2026 Dues Predictions and Questions

[havoc315]

To me, the takeaway on all of this is that the best strategy is to buy where the dues are low and use the points whenever possible at resorts with cheaper points charts.

That’s a good strategy in a vacuum. But problem starts to become restrictions if buying resale. 7-month availability.

Sure— you might save on dues with that strategy. But when only preferred view 1 BRs are available, it’s costing a lot more than a standard studio.

 

[Sandisw]

I predict Poly will have dues continue to go down. I just posted a new threat about how expensive points charts decrease the $/pt in annual fees. PIT has an expensive points chart, and as more of those rooms get declared, it will dilute the maintenance burden.

The dues are calculated based on the points that are declared but they still represent the fractional share of all operating costs.

DVD just pays for the undeclared points and owners pay for declared.

Just like the cabins…right now, the operating costs have been determined for all 360 plus cabins but DVD pays for all but 63 that were activated into the RTU plan.

Now, once DVD declares points to PVB, they don’t pay any operating costs on those unsold points.

They simply cover the shortfall under the Developer guarantee.

 

[maui22]

I am not sure using 2025 dues is the appropriate way to compare dues and points for the rooms.

Look at historical data. OKW has always had low points. Look at 2016 dues and OKW dues were at or below the middle of dues. Hard to throw out OKWs first 25 years.

Perhaps age of resorts plays a larger role. No one envisioned the WiFi and technology demands of today back in the 1980s when OKW was being built. Opened 1991.

 

[VGCgroupie]

To me, the takeaway on all of this is that the best strategy is to buy where the dues are low and use the points whenever possible at resorts with cheaper points charts.

Seems pretty straight forward. If someone wants to pay OKW dues because they somehow think the point chart there justifies those dues vs other resorts with very similar point charts and lower dues more power to them. I can get on board with saying Polys cheap dues just might help offset the point cost in some room categories and RIV as well. I however cannot get on board with a blanket statement for every resort especially OKW.

 

[havoc315]

Seems pretty straight forward. If someone wants to pay OKW dues because they somehow think the point chart there justifies those dues vs other resorts with very similar point charts and lower dues more power to them. I can get on board with saying Polys cheap dues just might help offset the point cost in some room categories and RIV as well. I however cannot get on board with a blanket statement for every resort especially OKW.

There are many factors that influence the operating budget. Some resorts just have higher budgets for various reasons. A really obvious example is the Savannah at AKL.

I’m not telling anyone to buy OKW. But I am saying, if the price per point is the exact same, and you buy exactly the points you need for the exact room you want every year.. only staying in your home resort and no place else—
Your dues at OKW will not be meaningfully higher than other resorts.

in other words, if it’s a choice of doing 100% of your trips in at a BCV 1 BR, or doing 100% of your trips at a OKW 1 BR, always booking at 11 months, and your decision solely came down to dues—
So it’s a choice or buying 150 OKW to get 1 week in September, or buy 192 points at BCV for that same week:
Then your dues would be $1750 at BCV
and your dues could be $1575 at OKW.

Now nobody in the real world would make a purchasing decision in this manner. And as I’ve stressed repeatedly, I’m not giving buying advice. I’m not suggesting anybody should buy OKW.
I am only demonstrating that dues need to be considered in the context of the overall point chart. So if OKW is the resort you truly love, it doesn’t mean you’re paying more in dues.

 

[VGCgroupie]

There are many factors that influence the operating budget. Some resorts just have higher budgets for various reasons. A really obvious example is the Savannah at AKL.

I’m not telling anyone to buy OKW. But I am saying, if the price per point is the exact same, and you buy exactly the points you need for the exact room you want every year.. only staying in your home resort and no place else—
Your dues at OKW will not be meaningfully higher than other resorts.

in other words, if it’s a choice of doing 100% of your trips in at a BCV 1 BR, or doing 100% of your trips at a OKW 1 BR, always booking at 11 months, and your decision solely came down to dues—
So it’s a choice or buying 150 OKW to get 1 week in September, or buy 192 points at BCV for that same week:
Then your dues would be $1750 at BCV
and your dues could be $1575 at OKW.

Now nobody in the real world would make a purchasing decision in this manner. And as I’ve stressed repeatedly, I’m not giving buying advice. I’m not suggesting anybody should buy OKW.
I am only demonstrating that dues need to be considered in the context of the overall point chart. So if OKW is the resort you truly love, it doesn’t mean you’re paying more in dues.

I said many times, OKW makes sense if you love OKW and want to always stay there. But buying OKW to stay elsewhere occasionally makes no sense at all (again unless the upfront price is very low).

I have not went through week by week but I have done my fair share of searching in my time as a member and OKW is always very similar in point cost to BW, CCV, BRV and SSR, yes maybe a couple points cheaper but not always and saving a couple points would not be a reason to buy OKW and pay those high dues. So yes please continue to cherry pick those weeks where OKW comes out ahead to justify over $10 dues at a resort easily bookable at 7 months because you say their high dues are worth it for their point chart.

