As the COVID-19 pandemic has evolved, plenty of people have cancelled or postponed their planned vacations, including Disney Vacation Club members. Previously, the DVC was being fairly relaxed with how points management worked, but it seems this will no longer be the case.
In a statement online, the DVC outlined their temporary new cancellation policy:
To make the process of changing reservations as smooth as possible, Disney Vacation Club has lifted the close-in reservation cancellation restrictions and will return any of your Points back as Vacation Points or Reservation Points without placing them into holding. Borrowed Points returned due to a cancellation of a Disney Vacation Club Resort reservation will not be placed in holding and will be returned to the Use Year they were borrowed from.
At this time, we have not made any changes to our Points banking or expiration policy due the impact this could have on future inventory availability. We understand this is of particular concern for Members with reservations affected by closures and/or the COVID-19 situation who may be toward the end of their Use Year. We are, however, currently evaluating various options to assist Members in this situation, but will need to delay any decisions until we better understand how long COVID-19 will impact our operations.
Essentially, the previous policy of allowing some DVC members to bank points past the normal deadline is now being rescinded. Disney has pledged to give support with other options for members, but no specific details are available yet. It’s important to note that maintaining healthy timeshares means cycling owners/points in a consistent manner with accommodations. It would be reasonably simple for Disney to absorb the original two-week closures, but this could be the DVC preparing for a longer closure than that. Analysts currently expect the closure to be extended through mid-April at Walt Disney World.
We continue to sail through uncharted waters as the COVID-19 coronavirus closures affect the Disney Parks. Stay tuned to WDWNT for the latest information during these unprecedented times.
