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

[emchen]

Isn’t the smallest contract size available for RIV 50? So it would have to be 135 and then a 50 or 65?

I thought standards were the same across active selling resorts. I’ve read various reports and thought 25 was the smallest. But you may be correct.

Oh wow I had no idea it just automatically used ALL of the points in the contract no matter how many points are in there.

Yes that is what the Purchase Agreement and detailed info sheet lays out.

Correct. Keep in mind your UY. I have a Sept UY with a Dec FW. Cancellations apply as usual to the reservation, but your banking period may differ. If I cancel my FW Dec reservation, my points go back into my Sept UY, and follow the Sept UY banking deadline. You can pick any FW, but your points will always revert back to your contract UY. The two do not have to be the same.

This answers my question of whether there are FW contracts with different UYs.

Huh I just emailed my guide and she said even if I topped off the contract to 150, it would only take the 135 and not the full 150?

i wonder if she misunderstood your question or you misunderstood her answer but your original understanding of the issue is correct (that all points on the FW contract is utilized for the 12m booking). If the point cost of your week goes down after a rebalance, your FW cost will not go down. Same if normal point cost goes up, you won’t be in jeopardy of owing more.

 

[intamin]

I thought standards were the same across active selling resorts. I’ve read various reports and thought 25 was the smallest. But you may be correct.

Yes that is what the Purchase Agreement and detailed info sheet lays out.

This answers my question of whether there are FW contracts with different UYs.

i wonder if she misunderstood your question or you misunderstood her answer but your original understanding of the issue is correct (that all points on the FW contract is utilized for the 12m booking). If the point cost of your week goes down after a rebalance, your FW cost will not go down. Same if normal point cost goes up, you won’t be in jeopardy of owing more.

I’m trying to get it in writing from her and I’ll talk to her over the phone. I may ask to speak to another guide as well just for verification.

 

[sethschroeder]

I’m trying to get it in writing from her and I’ll talk to her over the phone. I may ask to speak to another guide as well just for verification.

50 at RIV and VGF if I am not mistaken while others are 25.

That being said you can always ask for smaller contracts and make it a requirement of buying. If its part of a larger purchase you might get them to bend unless there is some legal restriction (sometimes its a sales restriction so they can always just choose to ignore the rule).

 

[intamin]

I thought standards were the same across active selling resorts. I’ve read various reports and thought 25 was the smallest. But you may be correct.

Yes that is what the Purchase Agreement and detailed info sheet lays out.

This answers my question of whether there are FW contracts with different UYs.

i wonder if she misunderstood your question or you misunderstood her answer but your original understanding of the issue is correct (that all points on the FW contract is utilized for the 12m booking). If the point cost of your week goes down after a rebalance, your FW cost will not go down. Same if normal point cost goes up, you won’t be in jeopardy of owing more.

So she just got back to me and then changed what she was saying so it looks like I'd pretty much have to do what you did and do a 135 and a 65 or 135 and a 50. I'm not sure if it's worth it though as I'd rather have it evenly split for my kids to inherit the same amount of points and also we didn't really want the full 200 points (well I do but I don't think my fiancee would be pleased) as we only wanted 150 especially with us wanting Poly tower on the horizon. So I may have to back out of the fixed week even though it would be helpful to sell down the road with a smaller contract and then a fixed week if we ever got to that point.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

If I am reading this correctly, the reason for the extra 50 plus points contract is so together with the FW you will have blue card membership? If you are already a direct owner, grandfathered for less than the current 150 pts requirement, just purchase the 135 pt FW. Some people only have 25 pts direct and then purchase new direct for less then 150 requirement, and still have blue card membership.

 

[intamin]

If I am reading this correctly, the reason for the extra 50 plus points contract is so together with the FW you will have blue card membership? If you are already a direct owner, grandfathered for less than the current 150 pts requirement, just purchase the 135 pt FW. Some people only have 25 pts direct and then purchase new direct for less then 150 requirement, and still have blue card membership.

Wouldn’t it not qualify for incentives if it was less than 150 then?

