DVC Right of First Refusal (ROFR) Year to Date Analysis For 2023
As Disney fans investigate buying DVC Resale, they will come across the acronym “ROFR” or “Right of First Refusal” as part of the buying process.
ROFR is just what it sounds like: In the event that a DVC owner wants to sell their real estate interest (Their point allocation), Disney has the right to review the agreement and can choose to accept it on the same terms as the potential buyer. The seller gets paid either way, but this gives Disney the ability to buy up a contract that is being sold at a low price.
ROFR applies anytime ownership of a contract is changing and is handled by the title company assisting with the transaction. A ROFR waiver is even required for a “gratuitous transfer”. A “gratuitous transfer” is when you are GIVING the contract to a family member or trust and no money is changing hands. Disney historically processes the approval for these very quickly without issue.
After a contract has been submitted to Disney for ROFR, they have 30 days to step in as the buyer on the same terms, or waive ROFR and let the transaction proceed. If they don’t take action within 30 days, it is automatically approved to proceed.
During COVID, Disney passed on most ROFR for DVC Resale contracts, but in 2023 they did start exercising it a bit more frequently for DVC resale contracts. It is still fairly rare that they step in as the buyer, but it does happen. The insights below are pulled from reviewing filings with Orange County, so these only apply to WDW resorts (ie: Vero Beach, Hilton Head, Aulani, Disneyland Hotel Villas, and Grand Californian are not included). This includes all contracts FILED in 2023, so a few of the dates are for contracts signed at the end of 2022 that didn’t get filed until 2023.
There have been 101 transactions year to date that Disney has exercised ROFR. The largest DVC Resale contract that DVC has bought back through ROFR this year has been 500 points. There are actually two 500 point contracts Disney bought back, both at Copper Creek. One in March, one in April.
The average contract size bought back was 153 points, which is right in-line with the overall average size of all contracts sold.
The most expensive contract that Disney bought back was at Riviera at the very end of 2022 for a whopping $207/point. (The contract was filed in early ’23, which is why my search caught it). Here is the breakdown of the number of times DVC exercised ROFR per resort, per month. It’s not a mistake: There were not any ROFR contracts for June.
| Month | AKV | BLT | CCV | OKW | PVB | RVA | SSR | VGF | Total |
| Dec ’22 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 8 | ||||
| Jan ’23 | 9 | 8 | 28 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 48 | ||
| Feb ’23 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 14 | ||||
| Mar ’23 | 13 | 13 | |||||||
| Apr ’23 | 1 | 9 | 10 | ||||||
| May ’23 | 7 | 7 | |||||||
| Jul ’23 | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Total | 10 | 12 | 72 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 101 |
As you can see – the vast majority of the exercised ROFR have been on Copper Creek DVC resale contracts: 72 out of 101, with most of them coming in the first quarter of the year.
Looking deeper, the average price per point for Copper Creek where ROFR was exercised is around $130/pt. The average sale price in July for Copper Creek was nearly $156/point as was covered in July Resale Prices. So, Disney is only picking off the REALLY great deals.
The next highest number of ROFR contracts is at Bay Lake Tower, but the 12 contracts year to date pales in comparison to the 72 at Copper Creek.
Bay Lake Tower’s average ROFR price is a little more confusing. The contracts Disney scooped up in ROFR came to an average of $154/point, and the average DVC resale sale price in July was $158/point. It seems a bit indiscriminate how DVC chose these specific 12 contracts to buy back, though many of them are small contracts.
