May 2023 Riviera Availability

[fumanchu2488]

RIV is my home resort and I was able to book two rooms for a May 2023 trip. A Tower Studio from May 4-7 and a standard view studio from May 4-11. These rooms were not easy to get right at the 11 month mark and I actually had to poke around to get the May 4 date as it was being walked.

Eventually I want to switch the back half of my stay to another resort to try a few more and I was looking around at availability thinking things were going to be limited (like the two rooms at RIV). However, to my surprise, nearly every room I was looking at outside of RIV was available. That includes a VGF studio, Poly Studio, BC 1 BR, BLT 1 BR, AKV SV 1 BR, AKV Studio and many more.

Why is it that of all these rooms, the RIV rooms are hard to book? Do we think this is some type room dedication thing with a partially sold out resort? Is it a May the 4th/Cinco de Mayo demand thing between HS and Epcot? I couldn't put my finger on it and was wondering why these dates seemed so popular at RIV.

 

[Sandisw]

Because people want the resort and know that SV rooms need to be booked at 11 months to get.

Some will say resale buyers but there are not enough of them to play a role.

People seem to buying it to stay there. I book all my trips right at 11 months. Fortunately I do the 1 bedrooms but I also snag a few studios for potential trips too.

That’s why anyone who wants to stay there will need to own there and that even PV studios may not be as easy to get at 7 months since owners may be forced into those when they can’t get back up.

I will add that the points chart for May 2023 are Lower so you may be seeing who adjusted spring trips to take advantage of that.

 

[supersnoop]

There are LOTS of studios at VGF, PVB, and AKV, so it's not surprising that those are still available, and May is not a high-demand time.

 

[sndral]

RIV is my home resort and I was able to book two rooms for a May 2023 trip. A Tower Studio from May 4-7 and a standard view studio from May 4-11. These rooms were not easy to get right at the 11 month mark and I actually had to poke around to get the May 4 date as it was being walked.

Eventually I want to switch the back half of my stay to another resort to try a few more and I was looking around at availability thinking things were going to be limited (like the two rooms at RIV). However, to my surprise, nearly every room I was looking at outside of RIV was available. That includes a VGF studio, Poly Studio, BC 1 BR, BLT 1 BR, AKV SV 1 BR, AKV Studio and many more.

Why is it that of all these rooms, the RIV rooms are hard to book? Do we think this is some type room dedication thing with a partially sold out resort? Is it a May the 4th/Cinco de Mayo demand thing between HS and Epcot? I couldn't put my finger on it and was wondering why these dates seemed so popular at RIV.

Not sure why you’d be surprised that 1 br.s elsewhere were available when 1 br. standard & preferred views at Riviera are still available too? Looks like the only 1 br.s already gone for your May dates are BLT standards and AKV values.
Likewise, it’s not surprising that the lower cost standard view & tower studios at Riv. are already gone, just like they are gone for VGF deluxe studio standard views, BLT studio standard views, and AKV value studios.
Riv has declared 53.5% of the resort & is less than half sold. You’ll probably see additional availability at Riv open up between now & next May as DVC declares more inventory there.
IMO we won’t know Riv. booking patterns until the resort is sold out - so likely around 4 years from now. Meanwhile what is available may hinge on if they happen to declare more inventory right when you happen to be looking.
What things look like elsewhere at 11 months will likely be quite different from what you’ll see at 7 months - good luck .

 

[whit.hudson21]

I am looking to get a tower studio for 2 nights April 26-April 28. I checked right when it opened up and it was available but it took this long to convince my husband to go lol. Now there is no availability for tower. Should I go ahead and book a studio and just keep checking back from now until then?

 

[Sandisw]

I am looking to get a tower studio for 2 nights April 26-April 28. I checked right when it opened up and it was available but it took this long to convince my husband to go lol. Now there is no availability for tower. Should I go ahead and book a studio and just keep checking back from now until then?

I definitely would. Put in a waitlist, and then keep checking.

 

[whit.hudson21]

I definitely would. Put in a waitlist, and then keep checking.

What is a waitlist? I’m not a DVC owner, I was booking through the Disney website

 

[Sandisw]

What is a waitlist? I’m not a DVC owner, I was booking through the Disney website

Oh, never mind. That is for DVC! Yes, I would still book the studio and then hope another one comes open, but to be honest, there are only a total of 24, and only 12 of those rooms are available for cash stays, so it may be difficult to get one.

