POLL: VGF or Riviera - Home Resort Priority

Is it more helpful to have home resort priority at VGF or Riviera?

  • VGF

    Votes: 40 62.5%
  • Riviera

    Votes: 24 37.5%

  • Total voters
    64

Frugal Fairy Tales

points are just points
Joined
Sep 14, 2021
Between owning VGF or Riviera, is it more helpful to have home resort priority at VGF or at Riviera? Which is more advantageous and why?
 
Your answer depends on a number of metrics. I own both for different reasons.

Advantages VGF: I like to stay in the original building and you need the 11 month booking window to access rooms here. The introduction of the resort studios has taken a boutique exclusive resort and made it more widely available at the 7 month mark. If you want 1 bedrooms + though, you will also need to own here. If you do want larger rooms the home resort priority will be more important here than RVA. If you are happy with the resort studios then I don't think owning here is essential unless you travel in Fall Frenzy.

Advantages of RVA: The resort is better balanced between room types. If you want any standard view category here though, owning is essential. The discrepancy between standard view and preferred view in points is significant. Compared with all other resorts, the "preferred view" isn't remarkable and in my opinion a waste of points. I like that Riviera is mid way to everywhere and as a result I view Riviera as a more convenient location than VGF.

With the introduction of the resort studios my answer has now flipped somewhat. I think it's better to have the 11 month home resort advantage at RVA for standard rooms with the proviso that you aren't wedded to 1-2 bedrooms/original building at VGF.

Me? I own VGF for the original building (bought resale before the introduction of resort studios). And I own RVA for mid way access to everything non-magic kingdom with a fixed week standard view during Fall Frenzy.
 
It really comes down to personal preference. Both of their standard rooms are usually missing some dates for the more coveted room types like studios and 2 bedrooms at the 7 month mark.

Buying RIV will give you access to the tower studios if you only travel with your partner or whoever, otherwise you're unlikely to be able to book it. Buying VGF will let you book deluxe studios more frequently which in general seems to be the preferred room compared to resort studios. So pros for buying either. Cons of VGF is slightly shorter contract duration. Cons of RIV is of course resale restrictions.

IMO, buy where you think you're more likely to stay on a more frequent basis, this will let you book the standard room booking category more consistently and you'll save nearly 20% in points compared to booking the preferred view category. Do you tend to frequent MK more often and like being on the monorail loop or do you value having access to HS/Epcot via skyliner?

I originally considered VGF but my partner and I are more Epcot people and we weren't interested in 2042 resorts so RIV made sense for us.
 
Our view. We do not want to have to drive and we do not want to take a Disney bus. We do short stays of 1-3 nights and visit 1-2 parks at a time. We don’t need the kitchen, and rarely use it. We want to be right in the heart of the action.

For us, VGF is the best way to go. Being minutes from the magic kingdom is so much more magical. Yes, Riviera has the Skyliner, but for our needs we find the Swan/Dolphin nearly as convenient. We can stay there and walk to Epcot when needed or, if it works out stay at BW or BC on points at 7 months.
 
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Something else to consider that I didn’t mention in my original post - what are your feelings about the polynesian tower? Is that somewhere you could see yourself staying? Do you like it more than VGF? My ideology behind buying my resorts is to diversify location, I have Aulani- Hawai’i, AKL- AK, RIV- HS/Epcot. I know I’ll be interested in Poly tower and depending on the association will determine if I buy direct vs. resale but because of me knowing I like Poly so much I opted to forego VGF. After I obtain poly down the road I’ll likely end up buying VGC for my California home resort and call it a day. Doing this essentially lets me have 11 month booking priority near any resort I please within reason. Is it necessary? Definitely not. But that diversification is something I took into account when choosing my resorts.
 
Something else to consider that I didn’t mention in my original post - what are your feelings about the polynesian tower? Is that somewhere you could see yourself staying? Do you like it more than VGF? My ideology behind buying my resorts is to diversify location, I have Aulani- Hawai’i, AKL- AK, RIV- HS/Epcot. I know I’ll be interested in Poly tower and depending on the association will determine if I buy direct vs. resale but because of me knowing I like Poly so much I opted to forego VGF. After I obtain poly down the road I’ll likely end up buying VGC for my California home resort and call it a day. Doing this essentially lets me have 11 month booking priority near any resort I please within reason. Is it necessary? Definitely not. But that diversification is something I took into account when choosing my resorts.
Great question. If the Polynesian tower is the same association as existing Poly then I am 100% buying points. If it’s a separate association with restricted points then I am extremely unlikely to buy because I already own at existing Poly. I wish I knew the answer to the association question. Because I don’t know, and the summer incentives are so tempting, I’m thinking I should buy Riviera for Epcot/HS access because I will probably buy Riviera if the Poly tower is not the same association. But I also like VGF for the price for unrestricted direct points that would hold their value if I ever decide to sell. Or I can just try to ignore these enticing summer incentives and continue waiting to find out about the polynesian tower association, and possibly miss out on these current great deals for direct points 🤔
 
We own both and RIV is our favorite. We also like that we can get SV rooms as they are a great value and you do need to own there for the best chance.