You can see the full data set below
DVC Right of First Refusal (ROFR) Year to Date 2023
| wdt_ID | Date | Resort | Total Price | Points | $/Point | Court Doc # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2022-12-20 | Copper Creek | 22,500.00 | 150 | 150.00 | 20230020553 |
| 2 | 2022-12-20 | Copper Creek | 19,700.00 | 150 | 131.33 | 20230004214 |
| 3 | 2022-12-21 | Bay Lake Tower | 21,600.00 | 160 | 135.00 | 20230004658 |
| 4 | 2022-12-21 | Copper Creek | 6,500.00 | 50 | 130.00 | 20230004283 |
| 5 | 2022-12-28 | Riviera | 41,400.00 | 200 | 207.00 | 20230005622 |
| 6 | 2022-12-28 | Animal Kingdom Lodge | 22,400.00 | 160 | 140.00 | 20230003745 |
| 7 | 2022-12-29 | Copper Creek | 28,400.00 | 200 | 142.00 | 20230003649 |
| 8 | 2022-12-30 | Bay Lake Tower | 20,200.00 | 160 | 126.25 | 20230000192 |
| 9 | 2023-01-03 | Animal Kingdom Lodge | 24,000.00 | 160 | 150.00 | 20230003684 |
| 10 | 2023-01-03 | Copper Creek | 13,000.00 | 100 | 130.00 | 20230009133 |
| 11 | 2023-01-04 | Bay Lake Tower | 10,500.00 | 60 | 175.00 | 20230009666 |
| 12 | 2023-01-04 | Copper Creek | 12,800.00 | 75 | 170.67 | 20230003718 |
| 13 | 2023-01-04 | Bay Lake Tower | 37,800.00 | 233 | 162.23 | 20230003708 |
| 14 | 2023-01-04 | Copper Creek | 33,700.00 | 220 | 153.18 | 20230004344 |
| 15 | 2023-01-04 | Copper Creek | 14,700.00 | 110 | 133.64 | 20230018950 |
| 16 | 2023-01-04 | Animal Kingdom Lodge | 13,300.00 | 100 | 133.00 | 20230049036 |
| 17 | 2023-01-04 | Animal Kingdom Lodge | 29,500.00 | 230 | 128.26 | 20230003716 |
| 18 | 2023-01-04 | Animal Kingdom Lodge | 32,700.00 | 284 | 115.14 | 20230009656 |
| 19 | 2023-01-05 | Copper Creek | 37,500.00 | 250 | 150.00 | 20230020366 |
| 20 | 2023-01-05 | Animal Kingdom Lodge | 9,200.00 | 75 | 122.67 | 20230009776 |
| 21 | 2023-01-05 | Animal Kingdom Lodge | 20,100.00 | 200 | 100.50 | 20230004652 |
| 22 | 2023-01-05 | Animal Kingdom Lodge | 10,000.00 | 100 | 100.00 | 20230036439 |
| 23 | 2023-01-06 | Copper Creek | 14,800.00 | 100 | 148.00 | 20230020483 |
| 24 | 2023-01-06 | Copper Creek | 14,000.00 | 100 | 140.00 | 20230020341 |
| 25 | 2023-01-06 | Animal Kingdom Lodge | 17,700.00 | 180 | 98.33 | 20230018991 |
| 26 | 2023-01-09 | Bay Lake Tower | 9,300.00 | 50 | 186.00 | 20230020391 |
| 27 | 2023-01-09 | Bay Lake Tower | 22,900.00 | 140 | 163.57 | 20230020358 |
| 28 | 2023-01-09 | Copper Creek | 62,000.00 | 400 | 155.00 | 20230027507 |
| 29 | 2023-01-10 | Copper Creek | 14,400.00 | 100 | 144.00 | 20230027488 |
| 30 | 2023-01-10 | Copper Creek | 7,100.00 | 55 | 129.09 | 20230030265 |
| 31 | 2023-01-10 | Copper Creek | 27,700.00 | 220 | 125.91 | 20230017824 |
