Official Thread - New commercial use policy published 03/31

[mkatsy]

There are dozens of timeshares along I-Drive and in Kissimmee that have a $0 resale, and they sell direct contracts every single day.

And shockingly many of them out sell DVC it just blows my mind. Facebook is full of members trying desperately to unload those worthless contracts, and the fresh recruits just line up to light their money on fire.

 

[Mirabell Rose]

I think the most interesting part of the announcement is the penalties. They don’t just say cancellation of reservations. They list items like only being able to make reservations at your home resort, not being able to modify reservations and not being able to book online reservations. All of these sound good overall for owners.

Getting rid of computer systems that pull many hard to get reservations before the average owner can click at 8am, preventing continued walking into the future by those with thousands of points, buying up the cheapest resorts on the resale market and never using those points at those resorts but grabbing 7 month available with computer systems the average owner doesn’t have.

What if they started with those items of enforcement versus turning some family who thought they had a legitimate booking away at the resort desk? Would that be enough to shut down the big commercial renters?

 

[IsDVCForMe?]

And shockingly many of them out sell DVC it just blows my mind. Facebook is full of members trying desperately to unload those worthless contracts, and the fresh recruits just line up to light their money on fire.

Seems like different people have different experiences with both traditional timeshares
and DVC.

I have a neighbor who owned at 2 traditional timeshares that couldn’t get rid of either and tried to talk us out of buying into DVC. I have a coworker who owned DVC and sold it after many years of use. My coworker “made” money on DVC and basically talked us into buying in. Then you have the Riviera direct group who financed (maybe cash too?) their purchase and may be under after they sell their contract.

 

[mkatsy]

I think the most interesting part of the announcement is the penalties. They don’t just say cancellation of reservations. They list items like only being able to make reservations at your home resort, not being able to modify reservations and not being able to book online reservations. All of these sound good overall for owners.

Getting rid of computer systems that pull many hard to get reservations before the average owner can click at 8am, preventing continued walking into the future by those with thousands of points, buying up the cheapest resorts on the resale market and never using those points at those resorts but grabbing 7 month available with computer systems the average owner doesn’t have.

What if they started with those items of enforcement versus turning some family who thought they had a legitimate booking away at the resort desk? Would that be enough to shut down the big commercial renters?

Not being able to book online is HUGE in my opinion. Having to call in and wait in the queue is not only labor intensive, it’s impossible to grab everything good at once.

 

[FrancisK7]

The biggest issue to me are bots or accounts snagging high-demand reservations (popular dates, value rooms at AKL, etc.) to rent them for profit and I sincerely hope these new published guidelines will give Disney the leverage they need to go after these renters aggressively.

I am sure they have already modeled use across a large sample size, the number 20 did not manifest out Mickey's gluteus maximus. It's an established threshold now.

 

[muppets3d]

I think the most interesting part of the announcement is the penalties. They don’t just say cancellation of reservations. They list items like only being able to make reservations at your home resort, not being able to modify reservations and not being able to book online reservations. All of these sound good overall for owners.

Getting rid of computer systems that pull many hard to get reservations before the average owner can click at 8am, preventing continued walking into the future by those with thousands of points, buying up the cheapest resorts on the resale market and never using those points at those resorts but grabbing 7 month available with computer systems the average owner doesn’t have.

What if they started with those items of enforcement versus turning some family who thought they had a legitimate booking away at the resort desk? Would that be enough to shut down the big commercial renters?

I personally think that shutting down a commercial renter's online booking access will probably be the first step. Disney does not want to be on the news because someone who rented a reservation from a broker showed up at Boardwalk and their reservation was cancelled. But if that reservation was never allowed to be made in the first place, that is the best possible outcome for Disney.

 

[IsDVCForMe?]

The biggest issue to me are bots or accounts snagging high-demand reservations (popular dates, value rooms at AKL, etc.) to rent them for profit and I sincerely hope these new published guidelines will give Disney the leverage they need to go after these renters aggressively.

