BLT Resale or RIV Direct

garegco

Earning My Ears
Joined
May 7, 2022
Hey everyone, I am new here and to DVC. I have done a couple months of research and learning the ins and outs of the DVC system and tracking resale prices. We have been focused on BLT to date because we like the monorail/walking access to MK and the extra bathrooms in the 1- and 2-bedroom villas. We have a 5-year-old and a 2-month-old and so far on vacations we have always traveled with at least one grandparent if not both, so we are focused on the 1BR/2BR options. We are wanting to buy around 350 points to make sure we generally have enough points for at least a 1 week stay once per year in those room choices to have extra space for the grandparents vacationing with us.

We decided to pull the trigger on purchasing in early May and so far, have had no luck with the ROFR process with Disney buying back 3 contracts we have attempted to purchase to date. We have one last contract in the ROFR process and should hear back in the next week or two on it.

If this last contract is bought back as I suspect it will be, we are back to square one and are thinking of going direct for 300+ points at Riviera to maximize the current promotion discount.

  • With our kids being young, are we crazy for not thinking that the resale restrictions aren’t as big of an issue as they are made out to be as we will likely hold our contract for at least 15 years?
  • Is Riviera a smart decision with young kids or should we look at buying somewhere else? We haven’t stayed or visited Riviera yet and won’t be able to before the current promotion ends, but the pool and kid’s splash area looks nicer than BLT that we are familiar with. It also seems to be a nicer perk to have quick service close-by in the same building versus walking across the bridge.
  • Am I wrong for thinking that at the prices BLT is getting bought back at, we could just use RIV direct points to book BLT lake view 1BR/2BR at 7-months for close to the same price as BLT resale while getting the direct benefits? We would likely request a UY when buying direct that would get us 2021 points to bank which helps as well.
Any suggestions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
 
[*]With our kids being young, are we crazy for not thinking that the resale restrictions aren’t as big of an issue as they are made out to be as we will likely hold our contract for at least 15 years?

We don't know the future impact on resale value but Riviera won't be $0. Its doing relatively well on resale now. A recession is likely to affect it though temporarily. Restrictions are likely to be incorporated into the new resorts too so it will be the 'new normal'. We bought Riviera direct before it opened for the same price as VGF on the resale market and still consider this a good decision for direct points.

[*]Is Riviera a smart decision with young kids or should we look at buying somewhere else? We haven’t stayed or visited Riviera yet and won’t be able to before the current promotion ends, but the pool and kid’s splash area looks nicer than BLT that we are familiar with. It also seems to be a nicer perk to have quick service close-by in the same building versus walking across the bridge.

Riviera feels more upscale adult than all the other DVC resorts. But its not kid unfriendly. Its less busy and more casually relaxed than most other Disney resorts. Some people dislike this but its the very reason Riviera is popular among owners. I always see a lot of families playing games in the grounds of the resort. As a parent, you also set the tone and kids enjoy what they become familiar with. If you want active and loud, Riviera isn't a good choice. Then again, I wouldn't call BLT that either.

[*]Am I wrong for thinking that at the prices BLT is getting bought back at, we could just use RIV direct points to book BLT lake view 1BR/2BR at 7-months for close to the same price as BLT resale while getting the direct benefits? We would likely request a UY when buying direct that would get us 2021 points to bank which helps as well.

Yes you could certainly do that depending on time of year. It's not guaranteed and the best solution is to book Riviera for your dates and then modify at 7 months, if BLT isnt available, you can create a waitlist.

At the point size you're purchasing I don't see any reason to buy BLT direct and there's a substantial saving at Riviera. I would, however, split your points into smaller contracts. You will need the 150 points minimum master contract but then you can split the remainder into 50's or 100. Smaller contracts will be more desirable on the resale market.

The final advantage of buying direct is the ability to use the points at future resorts. That may or may not be important to you.
 
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Hey everyone, I am new here and to DVC. I have done a couple months of research and learning the ins and outs of the DVC system and tracking resale prices. We have been focused on BLT to date because we like the monorail/walking access to MK and the extra bathrooms in the 1- and 2-bedroom villas. We have a 5-year-old and a 2-month-old and so far on vacations we have always traveled with at least one grandparent if not both, so we are focused on the 1BR/2BR options. We are wanting to buy around 350 points to make sure we generally have enough points for at least a 1 week stay once per year in those room choices to have extra space for the grandparents vacationing with us.

We decided to pull the trigger on purchasing in early May and so far, have had no luck with the ROFR process with Disney buying back 3 contracts we have attempted to purchase to date. We have one last contract in the ROFR process and should hear back in the next week or two on it.

If this last contract is bought back as I suspect it will be, we are back to square one and are thinking of going direct for 300+ points at Riviera to maximize the current promotion discount.

