Please help me with decision

[Phillyfan]

We just returned from our third magical trip to Disney World and decided to buy a DVC. We are a family of 5 with school aged children and decided that we’d like to go to Disney more often and for a long time to come. We’ve rented DVC before and loved the properties but found them to be very expensive to rent. SO, we think we’d like to buy direct because we would like to stay in the RIV and all future DVC properties. We’d like to buy the minimum of 150 pts to see how it goes. We’d prefer one bedrooms, but are ok with studios sometimes. Any guidance on a purchase?

 

[Sandisw]

We love RIV and its our favorite resort!! There is a report now that you may be able to purchase for only 100 points as a new buyer....you won't have access to membership extras like discounts and the special Sorcerer pass...but if you weren't sure about the 150, there may be another option.

It is worth it to us to own direct points for use everywhere, and when buying direct, you can also use a Disney Visa to get 6 months, 0% interest.

If you buy at RIV, owning there is needed to get SV rooms, though 1 bedrooms are a bit easier than the studios.

 

[AstroBlasters]

We just returned from our third magical trip to Disney World and decided to buy a DVC. We are a family of 5 with school aged children and decided that we’d like to go to Disney more often and for a long time to come. We’ve rented DVC before and loved the properties but found them to be very expensive to rent. SO, we think we’d like to buy direct because we would like to stay in the RIV and all future DVC properties. We’d like to buy the minimum of 150 pts to see how it goes. We’d prefer one bedrooms, but are ok with studios sometimes. Any guidance on a purchase?

1) Look at the incentive break points on new purchases when deciding. I went in thinking I’d only buy 150, but went with 2x 100 point contracts because of incentives.

2) Break the contracts up to make them easier to sell off if it is too many points. 3x 50 or 1x 100 and 2x50 if they will allow it.

3) Put some thought into what Use Year you want and don’t just go with whatever they are offering.

4) Consider VGF as a home resort if you want better resale value on the points. However, if you love RIV then buy where you know you want to stay.

 

[Phillyfan]

Thank you for the good advice so far! Can you tell me if either RIV or GFV are difficult to book at 7 months? I like both of them and am having a hard time deciding on which one. I suppose I would try to sometimes stay at the other resort that I don’t choose since I like both of them! Thanks

 

[Sandisw]

Thank you for the good advice so far! Can you tell me if either RIV or GFV are difficult to book at 7 months? I like both of them and am having a hard time deciding on which one. I suppose I would try to sometimes stay at the other resort that I don’t choose since I like both of them! Thanks

Both are popular, but now that they have added the resort studios to VGF, my guess is those will be easier to book.

But, there a lot fewer 1 and 2 bedrooms at VGF than RIV…so in that regard, I do think owning at VGF might have a slight advantage over RIV….but the SV rooms at RIV go pretty fast and I think owning there is important foe those rooms…if not, you might be stuck with PV at 7 months and may even find studios hard as time goes on.

But, I think more important is which one would you prefer to be at Id you can’t trade ar 7 months, These are my top two resorts, but we do prefer RIV a bit better!

 

[AstroBlasters]

Thank you for the good advice so far! Can you tell me if either RIV or GFV are difficult to book at 7 months? I like both of them and am having a hard time deciding on which one. I suppose I would try to sometimes stay at the other resort that I don’t choose since I like both of them! Thanks

If you are agnostic between the two then I would consider the incentives and then the ability for VGF to better hold its resale value.

It’s difficult to know what will happen with RIV availability once it sells out.

But, you really can’t make a “wrong decision”.

 

[Epcot Forever Forever]

At most properties your family will only fit in either a studio OR a 1 BR, as other than GF and Riviera, which either can sleep 5, and CCV, which neither can, all the others have one that sleeps 4 and one that sleeps 5, and which is which changes resort to resort. So keep that in mind as you plan your points purchase quantity.

 

[Bucketfoot]

Personally I wouldn't buy Riviera because of the resale restirctions alone. On top of that I consider it to be the least "Disney" of all the DVC resorts. We opted for the GF for these reasons, along with it's location and being on the monorail loop.

