Adding On Poly vs Riviera - Advice?

[Newsies]

Hey all! Looking for advice and opinions, especially from current Riviera owners. I thought my mind was 75% made up on what I wanted to do, but now I'm second guessing myself and just want to talk things out with people who are more experienced with DVC.

Backstory: we (my parents and I) bought 100 points at the Polynesian back in 2017. We loved the Poly (still do) and had our hearts set on making this our home, so we bought a small contract direct from Disney just to get our foot in the door with DVC. We are a party of four adults total, so a Studio that sleeps five works well for us because my sister loves that little sleeper under the television. Our only problem is that 100 points it not enough for a week at a Poly, so our plan from the beginning was to buy 100 more points when we were ready.

Now that we've saved enough to purchase another contract, we're gearing up to buy our next 100 points. Last week, we stayed at CBR in Aruba where we frequently used the Riviera skyliner station, ate at Primo Piatto several times, and enjoyed several iced lattes from Le Petite Cafe. I fell absolutely head-over-heels in love with the Riviera. The whole family thinks it's great, but I'm absolutely enamored with it-- the rooms, all of the dining options, the Skyliner system, the whole vibe of the resort. We spent some time as a family talking to a DVC guide (Allen, he was great) at Riviera on our last day and we think that we could buy 125 points at Riviera at the current price versus 100 points at the Poly.

So right now, we're trying to decide if we want 200 points total at the Poly, or 100 points at the Poly and 125 at Riviera. I'm taking on a bigger financial role for this contract, so the ball is kind of in my court here whether we go with Poly or Riviera. My family will be happy with either, but I'm not sure what will work better for us. I just don't know if it's necessary to have 200 points deeded at the Poly given the amount of Studio inventory the Poly has -- we typically travel in the summer, so I feel like we would be safe to book a Poly studio at the 7 month mark and the 11-month advantage isn't necessary there. Conversely, I see that we need that 11 month advantage with the Riviera if I ever wanted to try to book a Tower Studio for a solo trip or really if we want to book a studio in general.

I guess I really just want some opinions on what others would do in this situation. My gut is telling me to go with Riviera: we'd get more points and I really, really love this hotel. But I'm worried booking will become a nightmare since we won't really have enough points to do a week at the Poly at 11 months, and we'll barely have enough to book a week at the Riviera at 11 months. Thoughts? Anything you feel I'm overlooking/need to take into account?

 

[rubybutt]

How will you feel if you decide against Riviera?

 

[UrsulaWantsYourSoul]

Well with banking you can use double your points every other year and rotate resorts. Or every year you can do a split stay and do like 3-4 nights at each resort. Lots of options.

 

[Sandisw]

I love love love RIV and to be honest, I’d buy those and use them to compliment your Poly points, especially since you know that you like the resort a lot.

 

[Newsies]

How will you feel if you decide against Riviera?

I'm torn. I feel like if I decide against Riviera, I'll have peace of mind knowing that we have 200 points at one home resort -- it seems a lot easier to manage than 100 at one home vs 125 at another home. But I really love the Riviera and if I decide against it, I'm worried I'll regret it if it becomes challenging to book there at the 7 month window. Brain says Poly, heart says Riviera!

Well with banking you can use double your points every other year and rotate resorts. Or every year you can do a split stay and do like 3-4 nights at each resort. Lots of options.

My family enjoys the convenience of a non-split stay, but I think the idea of banking points and switching between resorts each year is ultimately what's going to push me to buy Riviera. Thank you!

I love love love RIV and to be honest, I’d buy those and use them to compliment your Poly points, especially since you know that you like the resort a lot.

I love Riviera too!! Thank you for the input-- I think we will likely go with Riv.

 

[Lumee23]

We bought the 125 point min at Riviera to get our foot in the door (and our blue card). When we were buying we were comparing between OKW for the more budget friendly points versus Riviera. I just love Riviera and couldn't let it go though. In the end we decided it was better to purchase where we wanted to stay since I would have been disappointed if we couldn't book there at the 7mo window. Our first stay there I just kept thinking how happy I was that we paid the extra to get what we really wanted.

We are now doing the opposite of you and planning on buying a monorail resort to add on. Hubby floated the idea of just adding more at Riv but I like the flexibility of having more than one 11 month window. We don't mind split stays but we also feel the resort rotating strategy is a good alternative if we didn't feel like splitting our stay.

Poly and Riv are both so great so I don't think you can go wrong either way

 

[Newsies]

We bought the 125 point min at Riviera to get our foot in the door (and our blue card). When we were buying we were comparing between OKW for the more budget friendly points versus Riviera. I just love Riviera and couldn't let it go though. In the end we decided it was better to purchase where we wanted to stay since I would have been disappointed if we couldn't book there at the 7mo window. Our first stay there I just kept thinking how happy I was that we paid the extra to get what we really wanted.

We are now doing the opposite of you and planning on buying a monorail resort to add on. Hubby floated the idea of just adding more at Riv but I like the flexibility of having more than one 11 month window. We don't mind split stays but we also feel the resort rotating strategy is a good alternative if we didn't feel like splitting our stay.