  • With our kids being young, are we crazy for not thinking that the resale restrictions aren’t as big of an issue as they are made out to be as we will likely hold our contract for at least 15 years?
  • Is Riviera a smart decision with young kids or should we look at buying somewhere else? We haven’t stayed or visited Riviera yet and won’t be able to before the current promotion ends, but the pool and kid’s splash area looks nicer than BLT that we are familiar with. It also seems to be a nicer perk to have quick service close-by in the same building versus walking across the bridge.
  • Am I wrong for thinking that at the prices BLT is getting bought back at, we could just use RIV direct points to book BLT lake view 1BR/2BR at 7-months for close to the same price as BLT resale while getting the direct benefits? We would likely request a UY when buying direct that would get us 2021 points to bank which helps as well.
Any suggestions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Can I ask why you're not interested in Grand Floridian direct? It also has monorail/walking access to MK and 1BR/2BR options. No resale restrictions. Incentives currently are okay. Is it because of the lack of 2021 points?

To answer your questions:
1/ I doubt most sellers at this time for Riviera anticipated selling in the first few years. I'd guess the majority expected to hold the contract long term. Life happens though.

2/ I haven't stayed at Riviera, but my kid (now 6) really likes the food at Primo Piatta and riding the Skyliner. I also like the food at Primo Piatta and riding the Skyliner. I look forward to trying Topolino's when the characters are there. I haven't heard anything negative about the rooms other than differences in preference for decor. (Elegant and bland sounds pretty great to me.)

3/ You could definitely use RIV direct points to book BLT lake view. If you'd prefer standard view, you should probably try again for BLT. But if lake view is your end goal, you could even buy resale points elsewhere cheaper than Riviera.

Overall though, I wouldn't stress too much about this. If you have 350 points direct and a bit of flexibility, you can stay anywhere.
 
Hey everyone, I am new here and to DVC. I have done a couple months of research and learning the ins and outs of the DVC system and tracking resale prices. We have been focused on BLT to date because we like the monorail/walking access to MK and the extra bathrooms in the 1- and 2-bedroom villas. We have a 5-year-old and a 2-month-old and so far on vacations we have always traveled with at least one grandparent if not both, so we are focused on the 1BR/2BR options. We are wanting to buy around 350 points to make sure we generally have enough points for at least a 1 week stay once per year in those room choices to have extra space for the grandparents vacationing with us.

We decided to pull the trigger on purchasing in early May and so far, have had no luck with the ROFR process with Disney buying back 3 contracts we have attempted to purchase to date. We have one last contract in the ROFR process and should hear back in the next week or two on it.

If this last contract is bought back as I suspect it will be, we are back to square one and are thinking of going direct for 300+ points at Riviera to maximize the current promotion discount.

  • With our kids being young, are we crazy for not thinking that the resale restrictions aren’t as big of an issue as they are made out to be as we will likely hold our contract for at least 15 years?
  • Is Riviera a smart decision with young kids or should we look at buying somewhere else? We haven’t stayed or visited Riviera yet and won’t be able to before the current promotion ends, but the pool and kid’s splash area looks nicer than BLT that we are familiar with. It also seems to be a nicer perk to have quick service close-by in the same building versus walking across the bridge.
  • Am I wrong for thinking that at the prices BLT is getting bought back at, we could just use RIV direct points to book BLT lake view 1BR/2BR at 7-months for close to the same price as BLT resale while getting the direct benefits? We would likely request a UY when buying direct that would get us 2021 points to bank which helps as well.
Any suggestions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
For me, buying a timeshare contract that has resale restrictions is a non-starter. The fact that there is an active secondary market is the thing in my mind that separates the DVC product from other timeshares that become worthless as soon as you buy them.
 


Hey everyone, I am new here and to DVC. I have done a couple months of research and learning the ins and outs of the DVC system and tracking resale prices. We have been focused on BLT to date because we like the monorail/walking access to MK and the extra bathrooms in the 1- and 2-bedroom villas. We have a 5-year-old and a 2-month-old and so far on vacations we have always traveled with at least one grandparent if not both, so we are focused on the 1BR/2BR options. We are wanting to buy around 350 points to make sure we generally have enough points for at least a 1 week stay once per year in those room choices to have extra space for the grandparents vacationing with us.

We decided to pull the trigger on purchasing in early May and so far, have had no luck with the ROFR process with Disney buying back 3 contracts we have attempted to purchase to date. We have one last contract in the ROFR process and should hear back in the next week or two on it.

If this last contract is bought back as I suspect it will be, we are back to square one and are thinking of going direct for 300+ points at Riviera to maximize the current promotion discount.

