All About Fixed Weeks (RIV/CCV/AUL/VGF/POLY/TOWER/VHD/FWC Charts)

[VGCgroupie]

Waiting for my guide to get back to me about FW at Riviera! It must be his day off because I've emailed and called and I've heard nothing! Does anyone have a current rate sheet for FW there? I currently have an April use year and thinking either getting week 18, 19 or joining you all with week 49! I always go early May ....but the last few years I have also had a trip in early December. I know banking wise, week 49 is just outside the window for April use year...but it's close enough for me. I love Christmas, but also early May is very competitive to get!

Also, I want to get it to a point number so that I can get magical beginnings for the 2025 points! Thinking a Standard View Deluxe studio (at x number of points - I think all of those weeks are probably less than 150 points) + 50 point contract to get me there. Any help on this would be great!

This is what I have https://dvcexplorer.com/FIN/FW/FW-Riviera.pdf

 

[ah10is]

This is what I have https://dvcexplorer.com/FIN/FW/FW-Riviera.pdf

Thanks so much! You're such a wealth of information!

 

[juliebee]

Waiting for my guide to get back to me about FW at Riviera! It must be his day off because I've emailed and called and I've heard nothing! Does anyone have a current rate sheet for FW there? I currently have an April use year and thinking either getting week 18, 19 or joining you all with week 49! I always go early May ....but the last few years I have also had a trip in early December. I know banking wise, week 49 is just outside the window for April use year...but it's close enough for me. I love Christmas, but also early May is very competitive to get!

Also, I want to get it to a point number so that I can get magical beginnings for the 2025 points! Thinking a Standard View Deluxe studio (at x number of points - I think all of those weeks are probably less than 150 points) + 50 point contract to get me there. Any help on this would be great!

I also considered May favorite weeks and Riviera. Here were my calculations for some of those dates. When the favorite week was less than 150 pts, I added a 25 pt contract to bring it above 150. I think these are correct.

 

[Mikey15]

Waiting for my guide to get back to me about FW at Riviera! It must be his day off because I've emailed and called and I've heard nothing! Does anyone have a current rate sheet for FW there? I currently have an April use year and thinking either getting week 18, 19 or joining you all with week 49! I always go early May ....but the last few years I have also had a trip in early December. I know banking wise, week 49 is just outside the window for April use year...but it's close enough for me. I love Christmas, but also early May is very competitive to get!

Also, I want to get it to a point number so that I can get magical beginnings for the 2025 points! Thinking a Standard View Deluxe studio (at x number of points - I think all of those weeks are probably less than 150 points) + 50 point contract to get me there. Any help on this would be great!

I’ve only gone in May once, but as a Canadian I love Week #19. Victoria Day in Canada is always the week before Memorial Day, meaning more often than not, Week #19 gives an entire week before Memorial Day weekend crowds and heat intensity. It also gives the Monday off of work after a Sunday FW checkout!

Mother’s Day usually falling on the check-in Sunday for FW#19 could be a plus for some too. And the FW points hit could be less than 10% if it avoids the May 15th escalation in WDW resort points charts.

 

[ah10is]

I also considered May favorite weeks and Riviera. Here were my calculations for some of those dates. When the favorite week was less than 150 pts, I added a 25 pt contract to bring it above 150. I think these are correct.
View attachment 1039406

Very helpful! Thank you!!!

 

[ah10is]

I’ve only gone in May once, but as a Canadian I love Week #19. Victoria Day in Canada is always the week before Memorial Day, meaning more often than not, Week #19 gives an entire week before Memorial Day weekend crowds and heat intensity. It also gives the Monday off of work after a Sunday FW checkout!

Mother’s Day usually falling on the check-in Sunday for FW#19 could be a plus for some too. And the FW points hit could be less than 10% if it avoids the May 15th escalation in WDW resort points charts.

Love a Canadian perspective! Born and raised in Canada myself....but now live in the USA.

 

[Mikey15]

Love a Canadian perspective! Born and raised in Canada myself....but now live in the USA.

