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

[Brian Noble]

I don't know if you can buy a FW for a lockoff, but:

or do I buy two contracts, one studio and one 1-bdrm?

There is no guarantee that these will be connecting in any given year, so I would not do that.

 

[OPDman]

I have checked all the DVC fixed week points charts, I don’t see any options for a lock off. I don’t believe any of the resorts offering fixed weeks have only lockoffs for 2 bedrooms such as Jambo house.

I also agree with earlier posts to NOT buy points for 2 room types (1 bedroom and studio) in hope of joining them. We have been lucky quite a few times asking for adjoining rooms, but there have been trips where it just wasn’t possible. We’ve generally been close though.

Best of luck to you!

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Just to add a little nuance, I think it would depend how catastrophic it would be for your family on the years you couldn’t get a connecting lockoff—if it’s only a minor annoyance, might be worth it to have two smaller contracts and the optionality to only stay in a 1BD or studio on occasion if your family’s needs change.

 

[nanoburd]

There is a small window of time, maybe when the kids are high school age, that the lock-off is preferable. So those years I could cancel the FW and try to book a lock-off directly or get a 2-bdrm at the 7-months mark at a different hotel.

But that kind of defeats the purpose of buying a school holiday FW since high school is probably when I need that week the most. Hmmmmmm….

PVB only has TPV 2-bedrooms and are really expensive. I don’t really care for the view. Resort view 2-bedrooms are only lock-offs.

Ok thanks everyone, just more to reflect on.

 

[Brian Noble]

There is a small window of time, maybe when the kids are high school age, that the lock-off is preferable. So those years I could cancel the FW and try to book a lock-off directly or get a 2-bdrm at the 7-months mark at a different hotel.

This is a good thing to roll around. A fixed week is a decades-long right. It might be the case that the week that you happen to want for school breaks is a good week for you generally, but it might not be.

Is there a time during the year that you think is the right time most years, for the next few decades? For me, the answer was easy. My employer's spring break is usually late Feburary/early March, and is Week 9 most years. In retirement, that's still a great week for me. The weather in Florida is usually lovely, it's not a super-crowded week most years, and right now Flower & Garden usually starts that Wednesday. Fixed Week 9 is perfect.

But, this was for me, so I got a studio, not a 2BR!

 

[nanoburd]

So we’ve travelled twice to WDW in week 4 now to escape the northern winters. That’s the week for me even if I travel without family.

But week 4 doesn’t seem like a difficult month to book.

So my thinking was getting a school holiday 2-bdrm FW for the 15-ish years that might be handy and the rest I can cancel and have enough points to stay in a studio jan/feb for a few weeks.

EDIT: I can also start a new thread with my purchasing rationale if it starts deviating from the purpose of this thread. hahaha