 

[whit.hudson21]

Oh, never mind. That is for DVC! Yes, I would still book the studio and then hope another one comes open, but to be honest, there are only a total of 24, and only 12 of those rooms are available for cash stays, so it may be difficult to get one.

Gotcha! Well dang I should’ve just put a deposit down and asked for forgiveness instead of permission ha! Live & learn I guess. The studio standard view is still available for $100 more a night but I will see. Thank you!

 

[fumanchu2488]

Not sure why you’d be surprised that 1 br.s elsewhere were available when 1 br. standard & preferred views at Riviera are still available too? Looks like the only 1 br.s already gone for your May dates are BLT standards and AKV values.
Likewise, it’s not surprising that the lower cost standard view & tower studios at Riv. are already gone, just like they are gone for VGF deluxe studio standard views, BLT studio standard views, and AKV value studios.
Riv has declared 53.5% of the resort & is less than half sold. You’ll probably see additional availability at Riv open up between now & next May as DVC declares more inventory there.
IMO we won’t know Riv. booking patterns until the resort is sold out - so likely around 4 years from now. Meanwhile what is available may hinge on if they happen to declare more inventory right when you happen to be looking.
What things look like elsewhere at 11 months will likely be quite different from what you’ll see at 7 months - good luck .

Not sure if we are seeing the same thing.

The only studios available for May 4-11 at RIV are preferred.

Looking at availability, every VGF studio is available, every Poly, BCV, BRV, CCV (w/ shower), BLT (except standard), all AKL (except value). I think it is probably a few things.

The dedication of standard views and TS at RIV has to be a little off.

DVC members are really into low point charts because the difference between end of April (almost full availability) and early May is crazy.

 

[Mexacajun]

Saw this thread and decided I would look. Got the week of May 22nd in tower studio no problem. Most days were available around that week. All days during that week. I’m booked! Woot!

 

[Sandisw]

Not sure if we are seeing the same thing.

The only studios available for May 4-11 at RIV are preferred.

Looking at availability, every VGF studio is available, every Poly, BCV, BRV, CCV (w/ shower), BLT (except standard), all AKL (except value). I think it is probably a few things.

The dedication of standard views and TS at RIV has to be a little off.

DVC members are really into low point charts because the difference between end of April (almost full availability) and early May is crazy.

I think many of us buying RIV are going to want to capitalize on the SV to save the points. It can be a nice bit of savings, not to mention that the views from SV actually have a fireworks view for many of the rooms.

There are only 12 TS declared for DVC...it doesn't take long for those to go. When its 100% declared, its 24...again...that isn't very many and will go fast. I am not sure about the % of SV...but I think 30%? So, it is for sure the smaller category.

 

[drusba]

There are certain room categories that have the risk of booking full right at 11-months out -- often within moments after the 11-month window opens for online reserving at 8 a.m. eastern, i.e., the winners are simply those whose computers communicate with Disney's faster than others. Those rooms are:

(a) AKV club level and value studios and 2BRs nearly year round, and even 1BRs at times during the high demand "fall season" for WDW DVC resorts that runs from late Sep to marathon weekend in Jan and sometimes at other times of year. The club level rooms have the issue because there are only 5 club level 2BR lock-offs, and values have both a fairly small number and the lowest points at the resort.

(b) BWV standard view studios and 2BRs (all are lock-offs that can fill just via studio reservations) nearly year round and 1BRs at times in the fall season such as first two weeks of Dec (the highest DVC demand time of the year). Low point cost (close to the same as OKW rooms), is the main reason for the standard view demand. The BWV boardwalk view rooms have the same issue during the fall season but usually not other times of the year. BWV pool/garden view studios/2BRs sometimes fill immediately at times during first two weeks of Dec and time around NYE.

(c) OKW Grand Villas in the near Hospitality House booking category year round -- there are only two of them.

(d) BLT standard view rooms (all room sizes including even 1BRs at times) throughout the fall season, and often during other times of year for studios and both lock-off and dedicated 2BRs. Reason is the lower points and a fairly low number of rooms.

(e) Riviera tower studios during the fall season and often during the rest of the year (there are only only a small number of them and they have lowest point requirements at Riviera). Riviera standard view studios and lock-off 2BRs during the fall season and sometimes during the rest of the year (but not quite as often as the tower studios).

(f) VFG studios at times during the fall season but seldom the rest of the year. Pattern there is likely to change, possibly for the better, with the addition of the resort studios.

