the original Grand Floridian!), the Fairmont in San Francisco and the Royal Garden Hotel in London. We’d never have been able to afford even a night at any of those without the help of our points.

The wonderful world of discounts

Enjoying a Segway tour - complete with DVC discount!

Let’s be clear here. It doesn’t matter how many discounts you get as a Disney Vacation Club Member, you’ve earned them! After all, you’ve paid out a five figure sum no doubt membership into the club and there should be some benefits… and there are.

Perhaps one of the best is the money off the Annual Pass, very handy for us, as we usually tend to visit for more than 10 days at a time. Then there are the other discounts around the parks, and here I’m talking both Walt Disney World, and Disneyland, and at Vero Beach, and Hilton Head. Discounts include food at restaurants, shopping, behind the scenes tours, spa treatments, golf, and boating. It’s a good trick to learn that before you buy anything at either of the Disney parks to ask if there’s a DVC discount. There may not be, but it doesn’t hurt to ask, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised on a number of occasions when people have told me that there is, in fact, one to take advantage of.

And finally…. welcome home!

And the one simple thing that is a lovely benefit to being a Disney Vacation Club Member, and which you can’t put any monetary value on, is the simple phrase “welcome home” whenever you stay at a DVC resort. Those two little words mean so much to me, because that’s perhaps the most important element of being a Disney Vacation Club member. You’re buying a second home, away from all the worries of everyday life, where you can escape as and when you feel like. That’s the best benefit to being a DVC member for me… but what about you? Why did you become a DVC member.. and if you’re not yet a member of the Disney Vacation Club, what would tempt you?