  • With our kids being young, are we crazy for not thinking that the resale restrictions aren’t as big of an issue as they are made out to be as we will likely hold our contract for at least 15 years?
  • Is Riviera a smart decision with young kids or should we look at buying somewhere else? We haven’t stayed or visited Riviera yet and won’t be able to before the current promotion ends, but the pool and kid’s splash area looks nicer than BLT that we are familiar with. It also seems to be a nicer perk to have quick service close-by in the same building versus walking across the bridge.
  • Am I wrong for thinking that at the prices BLT is getting bought back at, we could just use RIV direct points to book BLT lake view 1BR/2BR at 7-months for close to the same price as BLT resale while getting the direct benefits? We would likely request a UY when buying direct that would get us 2021 points to bank which helps as well.
Any suggestions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
If you’re considering switching at 7 months anyways, you should consider Grand Floridian direct. A few less years and a little more per point, but the spread between direct and resale is so low that you’ll make it up on discounts alone. In addition, you would be in the MK area.

It’s up to each person to think about what matters to them in terms of potential exit strategy. I guarantee many of the sellers of DVC never bought in the first place thinking they’re going to sell. You just never know what’s going to happen. Even people who advocate Riviera and who don’t care about the resale restrictions think about it because they’re telling you to break it up into 2 x 150 pt contracts. The reason? Because it’s easier to sell.

Just my opinion that Grand Floridian is a better bet and value.

Of course if you love Riviera and don’t want to stay anywhere else, go ahead and get Riviera.
 
I think either direct RIV or VGF would be good choices. Both give you the ability to trade to BLT at 7 months and give you access to them all.

Given that you have young kids and like the MK area, it may give VGF 5r edge. The drawback right now is that with all those studios, we don’t know how much of an impact it will have on the larger units.

RiV has a lot more 1 and 2 bedrooms. But, VGF now has the resort studios which can connect and while it’s not the same as those larger units, with no kitchen or laundry, it’s a good back up plan.

RIV is tops for us, but we split stay so we can do VGF as well. I personally would not worry about resale restrictions because no one knows what the future will hold and if they continue with them for future resorts, value in resale for all resorts may look different.

But, honestly, knowing BLT is your top choice, then I would choose VGF for its closeness to MK and going direct, does ensure your points will be good at Poly tower as well.
 
Just keep in mind that you can buy RIV direct for your 300 pts at $178 pp for new DVC members or $166 pp for existing members. That price is hard to beat and good through 13 Jul.
 


You will need the 150 points minimum master contract but then you can split the remainder into 50's or 100. Smaller contracts will be more desirable on the resale ma
That is the plan if we buy direct. A single 150 point contract and then split the remainder of the points into equal contracts between 50-100 points however it divides out.
 
That is the plan if we buy direct. A single 150 point contract and then split the remainder of the points into equal contracts between 50-100 points however it divides out.
This may be a little early given the ages of your kids, but I've seen posts from people wanting to "even up" their contracts so they can leave their kids the same number of points. A very very long term consideration.
 
Can I ask why you're not interested in Grand Floridian direct? It also has monorail/walking access to MK and 1BR/2BR options. No resale restrictions. Incentives currently are okay. Is it because of the lack of 2021 points?
If you’re considering switching at 7 months anyways, you should consider Grand Floridian direct. A few less years and a little more per point, but the spread between direct and resale is so low that you’ll make it up on discounts alone. In addition, you would be in the MK area.
I think either direct RIV or VGF would be good choices.
I think our big hesitation with VGF is primarily the point chart and the slightly higher cost per point. In fact, I didn't even consider that we wouldn't be getting 2021 UY points. We'd have to buy additional points over what we would need at Riviera or BLT to make sure we have some type of reservation at the 11 month mark before switching it to somewhere else at 7months.

I just don't see us staying at VGF due to the steep point cost beyond Riviera and BLT. While Riviera has a steeper point cost beyond that of BLT, I could see us staying there some/most of the time as it's not that many more points than BLT and seems super nice.
 
I think our big hesitation with VGF is primarily the point chart and the slightly higher cost per point. In fact, I didn't even consider that we wouldn't be getting 2021 UY points. We'd have to buy additional points over what we would need at Riviera or BLT to make sure we have some type of reservation at the 11 month mark before switching it to somewhere else at 7months.

I just don't see us staying at VGF due to the steep point cost beyond Riviera and BLT. While Riviera has a steeper point cost beyond that of BLT, I could see us staying there some/most of the time as it's not that many more points than BLT and seems super nice.
A very valid point. I picked up 200 points at VGF and its not going very far at all. But I generally hope to use these points at other resorts, so will not be subject to the point chart too often.
 
Just keep in mind that you can buy RIV direct for your 300 pts at $178 pp for new DVC members or $166 pp for existing members. That price is hard to beat and good through 13 Jul.
The $178 per point cost when buying > 300 points, $500 DVC member referral that the guide mentioned (still need to find someone to refer us) and 2% flat cash back on being able to pay with credit card brings the cost down to $173/point. If you value the full 2021 points that we'd get with a October/Dec UY at the $18 /point I see suggested around here, the cost then comes out around $155/point.