| 32 | 2023-01-10 | Copper Creek | 12,200.00 | 100 | 122.00 | 20230053489 |
| 33 | 2023-01-10 | Saratoga Springs | 18,900.00 | 160 | 118.13 | 20230032886 |
| 34 | 2023-01-10 | Old Key West | 17,700.00 | 150 | 118.00 | 20230020330 |
| 35 | 2023-01-11 | Bay Lake Tower | 13,400.00 | 75 | 178.67 | 20230032861 |
| 36 | 2023-01-11 | Copper Creek | 12,800.00 | 75 | 170.67 | 20230027480 |
| 37 | 2023-01-11 | Copper Creek | 13,200.00 | 100 | 132.00 | 20230030257 |
| 38 | 2023-01-12 | Copper Creek | 25,100.00 | 175 | 143.43 | 20230020568 |
| 39 | 2023-01-12 | Copper Creek | 28,600.00 | 200 | 143.00 | 20230032889 |
| 40 | 2023-01-12 | Copper Creek | 10,800.00 | 80 | 135.00 | 20230030259 |
| 41 | 2023-01-12 | Copper Creek | 19,300.00 | 150 | 128.67 | 20230030284 |
| 42 | 2023-01-17 | Copper Creek | 12,600.00 | 100 | 126.00 | 20230030266 |
| 43 | 2023-01-19 | Copper Creek | 28,200.00 | 200 | 141.00 | 20230043203 |
| 44 | 2023-01-19 | Animal Kingdom Lodge | 29,100.00 | 234 | 124.36 | 20230043137 |
| 45 | 2023-01-20 | Copper Creek | 10,500.00 | 75 | 140.00 | 20230043154 |
| 46 | 2023-01-23 | Bay Lake Tower | 6,800.00 | 50 | 136.00 | 20230036462 |
| 47 | 2023-01-23 | Bay Lake Tower | 3,400.00 | 25 | 136.00 | 20230036464 |
| 48 | 2023-01-23 | Bay Lake Tower | 14,800.00 | 110 | 134.55 | 20230036466 |
| 49 | 2023-01-24 | Copper Creek | 30,400.00 | 225 | 135.11 | 20230043208 |
| 50 | 2023-01-25 | Copper Creek | 34,500.00 | 250 | 138.00 | 20230050972 |
| 51 | 2023-01-26 | Polynesian | 23,300.00 | 150 | 155.33 | 20230049126 |
| 52 | 2023-01-26 | Copper Creek | 14,000.00 | 100 | 140.00 | 20230049073 |
| 53 | 2023-01-26 | Copper Creek | 13,000.00 | 100 | 130.00 | 20230055206 |
| 54 | 2023-01-28 | Copper Creek | 16,000.00 | 100 | 160.00 | 20230066049 |
| 55 | 2023-01-31 | Copper Creek | 19,500.00 | 150 | 130.00 | 20230055507 |
| 56 | 2023-01-31 | Copper Creek | 13,000.00 | 100 | 130.00 | 20230055429 |
| 57 | 2023-02-07 | Copper Creek | 13,600.00 | 100 | 136.00 | 20230077099 |
| 58 | 2023-02-07 | Copper Creek | 39,900.00 | 300 | 133.00 | 20230072276 |
| 59 | 2023-02-07 | Old Key West | 25,600.00 | 230 | 111.30 | 20230114403 |
| 60 | 2023-02-08 | Copper Creek | 34,300.00 | 250 | 137.20 | 20230076154 |
| 61 | 2023-02-09 | Copper Creek | 19,500.00 | 150 | 130.00 | 20230079747 |
| 62 | 2023-02-14 | Copper Creek | 9,800.00 | 75 | 130.67 | 20230099644 |
| 63 | 2023-02-14 | Copper Creek | 12,700.00 | 100 | 127.00 | 20230107028 |
| 64 | 2023-02-14 | Copper Creek | 6,300.00 | 50 | 126.00 | 20230084493 |
| 65 | 2023-02-14 | Copper Creek | 6,100.00 | 50 | 122.00 | 20230084508 |
| 66 | 2023-02-15 | Copper Creek | 15,700.00 | 120 | 130.83 | 20230101579 |