These are purely personal opinions, so weigh them against what is important to you

 

[Bucketfoot]

To be fair and slightly hypocritical, we fully intend to purchase at VDH even if as expected it has the same resale restrictions as Riviera. But then DL is a COMPLETELY different world, especially as related to DVC, than WDW

 

[mz-s]

Look at the points charts, 150 points isn't going to get you many nights in a 1 bedroom villa at Riviera.

 

[Bucketfoot]

Look at the points charts, 150 points isn't going to get you many nights in a 1 bedroom villa at Riviera.

Depends on how frequently they plan on visiting. In our case we visit at most every other year. So our 175 VGF points work out pretty well. Although we did add a small resale AKV contract for when we want a longer stay.

 

[mz-s]

Depends on how frequently they plan on visiting. In our case we visit at most every other year. So our 175 points work out pretty well. Although we did add resale AKV points for when we want a longer stay.

Yes true if you're borrowing/banking then 150 points can be plenty. But if you want to visit yearly, or even more often, 150 points isn't going to go very far at Riviera if you want 1 bedroom villas.

 

[Bo1203]

We made the decision on RIV direct last year. If you're picking studios to make your points go further like us, RIV is the studios we would choose. 1 bedrooms are a lot more points. As our kids get older we'll consider adding on resale to stay in 1 or 2 bedrooms more.

Compared to renting we felt this gave us way more control and flexibility with dates. We rather own something that one day could potentially be sold. There is also a level of pride in being a member! Everyone argues the savings, extra benefits and discounts. But they will add up for our family. The APs now being back are a significant savings, to buy the sorcerer pass as an out of state member is a big deal, long as the black out dates don't mess you up.

We like the aesthetic, food and parks near RIV better than GFV. Also, skyliner is the best attraction in WDW .

 

[RoseGold]

If you're getting 1BRs, resale really should be in this discussion. Unless you're traveling super peak, 1BRs are the easiest thing to book in the system and you can do it with SSR points. Hard to argue with current resale pricing. I view resale as much less commitment. You change your mind, you sell. You really want the next best thing in five years, you sell and swap. You book BC this year, or AK takes less points. Yay!

Not only are the points cheaper, but you need less of them. RIV's 1BR is particularly bloated on the point chart.

If you're dead set on direct, at this point, I would want Poly2 anyway, so I would wait for that. I would also be interested in DL pricing. Resale has plummeted down and it might open low. I would even consider DL as direct points to use at WDW because I think they will hold their value better than WDW, which is just going to keep building. I don't think buying DL as an entry point is a terrible idea. If I were buying with resale restrictions, I would rather do it at DL. I wouldn't even consider RIV because of the restrictions.

 

[Bo1203]

I wouldn't even consider RIV because of the restrictions.

If the restrictions stay in place and as new resorts come online with the restrictions, by the time many members go to sell, many of the resorts (including expired 2042s) will probably have the same restrictions. If we sold tomorrow, the restrictions are the buyers problem.

 

[RoseGold]

If the restrictions stay in place and as new resorts come online with the restrictions, by the time many members go to sell, many of the resorts (including expired 2042s) will probably have the same restrictions. If we sold tomorrow, the restrictions are the buyers problem.

Right. So, if I must buy restricted, I'd rather buy DL. There won't be more of those.

And low prices caused by restrictions are very much the seller's problem. As anyone trying to sell RIV knows right now.

 

[Bo1203]

Right. So, if I must buy restricted, I'd rather buy DL. There won't be more of those.

If you like visiting DL.

 

[RoseGold]

If you like visiting DL.

I'm not sure I'll ever go to DL and I would have DLT in consideration. Given the current economy, there's a good chance it opens low, and I think it will hold value better than FL. That's good for me, I plan to sell.

If I didn't plan to sell, I would be holding out for Poly2. I think is a better property than RIV, especially if Skyliner expands to TTC.

 

[mz-s]

I'm not sure a timeshare, even a premium timeshare like DVC, is something I'd buy as an investment product. Buy actual dirt if you want to know you'll have something worth something when/if it comes time to sell...my opinion.

 

[Bo1203]

if Skyliner expands to TTC.

I am willing to concede on the restrictions argument in order to obtain a unanimous vote in favor of expanding Skyliner to TTC.