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

 

[SugarSweetLee]

2) Side question, i read in this thread that your FW will not be booked if you have an existing reservation that year. How is it possible to have a reservation if 11 months is the earliest to book but the FW is booked at “12 months by DVD”?

We have a FW but so far have not had it booked yet because we keep borrowing points out of the contract to make other bookings within the previous UY

 

[intamin]

We have a FW but so far have not had it booked yet because we keep borrowing points out of the contract to make other bookings within the previous UY

Same. Idk if I'll ever use the fixed week, I just see it as an added asset if I were to sell it. Chances are if I really wanted the week that badly, I would just walk it until they make a rule change.

 

[EPCOT Terran]

I bought two fixed weeks, week 6 (February around my wife's birthday) and week 39 (late September). Both are times of year we like to go, though we're more focused on long weekend trips right now. I'm a recent buyer, so we've only really had an opportunity for the September week to pre-book. It was very easy to call Member Services and get them to cancel the week and then use the points freed up (with some left over, of course) to book a long weekend in late September instead.

 

[WeIcomeHome]

I'm using my FW39 for my first stay since buying last August! 108 days to go! As long as we avoid a big storm at the end of hurricane season we should be good.

I'm saving 10 points by using my FW vs booking the room myself. I did have to talk to my guide to get the FW booked. They had not initially booked it for me because I was still paying off the purchase over my 90 day period when the 11 month window opened.

 

[sethschroeder]

I'm using my FW39 for my first stay since buying last August! 108 days to go! As long as we avoid a big storm at the end of hurricane season we should be good.

I'm saving 10 points by using my FW vs booking the room myself. I did have to talk to my guide to get the FW booked. They had not initially booked it for me because I was still paying off the purchase over my 90 day period when the 11 month window opened.

That is great. It so amazing to come out ahead.