Hah, I went the opposite direction! Birth-18 in US, now an official Canadian.

 

[atthebeachclub]

Dual here too. Raised in the US; still living here. But considering moving north. Just have to figure out how to move an entire life up there. Licensure. House. And a non Canadian spouse. Makes my head spin.

Not related to Riviera at all; just a nod and a wave!

 

[juliebee]

I’ve only gone in May once, but as a Canadian I love Week #19. Victoria Day in Canada is always the week before Memorial Day, meaning more often than not, Week #19 gives an entire week before Memorial Day weekend crowds and heat intensity. It also gives the Monday off of work after a Sunday FW checkout!

Mother’s Day usually falling on the check-in Sunday for FW#19 could be a plus for some too. And the FW points hit could be less than 10% if it avoids the May 15th escalation in WDW resort points charts.

I also thought Week 19 was tempting. Also Week 18 if you are a Star Wars fan and want to do May the 4th activities.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Thanks so much! You're such a wealth of information!

Just a FYI if your ever considering renting your FW, I would hands down choose week #49. It is just so incredibly popular.

 

[Brian Noble]

I know banking wise, week 49 is just outside the window for April use year.

It's after your banking deadline, but not so far after that it matters!

Here's what I mean. When you cancel a reservation, there are two reasons you might not be able to bank points from the reservation's Use Year. One: you are past the banking deadline. Two: you cancelled at 30 days or leass, and the points went into holding.

So, it doesn't matter what your Use Year, is, if you cancel a December reservation in December, you cannot bank the points. Instead, you would have to bank them in November, a full month prior to check-in. And, that is still within your banking window!

TL;DR: Any reservation in the first nine months of a Use Year can be cancelled and current UY-points banked, provided the points do not go into holding.

It took me a while to wrap my head around this, but once I did, it was really helpful. I have a February UY, and that means October reservations are still in my "can cancel and bank if I have to" window.

 

[tx911]

It's after your banking deadline, but not so far after that it matters!

Here's what I mean. When you cancel a reservation, there are two reasons you might not be able to bank points from the reservation's Use Year. One: you are past the banking deadline. Two: you cancelled at 30 days or leass, and the points went into holding.

So, it doesn't matter what your Use Year, is, if you cancel a December reservation in December, you cannot bank the points. Instead, you would have to bank them in November, a full month prior to check-in. And, that is still within your banking window!

TL;DR: Any reservation in the first nine months of a Use Year can be cancelled and current UY-points banked, provided the points do not go into holding.

It took me a while to wrap my head around this, but once I did, it was really helpful. I have a February UY, and that means October reservations are still in my "can cancel and bank if I have to" window.

And if you have to cancel a December reservation in November, I hear Saratoga is lovely in January!

 

[Brian Noble]

I did enjoy my visit to FARTS.

 

[ah10is]

Still waiting for my guide to get back to me. I really like the idea of a FW for Riviera - especially with the restricted points and all of the unknowns.

I still can't make up my mind between week 19 and 49! Christmas time is my most favorite time to visit! I just can't get away from work all of the time then. But it would be awesome to have for the few weeks I can get off and then once retired it's a guarantee! Week 19 covers my birthday and a time of year I pretty much always go!

My next dilemma is standard view or preferred view? I was hoping to do magical beginnings on the 2025 points, but you only get that if it's 150 points or more points. Standard puts me below. I could add a 25 point contract, but 25 point contracts can't be financed. I was planning to finance - 20 % down and balance at 8.99%. I know it's not the best way to do things, but it worked well for my 1st contract that I got paid off in 8 months.

I'd like to have this locked in for this round of incentives before the price increase after Feb. 9th....with the option to switch if better incentives next round (though doubtful with price increase) so there is a bit of time to decide.

Gah....my head!

 

[Mikey15]

And if you have to cancel a December reservation in November, I hear Saratoga is lovely in January!

This is how I’ve started thinking about use years… if I had to do an 11th hour trip with points in holding or otherwise unbankable, when could I go?