I will continue to pay $1.45 less per point at Boardwalk and spend basically the same amount of points as I would at OKW and walk myself to Epcot.

 

[Brian Noble]

If someone really wanted to make the comparison between resorts and account for seasons properly, it is probably easiest to use the Maximum Reallocation values. These are listed in each resort's POS, and they represent the points cost for a particular room type if every single night of the year were the same---and, at some resorts, if there were no differences in view.

For example, at OKW the values are (Studio/1BR/2BR/GV):
15, 30, 40, 65

At SSR, they are:
15, 32, 41, 64

So, pretty darn close.

 

[Chili327]

And it’s not just room sizes. Maintenance dues go to the pools, property, etc.
So it’s pretty easy to see that AKV has higher dues to the Savannah. BLT may be the opposite — lower dues because of the minimal landscaping requirements.

But generally speaking, a cheaper point chart means a higher amount of the maintenance has to go on each point.

But that shouldn’t be true, or are you saying they’ll make the point chart cheaper in a new resort that will have higher dues?

The 2 most expensive point charts have the lowest dues — Poly and GFV.
2 of the lowest point charts, OKW and Fort Wilderness cabins have the cheapest dues.

There certainly are other factors — I’d point charts were the ONLY factor, then BWV would be slotted even higher.

Of course, in looking at point charts for effect on dues, you can’t just look at the standard rooms. Maintenance of a resort view room is not less than maintaining a theme park view room.

So BLT actually has a very high chart, exposing the low dues:

1 BR unit comparison:
BCV- 251 for all 1 bedrooms
BLT - 233 points to 331 points per 1 bedroom.

So again, BLT is spreading their dues out over more points, and therefore BLT gets cheaper dues than BCV.





Now you’re lost me. I’m doing simple math, nothing to disagree on.

If it costs $100 to maintain a room for a week:
If the room costs 10 points, then dues are $10 per point.
If the room costs 9 points, then dues are $11 per point.

Here is a simple fact:
For 1 week in summer, a 1 BR at OKW is 190 points. That’s $1996 in dues.

At Poly, a 1 bedroom is between 292 and 396 points - $2315 to $3140

So nothing to disagree on: it’s a fact that for a 1 week ownership in a 1 BR at OKW, the dues are significantly lower than for a 1 week ownership at Poly.

This isn’t about what you should buy or not buy. For that, there are subjective preferences, there is the question of whether you’re staying at your home resort or not. This is purely about how dues are calculated, and a huge driving force in the setting of dues.

Is that what you meant to say??

Let me see if I can bridge the gap .

Yep, I’m pretty sure Disney made it complicated for a reason.

 

[VGCgroupie]

If someone really wanted to make the comparison between resorts and account for seasons properly, it is probably easiest to use the Maximum Reallocation values. These are listed in each resort's POS, and they represent the points cost for a particular room type if every single night of the year were the same---and, at some resorts, if there were no differences in view.

For example, at OKW the values are (Studio/1BR/2BR/GV):
15, 30, 40, 65

At SSR, they are:
15, 32, 41, 64

So, pretty darn close.

Always coming in with the knowledge. Thank you

 

[havoc315]

But that shouldn’t be true, or are you saying they’ll make the point chart cheaper in a new resort that will have higher dues?

No. Dues are based on set operating costs.

Let’s illustrate — it’s a 1 room resort, open only 1 week per year. The maintenance of that entire 1-room resort is $400 for the year.

Now, they are building their point chart. It’s only open 1 week, only 1 room… so a simple point chart.

If they charge 100 points for the room, the dues are only $4 per point!!
If they charge 20 points for the room, then the dues are a whopping $20 per point!!

But under both options, you’re actually paying the same dues. The dues per point are irrelevant when staying within your home resort. It’s about the dues per room. And that’s based on both the dues per point AND the number of points.

Is that what you meant to say??

lol, thanks for catching the typo.

Yep, I’m pretty sure Disney made it complicated for a reason.

 

[havoc315]

I said many times, OKW makes sense if you love OKW and want to always stay there. But buying OKW to stay elsewhere occasionally makes no sense at all (again unless the upfront price is very low).

So what? That’s not what I’ve been discussing. As I said, I’m not giving anyone buying advice. Only how to evaluate dues.

If you’re not staying at your home resort, then it always makes sense to only buy the cheapest points and cheapest dues.

I’m not telling anybody to buy or not buy any resort.

I’m only calculated dues.
Fact — staying 1 week in a 1 bedroom at OKW, you’ll pay less in dues than staying 1 week at a 1 bedroom at BVC, for example.

Does that mean I’m telling anyone to buy OKW over BCV? no!!!!!!!

Where to buy involves a million other questions: where do you want to stay. Are you going to book at 11 months or 7 months. Direct or resale. Room type. Etc, etc.

I have not went through week by week but I have done my fair share of searching in my time as a member and OKW is always very similar in point cost to BW, CCV, BRV and SSR, yes maybe a couple points cheaper but not always and saving a couple points would not be a reason to buy OKW and pay those high dues.

