Riviera Direct

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

I agree that SSR is best for sleep around points. The member fees are awesome. I actually like the resort too honestly.

I like it too after the refurb. Okay, so back to watching the market for SSR SAP

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

We received our Blue Cards in the mail today and are more than excited for our first Riviera stay this Christmas as owners! We have only stayed there once for 2 nights and my wife and kids love it! I was impressed with the beauty of the resort but wasn't a huge fan at first but looking back, I cannot find anything bad about the resort. I feel we got a good deal with the discount . What I do like about Riviera is it's a new resort, nice grounds, good pools and convenient to every part of WDW. Only 120 days to go!

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

This is from the Summer Incentive Thread that Cast managed to pull together.

Resort	Number of Points	Existing Member Incentives	Existing Member Price	New Member Incentives	New Member Price
Riviera ($195)	100-124 125-149 150-199 200-299 300-499 500-999 1000+	$5 $15 $25 $35 $40 $45 $60	$190 $180 $170 $160 $155 $150 $135	None None $15 $25 $30 $35 $50	$195 $195 $180 $170 $165 $160 $145

Wow is this going on right now? That’s pretty good.

 

[sethschroeder]

Wow is this going on right now? That’s pretty good.

Until September 16th I think it is. All marketing materials are pointing to less discounts after that.

 

[Eric Smith]

Until September 16th I think it is. All marketing materials are pointing to less discounts after that.

I don’t know if I’d believe the marketing. Who would buy if the discount would be better in the future?

 

[sethschroeder]

I don’t know if I’d believe the marketing. Who would buy if the discount would be better in the future?

Its the best price its been ever at the current time. They also could come under some heat legally if they lied in marketing materials about pricing and pricing going up.

Besides most of the time they simply don't say anything and if they do they just say sign now and we can update your contract with the better price if there is one.

 

[dvc lover 1970]

It's true, we've never had long threads here on DIS lamenting something stupid DVC did that hurts members.

We have direct benefits so I too hope the AP returns and stays forever, but there are a shocking number of posters even here on this very board justifying their direct purchases because they'll have the blue card and be part of the club. I tend to think DVC could remove everything except the color of the membership card and the 20% merchandise discount, and they'd still have buyers lining up, even ones that know about resale. There's an intrinsic, untraceable value to the feeling of being part of the club, and DVC has that. I'm of the opinion that they don't need the AP discount to continue getting direct sales (because then the conversation will shift to how Moonlight Magic or dining discounts make up the difference vs resale). That's why I think it's smart to take the AP discount out of any purchase math - assume it's not available because, as it turns out, it's literally not available right now, and it hasn't always been around.

I totally disagree. We have a mix of direct and resale points and we are grandfathered to prior to any resale changes anyway. But having said that the Only reason if I were a new buyer in would buy direct would be for the AP passes. I have many friends and family who have bought and most all purchased resale the only who purchased direct was for the Gold APs. The only others who will buy will be the new members who do not know about the resale market but with global communications that is less and less.

 

[Dean]

I totally disagree. We have a mix of direct and resale points and we are grandfathered to prior to any resale changes anyway. But having said that the Only reason if I were a new buyer in would buy direct would be for the AP passes. I have many friends and family who have bought and most all purchased resale the only who purchased direct was for the Gold APs. The only others who will buy will be the new members who do not know about the resale market but with global communications that is less and less.

Assuming buying DVC at all makes sense, the reasons to do so now are if one can recoup the difference in just a few years on the pass discounts (difficult right now), one wants to stay at that resort routinely or the price difference is fairly small.

 

[Spark65]

At the 300 point level it is!

I paid a little over $160 a point for RIV with 160 points last year.

 

[EM Lawrence]

The leaked plan (Click here to see it) had its Eastern terminus between Rainforest Cafe at DS and Congress Park at SSR. So it would be for both.

Again, it’s probably 4 years old at this point, but it shows the plan was once there.

Fascinating! Thanks for sharing that. I had heard that the Skyliner was rumored to go to AK at some point, but had not heard about the possible expansion to DS/SSR area. That would be amazing.

 

[sethschroeder]

I paid a little over $160 a point for RIV with 160 points last year.

When did you buy? I could find a price at $155/point for 300 or less points but interested to look up pricing charts from when you had bought.

 

[Spark65]

When did you buy? I could find a price at $155/point for 300 or less points but interested to look up pricing charts from when you had bought.