For me even though I love fall Disney, September UY is a terrible idea because I’d never go in August even to use up stranded points. Meanwhile, with an April UY it’s still practical for fall trips, and I could easily go sometime in Jan-March if I “had to.”

 

[Mikey15]

Still waiting for my guide to get back to me. I really like the idea of a FW for Riviera - especially with the restricted points and all of the unknowns.

I still can't make up my mind between week 19 and 49! Christmas time is my most favorite time to visit! I just can't get away from work all of the time then. But it would be awesome to have for the few weeks I can get off and then once retired it's a guarantee! Week 19 covers my birthday and a time of year I pretty much always go!

My next dilemma is standard view or preferred view? I was hoping to do magical beginnings on the 2025 points, but you only get that if it's 150 points or more points. Standard puts me below. I could add a 25 point contract, but 25 point contracts can't be financed. I was planning to finance - 20 % down and balance at 8.99%. I know it's not the best way to do things, but it worked well for my 1st contract that I got paid off in 8 months.

I'd like to have this locked in for this round of incentives before the price increase after Feb. 9th....with the option to switch if better incentives next round (though doubtful with price increase) so there is a bit of time to decide.

Gah....my head!

I believe others here have purchased a <150pt FW & a 25pt contract as part of the same “deal,” qualifying for the 150pt incentives and MB and financing.

Ex: 128pt FW#19 + 25pt extra

 

[juliebee]

I was hoping to do magical beginnings on the 2025 points, but you only get that if it's 150 points or more points. Standard puts me below. I could add a 25 point contract, but 25 point contracts can't be financed. I was planning to finance - 20 % down and balance at 8.99%.

That is a really good question on if purchased two contracts together to get over the 150, will they both be able to be financed? Let us know what you find out!

 

[Tatebeck]

This is how I’ve started thinking about use years… if I had to do an 11th hour trip with points in holding or otherwise unbankable, when could I go?

For me even though I love fall Disney, September UY is a terrible idea because I’d never go in August even to use up stranded points. Meanwhile, with an April UY it’s still practical for fall trips, and I could easily go sometime in Jan-March if I “had to.”

That doesn't really make sense. If you only want to travel Fall through March, then September would actually be much better in the long run. Any trip you plan from Sept-May will still have bankable points on April 30th assuming you cancel more than 30 days ahead. No summer trip required unless you end up having holding points.

If you have an April use year, ANY trip you cancel after Nov 30th no matter when it is becomes unbankable. Any cancelled trip in the second half of your preferred travel window is no longer fully safe.

You would be sacrificing the 30 day cancellation safety of half of your proposed travel months (and the rest of your unpreferred travel months too) which is the the more likely cancellation, in order to gain a small amount of wiggle room for a cancellation that results in holding points during a small portion of the year, which is the less likely cancellation for most people. And if someone's bookings are regularly resulting in holding points IMO they aren't using DVC correctly or maybe the product just isn't for them.

And in any case if you end up with holding points you can always book reservations and rent them out so they aren't wasted, even if it is not in a time you would normally want to go yourself.

It's like trading a dollar for a dime.

 

[atthebeachclub]

That is a really good question on if purchased two contracts together to get over the 150, will they both be able to be financed? Let us know what you find out!

You can, but only in this specific scenario where the fixed week is under 150.

 

[DonkeyHoTay]

Been able to cancel both of my favorite week 50 reservations at 11 months and rebook them using 10% less points than my contract, which is great so I keep the difference. Now waiting for the 7 month window to try and book the same week in the same room type, but using my SAP points instead. If that works, I would just cancel the week’s reservation booked using my 11 month home resort contract points and hang onto those for some other time, or bank them. If it works!

But… if booking the week with my SAP works…. Why did I need a fixed week contract to begin with? I suddenly cannot remember why I thought I needed this? Must be because I assumed availability would be too hard at 7 months for a peak time like week 50…. But, if I am wrong about that and the rooms (PIT 2 bdrm villa and CFW cabin) can be had at 7 months anyway… I guess buying the week was really about the convenience of member services booking my reservation at 11 months?

If you see something I’m missing please let me know?