DVC News-Jan 2026

[DanCali]

Another factor now: I've seen some RIV resale contracts being offered for very close to $100pp. The lowest asking price today is $106pp. So even if you don't fully understand the restrictions, you can see the difference in the "driving the car off the lot" price drop between RIV and Poly pretty easily. The lowest Poly resale asking today is $154pp. So in terms of market value, your value decreases significantly more with a direct RIV purchase.

Not only this, but even though both resorts each have about 5 million points sold overall, and Riviera owners have a much shorter holding period on average simply due to it being a new resort, there are only 30 PVB resale listings vs about 50 RIV resale listings (and that's despite the disparity in pricing you mention and the longer contract life of Riviera).

Moreover, about 2/3 of the Riviera resales have been posted for 45+ days while less than 25% of Poly resales are in that situation. There seems to be a strong appetite for resale PVB since the DVD price increase (a week ago there were 40+ PVB resale listings, now just about 30), but less so for Riviera. This perhaps suggests Riviera resale prices may have more downside risk from here.

 

[coloradogal]

My money is on better actually… Particularly if the restrictions around member cruises, being able to buy annual passes, being able to use points for APs, the new lounges, and the other enhancements DVC has been creating were in place on resale points, as they are now.

The resale restriction thing relies on hypotheticals - what IF I sell, what IF I want to stay at a resort that may or may not even (or ever) exist…

Price is what pushed me to make my purchase, as did the appeal of my home resort. That pushed me to make a direct purchase, when I bought VGF. We wanted the GF, and the price for direct was comparable to resale - maybe a little more expensive, but it helped me buy into the DVC lifestyle - the lounges, the swag, the community.

If I wanted to stay at RIV, it, for me, was tough then, and now very tough to justify buying direct RIV points since I have direct benefits. I’d rather buy resale RIV for a fraction of the cost. And, if I found I didn’t want to actually use those points at the RIV after a few trips, I could sell them and take very little hit at that point. Renting points also comes to mind as an option, or doing a member transfer…

This logic is the same reason why the SSR “flash sale” doesn’t appeal to me…

Just a contrarian view…

Speaking of transferring RIV points - do you know if a resale only owner (not at RIV) can receive and use RIV points through a transfer from another member?

Off topic I know! I’m very curious though if anyone knows. Probably a simple “no”?

 

[Brian Noble]

In general, transferred points retain their home resort and UY. I don't see any fundamental reason why they would not also keep whatever booking privileges they originally had.

 

[coloradogal]

All hypothetical for me as I am not a DVC owner yet. I thought the restricted resorts just don’t show up on your dashboard if you don’t have access to them? So I’m curious how that would work if points were transferred in from a new restricted resort. Guess I’ll cross that bridge if I ever come to it!

 

[DanCali]

All hypothetical for me as I am not a DVC owner yet. I thought the restricted resorts just don’t show up on your dashboard if you don’t have access to them? So I’m curious how that would work if points were transferred in from a new restricted resort. Guess I’ll cross that bridge if I ever come to it!

You may be referring to the search page, not the dashboard. That page is "dynamic" in the sense that your home resorts fluctuate based on the contracts in your membership. SSR shows up in my home resort section on that page after I bought 12 one-time-use points and they happened to be SSR-associated points. And you don't need to transfer RIV to book Riviera - one-time use points can also be used to book restricted resorts (albeit you can only get up to 24 OTU points and they can only be used at 7 months out).

 

[coloradogal]

You may be referring to the search page, not the dashboard. That page is "dynamic" in the sense that your home resorts fluctuate based on the contracts in your membership. SSR shows up in my home resort section on that page after I bought 12 one-time-use points and they happened to be SSR-associated points. And you don't need to transfer RIV to book Riviera - one-time use points can also be used to book restricted resorts (albeit you can only get up to 24 OTU points).

Ah, okay, I think I understand. Thanks for the explanation!

 

[juliebee]

All hypothetical for me as I am not a DVC owner yet. I thought the restricted resorts just don’t show up on your dashboard if you don’t have access to them? So I’m curious how that would work if points were transferred in from a new restricted resort. Guess I’ll cross that bridge if I ever come to it!

You are right that a resale owner (non-Riviera) would not be able to see availability or book Riviera online even if they got a transfer of points from there. You've have to call into member services. Before I had direct points, I had one time use points from Villas at Disneyland Hotel and couldn't see availability/book there with them online.

 

[coloradogal]

You are right that a resale owner (non-Riviera) would not be able to see availability or book Riviera online even if they got a transfer of points from there. You've have to call into member services. Before I had direct points, I had one time use points from Villas at Disneyland Hotel and couldn't see availability/book there with them online.

Ah, that's what I was afraid of, bummer! Still happy that I'm going the resale route for now. Sounds like it would just be a bit more work/calling if I ever get into this situation.

 

[airjay75]

Moreover, about 2/3 of the Riviera resales have been posted for 45+ days while less than 25% of Poly resales are in that situation. There seems to be a strong appetite for resale PVB since the DVD price increase (a week ago there were 40+ PVB resale listings, now just about 30), but less so for Riviera. This perhaps suggests Riviera resale prices may have more downside risk from here.

I absolutely agree that RIV has more downside risk than PVB - if one's primary concern with purchasing direct points was resale value, it's not a close call. Buy PVB.

But, I'm not so sure the current snapshot of the resale market really gives us a lot of information to predict resale prices one way or the other. Just looking at a few other resorts.

RIV has sold about 5.7M of its 6.7M points.
CCV has about 3.3M points.
VGF has about 4.3M points.
BLT has about 5.7M points.