It was either August or September

 

[Sandisw]

When did you buy? I could find a price at $155/point for 300 or less points but interested to look up pricing charts from when you had bought.

In October, the price for 175 was $167 with the discount. I paid less since I got a CM discount, but I know that incentive was better than the one right before it as I changed it when it came out.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

If we buy 300 points and divide them into 3 contracts of 100 points each, does each contract carry direct benefits if we sign them over to our kids in 30 years.

 

[sethschroeder]

If we buy 300 points and divide them into 3 contracts of 100 points each, does each contract carry direct benefits if we sign them over to our kids in 30 years.

Yes it would based on what I understand.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

If we buy 300 points and divide them into 3 contracts of 100 points each, does each contract carry direct benefits if we sign them over to our kids in 30 years.

Yes. My parents just did the exact thing

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Yes. My parents just did the exact thing

Just wondering if you glad they did this for you? We are about to pull the trigger but we are just slightly worried that the kids will not be as happy about receiving it one day as we think.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Just wondering if you glad they did this for you? We are about to pull the trigger but we are just slightly worried that the kids will not be as happy about receiving it one day as we think.

Interesting question, I assume this varies widely depending on the person and circumstances. I'm in a unique position, perhaps: I am the eldest child and bought my own points earlier this year at RVA. I used my 2019 "free" points to spend a long weekend with my parents, spouse, and siblings at RVA and they all loved it (this was my "welcome home" booking, pre-Covid). It prompted my mom to start looking into DVC herself. She was going to go resale but ultimately decided to pay more to get the current direct incentives and AP discounts since we all go a couple of times a year. Part of the decision was that in 25ish years when they might be too old for Disney (I don't think 80 is too old for Disney for the record!) my siblings and I could keep enjoying the points. I'm a big Disney fan so I certainly won't mind having more points! Another thought was that my siblings and I might get together at WDW and see each other more often than we might otherwise.

My sense from your message is that your children are young so it's hard to tell how they'll feel. Nobody can predict the future, but consider that they don't have to keep their contracts if they don't want to. They can sell them and get money instead. But maybe they'll keep them and love having them and maybe they'll sometimes plan vacations together and see each other at WDW...

I don't know if that was at all helpful... good luck whatever you decide!

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Interesting question, I assume this varies widely depending on the person and circumstances. I'm in a unique position, perhaps: I am the eldest child and bought my own points earlier this year at RVA. I used my 2019 "free" points to spend a long weekend with my parents, spouse, and siblings at RVA and they all loved it (this was my "welcome home" booking, pre-Covid). It prompted my mom to start looking into DVC herself. She was going to go resale but ultimately decided to pay more to get the current direct incentives and AP discounts since we all go a couple of times a year. Part of the decision was that in 25ish years when they might be too old for Disney (I don't think 80 is too old for Disney for the record!) my siblings and I could keep enjoying the points. I'm a big Disney fan so I certainly won't mind having more points! Another thought was that my siblings and I might get together at WDW and see each other more often than we might otherwise.

My sense from your message is that your children are young so it's hard to tell how they'll feel. Nobody can predict the future, but consider that they don't have to keep their contracts if they don't want to. They can sell them and get money instead. But maybe they'll keep them and love having them and maybe they'll sometimes plan vacations together and see each other at WDW...

I don't know if that was at all helpful... good luck whatever you decide!

Thanks for sharing your experience! Ours are 12, 11 and 18. They all love Disney— at this point. We have 3 other contracts but only one of them is direct. We were going to buy another resale, but then we thought it would be cool to give each child a direct contract down the road (and the RIV price is really good right now).But then we were thinking, maybe they would not want the burden of the dues? You are right though, they can just sell.

 

[dvc lover 1970]

Fascinating! Thanks for sharing that. I had heard that the Skyliner was rumored to go to AK at some point, but had not heard about the possible expansion to DS/SSR area. That would be amazing.

If they expand the skyline to SSR, then SSR and OKW will be very desirable, or it makes all resorts equally desirable, MK resorts will have the monorail (which I hope they never get rid of) and Epcot/DS resorts will have gondola. I wonder how long of a ride it would be. I venture to guess that Port Orleans and the other moderates will get something too as they now have the value resorts on the skyline. part of what made the value resorts value was their lack of transportation and lack of sit down eating.