We do book larger rooms so I will say we added on at VGF last year as well for that reason since we split stay every trip if we can.

Given all the resort studios that were added, we no longer wanted to rely on the 7 month window to get our 1 or 2 bedrooms using SSR points

We like having an MK and Epcot area resort but we find RIV just so much more relaxing after being in the parks.

With the incentives right now, both are great deals.
 
I wish I knew the answer to the association question. Because I don’t know, and the summer incentives are so tempting, I’m thinking I should buy Riviera for Epcot/HS access because I will probably buy Riviera if the Poly tower is not the same association. But I also like VGF for the price for unrestricted direct points that would hold their value if I ever decide to sell. Or I can just try to ignore these enticing summer incentives and continue waiting to find out about the polynesian tower association, and possibly miss out on these current great deals for direct points 🤔
If Poly tower is part of the old association then you're competing with a stack of other owners for rooms in it. No thanks. If it has its own association you're going to have a greater chance of booking there. I'd personally want it to be separate for that reason.

I just added on a small contract to top up my VGF so no Poly tower for me. The clincher was the price of VDH. I am genuinely not prepared to pay the direct prices much longer and I expect Poly to be beyond my comfort limit. I also own "next door" so Poly tower would not give me any location advantage.

Based on you already owning Polynesian, why buy VGF next door then? Go buy Riviera and diversify your stay/portfolio. When we split between VGF and Riviera they feel like two entirely separate trips.

If you hold out for Poly and its either priced too high or it has its own association (which I believe to be likely) then the base price of Riviera is going to be much higher, and the incentives potentially nowhere near as good.

Although resale value in the future is a consideration, I would caution buying a contract simply because of it. You're buying a timeshare to use it, at least you should be.
 
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Based on you already owning Polynesian, why buy VGF next door then? Go buy Riviera and diversify your stay/portfolio. When we split between VGF and Riviera they feel like two entirely separate trips.

Agreed. You can always pick up resale VGF down the line and not have those resale restrictions if you reallly want to own there. Direct RIV after it's sold out will likely be harder/more expensive to get as they'll only offer incentives at certain times and the resale market as you know will only allow you access to RIV. Since you already have Poly my vote is for RIV.
 
GF because MK is my favorite park, and I love GF’s proximity to MK, where you don't rely on Disney buses or park at TTC. I have a rental car on trips; therefore, I am OK with driving to EPCOT or DHS rather than staying at Riv and taking Skyliner.
 
I own at VGF and have stayed at the Riviera twice already. Ive been able to book a Tower studio and a Standard Studio at 7 months in the last 2 years ; both week stays. I personally prefer the GF as it has nicer amenities than the Riv . Better food options , nicer pools and a walk to MK. But I like the Riv as a change of pace. The resale restriction suck on the RIV which was a major reason I wouldn't buy it.
 
All good points. Thank you. I think I am looking at either VGF or Riviera as SAP but also as points I could use for home resort priority when needed. These are good “problems” to have!
 
Between owning VGF or Riviera, is it more helpful to have home resort priority at VGF or at Riviera? Which is more advantageous and why?
We chose VGF as our first contract due to close proximity to Magic Kingdom. We love how easilly it will be to go back and forth between the park and our resort.

I am sure we will end up with a 2nd contract at some point and are already planning to get the Riviera at a later date,
 
I don’t think competing with a stack of owners if it’s all one association will be an issue until the 7-month mark, so not a problem for Poly owners. It will potentially be a problem for non-Poly owners.
 
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I don’t think competing with a stack of owners if it’s all one association will be an issue until the 7-month mark, so not a problem for Poly owners. It will potentially be a problem for non-Poly owners.
Could be a problem if you are buying for the 1-2 bedrooms. All the sudden you have all those points that have studios only being really interested in the 1-2 bedrooms making them more difficult to get.
 

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