The last contract we have in ROFR currently for BLT is fully loaded at $175/point so it seems direct is very hard to beat in price.
 
This may be a little early given the ages of your kids, but I've seen posts from people wanting to "even up" their contracts so they can leave their kids the same number of points. A very very long term consideration.
And potentially not a wise one.

I still recall an anguished post on another forum by a young single woman, an only child, whose parents had told her they were leaving her their DVC contracts.

Briefly, she posted that she didn't know how to tell them that she got "Disneyed out" from the family's frequent trips when she was growing up and didn't want the contracts, nor the burden of selling them. She preferred to travel elsewhere and didn't plan to marry.

Even out the contracts in case you yourselves wish or need to sell some later. But, planning to divide them among your children may not work well for you or them in the unknown future.
 
The $178 per point cost when buying > 300 points, $500 DVC member referral that the guide mentioned (still need to find someone to refer us) and 2% flat cash back on being able to pay with credit card brings the cost down to $173/point. If you value the full 2021 points that we'd get with a October/Dec UY at the $18 /point I see suggested around here, the cost then comes out around $155/point.

The last contract we have in ROFR currently for BLT is fully loaded at $175/point so it seems direct is very hard to beat in price.
Wow, that is really good pricing. This is actually making me consider Riviera direct, which I never thought would happen.

And potentially not a wise one.

I still recall an anguished post on another forum by a young single woman, an only child, whose parents had told her they were leaving her their DVC contracts.

Briefly, she posted that she didn't know how to tell them that she got "Disneyed out" from the family's frequent trips when she was growing up and didn't want the contracts, nor the burden of selling them. She preferred to travel elsewhere and didn't plan to marry.

Even out the contracts in case you yourselves wish or need to sell some later. But, planning to divide them among your children may not work well for you or them in the unknown future.
Very interesting. A situation that definitely calls for communication with the parents. Or if not, I hope she lives in a jurisdiction that allows her to refuse it legally.

If I ever leave a contract to my daughter, I'll also be leaving her cash or GICs to pay for the dues. That is my concern, saddling someone with a legal obligation to pay thousands of dollars a year without providing those thousands of dollars a year.
 
There seem to be deals on 300+ points for existing members lately... I'm mad (and glad) I didn't see the Aulani deal end of last year... Wasn't it like $135ish for existing??

Would the math work to buy a 50pt and then the bulk after that as existing member? 2 closing costs, but better price might be worth it, plus if splitting it costs a bit extra anyway.

Good luck!
 
You are waiting on a BLT contract at $175 p/p currently? If so, I think there is a good chance this passes, and this becomes a non-issue. Fingers crossed for you.

However, if not, I would buy Riviera direct over paying $176+ for BLT. I am not an personal fan of the resale restrictions, but the current incentives are good enough, it got me thinking about it as I do really like the resort and would like the direct points.

Or if not in a super hurry, wait it out a few months, and see if ROFR prices die down. I think there is a chance with overall prices trending down, Disney may lower their floor as well.

Good luck!
 
The BLT chart makes the difference for me. It’s just so much cheaper overall, and that really matters when you are talking about 2BR for that long.

If I were buying direct, it would hands down be VGF. But I don’t see why you would want to.
 
...a young single woman, an only child, whose parents had told her they were leaving her their DVC contracts.

Briefly, she posted that she didn't know how to tell them that she got "Disneyed out" from the family's frequent trips when she was growing up....
It was emotionally more complicated because her parents had expressed their delight at being able to do this for their only child. They had years of wonderful memories associated with Disney trips. She didn't nearly as much.

How was she to tell them she didn't want the contracts, nor having to deal with selling them?
If I ever leave a contract to my daughter, I'll also be leaving her cash or GICs to pay for the dues. That is my concern, saddling someone with a legal obligation to pay thousands of dollars a year without providing those thousands of dollars a year.
Which might leave your daughter feeling similarly burdened. Unless adult children are familiar with the obligations of DVC ownership, they may be ignorant of what all is involved, particularly if they rent rather than own their home.

Much better for parent(s) to ASK before setting up such a bequest if the kid(s) want the points at all, offering to stipulate the contracts be sold instead and profits distributed with other estate monies.

For instance, I've a cousin whose daughter is multiply disabled (speechless, bedridden, feeding tube). Anytime my cousin and wife must go away (which they do rarely), they must have a professional caregiver come in.

DVC points would be useless for their family.
 
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I own at RIV and BLT as well as AKL, BRV, BWV and OKW. Mostly small contracts, easier to sell. I own a number of direct contracts and the rest resale.
 

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