Opinions?

[RoseGold]

Because if you decide to resell it to pay for college for those kids, it won't have resale restrictions.

Doesn’t matter where you buy AKL. AKL can’t have resale restrictions on reservations. It isn’t in the O14 rules. That’s why RIV singling out resale for reservations was such a big deal.

It showed that Disney was willing to change the game.

 

[crisi]

To David and RoseGold's point, one of the ways to value the resorts is to look at a "cost per night" Let's ignore buy in costs for a minute a look at a night in a studio. September 20th, 2022 is meaningful to me. Its a Tuesday night.....VAKL Savannah View is 15 points a night. Riviera is 24 points a night - preferred view. That's seems a fair like to like comparison. VAKL dues are $8.0728 - RIV dues are $8.3833. So it costs $121.09 (ignoring buy in costs) for the VAKL studio for that night and $201.19 for the RIV studio. So is Riviera worth $80 more a night?

(And of course, buy in points are a big deal. If you want that week at VAKL every year you need 109 points. If you want that week at RIV every year, you'll need 143 points. Without taking in the actual cost per point).

 

[DVCanadian]

Because if you decide to resell it to pay for college for those kids, it won't have resale restrictions.

News to me that AKV is exempt from the resale restrictions that are in place for all contracts. Maybe you have news to share?

oh maybe you meant it won’t have the specific resale restrictions that impact RIV? Assuming further you are predicting low value for RIV resale contracts as a result of the specific resale restrictions that are currently impacting only RIV?
Further you are assuming that Disney won’t prop up the RIV resale contract price and let it free fall to reflect the current restrictions. I guess this impacts the project residual value of the contract. So buy AKV direct because your assumptions lead you to believe the RIV residual value will be really low.

That’s a lot of assumptions.

RIV direct or AKV resale, AKV direct is not good value.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Love AKV. LOVE IT.
I visited Riviera, and to be honest it didn’t do anything for me. Seemed like a crowded Hilton. That said, I have not seen inside the rooms (but the pictures still seem like a Hilton).
Did I say I love AKV..??

An 80's or 90's Las Vegas Hilton.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

News to me that AKV is exempt from the resale restrictions that are in place for all contracts. Maybe you have news to share?

oh maybe you meant it won’t have the specific resale restrictions that impact RIV? Assuming further you are predicting low value for RIV resale contracts as a result of the specific resale restrictions that are currently impacting only RIV?
Further you are assuming that Disney won’t prop up the RIV resale contract price and let it free fall to reflect the current restrictions.

that’s a lot of assumptions.

RIV direct or AKV resale, AKV direct is not good value.

Riv resale restricted to Riviera only. AKV resale has 14 resorts to use the points at.

As far as direct - AKV is $186/pt direct for new members and Riviera is $201/pt and a $6 discount per point if they buy 150 points. If they buy less then it appears it's $201/pt for new members. Couple that with lower point requirements for many room types at AKV and slightly lower dues and one is not much different than the other. I'd give the edge for direct to AKV. AKV resale is better though than AKV direct.

 

[Marionnette]

I would do 150 BUT get two 75 point contracts.....smaller contracts are easier to sell/go for more money OR two 75 point contracts would be easier to split in a will/trust for your children.

But once one of those contracts is sold or if ownership gets split between 2 children, the contracts lose their blue card eligibility. You have to maintain 125 direct points to qualify. Maybe it's not a big deal to some. For others that blue card means a lot.

 

[DVCanadian]

Riv resale restricted to Riviera only. AKV resale has 14 resorts to use the points at.

I am aware of the restrictions, the post i responded to said there were no resale restrictions when AKV is resold. False. Are they the same restrictions as RIV? No, but there are restrictions.

AKV resale is better though than AKV direct.

Yep that's what I said too. The OP doesn't want resale, only considering direct.
Buying AKV direct is like buying a used car but asking to pay new car price. Based on that I offered my opinion that the OP should buy at RIV.