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Wouldn’t it not qualify for incentives if it was less than 150 then?

It all depends on when you purchased direct what amount qualifies you for the blue card membership benefits. Not sure of the exact date but I believe it was 15 years ago owners ( resale or direct) could purchase direct contracts for as little as 25 pts and have full membership benefits. Some people only ever purchased 25 pts direct to get the annual pass discounts. DVC slowly raised the minimum up, 50 pts, 75 pts, and 100 pts. at the time I purchased CCV. I had way more direct points years ago, but only currently have a 118 pt. FW contract at CCV and have all of the blue card membership benefits. This again was because at the time of purchase I only needed 100 pts direct to qualify.

 

[emchen]

I'm not sure if it's worth it though as I'd rather have it evenly split for my kids to inherit the same amount of points

How many UY/memberships do you have? Thats because, according to my guide, the standard and most cost-effective way to deed them to your kid is putting all their names on the contracts with the current owners listed on each contract. He stated that it gets very complicated if not impossible to put each one separately into any given contract within a membership number. Thats because every contract under a given membership number needs to have the exact same names as owners. If you have two or more UY/memberships, then you can put Johnny on one and Sarah on the other after they turn 18.

Bring up your legacy plan and your guide should go into a spiel with that info and maybe even more specifics.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

So she just got back to me and then changed what she was saying so it looks like I'd pretty much have to do what you did and do a 135 and a 65 or 135 and a 50. I'm not sure if it's worth it though as I'd rather have it evenly split for my kids to inherit the same amount of points and also we didn't really want the full 200 points (well I do but I don't think my fiancee would be pleased) as we only wanted 150 especially with us wanting Poly tower on the horizon. So I may have to back out of the fixed week even though it would be helpful to sell down the road with a smaller contract and then a fixed week if we ever got to that point.

In all reality, it’s really hard to know if your children will even want DVC when they get older. I wouldn’t sacrifice a FW purchase because the points are not even in each contract. Let them decide later If they even want them and which contract.

 

[EYL]

Those numbers sound off, but I'm wondering if the wording is confusing things with "dedicated" standard studios or preferred studios. Maybe that means that at Riv there are 9 standard view studios & 29 preferred view studios that don't have a connecting door with a 1BR to have a configuration option of becoming a 2BR? Hopefully I'm not adding confusion to the discussion.

I think that every Deluxe Studio that we've stayed in had a connecting door to a 1BR; the FWs aren't restricted to the dedicated studios.

Riv has 3 Tower Studios per floor, and I think 8 floors in that section of the building, for 24 Tower Studios total. I don't know how many SV or PV Deluxe Studios there are per floor, but I'm pretty sure it is many more than 3. There has to be many more studios than 9 SV + 29 PV. So whatever that number is, 35% of that. I'm not sure what happens when they have more FWs in a given week than declared inventory.

I checked the numbers on this document and it adds up: https://disneyvacationclub.disney.g...-Information-form-for-timeshare-contracts.pdf.

There are more studios and 1BR's that can be separated from 2BR lockoffs, but I don't think that's a part of the FW equation... In a lockoff situation, if they sold one 2BR, it would count against a studio and a 1BR...

 

[intamin]

It all depends on when you purchased direct what amount qualifies you for the blue card membership benefits. Not sure of the exact date but I believe it was 15 years ago owners ( resale or direct) could purchase direct contracts for as little as 25 pts and have full membership benefits. Some people only ever purchased 25 pts direct to get the annual pass discounts. DVC slowly raised the minimum up, 50 pts, 75 pts, and 100 pts. at the time I purchased CCV. I had way more direct points years ago, but only currently have a 118 pt. FW contract at CCV and have all of the blue card membership benefits. This again was because at the time of purchase I only needed 100 pts direct to qualify.

I think we're having a little bit of misunderstanding. I'm not talking about like blue card benefits, I'm talking about the incentives on the pricing since the threshold is 150 to get the majority of price incentives. If I bought 135 on it's own it wouldn't qualify for the price incentives on 150.

