Official Thread - New commercial use policy published 03/31

[disneylandtour]

I agree it is vague… to some degree. That’s how legal documents are. Disney has kept them vague because they want the leeway to do as they want. Unless Disney specifically gives you the right to rent your points, you do not have that right. And they have never given that right in any document anywhere. Disney has turned a blind eye, but they have not given owners any rights to rent. I keep using the YouTube comparison because it is very similar. Disney has turned a blind eye to the fact that people are commercializing Disney IP, Disney assets on YouTube, but that doesn’t mean disney won’t eventually crack down. Disney has never specifically, legally given youtubers the right to do what they are doing.

Again, from DVC current (2025) Terms and Conditions: " Additionally, personal use means that the member does not regularly or frequently rent/sell reservations booked using their membership." I see no other way to read this than to have at least two categories in renting: personal use means that regular or frequent renting is prohibited. And if there's a category of prohibited renting (regular or frequent) then there is a category of allowed renting as well. And if there are two categories, Disney needs to do a far better job of quantifying how they are defined.

 

[sndral]

Or someone indecisive. I have rooms booked on two coasts at my home resorts for next year on the same dates. Not sure what my plan is yet. Will free one of those up closer to the dates.

yeah, I've done that, too. "What are we doing next summer? I'm not sure. Let's put in a couple of reservations and decide later." But I mean when those reservations are actually used in those two different locations. That would be the tell-tale sign. I would imagine nothing is actionable (in terms of consequences) until the reservations are used.

Once upon a time some folks would make 4 ADRs for dinner on the same day one at each park because they wanted flexibility day of to decide where to eat - Disney put a stop to that by requiring credit card holds & assessing no show penalties presumably because it blocked folks who actually wanted to eat at restaurants from securing an ADR to do so. That said, I don’t think DVC is going to start taking action against reservation hoarders even though it negatively impacts those who just want a reservation at a resort because DVC has bigger fish to fry. While most owners likely don’t have enough points to hoard reservations, the big players certainly do & likely do hoard high profit margin reservations only releasing them late in the window when they aren’t rented so I expect the net cast will be aimed at that version of hoarding.

Thinking about the YouTubers who rent DVC villas & film their content - aren’t they the same as those third party vendors - the decorate your villa, chef cook your meal in your villa, make your kid a princess & throw glitter all over your villa types - that Disney sent cease & desist letters to https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...s-to-unauthorized-third-part-vendors.3978275/. Enforcement against them wasn’t pursuant to the DVC commercial use prohibition.
Thus the no commercial use prohibition could be one of a number of levers DVC could pull to crack down on monetized influencer YouTubers sponsored by brokers & the way I interpret that clause enforcement actions could be taken even if they were the owner of the points used to reserve the villa they filmed in or the owner of the points used to rent that reservation wasn’t renting a majority of their points.

 

[VGCgroupie]

To stir the pot a little over my second cup of coffee this morning, the language in the "new" rules that I find most interesting from a spectator's standpoint is this (emphasis added):


I'm curious how the major rental brokers will rationalize around that one.

"Regular", not frequent or repeated.
"A dedicated website" as in a rental brokers website?
"Third-party service provider" as in a "third-party intermediary"?
"Or on any other media or platform now known or hereafter devised" which sounds like it includes tear-off flyers stapled to a telephone pole or messages written on a bathroom stall.

I just don't see how you can argue (or try to rationalize) that that specific language is not targeted right at online brokers.

I can answer this. So most people automatically talk about the brokers when commercial renting comes up. They way the brokers work is acting as a middle man with an owner so I dont think they fall under this. (I will say I am only talking about when they act as a broker with a member, I am not talking about when the broker themselves is the owner of the points, thats different and can put them in trouble with these rules)

There are many people who post regularly on social media sites the reservations they have for rent. They post every day. They use AI or Canva to create cute little IP violating pictures to advertise said reservations.

Next there are also owners who have actual websites advertising their DVC for rent. I cant post any of the websites since I think it violates the rules here..

 

[Girlstar30]

People get really excited and heated when it comes to all of this and I get it, it would be nice if commercial renters were stamped out, but we dont know if they actually will be for sure, it certainly seems like theyre setting up for the possibility of that but that is all it is for now... a possibility of things that COULD happen

 

[Cyberc1978]

I love this since I do think cancelling reservations and having unsuspecting guests show up is unfair. Disney doesnt need to put those people out in order to enforce their rules.

edited my typo that completely changed this sentence. It previously said "dont" think

I can tell you that Disney have absolutely no problem in cancelling reservations. Why I know this? I had a rental reservation canceled last week.

Before anyone getting too dramatic about it, I got the cancellation notification in my email. 5-10min later I received a phone call from DVC, they told me that there was something wrong with my reservation causing them to cancel it. 5 minutes later the reservation was restored. I recommended them to change the procedure so instead of cancelling first they should call, inform the owner and then cancel the reservation.

