From one fabulous resort to the next, Disney Vacation Club Members make magical memories wherever they stay. When it’s time to buy or sell a DVC resale contract, there are some different terms you’ll need to know and know about. For example, what is DVC ROFR? Does it matter? How long does DVC ROFR take? We have information about the Disney Vacation Club Right of First Refusal below including an anticipated timeline and what you can expect.
DVC ROFR: What is Disney Vacation Club Right of First Refusal?
“DVC ROFR” stands for Disney Vacation Club Right of First Refusal. The Right of First Refusal is a real estate term that designates the first opportunity to purchase something before others. This happens near the end of the resale process. Basically, when a buyer and seller have agreed on a sale price and sign an agreement, Disney then decides if they would rather buy the contract back or let the sale go through. This step helps with market regulation and with Disney’s own stock of points at different home resorts. When a contract is selling for a very low price, it might benefit Disney to buy it back. Disney Vacation Club honors what would have been paid for the contract when they choose to buy back during the ROFR.
When Disney exercises the Right of First Refusal and chooses to buy back a contract, then Disney will also take over the closing process. There is no way to avoid Disney ROFR. It’s part of the process that everyone buying or selling DVC can expect to encounter. Everyone submits their offer to Disney for ROFR but very few contracts are bought back. Especially over the last few years.
What is the DVC ROFR Rate?
What are the chances of your contract being bought back by Disney? The DVC ROFR rate overall is usually low as shown in the data below. Whether your contract will be bought back or not usually depends on which home resort is on the contract. For some properties, like Aulani and Disney’s Riviera Resort, a buyback is unlikely based on what we’ve seen.
We pay attention each month and write a ROFR stats report based on our findings when there is regular activity. This is to help buyers know if their contract is a potential buyback or not. Disney can buy back any contract but they seem to favor different home resorts at different times. It makes sense for Disney Vacation Club to have contracts at different home resorts to offer new Members joining through direct sales. In our monthly roundups, when we have information to share, we also share the high price Disney paid at each resort. This can help set a bench mark for placing an offer on a contract.
The visual above shows the number of contracts ROFR-ed by month and year. On the far right, you can see the DVC ROFR rate for each month. The vertical columns show what might be the most important information. Certain resorts are more popular DVC ROFR buybacks than others. The home resorts with many buybacks consistently over the last few years before Disney paused buybacks in late 2022 are:
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas
Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
Copper Creek Villas and Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort
We won’t know if any of these are still the favorite properties until we see buybacks consistently again. Disney Vacation Club may still want these resorts or we could see other resorts become more popular with ROFR.
Is DVC ROFR back in 2024?
After a pause of more than a year, DVC bought back just one contract at The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa in February of 2024. In May of 2024, additional buybacks occurred. This time at The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa and Disney’s Old Key West Resort.
How Long Does DVC ROFR Take? DVC ROFR Timeline
So how long does it take to get a Disney Vacation Club Right of First Refusal response? You can expect the DVC ROFR part of the process to last somewhere between three to five weeks. In most cases, it’s likely that you’ll hear back with a DVC ROFR decision in less than a month. We have a detailed timeline of the whole resale process in our post how long does it take to sell DVC.
What You Should Know When Buying Resale DVC
When you set out to buy a DVC resale contract, ROFR is something you will want to consider. You don’t need to alter your purchasing plans but knowing the ROFR risk and associated data can help you make the best effort to have the sale go through. Basically, if it’s a resort where Disney favors buying contracts back, you won’t want to present a very low offer, even if it’s been accepted by the seller. It’s less likely you will be able to buy the contract.
When buybacks occur, we have our Disney ROFR DVC stats monthly series, where we cover all the information you need to know. This includes which resorts Disney has been favoring and the monthly high ROFR prices paid. These details can paint a picture of what the odds might be that you will have Disney buy the contract back instead of letting the sale go through.
If Disney Vacation Club does decide to buy a contract back instead of passing on ROFR, the Experts will help you find the next right contract. DVC resale listings come and go. There will be another Membership that makes sense for you and meets your needs.
| Disney Vacation Club Home Resort | ROFR Buybacks 2022 |
|---|---|
| Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas | 24 |
| Aulani, Disney Vacation Club Villas | 0 |
| Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort | 16 |
| Disney’s Beach Club Villas | 3 |
| Disney’s BoardWalk Villas | 4 |
| Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge | 0 |
| Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge | 12 |
| The Villas at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel | 0 |
| The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa | 0 |
| Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort | 0 |
| Disney’s Old Key West Resort | 12 |
| Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows | 0 |
| Disney’s Riviera Resort | 0 |
| Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort | 23 |
| Disney’s Vero Beach Resort | 0 |
DVC Resale Experts had no ROFR buybacks at all in 2023.
| Disney Vacation Club Home Resort | ROFR Buybacks 2024 |
|---|---|
| The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa | 2 |
| Disney’s Old Key West Resort | 7 |
DVC ROFR 2024: Is it back? Is Disney buying back contracts again?
You’ll notice in the visual above, there was a long pause in buybacks for DVC Resale Experts clients. From January through December of 2023, DVC Resale Experts had no ROFR buybacks. Things slowed down a bit in November and December of 2022, after Bob Iger returned as CEO, then completely stopped in the new year all the way through February of 2024. This meant lower prices were able to be negotiated and we’ve seen per point resale prices go down.
We’ve often speculated that Disney Vacation Club may have halted buying contracts because sales were down. Demand for travel waned after the boom of the last few years. It seemed possible that the Disney timeshare saw a slowdown as well. In an earnings report during this time period, The Walt Disney Company did confirm that DVC was experiencing fewer sales. With all of Bob Iger’s changes and restructuring, Disney may have been on a spending freeze. There are many different things that could be contributing to the pause on buybacks. The market is always changing and we’re always following along and discussing it here.
Will ROFR DVC affect pricing?
When regular buybacks resume, we can probably expect to see the DVC resale market normalize in some ways. DVC resale prices go up and down from month to month based on demand and other variables. Over time, however, DVC prices have gone up quite a bit. With the absence of buybacks this and last year, some usual trends were disrupted.
DVC Resale Experts Can Help
Still have questions about DVC ROFR? It’s valuable to have the help of a real estate professional with DVC resale. DVC Resale Experts is a licensed real estate broker with a team that specializes in resale DVC. Whether you’re adding on points, buying or selling Disney Vacation Club, the Experts can help you find the right price to place a bid with or list your contract for. Our independent, licensed real estate agents are former Disney Vacation Club Guides. They have decades of pixie dusted experience selling DVC and delight in providing excellent service to their clients. The Experts have seen it all and are happy to answer your questions about DVC ROFR and anything else throughout the process.
See our resale DVC listings for a look at real time availability and pricing. Ready to sell DVC? Get in touch for a complimentary valuation of your specific contract today. There may be someone waiting on our Buyer Wish List for a contract just like yours.