| 67 | 2023-02-16 | Bay Lake Tower | 28,000.00 | 160 | 175.00 | 20230097810 |
| 68 | 2023-02-21 | Saratoga Springs | 12,400.00 | 100 | 124.00 | 20230097940 |
| 69 | 2023-02-25 | Copper Creek | 9,700.00 | 75 | 129.33 | 20230117636 |
| 70 | 2023-02-28 | Copper Creek | 9,800.00 | 75 | 130.67 | 20230118884 |
| 71 | 2023-03-02 | Copper Creek | 6,000.00 | 50 | 120.00 | 20230126766 |
| 72 | 2023-03-02 | Copper Creek | 8,800.00 | 75 | 117.33 | 20230126773 |
| 73 | 2023-03-07 | Copper Creek | 22,900.00 | 175 | 130.86 | 20230129688 |
| 74 | 2023-03-07 | Copper Creek | 13,000.00 | 100 | 130.00 | 20230130340 |
| 75 | 2023-03-07 | Copper Creek | 13,000.00 | 100 | 130.00 | 20230132400 |
| 76 | 2023-03-09 | Copper Creek | 26,000.00 | 200 | 130.00 | 20230137914 |
| 77 | 2023-03-10 | Copper Creek | 46,800.00 | 360 | 130.00 | 20230147946 |
| 78 | 2023-03-15 | Copper Creek | 14,300.00 | 110 | 130.00 | 20230146599 |
| 79 | 2023-03-16 | Copper Creek | 10,300.00 | 75 | 137.33 | 20230149771 |
| 80 | 2023-03-20 | Copper Creek | 22,200.00 | 175 | 126.86 | 20230165200 |
| 81 | 2023-03-23 | Copper Creek | 16,300.00 | 125 | 130.40 | 20230165214 |
| 82 | 2023-03-23 | Copper Creek | 22,800.00 | 175 | 130.29 | 20230165216 |
| 83 | 2023-03-29 | Copper Creek | 65,000.00 | 500 | 130.00 | 20230179337 |
| 84 | 2023-04-04 | Copper Creek | 34,000.00 | 250 | 136.00 | 20230187737 |
| 85 | 2023-04-04 | Copper Creek | 34,800.00 | 275 | 126.55 | 20230187641 |
| 86 | 2023-04-05 | Copper Creek | 52,000.00 | 400 | 130.00 | 20230193501 |
| 87 | 2023-04-07 | Copper Creek | 22,700.00 | 175 | 129.71 | 20230203792 |
| 88 | 2023-04-11 | Copper Creek | 16,300.00 | 125 | 130.40 | 20230204224 |
| 89 | 2023-04-11 | Copper Creek | 63,800.00 | 500 | 127.60 | 20230204138 |
| 90 | 2023-04-18 | Bay Lake Tower | 22,400.00 | 160 | 140.00 | 20230222021 |
| 91 | 2023-04-25 | Copper Creek | 13,200.00 | 100 | 132.00 | 20230249404 |
| 92 | 2023-04-26 | Copper Creek | 14,400.00 | 110 | 130.91 | 20230238684 |
| 93 | 2023-04-26 | Copper Creek | 22,200.00 | 175 | 126.86 | 20230238714 |
| 94 | 2023-05-04 | Copper Creek | 26,000.00 | 200 | 130.00 | 20230264072 |
| 95 | 2023-05-04 | Copper Creek | 19,300.00 | 150 | 128.67 | 20230319611 |
| 96 | 2023-05-09 | Copper Creek | 27,500.00 | 200 | 137.50 | 20230283224 |
| 97 | 2023-05-10 | Copper Creek | 19,900.00 | 150 | 132.67 | 20230267619 |
| 98 | 2023-05-23 | Copper Creek | 10,200.00 | 75 | 136.00 | 20230295976 |
| 99 | 2023-05-24 | Copper Creek | 9,300.00 | 75 | 124.00 | 20230296295 |
| 100 | 2023-05-25 | Copper Creek | 13,000.00 | 100 | 130.00 | 20230298988 |
| 101 | 2023-07-25 | Grand Floridian | 29,000.00 | 150 | 193.33 | 20230419978 |