Basically in order for me to hit the 150 threshold, I'd have to do the 135 + a separate 50 point contract OR do what @emchen did and do a 135 with a 65 point contract to reach the 200 point threshold for pricing incentives.

 

[intamin]

In all reality, it’s really hard to know if your children will even want DVC when they get older. I wouldn’t sacrifice a FW purchase because the points are not even in each contract. Let them decide later If they even want them and which contract.

Very true but my question is do I REALLY want 200 points at RIV when I actually just wanted 150? Again referencing the 135+65 as above or 135+50. I imagine if I was getting the 50 I'd just say screw it and go up to 200 points. The extra 50 essentially costs close to what, an additional 8 grand?

I think 300 is what we need for RIV which the 150 would get me to. I plan to buy 300 at Poly tower, direct or resale is TBD pending association.

 

[intamin]

How many UY/memberships do you have? Thats because, according to my guide, the standard and most cost-effective way to deed them to your kid is putting all their names on the contracts with the current owners listed on each contract. He stated that it gets very complicated if not impossible to put each one separately into any given contract within a membership number. Thats because every contract under a given membership number needs to have the exact same names as owners. If you have two or more UY/memberships, then you can put Johnny on one and Sarah on the other after they turn 18.

Bring up your legacy plan and your guide should go into a spiel with that info and maybe even more specifics.

I have a March and an April UY (it occurred that way because of the UY for the AUL sub unfortunately), just those 2. But I don't want to separate the Rivieras/Polys so I can have all of the direct points in one big basket. The kids are an after thought in this tbh, this is for my partner and I as I always preach on here because like @BWV Dreamin was saying, who knows if they'll even like it. My plan is to have 2 150 pt RIV, and then 2 150 pt Poly. If I decide to sell off points down the road, it'll be my resale sub AUL and resale AKL in the March UY.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

I think we're having a little bit of misunderstanding. I'm not talking about like blue card benefits, I'm talking about the incentives on the pricing since the threshold is 150 to get the majority of price incentives. If I bought 135 on it's own it wouldn't qualify for the price incentives on 150.

Basically in order for me to hit the 150 threshold, I'd have to do the 135 + a separate 50 point contract OR do what @emchen did and do a 135 with a 65 point contract to reach the 200 point threshold for pricing incentives.

Ok I thought “incentives” was meaning blue card benefits. My bad!

 

[Sandisw]

I’m not so sure because I don’t think that would work with the 12-mo booking window for a FW contract.

To clarify the issue, is it stipulated that the points used to book the reservation at 12-mo is from the previous year vs the year of the reservation? Take my DEC UY AUL FW52 subsidized contract example. Previous owner can’t close until Feb 2024 and I will receive full points for DEC 2024. If what I wrote above is true, then MS will automatically book my FW52 reservation for the following year (2025) when December 2024 rolls around using said 2024 points. If I had FW47 with a DEC UY, would MS still book with DEC UY 12-months ahead in NOV and effectively pushing back the banking window in my favor? Or would they book it in DEC at the 11-mo window (I doubt it cuz that nullifies one of the features of FW contracts).

…I’ll go read my VGF and RIV now. I’ll report back in a TLDR.

Booking window doesn’t matter..if a FW 52 is in your Dec UY…the 2023 week would be in your 2023 UY and thus use your 2023 .points…even if DVC is booking in a year in advance.

To book the 2024 FW 52, it would be your 2024 points, even if you canceled the 2023 one and banked those points.

 

[intamin]

I had my guide give me a couple breakdowns of cost including closing costs

For a 135 pt FW + a 50 pt = 27587.08 plus 8907.48 = 36494.56. (36494.56 - 185*20 (magical beginnings))/185 = 177.27
For a 135 pt FW + a 65 pt = 27327.08 plus 11854.55 = 39,091.63. (39091.63 - 200*20)/200 = 175.55
For the straight up 150 pt contract for RIV = 29234.15. (29234.15 - 150*20)/150 = 174.89

Of course the 174.89 doesn't take into account the extra closing costs and benefit of having it broken up into 2. I assume closing costs are somewhere between 700-900 IIRC. So divided by the 185-200 it's probably a 3-4 dollar per point difference from what's shown above.

