If DVC removed Riveria resale restrictions would you buy Riveria direct from DVC?

[TCRAIG]

I said yes because I really liked the rooms - even though I did NOT like the gondolas - I got pretty nauseous on them a few times - however - I think I would get some points to add to my ‘collection’ as I know my family would love it there.

 

[Drewferin]

These poll results are very interesting... If I were DVC and in a massive financial hole I would consider removing the restrictions knowing about a third of current owners would add on @ Riveria. If DVC did some marketing and better deals you could maybe gain another third of our owners adding on at Riveria. This could mean up to 66% would buy at Riveria without restrictions. Even if you say half the "Maybe" votes would buy thats 50% of current owners.

Removing the restrictions wouldn't cost DVC a dime which in today's market is amazing. Your expenses for removing the restrictions is zero and the sale through is in the 50% range of current owners. I know some will say they are playing the long game but right now we are seeing unprecedented times. Let hope DVC reads this thread!

 

[crisi]

Not thrilled with the resort or location or price or dues or points per night. And, most importantly, I have more than enough points.

 

[crisi]

These poll results are very interesting... If I were DVC and in a massive financial hole I would consider removing the restrictions knowing about a third of current owners would add on @ Riveria. If DVC did some marketing and better deals you could maybe gain another third of our owners adding on at Riveria. This could mean up to 66% would buy at Riveria without restrictions. Even if you say half the "Maybe" votes would buy thats 50% of current owners.

Removing the restrictions wouldn't cost DVC a dime which in today's market is amazing. Your expenses for removing the restrictions is zero and the sale through is in the 50% range of current owners. I know some will say they are playing the long game but right now we are seeing unprecedented times. Let hope DVC reads this thread!

I doubt this non-scientific poll is at all accurate. I think that most of the people who answered yes would not really buy at Riveria, they'd look at their budget, and they'd look at how many points they have, and they'd look at Covid shutdowns, and everything else....and the question they are answering is "would you consider buying at Riveria" and their reality would be quite differently when it comes to putting their money in. Also, the DIS is not exactly a representative sample of owners....this is where a small subset of rabid Disney fans spend their time. We go often, and have such a obsession with Disney that when we aren't there, we come here to talk about it. That is a portion of DVC members, but there are a lot of members who bought because they go once a year for the kids and aren't really Disney people, and will sell when their youngest kid outgrows Elsa and Anna. Or they bought OKW twenty five years ago and are perfectly happy going down as snowbirds for a week every Winter and really don't need more points or a newer resort or to be up to date on the latest Disney news and gossip or really anything but the room they get when its cold in Michigan. Those people, for the most part, don't hang on the boards.

 

[Brian Noble]

the DIS is not exactly a representative sample of owners.

Exactly. Coming to DIS with this sort of question is like going to racing-forums.com and asking "Who here thinks it would be a good idea to spend the weekend watching cars drive fast and turn left?"

 

[Zcon]

I like the Riv, we just stayed there last weekend. However The high direct price and the starting maintenance higher than more luxury resorts is off putting. I hope we will like the reflections resort more.

 

[Lumpy1106]

These poll results are very interesting... If I were DVC and in a massive financial hole I would consider removing the restrictions knowing about a third of current owners would add on @ Riveria. If DVC did some marketing and better deals you could maybe gain another third of our owners adding on at Riveria. This could mean up to 66% would buy at Riveria without restrictions. Even if you say half the "Maybe" votes would buy thats 50% of current owners.

Removing the restrictions wouldn't cost DVC a dime which in today's market is amazing. Your expenses for removing the restrictions is zero and the sale through is in the 50% range of current owners. I know some will say they are playing the long game but right now we are seeing unprecedented times. Let hope DVC reads this thread!

Too bad the poll didn't include the option, "already bought with restrictions and happy with my purchase - don't change it", because honestly that's the people Disney is marketing to. Let's face it, Riviera, no restrictions also demands a higher price per point. I would guess there are RIV owners who think they got a pretty good deal BECAUSE of the restrictions. You can argue all day about whether that argument makes sense, but that's the reality.

 

[jlb727]

These poll results are very interesting... If I were DVC and in a massive financial hole I would consider removing the restrictions knowing about a third of current owners would add on @ Riveria. If DVC did some marketing and better deals you could maybe gain another third of our owners adding on at Riveria. This could mean up to 66% would buy at Riveria without restrictions. Even if you say half the "Maybe" votes would buy thats 50% of current owners.

Removing the restrictions wouldn't cost DVC a dime which in today's market is amazing. Your expenses for removing the restrictions is zero and the sale through is in the 50% range of current owners. I know some will say they are playing the long game but right now we are seeing unprecedented times. Let hope DVC reads this thread!

If I were DVC and REALLY wanted to make money, I’d build a resort with a pool area and park location comparable to BCV. Restrictions or no, points would sell out in a hot second.

 

[Mzpalmtree]

I voted no, but it’s more complicated than that for us. We are brand new DVC—just closed on AKV and Poly resale in March and April of this year. If the restrictions were not in place we would have considered buying RIV direct INSTEAD of what we purchased. We even spoke with a guide about it but in the end decided that we just didn’t know what would happen in the life of the contract and did not want to buy something devalued if we were forced to sell. The DVC experience has been absolutely miserable and not at all what we expected/researched so far (especially as AKV owners). For that reason we would definitely vote no now. I don’t want to spend another dime on DVC outside what I have already obligated to.

