I'm hoping that means more Jan 2012 inventory will soon follow. I have an open search running for the prior week at BWV. Usually I have my exchange in hand by mid-March ... but not this year.
Honestly, I was a little surprised to see it. In this calendar year,
DVC has largely restricted itself to 7-month-or-less deposits.
Strangely, RCI has valued all WDW DVC units the same "25 TPU" as of late regardless of unit size or season (except for cases of "last minute" reservations).
There are a few other exceptions. Some 2BR units in holiday weeks have been more, but not consistently so. I've seen some 7/4 2BRs in the high 20s. I also have a Thanksgiving exchange in an SSR 2BR that was 28.
In the first week or so, the valuations were much more in line with what you would expect. Smaller units at less popular times were worth less than larger units or more in-demand times. Typically, DVC units had valuations in line with the rest of the system; at the top end of the range for Orlando, but still within what you'd expect given Orlando's relative over-supply (and remembering that, shockingly, not everyone comes to Orlando to visit WDW.)
Then, very shortly after the new transparent system went live, there was a very deliberate floor of 25 placed on all DVC units. As far as I know, this is one of the few places in all of RCI's valuation system that has such obvious market manipulation. In high season, or for larger units, it hasn't been much of an issue, because other Orlando area resorts are similarly valued. But smaller off-season units have tended to linger longer than you'd expect in inventory all other things being equal, and a bit of a backlog has developed. Eventually, DVC will have to stop depositing offseason/smaller inventory, RCI will have to take their thumb off the scales, or the backlog will continue to grow. We'll have to see what happens going forward.
I also noticed that this doesn't apply to the mini-system portals (Wyndham, WorldMark, Bluegreen, etc.) The valuations given to DVC resorts in those currencies are exactly the same as any other Orlando-area resort, much as it works elsewhere. As a Wyndham owner, it looks like I would generally do better going through Wyndham for studios and 1BRs year round, and 2BRs in the offseason.