I'd recommend that no one should buy based on projected value when the contract will be re-sold, too many variables, that would be a made up number. But so is most of the math people use to justify purchasing or not purchasing.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Yep that's what I said too. The OP doesn't want resale, only considering direct.
Buying AKV direct is like buying a used car but asking to pay new car price. Based on that I offered my opinion that the OP should buy at RIV.

That did not seem to be what you were saying but a used car analogy isn't appropriate either for a timeshare. There are more years on a RIV contract vs AKV but it also costs more. As I said - direct I'd still give the edge to AKV. They could potentially stay longer with a smaller contract so not have as much up front and less on dues. There really hasn't been a statement of what is even driving the OP in their purchase or towards those 2 resorts though. It may not be funds since resale is off the table and they don't have much to lose by going that route with a travel plans to Disney of every other year.

 

[crisi]

News to me that AKV is exempt from the resale restrictions that are in place for all contracts. Maybe you have news to share?

oh maybe you meant it won’t have the specific resale restrictions that impact RIV? Assuming further you are predicting low value for RIV resale contracts as a result of the specific resale restrictions that are currently impacting only RIV?
Further you are assuming that Disney won’t prop up the RIV resale contract price and let it free fall to reflect the current restrictions. I guess this impacts the project residual value of the contract. So buy AKV direct because your assumptions lead you to believe the RIV residual value will be really low.

That’s a lot of assumptions.

RIV direct or AKV resale, AKV direct is not good value.

I put that backwards. The reason not to by RIV is that when you resell it it has resale restrictions. VAKL you will buy it, but you will sell the same thing you bought without RIV. With more original resorts than RIV resorts, and frankly in better locations, I wouldn't buy RIV because I wouldn't ever buy a RIV resale.

 

[mlayman7]

That point chart for Riviera is the main reason we are staying away, direct and resale consideration. We own at VGF and I understand why that is high; flagship resort, monorail access, boat to MK,walk to MK (can finally say that), amazing grounds, 2 huge pools (both larger than Riviera), great lobby for DVC and great lobby (wish band was still there) for main resort. Rooms at riviera are great but resort itself underwhelms everywhere else. AKL has a Savanna! We recently stayed at AKL for the first time and transportation there is slightly better. If you could walk to HS and EPCOT then easy choice but when weather is an issue, same transportation options between AKL and RR but much friendlier point chart at AKL even with the Savanna! Due to the ridiculous point chart, go AKL direct or resale

 

[sethschroeder]

Yea, but that’s wiped out with RIV’s crazy point chart.

Not that crazy especially when booking Standard Views.

It's around the BLT price and less than VGF and Poly.

Flip side you buy BWV for cheaper point charts now and long term you might be paying more because of needing to buy a new contract in 20 years with bigger point charts at the BWV 2.0

 

[sethschroeder]

VAKL dues are $8.0728 - RIV dues are $8.3833.

I think looking at credits this year are a good way to see where MFs are heading.

AKV will continue to see increases while RIV will remain fairly flat another 2-3 years.

I would expect AKV to pass RIV in 2 years time and never be cheaper again.

 

[sethschroeder]

Couple that with lower point requirements for many room types at AKV

It's lower for a reason. It has lower point charts, is cheaper, has a long contract, people rave about the resort itself....

Yet it's still not that expensive and Disney even has to discount it down towards the SSR and OKW area.

In addition rooms are easy to get in a couple years so likely lower dues at RIV vs AKV means it will be cheaper annually for the RIV owner plus having access to standard view and tower studio rooms if you want to lock in an ecpot resort.

Rooms at riviera are great but resort itself underwhelms everywhere else.

Sit down and quick service both get high marks, it's a consolidate footprint for a hotel so you are not walking miles, it has walking/running paths, and with a smaller room count the pool shouldn't be as full as some other resorts.

Then we will need to see how fireworks views look as well when they return.

when weather is an issue, same transportation options between AKL and RR but much friendlier point chart at AKL

Disney isnt required to shut it down though they are just cautious currently. As the Skyliner is supposedly the future of WDW transportation I expect at some point for them to start running in storms.