 

[lcur77]

I voted no, but it’s more complicated than that for us. We are brand new DVC—just closed on AKV and Poly resale in March and April of this year. If the restrictions were not in place we would have considered buying RIV direct INSTEAD of what we purchased. We even spoke with a guide about it but in the end decided that we just didn’t know what would happen in the life of the contract and did not want to buy something devalued if we were forced to sell. The DVC experience has been absolutely miserable and not at all what we expected/researched so far (especially as AKV owners). For that reason we would definitely vote no now. I don’t want to spend another dime on DVC outside what I have already obligated to.

Is your experience solely based on the virus and what that has caused or due to something else?

 

[Mzpalmtree]

Is your experience solely based on the virus and what that has caused or due to something else?

The dissatisfaction with AKV it’s mostly due to the handling of the reopening of Jambo house. The lack of communication regarding when/if it will be open this year (or even next) and the the back and forth on the availability of points (and I don’t buy the “glitch” reasoning behind it). I have several Jambo reservations this year and next and a lot of uncertainty regarding them that is above and beyond the level of uncertainty (even in these times) one would feel with other resorts. The lack of communication has been inexcusable and as I referenced I do feel a bit lied to or mislead. And I haven’t even had my first stay.

 

[EYL]

We even spoke with a guide about it but in the end decided that we just didn’t know what would happen in the life of the contract and did not want to buy something devalued if we were forced to sell.

While devaluation is a concern, it's not the only concern that I have. It's the possible long term effects of the restriction itself that could affect direct purchasers. Imagine 10 years from now, what it could do to availability at RIV when there are more resale buyers of RIV. Resale buyers, knowing that they cannot book anywhere else, will be jumping on at 11 months (or walking). So you may have to join that club at the exact second to get those hard-to-get dates. You think availability for the rest of the year sucks when Disney had to shut down 3 months due to the pandemic? Availability at RIV will be next to nothing, for all direct and resell purchasers, if an event like this happens again in the future. Even people who can trade into RIV can probably kiss those chances goodbye.

Don't get me wrong, I love RIV through video tours of the resort. There was a time during the quarantine when I told my wife that we should look into directly purchasing RIV after the pandemic to see if Disney will put out great offers. She said "yeah, but those restrictions." That pretty much ended that thought. Only time will tell, but I think these restrictions are ill conceived.

If you're worried about devaluation alone and can plan ahead, I think fixed weeks at RIV would be worth more on the resale market. True, it will cost you 10% more to get (and who knows if the incentives would apply), but you'll have 10% more points to spend and can probably sell for more if life gets in the way.

 

[chicagoshannon]

Point charts & dues are holding me back. Restrictions really don't matter all that much to me

This is my issue too. The resale restriction bothers me more because I can't use my current contracts at Riviera (well one of them). If the restriction was the only issue we might have bought in. Our main issue was not only did they skyrockets the price per point they also heavily increased how many points you'd need. Plus the dues are crazy high.

 

[Lorana]

If I were DVC and REALLY wanted to make money, I’d build a resort with a pool area and park location comparable to BCV. Restrictions or no, points would sell out in a hot second.

Case in point, I want to own at Reflections irregardless of the restrictions, because I want the BCV pool, the WL theming with a modern touch, and FW location. Now, admittedly, I have yet to see cost per point, MFs, or point chart, so it's possible it could be high enough that I'd change my mind. But those would be the reason I decide not to buy Reflections - assuming it happens - not the resale restrictions.

 

[macman123]

I purchased 500 points direct for RIV in Feb.
That was before I knew about resale etc. I had been at WDW for vacation but not staying on property.

I cancelled and got a refund a few weeks later.

Then the pandemic. I did research. I joined the forum.

I ended up with 400 x resale BLT (average $132pp) and 155 x direct BLT (last week)

So I have personal experience. For me the restrictions were a real issue.

This way I get to stay at RIV with my direct BLT points but elsewhere using resale.

 

[AdamsMum]

the DIS is not exactly a representative sample of owners....this is where a small subset of rabid Disney fans spend their time. We go often, and have such a obsession with Disney that when we aren't there, we come here to talk about it

You make a very good point. Not much else to say about that.

 

[bookwormde]

no, but if/when Reflections is built it would raise the possibility of purchasing a small contract there for no chance to some chance

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

The point chart, 100 point minimum, and maintenance fees are a much bigger deal to me than resale restrictions.

 

[glamdring269]

It’s super expensive in terms of nightly cost and yearly dues. No way you’ll ever have me consider buying that resort unless they get rid of the resale restrictions. I’d much rather just rent there and let someone else hold the long term risk.

 

[CLE2WDW]

The aspect that confuses me the most about the RIV is the location. It’s literally a DVC resort built on a Moderate property. So I’m getting the location of a Moderate at Deluxe pricing. That has been my major holdup with the Resort. If RIV was built on the plot where Reflections was supposed to be built it would change my perspective entirely.