Current resale contracts for sale:
RIV: 56
CCV: 51
VGF: 51
BLT: 92

Just eyeballing it:
RIV: 60% or so outstanding more than 45 days
CCV: 50% or so outstanding more than 45 days
VGF: 50% or so outstanding more than 45 days
BLT 40% or so outstanding more than 45 days

And, a fair number of those RIV resale contracts that have been on the market a long time are very large contracts which have a hard time selling generally, let alone at a restricted resort like RIV. I mean, it has gotta be really hard to sell a 300+ point RIV contract.

But, do people look at the above for CCV/VGF/BLT and think, yeah, those resorts have a lot of downside potential too? I don't think so. And, are they all that different from RIV, especially if you were to set aside some of the larger contracts? I'm not sure I see it, at least just doing a quick eyeball analysis of the current resale market. But, resale RIV is also a fundamentally different product than resale O14, so it's not exactly an apples to apples comparison.

Now, you could say, well, what about PVB? Shouldn't PVB and RIV look similar since they're both in active sales? Well, resale RIV is such a different product from resale PVB, I'm not sure someone interested in direct RIV is going to give much consideration to resale RIV. Someone interested in direct PVB, OTOH, might say, well, I'm pretty cool with the O14, so if I can get small discount over direct for points that have almost as much utility, maybe its worth it.

I think we honestly don't know what the trajectory of resale RIV is going to look like. I could make arguments both for increases and decreases. It is simply the real test case we have for restricted resort resale prices.

But, like I said, without a doubt, all things being equal, if resale prices are a primary concern, and someone is otherwise good with PVB or RIV, buy PVB. It's not a close call.

 

[Cfabar1]

My personal bet, and it is just that, is that RIV resale prices trend down... Why?
- Disney has given the resort under active sales a lot of love and attention. When it sells out, that may change.
- The aggressive points chart - and keep in mind those points must be used at RIV
- The fact it is a large number of points resort (see above post)
- As existing owners move on from their membership, as the resort ages, supply increases

My view, personally, is that resale RIV should go for somewhere between $85-95 pp... We will see if it ever gets there...

Could be totally wrong...

 

[airjay75]

My view, personally, is that resale RIV should go for somewhere between $85-95 pp... We will see if it ever gets there...

As a RIV owner, if I can sell my RIV points 20 years from now with that price, I'll be perfectly happy. I'll have gotten many years of value, and this will be just icing on the cake. Even if it's less, so be it. In the words of @Brian Noble, it's found change you didn't even realize was there.

Now, if you're not ok with that, don't buy RIV. And, maybe don't buy a timeshare period. Be prepared to lose it all, and very happy if there's something left once you're done with it.

 

[DanCali]

I absolutely agree that RIV has more downside risk than PVB - if one's primary concern with purchasing direct points was resale value, it's not a close call. Buy PVB.

But, I'm not so sure the current snapshot of the resale market really gives us a lot of information to predict resale prices one way or the other. Just looking at a few other resorts.

RIV has sold about 5.7M of its 6.7M points.
CCV has about 3.3M points.
VGF has about 4.3M points.
BLT has about 5.7M points.

Current resale contracts for sale:
RIV: 56
CCV: 51
VGF: 51
BLT: 92

Just eyeballing it:
RIV: 60% or so outstanding more than 45 days
CCV: 50% or so outstanding more than 45 days
VGF: 50% or so outstanding more than 45 days
BLT 40% or so outstanding more than 45 days

And, a fair number of those RIV resale contracts that have been on the market a long time are very large contracts which have a hard time selling generally, let alone at a restricted resort like RIV. I mean, it has gotta be really hard to sell a 300+ point RIV contract.

But, do people look at the above for CCV/VGF/BLT and think, yeah, those resorts have a lot of downside potential too? I don't think so. And, are they all that different from RIV, especially if you were to set aside some of the larger contracts? I'm not sure I see it, at least just doing a quick eyeball analysis of the current resale market. But, resale RIV is also a fundamentally different product than resale O14, so it's not exactly an apples to apples comparison.

Now, you could say, well, what about PVB? Shouldn't PVB and RIV look similar since they're both in active sales? Well, resale RIV is such a different product from resale PVB, I'm not sure someone interested in direct RIV is going to give much consideration to resale RIV. Someone interested in direct PVB, OTOH, might say, well, I'm pretty cool with the O14, so if I can get small discount over direct for points that have almost as much utility, maybe its worth it.

I think we honestly don't know what the trajectory of resale RIV is going to look like. I could make arguments both for increases and decreases. It is simply the real test case we have for restricted resort resale prices.

But, like I said, without a doubt, all things being equal, if resale prices are a primary concern, and someone is otherwise good with PVB or RIV, buy PVB. It's not a close call.

Of those metrics - total points vs contracts for sale, or % over 45 days, I think the latter probably is some indicator as to where prices might be headed. A 300-point Riviera contract has value but is it closer to $110 or closer to $60? I suspect more resale buyers would take a SSR or Aulani 300-point resale contract (at least you can use it as SAP) before a 300-point Riviera contract, but if that Riviera contract cost less than SSR or AUL, it evens the playing field somewhat. Take Riviera prices down by 20%-30% for the larger contracts, and watch the number of contracts over 45 days on the market go down too.

BLT is an enigma - it's the first resort we bought (resale) and it always seemed undervalued to me. Even more so now after the refurb. Great location, 2 full bathrooms in the 1BRs, decent points chart. To me, it's worth more than the current resale prices, but supply and demand work in funny ways sometimes. I can make a similar opposite argument with BCV resale prices, which were always too high for me to pull the trigger...