Decisions decisions.. I think I'm between the 185 option and the just regular 150 no FW. What would you guys do?

 

[Sandisw]

I had my guide give me a couple breakdowns of cost including closing costs

For a 135 pt FW + a 50 pt = 27587.08 plus 8907.48 = 36494.56. (36494.56 - 185*20 (magical beginnings))/185 = 177.27
For a 135 pt FW + a 65 pt = 27327.08 plus 11854.55 = 39,091.63. (39091.63 - 200*20)/200 = 175.55
For the straight up 150 pt contract for RIV = 29234.15. (29234.15 - 150*20)/150 = 174.89

Of course the 174.89 doesn't take into account the extra closing costs and benefit of having it broken up into 2. I assume closing costs are somewhere between 700-900 IIRC. So divided by the 185-200 it's probably a 3-4 dollar per point difference from what's shown above.

Decisions decisions.. I think I'm between the 185 option and the just regular 150 no FW. What would you guys do?

We didn’t bother with a FW because we never would use it and honestly, didn’t think the difference if we ever had to sell was worth having to cancel it every year

But, I know many like the idea for the future and not having to worry during the years when they might.

 

[intamin]

We didn’t bother with a FW because we never would use it and honestly, didn’t think the difference if we ever had to sell was worth having to cancel it every year

But, I know many like the idea for the future and not having to worry during the years when they might.

I think part of me is just tempted because if for whatever reason I decided to sell one of these, I could sell the RIV FW and the buyer would at least know that every year they can use their points which might allow for it to command a higher premium on the resale market. I probably wouldn't care if RIV wasn't resale restricted but since it is and these points when resold can only be used at RIV it's probably nice knowing no matter what the new owner would be able to use these points. I don't buy these contracts with the intention to sell them but it is tempting to have that tiny extra bit of insurance?

 

[emchen]

Booking window doesn’t matter..if a FW 52 is in your Dec UY…the 2023 week would be in your 2023 UY and thus use your 2023 .points…even if DVC is booking in a year in advance.

To book the 2024 FW 52, it would be your 2024 points, even if you canceled the 2023 one and banked those points.

Thanks for this, I couldn’t find the answer in the PA. Can you comment on one of the other posts saying contracts cannot be sold with a FW reservation in place? Seller would have to opt out of FW52 ‘24 for us to close in ‘24.

Decisions decisions.. I think I'm between the 185 option and the just regular 150 no FW. What would you guys do?

You know I am for 185. The extra 50p contract will more than make up for the added cost by its resale premium.

I think part of me is just tempted because if for whatever reason I decided to sell one of these, I could sell the RIV FW and the buyer would at least know that every year they can use their points which might allow for it to command a higher premium on the resale market. I probably wouldn't care if RIV wasn't resale restricted but since it is and these points when resold can only be used at RIV it's probably nice knowing no matter what the new owner would be able to use these points. I don't buy these contracts with the intention to sell them but it is tempting to have that tiny extra bit of insurance?

The “new toy factor”! I am so looking forward to the automatic reservation showing up in my DashBoard!

 

[Sandisw]

Thanks for this, I couldn’t find the answer in the PA. Can you comment on one of the other posts saying contracts cannot be sold with a FW reservation in place? Seller would have to opt out of FW52 ‘24 for us to close in ‘24.

You know I am for 185. The extra 50p contract will more than make up for the added cost by its resale premium.

The “new toy factor”! I am so looking forward to the automatic reservation showing up in my DashBoard!

It is accurate thst when selling a fixed week contract, just like any contract, all reservations are indeed canceled before they can transfer it.

So, if you are buying a contract now, then the first FW you will be eligible for is 2024 since the 2023 week can’t transfer. If you close after the FW is booked for 2024…ie: closing after January, then 2025 will be the first one you are going to be eligible for as new owners.

Rememger, a fixed week is still a points based reservation,,,but you simply pay to guarantee the booking vs having to go FCFS.

That is why it isn’t treated any differently than any other sale.