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.

 

[atthebeachclub]

Does banking and borrowing cause any issues with fixed weeks? Like say you banked one year; I book your fixed week they would leave your banked points alone, correct? Just thinking through some ideas about how these work. Thanks!

 

[JackosinDIS]

Does banking and borrowing cause any issues with fixed weeks? Like say you banked one year; I book your fixed week they would leave your banked points alone, correct? Just thinking through some ideas about how these work. Thanks!

I would have previously said that it won’t cause any issues. However, this year I had banked my 2024 points and made a separate reservation with those. MS then failed to book my fixed week as they said I had used the points (I hadn’t).
It was all corrected in the end but not without many phone calls to MS.
However, a fixed week booking would never touch banked points.

 

[OPDman]

Banking and borrowing will affect your fixed week. You should never bank or borrow if you intend to use it in a given year. Once you bank or borrow you will lose the week for the year that is banked forward or borrowed against. The presence of additional points SHOULD not effect the scheduling of a fixed week, as the week’s reservation should, by contract, always be made using that years points. Those are the points that maintain the right to the week.

If you use the week, you should never have extra points for that contract. Points in, the reservation is made for you, all the points are gone. If all the points aren’t there, the reservation will not be made.

As someone with 3 fixed weeks, I will say that the reservation system the past 2 years has been incredibly wonky. I have complained on all my contracts for both 2024 and 2025. What is the point is giving DVC a 10% surcharge for convenience, if you have to monitor the process? I do intend to bring it up as an issue at this years board meetings in December.

 

[sethschroeder]

What is the point is giving DVC a 10% surcharge for convenience, if you have to monitor the process?

I view it as 10% upfront with:
Guarentee of room and possible chance of actually a discount as point charts shift.

Agree though it should be hands off easy for you.

 

[OPDman]

I absolutely agree with the guarantee part, but it is rather nerve wracking when guaranteed reservations are being made AFTER the 11 month window opens. I have expressed concerns that someone with a booked reservation, that should not have been available, may get bumped by an unfulfilled guaranteed week.

It is true that discounts may occur over time, but so may higher surcharges as the charts shift. Given that most fixed weeks are for the early December timeframe, I do think that those contracts will see value in the years ahead because of point chart shifts raising that period due to increased demand. Quite frankly, I’m kind of shocked the numbers haven’t shifted raising December and lowering late August.

Finally, in the Poly Tower, week 39, is a complete point fiasco for DVC, though great for members. The calculations are off in every category, none more so than resort view studios. They use September as a point basis as opposed to a September/October mix. The result is a fix week point chart for those rooms with only one “surcharge” year out of seven. Ironically, most years, a fixed week owner of that studio room has insufficient points to actually book that room outside the guarantee. The situation referenced above will repeat again and again. Hence the popularity of week 39.

 

[WeIcomeHome]

I absolutely agree with the guarantee part, but it is rather nerve wracking when guaranteed reservations are being made AFTER the 11 month window opens. I have expressed concerns that someone with a booked reservation, that should not have been available, may get bumped by an unfulfilled guaranteed week.

It is true that discounts may occur over time, but so may higher surcharges as the charts shift. Given that most fixed weeks are for the early December timeframe, I do think that those contracts will see value in the years ahead because of point chart shifts raising that period due to increased demand. Quite frankly, I’m kind of shocked the numbers haven’t shifted raising December and lowering late August.

Finally, in the Poly Tower, week 39, is a complete point fiasco for DVC, though great for members. The calculations are off in every category, none more so than resort view studios. They use September as a point basis as opposed to a September/October mix. The result is a fix week point chart for those rooms with only one “surcharge” year out of seven. Ironically, most years, a fixed week owner of that studio room has insufficient points to actually book that room outside the guarantee. The situation referenced above will repeat again and again. Hence the popularity of week 39.

Disney last reset the fixed week points charts in 2023 which was one of the rare years where week 39 fell fully in September. There are a couple other similar scenarios like this throughout the year but week 39 happened to be between the lowest and one of the higher point periods making it stand out. Disney does not appear interested in resetting the fixed week charts very often. Even if they did, there would likely be other weeks that become a value compared to current charts. I'm using my FW39 at RIV this year and will enjoy my point savings over booking myself!

 

[intamin]

Disney last reset the fixed week points charts in 2023 which was one of the rare years where week 39 fell fully in September. There are a couple other similar scenarios like this throughout the year but week 39 happened to be between the lowest and one of the higher point periods making it stand out. Disney does not appear interested in resetting the fixed week charts very often. Even if they did, there would likely be other weeks that become a value compared to current charts. I'm using my FW39 at RIV this year and will enjoy my point savings over booking myself!

Dang now you guys have me tempted to buy a week 39 instead of a week 49..

 

[OPDman]

Dang now you guys have me tempted to buy a week 39 instead of a week 49..

IKR.

 

[tx911]

Dang now you guys have me tempted to buy a week 39 instead of a week 49..

And me tempted to get FW 39 instead of no FW at all!

I've yet to be convinced that a FW is not a total PITA!