I NEVER said anyone should buy at OKW —

But fact — if you bought exactly the number of points you needed for the average room (not the cheapest room) at most of those other resorts, your total dues payment would be LOWER at OKW because the average room is few points.

Does that mean I’m telling people to buy at OKW? No!!!! The dues are only lower if you are buying the exact minimum points you need for 100% of your stays at OKW. If you use your OKW points at BCV—then you’re paying HIGHER dues for your stay.
But if you 100% of the time use your points at OKW, then you’re paying LOWER dues for your stay.

Go ahead — pick any single day stay, and I’ll illustrate for that single day. And I guarantee you, the OKW dues for the average room will be the same or slightly cheaper than most if not all of the others.

So yes please continue to cherry pick those weeks

I just challenged you — pick any date. I already proved my point in the October dates you picked. Pick any date!

where OKW comes out ahead to justify over $10 dues at a resort easily bookable at 7 months because you say their high dues are worth it for their point chart.

I NEVER said they were worth it. In fact, I explicitly said it’s irrelevant when using the points at other resorts at 7 months. It’s merely a demonstration of what influences dues prices.

The direct comparison only applies when booking at 11 months at your home resort in a fictional average room. (OKW only has 1 view type. In some cases of resorts that have multiple views, the standard view may be cheaper than OKW. But in 100% or almost 100% of cases, the “average” room at the other resort will cost more points than the average room at OKW.

Now, people don’t stay in fictional average rooms — such rooms don’t exist in the real world. some people may only stay in standard rooms. But this is an academic discussion about the correlation between dues and points. That’s ALL.

I will continue to pay $1.45 less per point at Boardwalk and spend basically the same amount of points as I would at OKW and walk myself to Epcot.

enjoy!! And if you’re staying in standard rooms, you are likely saving $1.45x number of points. Because standard rooms at BWV have about the same point charts as OKW.

If you’re buying and staying at BCV, or Boardwalk view rooms at BWV, the math can start to shift.

 

[VGCgroupie]

So what? That’s not what I’ve been discussing. As I said, I’m not giving anyone buying advice. Only how to evaluate dues.

Those reading along can see why I said this. Other than that Im not responding further even if you add more exclamation points to try and make your point.

 

[PolyRob]

Isn’t about the cost to operate it though? Since both BLT and PVB are shared resorts, you have look at the cash equivalent side too n

I haven’t looked but what is the occupancy difference between CR and Poly cash?

Now that PVB has a lot more rooms, they are going to be able to spread the shared costs out more than before.

Yes, I guess I would have just expected to see BLT a little higher up the list even before PVB IT since PVB was just studios and bungalows, but that could eventually level out if BLT keeps outpacing VGF and PVB for dues increases.

 

[airjay75]

Back to predictions, I was just doing a little research on Poly and its historical dues and points ratios.

Apparently, the original PVB had just a little over 4 million points (https://dvcnews.com/dvc-program-men...h-2016-as-incentives-begin-for-the-polynesian)

PIT added 3.6 million points to the resort (https://dvcnews.com/wdw-resorts/polynesian/6234-new-declaration-for-polynesian-s-island-tower-adds-12-vacation-homes-to-dvc-inventory)

So the majority of Poly's expenses are from the older PVB, which had dues of $8.23/point prior to PIT. Poly's compounded annual growth rate in dues prior to the tower opening was just under 4%. If one assumes the growth in expenses of PIT are going to be similar to RIV or CCV (around 1.5%), that would probably mean Poly dues should increase by something a little under 3% per year going forward. Will be interesting to see how this plays out over the long run.

 

[PolyRob]

Back to predictions, I was just doing a little research on Poly and its historical dues and points ratios.

Apparently, the original PVB had just a little over 4 million points (https://dvcnews.com/dvc-program-men...h-2016-as-incentives-begin-for-the-polynesian)

PIT added 3.6 million points to the resort (https://dvcnews.com/wdw-resorts/polynesian/6234-new-declaration-for-polynesian-s-island-tower-adds-12-vacation-homes-to-dvc-inventory)

So the majority of Poly's expenses are from the older PVB, which had dues of $8.23/point prior to PIT. Poly's compounded annual growth rate in dues prior to the tower opening was just under 4%. If one assumes the growth in expenses of PIT are going to be similar to RIV or CCV (around 1.5%), that would probably mean Poly dues should increase by something a little under 3% per year going forward. Will be interesting to see how this plays out over the long run.

That's why I was pointing out OG PVB with one of the highest charts including deluxe studios priced over VGF at certain times and bungalows priced above VGF grand villas actually had higher dues, not lower dues.

I'm guessing the age of the longhouses and separate over water structures contributed to the increased maintenance fees and the tower helps spread that out.

It will be interesting to see what PVB IT and VGF BPK does to both dues over time.

 

[Brian Noble]

If someone really wants to dig into these questions, it might be interesting to see what "components" of dues are high/low relative to other resorts, after scaling for room-night costs using the Maximum Reallocation values.

DVC News used to provide these for each year, but they stopped after 2022. I am not sure if anyone else has collected all of it in one place.

https://dvcnews.com/dvc-program-menu/financial/full-resort-budgets