Poly and Riv are both so great so I don't think you can go wrong either way

Thank you so much, this insight helps a lot! I appreciate the input

 

[Dizzydizney]

Did you look at the points charts of Poly vs, Riviera? I may be reading this wrong but I looked at July and August and it seems Poly is slightly higher. 22/27 for preferred view studio at Riviera (weekday/weekend points), 25/28 Poly lake view. 18/20 standard view Riviera, 21/24 Poly standard. Of course you pay a premium for a Magic Kingdom/monorail resort, but then you would also have an Epcot/Hollywood skyliner resort. Standard view is competitive at Riviera, but doable.
A tough decision but looks like you are giving it a lot of thought and asking good questions. Not sure what the Poly expiration date is, but I’m sure the Riviera has more years.
Which makes me wonder what the new tower’s expiration is going to be? Will have to be the same if it’s going to glom onto the existing Poly association.
Good luck. We love the Riviera, although it does have some issues with the skyliner, but sure beats the bus.

 

[Dizzydizney]

And I agree with Ursula wants your soul regarding banking and going to each resort every other year. Good idea if you don’t like split stays.

 

[sethschroeder]

Riviera
or
Wait until more info on POLY then decide (unless buying POLY resale then do that now)


If you love RIV then go that route because having MK and Epcot means you could bank/borrow to make every other year a full week at each resort.

 

[Paul Stupin]

Riviera
or
Wait until more info on POLY then decide (unless buying POLY resale then do that now)


If you love RIV then go that route because having MK and Epcot means you could bank/borrow to make every other year a full week at each resort.

Why buy Poly resale now? If Poly2 is a new association, there’s a good chance the value of original Poly owners’ points will go down if they can’t book the new tower at the 11 month window.

 

[Royal Consort]

My gut is telling me to go with Riviera: we'd get more points and I really, really love this hotel.

You've already decided, you just don't quite realise it yet.

Using the banking option as discussed above is a great way to alternate resorts every 2 years. 200 Poly points will keep you going alongside 250 RVA. I also think it's nice to mix up the stays. Have MK focused trip one year and and EP one next. Keeps it fresh.

 

[RoseGold]

Allow me to suggest a different idea. Riviera is now three years old and isn’t even half sold.

There is going to be more and more resale Riviera, as life happens and people want out. With shiny new Poly and VGF, RIV looks a lot less shiny and new.

You sound like you’d be a good candidate for RIV resale, and I don’t see it as being in high demand with all the new stuff and the restrictions. Maybe resale Riviera at the right price is the right choice. The cool thing about buying resale is I don't view it as such a huge commitment. You change your mind, you sell.

I don’t have a problem with split stays, I actually like them. IMO a week is too long at Disney anyway and I’d rather do shorter trips, so I don’t relate to your drawbacks. They can be fixed with banking and borrowing at either resort, if you want to stay in one room for a week.

 

[brazzledazzler]

As others have suggested, bank and borrow & change resorts. We own at Riviera and love it! Next purchase will be Poly; they both are amazing

 

[DeeBee3]

I always think you should buy where you want to stay and have that advantage. That being said, do you need to consider resale restrictions for Riviera? I'm not sure if you have added that in or if it would be something to bother you down the line.

Since your family already has the blue card with Poly, resales of other non-restricted resorts may be something to look at.

 

[RoseGold]

Why buy Poly resale now? If Poly2 is a new association, there’s a good chance the value of original Poly owners’ points will go down if they can’t book the new tower at the 11 month window.

Or Poly1 becomes the better choice because of impossible to book studios, like CCV, or the bloated Poly2 charts that don't exist yet. Poly held value just fine on its own without the tower, and it could keep doing so. We just don't know.

 

[sethschroeder]

Why buy Poly resale now?

Because I don't think resale will be negatively impacted enough to offset the amount of points you would be able to use between now and POLY2 launch. You could then sell POLY1 at that time and buy POLY2 with the incentives that run.

You could right now possibly get 20/21/22/23/24/25 points all used before you sell your contract if you happen to find someone who banked all their UY20 points in to UY21 which the contract would currently be in.

Lets say you just get the UY21 points in full. You are talking about 500 points where you only pay MFs that you otherwise would not have. I wouldn't say to do it but if you rented out all those points you would make like $8-$10/point easily and bring in $4000-$5000 dropping the price per point $40-$50 compared to what you bought it for (obviously not a investment but just showing the "value" of the points gained).

 

[DduzDis]

Well with banking you can use double your points every other year and rotate resorts. Or every year you can do a split stay and do like 3-4 nights at each resort. Lots of options.

If/when the 50% restriction goes away. I bought several years ago with this method in mind and find myself not being able to complete it as planned with the 50% borrowing restriction.

 

[Sandisw]

If/when the 50% restriction goes away. I bought several years ago with this method in mind and find myself not being able to complete it as planned with the 50% borrowing restriction.

Two different resorts which only require banking still works once you start it. but Yeah, with needing to borrow, it won’t be the same

 

[sethschroeder]

Two different resorts which only require banking still works once you start it. but Yeah, with needing to borrow, it won’t be the same

Even with borrowing you are talking about a 2 year impact which you could "patch" by buying transfer points from someone to fill the gap.