 

[VGCgroupie]

People get really excited and heated when it comes to all of this and I get it, it would be nice if commercial renters were stamped out, but we dont know if they actually will be for sure, it certainly seems like theyre setting up for the possibility of that but that is all it is for now... a possibility of things that COULD happen

Yes I will only be fully onboard when I see things actually having an impact (seeing less confirmed reservations for rent online) But I still think this was a huge step I didnt see coming.

 

[disneylandtour]

Thinking about the YouTubers who rent DVC villas & film their content - aren’t they the same as those third party vendors - the decorate your villa, chef cook your meal in your villa, make your kid a princess & throw glitter all over your villa types - that Disney sent cease & desist letters to https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...s-to-unauthorized-third-part-vendors.3978275/. Enforcement against them wasn’t pursuant to the DVC commercial use prohibition.
Thus the no commercial use prohibition could be one of a number of levers DVC could pull to crack down on monetized influencer YouTubers sponsored by brokers & the way I interpret that clause enforcement actions could be taken even if they were the owner of the points used to reserve the villa they filmed in or the owner of the points used to rent that reservation wasn’t renting a majority of their points.

I see this as two different issues. Disney wants to have its own departments (and they have a bunch) deliver decorations, gift packages, cake, flowers to their own hotel/dvc rooms. They make money off it.

Most of the youtubers effectively provide free advertising for Disney (and also answer a lot of questions that then Disney phone reps don't need to answer). So Disney financially benefits from most of the YouTubers. (Admittedly, there's probably a handful whose content causes problems).

But in both of these situations Disney, as a company, is doing what benefits them. Prohibit outside vendors from decorating rooms so Disney can do this themselves (and charge for it). And then ignoring rights issues with YouTubers because overall it's great (and free) advertising for the resorts, which then benefits Disney.

 

[Girlstar30]

I can tell you that Disney have absolutely no problem in cancelling reservations. Why I know this? I had a rental reservation canceled last week.

Before anyone getting too dramatic about it, I got the cancellation notification in my email. 5-10min later I received a phone call from DVC, they told me that there was something wrong with my reservation causing them to cancel it. 5 minutes later the reservation was restored. I recommended them to change the procedure so instead of cancelling first they should call, inform the owner and then cancel the reservation.

I know a thing or two about this Agreed! Its great theyre restoring but let us know whats going on before cancelling and giving us a heart attack!

 

[AstroBlasters]

I can tell you that Disney have absolutely no problem in cancelling reservations. Why I know this? I had a rental reservation canceled last week.

Before anyone getting too dramatic about it, I got the cancellation notification in my email. 5-10min later I received a phone call from DVC, they told me that there was something wrong with my reservation causing them to cancel it. 5 minutes later the reservation was restored. I recommended them to change the procedure so instead of cancelling first they should call, inform the owner and then cancel the reservation.

Could you give more insights into why it was canceled and restored?

 

[Girlstar30]

Yes I will only be fully onboard when I see things actually having an impact (seeing less confirmed reservations for rent online) But I still think this was a huge step I didnt see coming.

I definetely thought we would never see any clarifications at all judging by how purposefully vague they left it last time so that was a shock to me too. I also never ever would have thought they would make closing resale faster and here we are so Disney is just full of surprises!

 

[VGCgroupie]

I can tell you that Disney have absolutely no problem in cancelling reservations. Why I know this? I had a rental reservation canceled last week.

Before anyone getting too dramatic about it, I got the cancellation notification in my email. 5-10min later I received a phone call from DVC, they told me that there was something wrong with my reservation causing them to cancel it. 5 minutes later the reservation was restored. I recommended them to change the procedure so instead of cancelling first they should call, inform the owner and then cancel the reservation.

This is not even close to the same thing. There must have been an issue. You got notified 2 times. They rebooked it. How is this anywhere near the same thing as cancelling reservations and having renters show up to no room to sleep in?

 

[Sandisw]

We are violating the overlapping reservations clause - on all of our reservations this year. We cruise a lot and take our adult children - I routinely book 2 studios before and after cruises. Have 8 of these overlapping reservations on my account right now. And nothing else.

I am not wasting the extra points for a 2 bedroom
and will not make my adult sons share a bed in the living area of a one bedroom. We book 2 studios. Anxiously waiting for what DVC will tell me when they deem I have broken their new rules.

While yes, you have that, but the test is whether they believe your pattern of doing it can reasonably assumed you are doing it as a commercial enterprise.

These are all actions by owners that can be used to conclude you have shifted into that commerucsl enterprise world.

If one is doing any of those things but overall, DVC doesn’t feel it’s a pattern that shifts your intent or purpose for using the membership, then one won’t be impacted.

 

[Moonspinner]

Again, from DVC current (2025) Terms and Conditions: " Additionally, personal use means that the member does not regularly or frequently rent/sell reservations booked using their membership." I see no other way to read this than to have at least two categories in renting: personal use means that regular or frequent renting is prohibited. And if there's a category of prohibited renting (regular or frequent) then there is a category of allowed renting as well. And if there are two categories, Disney needs to do a far better job of quantifying how they are defined.