I am sure they have already modeled use across a large sample size, the number 20 did not manifest out Mickey's gluteus maximus. It's an established threshold now.

Bots? Really? I guess that wouldn’t be abnormal these days.

 

[muppets3d]

The biggest issue to me are bots or accounts snagging high-demand reservations (popular dates, value rooms at AKL, etc.) to rent them for profit and I sincerely hope these new published guidelines will give Disney the leverage they need to go after these renters aggressively.

I am sure they have already modeled use across a large sample size, the number 20 did not manifest out Mickey's gluteus maximus. It's an established threshold now.

Reading the new guidelines it doesn't sound like DVC's only method of identifying commercial renting is 20 reservations. That's just one of half a dozen or so listed methods.

I don't think that someone with 2000 points can feel like they're safe if they only make 19 reservations a year, even if they're all rentals.

 

[airjay75]

My main takeaway at this point is, if you're a DVC owner who is continuing to use your points the majority of the time for you and your family, you're going to be perfectly fine.

If you want to rent out your points on occasion, or even for a year or two while you're taking a Disney break, you're going to be perfectly fine.

And, if you do decide to rent out your points, don't get too greedy. I wouldn't worry about renting a confirmed or spec reservation here or there, but don't do 10 overlapping resort view studio NYE reservations and try to rent them for $30/point and advertise them on Facebook with your name attached and videos and pictures of how amazing it will be and how much you'll save over Disney's rack rates.

If I were to rent out a fair number of my points, I think I would personally try to keep my total reservations for the rolling 12-month period under 20. So, depending on how many points you have, that may mean larger reservations. If you're someone who does do a lot of shorter stays (that's not me), then I'd probably be cognizant of ensuring that a majority of your reservations and points were in your name.

Personally, I would likely already use a broker or the rental section of these boards if I were going to rent out my points, and I think I would do that if I were trying to rent points - why put your name out there on Facebook for Disney to easily see that you're renting?

I heard a few people mention that they often book overlapping rooms for family - I suppose that could get a little tricky if you're doing that and renting out some of your points causing you to go over 20 reservations and a majority of reservations/points not in the owner's name. Personally, as long as that is what I was doing, and you have that explanation ready, I don't think I'd worry.

Now, as to whether this new policy will make any difference for all of the owners using points well within person use bounds? I guess we'll see. I have my doubts. Right now, they are just words on paper. But, they are more words than we had previously so maybe we'll see something.

 

[muppets3d]

It is telling that this policy change came almost 11 months after the personal use checkbox was instituted. Perhaps we're going to start seeing black helicopters very soon.

 

[muppets3d]

Bots? Really? I guess that wouldn’t be abnormal these days.

There's evidence of bot activity but no actual proof of it so it's all speculation of course. But given the amount of money that commercial renting can generate for an owner or broker and the amount of points that they own, it would make sense that at least some of them have some sort of bots working to book reservations for them.

 

[Dis_Ohana5]

I had an interesting experience yesterday and don't know if it's related to the new rules so maybe someone could chime in if this has happened before . A few hours before I saw anything about the new rental rules I was trying to book restaurant reservations for the first leg of a split stay in June. For that first night we have a second room booked at a different resort for our daughter and her family. They're only staying for the one night. When I tried to book restaurant reservations for that leg of our trip MDE only gave me access to the first night. I chatted into a CM who then sent me a secure form to fill out confirming my reservation number and personal info. She then asked to confirm all of the people on my reservations. When I asked what the issue was her explanation made no sense. She said that not everyone on the resort reservations had linked their reservation to MDE so that anyone not linked would be unable to make dining reservations. I'm the primary on the DVC account and everyone on my reservations are family that have been on my MDE list for years so why wouldn't I be able to make dining reservations? I'm wondering if I hadn't gotten flagged for 2 reservations at 2 different resorts at the same time but maybe this is a common issue we just haven't experienced? Editing to add that I had indeed linked everyone on my resort reservations when I booked.

