New DVC Resort Announced, 2026 Point Charts, and more!
Description
In this week's episode, Shannon, Peter, and Sue discuss the new DVC resort, Disney's Lakeshore Lodge, under construction at the former Reflections site and give an overview of changes for the 2026 point charts. More information has been revealed for the new Membership Magic Beyond program, including EPCOT Member lounge special hours. The crew also shares details and timing for attractions and entertainment coming in 2025 at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort, and more! N153
My DVC Points is proudly sponsored by:
DVC Resale Market - Industry Leader in DVC Resales
DVC Rental Store - DVC Point Rentals
Monera Financial - Exclusively Financing DVC Contracts
Patreon supporters in the My DVC Points VIP Producer Club.
Disney’s Lakeshore Lodge announced
Disney Vacation Club officially addressed the construction going on at Fort Wilderness, and it’s what many predicted - DVC has restarted construction on the location of the former Reflections - A Disney Lakeside Lodge.
The project has been renamed Disney’s Lakeshore Lodge and it was announced that plans are to open it sometime in 2027. This location was first announced in 2018 but was postponed indefinitely after the pandemic. There has been no further information released so it is not known if the construction plans will be similar to what had previously been released for Reflections. We posted the layout of the resort and some concept art on the Lakeshore Lodge resort page on DVCHelp.com. The resort originally was going to be a shared cash and DVC resort similar to Boardwalk, showing at least 17 cabins as part of the layout. A Princess and The Frog inspired restaurant was also described.
Source: DVC News
New operating hours coming to EPCOT Member Lounge
With the new Membership Magic Beyond program, the Disney Vacation Club ImaginAtrium – A Member Lounge at EPCOT will have updated operating hours. Starting January 12th, the normal operating hours will shift an hour earlier from 10 AM to 5PM. The lounge will then be closed for an hour and re-open for the Membership Beyond benefit with a character Meet and Greet that will run from 6 PM to 9 PM in the lounge. It is not known if there will still be drinks and snacks available during that extra time.
Source: Disney Vacation Club website
More info on Membership Magic Beyond
Disney Vacation Club has released more information on Membership Magic Benefits, including pricing for discounted park tickets and the option to purchase the Sorcerer Pass with points.
For Walt Disney World, the discounted offering is a 5-day weekday only park ticket that includes a free one-day Water Park benefit. The ticket discount is 5% for some dates and 10% for the remaining dates. Tickets may also be purchased with a park hopper and must be used within 8 days of first use. Tickets are only available for a maximum of 8 people and are restricted to those in the Member's household. (Note: Our sponsor, DVC Resale Market, offers ticket discounts of 10% on all dates with unrestricted use.)
For Disneyland, a 3-day weekday only ticket is available up to 35% off, with two pricing options at $330 for dates through December 19th, and $415 through January 1st, 2026. Hopping can be added for $90. Similarly, the tickets have to be used within 13 days of first use and are restricted to those in the Member's household.
Finally, Members can purchase a Sorcerer Pass using 75 points or can renew for 65 points. Current purchase/renewal price is $1079/$929 plus tax. This means you are getting a value of $15.32 per point on new purchase, and $15.22 per point for renewal.
Membership Magic Beyond is available to purchase from Disney Vacation Club for $99 for eligible Members. Only one person per membership needs to join.
Source: Disney Vacation Club website, DVC News
Points Charts released for 2026
For the most part, the points charts for 2026 showed little change from 2025 except for the shifting of holidays. “Standard view” has been changed at most resorts to “Resort View”, with Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa being the exception. At Bay Lake Tower, the room categories are now Resort, Preferred, and Theme Park. At Boardwalk Villas, the room categories changed to Resort, Preferred, and Boardwalk.
At the Boardwalk Villas, Studio points were adjusted slightly throughout the seasons.
- Standard weeknights in three lowest categories increased by 1 point. (September, January, May, early December)
- Standard weeknights in Category 4 lowered by 1 point. (Early February and Summer)
- Standard weekends in Category 5 lowered by 1 point (October, November)
- These changes flatten out the weekly rate for the bottom 4 categories, which used to range from 71 to 92 points per night, but now range from 76 to 87 points a night.
At The Villas at Disneyland Hotel, the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) rate increased from $2.87 per point to $2.96 per point. The Grand Villas increased between 2 to 4 points per night. It doesn’t appear any other room categories were lowered accordingly, and the change totals to less than 2,200 points across the whole year.
Source: Disney Vacation Club website
WDW and Disneyland Updates for 2025
- Disney has listed Test Track will return in “late summer 2025.”
- Disney also announced that DINOSAUR will remain open through all of 2025 and is expected to close sometime in 2026.
- Pirates of Caribbean-Inspired Tavern is listed as opening in late 2025.
- EPCOT’s Spaceship Earth lounge will open “before summer begins” in 2025.
- The new villains show coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios will be called “Unfairly Ever After,” opening Summer 2025.
- The new Zootopia: Better Together show at Tree of Life Theater is still listed for “Winter 2025.” It's Tough to be a Bug is expected to close after the holiday season.
- On May 16, 2025, Disneyland Resort will begin their 70th anniversary celebration with new entertainment. “Walt Disney - A Magical Life” will open in the Main Street Theater in Disneyland. In addition, a new show called “World of Color Happiness” will debut. The Paint the Night parade will also return on this date. The 70th anniversary celebration will run through Summer 2026.
- The Disney Parks Blog shared the menu for Wailulu Bar and Grill at the new Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows.
Source: Disney Parks Blog - WDW, Disney Parks Blog - Disneyland, Disney Parks Blog - Wailulu Bar and Grill
My DVC Points is a fantastic community of DVC members. Our cheerful, respectful, and authentic conversations about Disney Vacation Club are designed to help people make informed and educated decisions about what's best for their families. Please join us in continuing our Facebook group and YouTube channel conversations.
It takes an incredible community of DVC members to produce our content. We're always recruiting people to help research, produce, edit, or join our shows to share their stories. Thus far, we've had over 400 DVC members on our shows.
If our content has been a blessing to your family, please consider supporting our show through our VIP Producer's Club at Patreon.com and join us for the Patreon After-Party from our live shows.
Facebook admins and moderators of the My DVC Points Community Group: Sandy Symianick, Gina Grotsky, Shannon Ford, Caleb Allison, and Mary Anne Tracy. "Take Flight" music by Martinrowberry1 on Pond5.