Still, they have not explicitly given the positive right to rent, even there. The only thing they give you is the right to use your points at your home resort. Everything else they can take away. When you book, how you book, what the resort looks like, what the maintenance fees are, what the amenities are at the resort, on and on. I don’t think Disney will stop all renting, so I wouldn’t worry about it. I think some level of renting adds value to the Dvc product. I’m just saying theoretically, if Disney wanted to stop it completely, they could.

 

[DonMacGregor]

I still don't think you understand it. I don't think anyone is going to be getting in trouble just because they happen to be using a third party to rent an occasional reservation when they need to. They will be getting in trouble because they are trying to rent too often or because they are booking very specific, lucrative rooms/dates for rentals over time to maximize profits. Which is why DVC added these extra explanations into their reasons to consider someone breaking the commercial renting rules.

Actually, if you go back and actually read what I've written, I've now stated at least three times, without ambiguity, that I don't think normal people using their points for personal use, or even using a broker to rent their points every so often have anything to worry about. In my second post on where I lean, I literally said I have used the forum sponsor on a number of occasions. I honestly don't know how I can be any more clear on that. I've never said anyone will be getting into trouble, I'm just not of the opinion that assuming the rules are only designed for someone who can't possibly be me, doing something that I couldn't possibly be doing, is the wise approach. Better to assume every rule applies to you, rather than be surprised when you find out later that one does. Maybe they ARE only for the big, bad commercial renters, and that's great. However, if they are written such that they CAN apply to everyone if DVC is so inclined to enforce them, better to adjust your behavior accordingly proactively.

I'm just not of the belief that 95% of the counterarguments made here, most of which seem to relate to curiously specific situations that affect the poster or a tiny minority or owners, carry any weight when compared to a plain-English reading of the newly defined rules. You, and many others on here prefer to read the rules and assume that they will only be utilized to combat the most egregious offenders and that the "little guy" (which is always subjective and seems to always favor the person interpreting them, to their benefit) will always fly under the radar. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that other than it's less restrictive and that's a slippery slope when dealing with rules that are typically restrictive by nature. I prefer to read rules and accept them at face value and in their most restrictive interpretation. That way, I don't need to worry, and I'm not surprised/disappointed/injured if my interpretation was wrong. Even if I'm not planning to be in a situation where the new rules may apply to me.

 

[juliebee]

Something else that seems to be going unread or ignored, is the repeated statement that all of these criteria apply to the totality of the ownership interest, across as many contracts as an owner may have control over or access to, so the idea that multiple LLC's, etc. can somehow insulate an owner from any of the defined criteria is wishful thinking.

Yes, those with thousands of points in LLCs should pay attention there.

Some of the brokers hold hundreds of contracts in LLC’s that were set up under the C suite executives and their wives names. I’m sure those executives are not logging in to play point Jenga at 8 am. They probably add the clerk they hired as an associate to handle the transactions. I saw one LLC that was held in the company accountants name that guy should know better

I found at least one LLC that is owned by a real estate attorney and is tied to a rental brokerage

 

[VGCgroupie]

I definetely thought we would never see any clarifications at all judging by how purposefully vague they left it last time so that was a shock to me too. I also never ever would have thought they would make closing resale faster and here we are so Disney is just full of surprises!

Direct being slow is not typical at all. Your situation was 1 in 1 million. I had a resale take almost 6 months, thats also not typical.

 

[disneylandtour]

This is not even close to the same thing. There must have been an issue. You got notified 2 times. They rebooked it. How is this anywhere near the same thing as cancelling reservations and having renters show up to no room to sleep in?

If I had to make a guess here - something happened to a room (damage, maybe) and it needed to be rebooked in a different way, likely drawing from cash inventory. And yes, the communication here seems poor. But I bet this was mostly about bookkeeping.

 

[juliebee]

I can tell you that Disney have absolutely no problem in cancelling reservations. Why I know this? I had a rental reservation canceled last week.

Before anyone getting too dramatic about it, I got the cancellation notification in my email. 5-10min later I received a phone call from DVC, they told me that there was something wrong with my reservation causing them to cancel it. 5 minutes later the reservation was restored. I recommended them to change the procedure so instead of cancelling first they should call, inform the owner and then cancel the reservation.

what was the "something wrong"?

 

[Girlstar30]

Direct being slow is not typical at all. Your situation was 1 in 1 million. I had a resale take almost 6 months, thats also not typical.

No i wasnt talking about my direct im just saying resale in general is going faster now than before and I would have never guessed that I was firmly in the camp that everything was going to be slow and the same after CAF so Disney always surprises me so basically I have no idea what will come out of this, no one does

 

[PolyRob]

I definetely thought we would never see any clarifications at all judging by how purposefully vague they left it last time so that was a shock to me too. I also never ever would have thought they would make closing resale faster and here we are so Disney is just full of surprises!

Direct being slow is not typical at all. Your situation was 1 in 1 million. I had a resale take almost 6 months, thats also not typical.

Closing and having points loaded are also two very different things. Direct points are loaded the day you agree to the sale well before you close. Resale points can't be loaded until you close. Apples and oranges.