What's Your Use Year?

I was under the impression that not all months are used for use years. I think there are only eight.

That is something I did not know!

I have February use year...because that is what they offered, and I did not know better. I usually travel in Dec., Jan. or Feb., So February is not a good use year for me...but in 24 years of owning DVC, it has never been a problem.

List of UY options.

December, its what they gave us. So glad they did because it resets for the busiest times of year. January would have bene good too because we don't really book in December anyway.

We have August because we used to alternate between Thanksgiving and Christmas (wifes family lives in Kissimmee and Winter Haven). Now we have been going every July for Daughters dance finals which is not ideal, but two more years and we can revert back to times less like the surface of the sun.

Our first contract was resale, and we had no idea really the implications of use year when we bought. Ended up with August, and honestly it's perfect.

We will never go down during the summer, it's too dang hot. We typically like to travel in the March/April window, but we would never have such an impromptu trip as to not have it planned by our banking deadline(Mar 31). We also like going in the fall. Overall, it works really well because the majority of time in between our banking deadline and end of use year is a time frame we would never use anyway.

We have June for Grand Cal and December for Boardwalk. We were small contract resale shoppers, so weren't really in a position to be too picky. May is our favorite time to visit both coasts. But we have found September to be a great time to visit Disneyland and a great use of points as well. So far we have only stayed at Boardwalk in May for Flower and Garden. We would love to check out WDW during the cooler months some time, but I am always worried about flu season and winter weather events here in the heartland.

April. I had friends who were DVC and did research before contacting my friend’s guide. It was 1999, i debated OKW vs BWV. I decided on BWV for location. At the time, i was planning to go May and early December. So that’s why I chose April. I had assumed all months were the same. When I decided to add VGC by resale in 2019, April was very hard to get. Luckily one popped up right after New Years in 2020 and i jumped in it.

I have October because I used to only travel to WDW end of November. But I've stayed in all 12 months now LOL

October. I like to tell people two things when considering a UY.

One, don't think about when you take your trips - think about the months you are least likely to take trips. Ideally, you want those months coming just before the start of your UY so as to avoid cancelling trips where you can no longer bank the points.

Two, if you're buying direct, don't just take what they're selling. Pick the UY you want. Tell your guide what you want and why, and they will get it done for you. I have never heard of Disney losing a sale over the UY someone wanted. Some people think you need to buy a resale contract with your preferred UY before buying direct to make this happen - you don't. I bought direct first, told my guide the UY I wanted and why and it was done.

Here's why I picked October. We have young kids in school and they start school in the end of August. I cannot ever imagine us going in September on account of that alone. September is also the peak of hurricane season and still very hot. July and August are also two of the worst months to visit from a weather perspective. That said, if we do plan a trip over the summer, those will be summer break trips and both me and my wife have jobs that greatly respect time off during the summer. So, if we ever book a trip over the summer, very unlikely we'd need to cancel. Any trips in June, although it falls in the last 4 months of our UY, would need to be cancelled 30 days in advance in order to avoid holding points, and that would mean the trip was cancelled before May 31st, our banking deadline.

I second everything @airjay75 said. Pick based on when you won't go. We go to DL regularly, but our least likely months are Mar, Apr, May, so June made the most sense.

I also didn't ask what they would sell us when I purchased our contract. I called in January and asked for 200 VDH points with a June UY. The guide didn't even blink.

April here. When we bought, we went during the summer months/end of August mostly since the kids were still in school. April made sense at the time - I think - not sure if that is UY they were selling or it was recommended for our travel needs. We did not understand it 100% - at least not as much as a few years later once we started using DVC.

Years down the road, it did not become the best UY since we were close to/became empty nesters and we traveled just the two of us mostly March/April and Fall. We managed but the Spring stays were always, "what if we have to cancel".

We have Feb use year for all of our points, direct and resale. Knowing what I know now, because we do not go to FL in the summer, I would have gotten Sept or Oct use years at the beginning. I've never had a problem not using the points, or getting stuck with unbanked points, but there is always that "fear" in the back of your mind. when those fall and winter trips get close. But, again, I've never had an issue.

December use year - my biggest regret! So confusing!!

I think I would find Dec. better than June, which is mine. I am always confused as to which UY i'm in! Is it June 25 even thought it is now 2026?

That's exactly why I get confused! So you're telling me my stay is in 2027, but it's using my 2026 points and if I don't have enough I need to borrow from next years points; which is 2027 😵‍💫

Precisely

My use year is August. I've been a member since 2008, and use year has never come up for me until recently. We recently decided to book an improptu trip in July with points that I had banked. Member Services did a one-time override thankfully.

My use year is February, thanks partially to my ex-husband who convinced me that the use year didn't really matter given we rarely cancel trips. (We initially purchased a BLT resale contract, and the price was right.) While this is true, I wish I had listened to my instinct and followed the philosophy that @airjay75 laid out above. I rarely travel in the summer to WDW, so I wish we had gone with a fall UY.

December! There are so many reasons we chose it.

• While we can travel any time right now, we will be mostly visiting in the spring once our daughter starts school.

• December is one of the most popular use years, which means resale contracts in the same UY are more common.

• If we ever need to rent points, Christmas, NYE, and Spring Break are popular times which fall safely in our UY window for cancellations.

• We got to take advantage of Magical Beginnings to get a chunk of change back from our purchase.

  • I know this can be done with any UY, but December just made sense for when we bought!

The only thing that stinks is that Halloween is my favorite time to be at Disney and those trips are a bit trickier.

August here but in hindsight, September would have been better as I find that May is tolerable weatherwise and the point chart is better than April. The only time of year that I can't see going was the summer recess, both due to insufferable heat and crowds.

Another Dec UY here. Passed down from my Mom, no regrets!

We are September because we typically travel in the fall, winter and early spring. We avoid WDW like the plague once the temps hit 90 + . Though, my son is engaged to a soon to be teacher, so that might change in the future 😂. Still, I see most of our trips continuing our current pattern and September works perfectly for that.

April. We were offered April because we planned to travel in summer.

Hi Sarah C,

Yes! I have a December UY, too! And I agree it is very confusing!!!

I wish the DVC Fan show would do an episode dedicated to all the ins and outs of having a December UY. Like Banking and Borrowing etc... Since it is such a confusing UY! 🙃

I just look at the current year and subtract a whole year in my head (which isn't exactly accurate, but close enough for when I'm booking.)

I would find it more confusing to have a UY in the middle of the year. Like it's last years points until August???

I do agree with you about the DVC Fan show! I would love an updated episode all about the ins and outs for each UY! Maybe the folks on the show could add in what they think the benefits with each one are too.

We bought our first contract in 2019 (,,,then covid hit) direct, and was assigned an August use year. We made sure all subsequent contracts, direct and resale, are in August.

Yes an August use year is very confusing.

We have a similar August UY story. Last July we took a cash stay at Yacht Club since all of our points were tied up; 0 available.

Our outbound flight was cancelled and we were re-booked the following day.

When we called member services the only villas available for same day booking were an SSV studio and 2BR at BCV. 0 available points, but MS freed up 44 points from following use year that was literally 4 days away, enabling us to book BCV right next door.