(g) CCV studios (and 2BR lock-offs) often during the fall season and sometimes during the rest of the year, with the reason being that Disney was able to sell huge numbers of points applicable to the many cabins, which have prohibitively high point costs per night, to purchasers purchasing only enough points for studios, thus greatly increasing the demand for studios beyond the total points actually applicable to studios. That same "sales" program applied to Poly and the bungalows but the 11-month issue has thus far been avoided there for studios because there are a huge number of studios (360).

(f) Aulani standard view Grand Villas (there are only two) year round, and hotel rooms (small number and low points) various times of the year.

(g) BCV studios (and 2BR lock-offs) at times during the first two weeks of Dec or around NYE but that has not occurred every year. Also, VB 3BR cottages have sometimes filled right at 11-months out, although occurrences are rare.

Over the last few years at WDW resorts, there have been significant seasonal point shifts where rooms for the fall season have been raised in points per night while rooms for other times of the year have been lowered. The full impact of those changes is not yet clear. It could lower the demand for fall season while raising it during other times of the year (DVC's obvious goal in doing the point shifts). A major change involves the first two weeks of May, which, over that period of annual point shifts, has gone from being in the third highest point cost time of the year to the second lowest. How much demand for that time will increase is something that will take a few years to become clearly known but already that May time has shown an increase in demand.

 

[sndral]

Not sure if we are seeing the same thing.

The only studios available for May 4-11 at RIV are preferred.

Looking at availability, every VGF studio is available, every Poly, BCV, BRV, CCV (w/ shower), BLT (except standard), all AKL (except value). I think it is probably a few things.

The dedication of standard views and TS at RIV has to be a little off.

DVC members are really into low point charts because the difference between end of April (almost full availability) and early May is crazy.

I think you are lumping VGF resort studios & deluxe studios together. VGF has 2 types of studios, deluxe in the original building & resort in the BPK building. Standard view deluxe studios are already gone for May 4-11. Standard view in the new BPK VGF resort studios is still there - not surprising because there are a lot of them & DVC just doubled the DVC villas available for booking at BPK when they declared the rest of the building into DVC on June 10.
Unlike BPK where members can now book 100% of the building, Riv is only 53.5% declared into DVC - so members can currently only book about half the villas there - here’s the breakdown of the numbers in each size villa https://dvcnews.com/resorts/riviera...of-vacation-homes-for-disney-s-riviera-resort.
DVC is a numbers game when it comes to booking - villas costing fewer points in low cost seasons go first & generally the fewer villas in any given booking category the faster they book.
This May will be interesting to watch come October (7 months) since it’s now in a lower points season. To get a sense of how things may change check out availability for the first part of this Jan. - which is just now coming into 7 month booking - pretty slim pickings compared to 8 months from now Feb..

 

[Her Dotness]

There are LOTS of studios at VGF, PVB, and AKV, so it's not surprising that those are still available, and May is not a high-demand time.

The first two weeks of May soon will be for points-poor DVCers if they haven't begun to become one.

That's because DVD switched the cheaper weeks from early December to early May for 2023.

In large part, that's why we booked early May next year.

 

[Brian Noble]

...which is to say: the re-balancing may be working.

 

[CarolMN]

...which is to say: the re-balancing may be working.

Maybe, we'll see. I don't think the changes (at least so far) will result in many guests changing their visits like @Her Dotness has decided to do. The Holiday season is just too inviting. They'll have to adjust quite a bit more to get me to change. I might decide to sell before that happens.

 

[Brian Noble]

Will it turn Fall Frenzy into the dead zone and the first two weeks of May into a period you have to walk? Probably not. But, it can't help but nudge a few people into a different direction.

 

[fumanchu2488]

...which is to say: the re-balancing may be working.

The first two weeks of May soon will be for points-poor DVCers if they haven't begun to become one.

That's because DVD switched the cheaper weeks from early December to early May for 2023.

In large part, that's why we booked early May next year.

I think it is kind of funny because 're-balancing' is probably impossible with DVC. Us members will just follow low points no matter where they are.

 

[TinkB278]

I think it is kind of funny because 're-balancing' is probably impossible with DVC. Us members will just follow low points no matter where they are.

Isn’t that the truth. I just move to whatever season is now cheapest yet also tolerable weather. I’m one of those planning to go the second week of May, even though I’d rather go the third week of May or last week of April.