On Cruise - Considering Between More in RIV or New Contract at Poly

Vulnox

Mouseketeer
Joined
Nov 25, 2020
Messages
218
We have 200 points at Riviera and love the resort. There are four of us, two adults and two kids.

We sometimes do trips with friends of ours that also have two kids. Previously they stayed with us at RIV in a two bedroom.

As is often the case, we find ourselves coming to Disney more since joining DVC, and our two kids are getting older. So we have been doing almost entirely one and two bedrooms and the borrowing is getting tough.

We are on the Disney Fantasy now and did a DVC member event and talked to a CM. They have good incentives and the magical beginnings, and the RIV incentives are a lot better. But we are seriously considering having at least 150 points at Poly so we could do a split stay and be on a Magic Kingdom property.

Here’s where I am unsure which way to go.

We may want to do more two bedrooms with our friends, or even go for a three bedroom as all the kids get much older. That might mean having a heavier stock of points at RIV would be beneficial. We could even trade into Poly if we are lucky at the 7 month window and still do a split stay. I don’t know how tough getting Poly two bedrooms at seven months is though generally in the October to January time we tend to go.

Alternatively, we do 150 points direct at Poly and could still do two bedrooms at RIV, but would only need maybe three nights there instead of five and then two at Poly.

That seems good from the perspective of having high flexibility, but hurts our ability to maybe do a three bedroom at RIV since all the points aren’t available at once.

Curious what others would do. If you don’t love RIV, I know everyone has different ideals but we’re big fans. I wouldn’t be upset to have more there. But Poly is a close second.

Thanks all!
 
If you are only looking at the two, and don't plan to sell, I would go with Riv.

The Poly point chart for 1 and 2 bedrooms is really high (compared to 014 resorts). I have a family of 5, so I am also often in 1 or 2 bedrooms, and have avoided Poly because of the point chart and lack of real incentives to justify a purchase there. I know folks focus a lot on incentives and upfront costs, but point charts really matter (and remaining contract life I suppose). However, I think Poly, as a product, will remain in demand. Disney knows what they have with Poly.

Riv, on the other hand, while the incentives are much better than poly, the resale restrictions really give me pause. But economically and if you want to stay direct, I would buy there over Poly personally.

Just my thought process, I grabbed BLT (resale) to use as SAPs. Dues are reasonable, and I would never feel "stuck" with a room there. (I've actually only stayed there one time). Buying resale and having more points allowed me to stay at Poly, but I just couldn't get behind buying there.

Hope this helps!
 
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Is there an extra incentive for being on the cruise? Will you be back home soon?

curious about the cruise offer as well

This was a little weird because during the presentation I know they said something along the lines of a cruise specific extra incentive but when we talked about it during the meeting the incentives appeared to be standard plus magical beginnings.

Maybe they misspoke or I misunderstood their intent, I would hope they weren’t being dishonest because that seemed like a super easy one to be called out on.

I think what they may have meant also because it did come up is that existing incentives expire/price per point goes up on I believe February 9th and our cruise docks on the 6th. So roughly around when we get home. So they may have said take advantage of incentives during the cruise and meant it in that way.

In any case, the printout we got looks normal. $26 per point discount at 200 points for Riviera plus magical beginnings.

Thanks all for the thoughts so far. I was also considering 150 point resale for Riviera. We have a September use year and I see a few available and it would save us about $10k. Wouldn’t be able to use the additional points to rent at Poly, but could maybe rent them out and just rent someone’s Poly points. $10k plus funds from renting when needed buys a lot of flexibility. 😄
 
Wouldn’t be able to use the additional points to rent at Poly, but could maybe rent them out and just rent someone’s Poly points. $20k plus funds from renting when needed buys a lot of flexibility. 😄
Seems like too much hassle to rent out / rent in.

If you're happy with staying at RIV at least once very other year then go for it. Otherwise stick with RIV direct
 
This was a little weird because during the presentation I know they said something along the lines of a cruise specific extra incentive but when we talked about it during the meeting the incentives appeared to be standard plus magical beginnings.

Maybe they misspoke or I misunderstood their intent, I would hope they weren’t being dishonest because that seemed like a super easy one to be called out on.

I think what they may have meant also because it did come up is that existing incentives expire/price per point goes up on I believe February 9th and our cruise docks on the 6th. So roughly around when we get home. So they may have said take advantage of incentives during the cruise and meant it in that way.

In any case, the printout we got looks normal. $26 per point discount at 200 points for Riviera plus magical beginnings.

Thanks all for the thoughts so far. I was also considering 150 point resale for Riviera. We have a September use year and I see a few available and it would save us about $10k. Wouldn’t be able to use the additional points to rent at Poly, but could maybe rent them out and just rent someone’s Poly points. $10k plus funds from renting when needed buys a lot of flexibility. 😄

If there is no extra incentive I would wait until you get home to research and ponder. New prices and new incentive start Feb 10. So you just need to decide by then.
 
Ask them if the on board incentive is suppose to include a castaway discount, maybe they gave you the wrong printout.
 
I too would vote for more RIV points becaue it does allow you to secure those larger rooms without issue! In terms of cruise extras, sometimes I think they are referring to the tote bag (or whatever extra special thing they are giving) vs. an incentive off pricing.

There have been times when there was something small....the Castaway Club discount...but that isn't always the case! Have fun on the Fantasy!
 











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