Also Riveria is one of the most centrally located resorts so it's still not like AKV with a longer bus and 2 bus stops at the resort. Besides that's a "worst case" which I will take having had multiple hour waits for busses back in 2019 when staying at AKV.

 

[sethschroeder]

Because if you decide to resell it to pay for college for those kids, it won't have resale restrictions.

Brought this up before.

In the 2035 range and for sure in 2042 the resale market will change. You are having 3 park adjecent resorts leaving the group. In addition only MK will have resorts for resale members to move to.

Personally I think we will see a drastic reduction in the ability to move between resorts at that point.

I know it's all personal view but seems like various people agree it's harder to get what you want today than 10 years ago and thats with more park adjecent rooms having been added.

Basically all the new members at RIV or possibly REF or elsewhere will be able to fight for the same rooms as o14 resale but in addition if a RIV owner gets a BLT reservation that doesn't open up a space for that resale SSR owner to move to.

Lots of time until then but I wouldn't count on resorts like SSR or AKV to hold their value as well as newer resorts that might be closer and attached to parks.

 

[Ruttangel]

Yet it's still not that expensive and Disney even has to discount it down towards the SSR and OKW area.

There are currently no direct discounts on AKV or OKW. Just SSR out of those three.

 

[paults]

think resale again, direct to me give you nothing anymore.

 

[Bobby2443]

Personally I would go with Riv, I think thats a beautiful resort and I like that location more than AKL. A lot of people say that AKL isn't far from things when you look at how far a bus ride is to the parks, but to me it just "feels" closer to be able to hop on the sky liner and go to epcot or HS, and that feeling of being closer is a nice one. I'd much rather take a nice ride on the sky liner than get on a disney bus.

 

[DVCanadian]

That did not seem to be what you were saying but a used car analogy isn't appropriate either for a timeshare.

Disney is asking more per point for AKV now than when it originally went on sale but there are fewer years left on the contract. Pay more, get less
AKV can be purchased resale significantly cheaper than direct but people are actively choosing to pay more than they have to for the same thing.

DVC isn’t that different than buying a car. Both have maintenance fees
Average contract price is similar to a car purchase, many comments on the board make it seem like people are spending 200k on these contracts but most contracts are in roughly the same price range as many cars, and just like cars they are all headed to $0 eventually.

 

[RoseGold]

DVC isn’t that different than buying a car. Both have maintenance fees

Yes, but Disney is intentionally different than other timeshares in that the dues are a much larger proportional cost. People coming from other timeshare systems will be shocked at the difference in the ratio. Long term, the dues matter much more than purchase price, like 2/3 to 1/3 right now.

And there you go, I made the only argument for RIV I know how to make.

 

[Sandisw]

That point chart for Riviera is the main reason we are staying away, direct and resale consideration. We own at VGF and I understand why that is high; flagship resort, monorail access, boat to MK,walk to MK (can finally say that), amazing grounds, 2 huge pools (both larger than Riviera), great lobby for DVC and great lobby (wish band was still there) for main resort. Rooms at riviera are great but resort itself underwhelms everywhere else. AKL has a Savanna! We recently stayed at AKL for the first time and transportation there is slightly better. If you could walk to HS and EPCOT then easy choice but when weather is an issue, same transportation options between AKL and RR but much friendlier point chart at AKL even with the Savanna! Due to the ridiculous point chart, go AKL direct or resale

Your points just go to show how different the resorts are for different people. It’s one of the reasons why I think it is sometimes hard to give advice on which to buy because in this case, they are so different,

I don’t like AKV at all and to me, not worth it to stay or buy there, no matter the savings, But, I do love RIV. However, given higher dues and point charts, i wouldn’t recommend it for anyone who doesn’t like it.

But, if value is it or wanting to be able to trade out so stays can be at both, then RIV will be harder and cost more points at 7 months to get than the reverse.

Personally, I think RIV is worth as many points as it is along with VGF.