 

[Genie+]

To me it feels like DVC is getting all their ducks in a row and covering all their bases. If the commercial renters that DVC has identified (I am sure they have a list somewhere) don't stop, they have all the data they need to fight back against any possible action the commercial renter may take.

This update made me remember those personal use checkboxes that were added June 2025.

It won’t be long until every reservation on the books has attested it is for person use.

I wonder if DVC thought that was necessary for some reason?

Does seem like they have been busy getting all their ducks in a row. Bet they proofread and revised this commercial policy update no less than 500 times before releasing it

 

[Genie+]

There's evidence of bot activity but no actual proof of it so it's all speculation of course. But given the amount of money that commercial renting can generate for an owner or broker and the amount of points that they own, it would make sense that at least some of them have some sort of bots working to book reservations for them.

Lol I was just responding to your other comment thinking the same thing!

 

[Cfabar1]

I think the most interesting part of the announcement is the penalties. They don’t just say cancellation of reservations. They list items like only being able to make reservations at your home resort,

How is this doable with the BVTC rules? I was surprised to read this one.

The rest I completely support - especially prohibiting modifications, making them call, their loss of privileges of Membership Extras, but this one I take issue with

 

[Mirabell Rose]

I personally think that shutting down a commercial renter's online booking access will probably be the first step. Disney does not want to be on the news because someone who rented a reservation from a broker showed up at Boardwalk and their reservation was cancelled. But if that reservation was never allowed to be made in the first place, that is the best possible outcome for Disney.

And shutting down online reservations would require an actual person spend some considerable time on the phone. The labor cost would be a substantial new expense for commercial booking. Unless the commercial rental LLC’s have their AI assistant attempt to talk to DVC’s AI assistant. That IMO would be a fun call to listen to.

 

[Mirabell Rose]

How is this doable with the BVTC rules? I was surprised to read this one.

The rest I completely support - especially prohibiting modifications, making them call, their loss of privileges of Membership Extras, but this one I take issue with

No idea but no doubt the DVD lawyers wrote and researched these penalties and believe they have this right if you violate the commercial rental rules. It’s one of many ‘may’ do per the announcement. Maybe they will only do for restricted resorts??

 

[Genie+]

That would be funny if they enforced it via withholding the ability to enjoy one’s own membership to the fullest.

You have to be a Good Member if you want all the Good Member Thingies!

 

[Carouselofplanning]

I think the most interesting part of the announcement is the penalties. They don’t just say cancellation of reservations. They list items like only being able to make reservations at your home resort, not being able to modify reservations and not being able to book online reservations. All of these sound good overall for owners.

Getting rid of computer systems that pull many hard to get reservations before the average owner can click at 8am, preventing continued walking into the future by those with thousands of points, buying up the cheapest resorts on the resale market and never using those points at those resorts but grabbing 7 month available with computer systems the average owner doesn’t have.

What if they started with those items of enforcement versus turning some family who thought they had a legitimate booking away at the resort desk? Would that be enough to shut down the big commercial renters?

I don’t think they are going to leave the renter holding the bag. I think they will tell the owner we caught you & as a result your privileges on a go forward are limited in the following way:

 

[Noodlez]

I appreciate that no one has put this to the test, but I was wondering if anyone can tell from the wording whether breaking one of these rules is enough to be penalised, or if breaking one of the rules will simply make them investigate you for potentially being a commercial renter.

The only one which bothers me is the overlapping rooms/dates part. We are thinking of doing a family trip in the next year or two with my parents and my sisters family. We're definitely beyond sharing rooms so we would most likely book three studios. I couldn't afford a grand villa, and most of my points are at BCV which doesn't even have them. It would likely take at least a years worth of points, so clearly a majority. Does this mean that I as I have broken one of the stated rules they can take action against me, or would I be able to challenge this as it I can prove that these people are related to me so it is not a commercial rental? I don't mind if they want to question me but I don't want it to be enforced without investigation!

I do find this rule to be quite unusual. If I was renting out my points I probably wouldn't want my renters staying at the same time as me! I also regularly book overlapping rooms while we're still in the planning stages.