Post-COVID Room Availability

[J-Dog]

I'll argue until my dying breath that this (preferred) is a better view...
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Than this (standard)...

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Problem is many people seem to think that a glimpse of Spaceship Earth and 20 minutes of fireworks supersedes 23.5 hours of parking lot / Buena Vista Drive view. Or they're like me and don't really care about the view and just book the cheapest option available.

All of the preferred views are the lake / pool / pond / beach side of the resort. Some are better than others. Don't know that I'd call any of them poor. If you want to sit on the balcony with a book, they're all more serene than 24/7 traffic noise.

This. 100% this.

 

[crisi]

As a general statement, if you need to get the value/standard view rooms at any resort in order to make DVC work for you, DVC isn't a good choice. You need to be OK with booking the higher cost studios at eleven months - and even in some cases booking one bedrooms if you are going to not be able to plan eleven months in advance or want to try different resorts. That's just the nature of the timeshare - a lot of owners who care less about a view than getting to Disney for the most time and least amount of money while staying onsite competing for the best value rooms.

 

[CastAStone]

As a general statement, if you need to get the value/standard view rooms at any resort in order to make DVC work for you, DVC isn't a good choice. You need to be OK with booking the higher cost studios at eleven months - and even in some cases booking one bedrooms if you are going to not be able to plan eleven months in advance or want to try different resorts. That's just the nature of the timeshare - a lot of owners who care less about a view than getting to Disney for the most time and least amount of money while staying onsite competing for the best value rooms.

I just think Disney should be putting more up front effort into balancing the points between the standard and preferred rooms so the demand is equal. They got it right with SSR, Poly, and AKV, and got close with Aulani, so it CAN be done.

 

[The Jackal]

I'll argue until my dying breath that this (preferred) is a better view...
View attachment 874725

Than this (standard)...

View attachment 874726

Problem is many people seem to think that a glimpse of Spaceship Earth and 20 minutes of fireworks supersedes 23.5 hours of parking lot / Buena Vista Drive view. Or they're like me and don't really care about the view and just book the cheapest option available.

All of the preferred views are the lake / pool / pond / beach side of the resort. Some are better than others. Don't know that I'd call any of them poor. If you want to sit on the balcony with a book, they're all more serene than 24/7 traffic noise.

I can see your point. But there are other preferred views at RIV that are not as nice. Also as a comparison at BLT. Their most expensive Theme Park view also overlook a big parking lot.

 

[kboo]

It really depends on when you were trying but we have had luck getting the SV studios…though we usually do 1 bedrooms.

You definitely need to own if you want a chance at SV so it’s really comes down to how important it is to be at RIV

It’s our top resort and there have been times where we did have to settle for PV, but have had success with waitlists too!

We bought pre-pandemic and have had no problem booking SV studios and have yet to stay in a PV room at any time of year. We have more recently been staying in 1br and even a 2br LO was doable at the various times we traveled.

I just watched the DVCFan YT video about "DVC Mistakes," and I wanted to confirm that you were truly booking 11 mo before your vacation date and not when your UY started? Because Riviera sold a lot of December UY contracts and if you were trying on Dec 1 (because you had a December UY) for the winter holidays, then yes, you would not be able to find anything.

Re: views - the PV is gorgeous and peaceful, but we are generally park commandos and the only time we are likely to be in the room and on the balcony is at night, so fireworks >> daytime peace. But that could change if my kids could just ... not run from ride to ride (they're tweens/teens right now) If Riviera had been open when my kids were younger, that balcony would be my happy place during nap time!

 

[Cybertruck]

Re: views - the PV is gorgeous and peaceful, but we are generally park commandos and the only time we are likely to be in the room and on the balcony is at night, so fireworks >> daytime peace. But that could change if my kids could just ... not run from ride to ride (they're tweens/teens right now) If Riviera had been open when my kids were younger, that balcony would be my happy place during nap time!

Gave me a good laugh. That has not changed for me. Our kids are adults in the real world and still park commandos. The only good thing they want/need after nap time. Generally we book SV but have been in PV rooms. At AKV it is a must for us.

 

[kboo]

At AKV it is a must for us.

Savanna view all the way, for us! It's (so far) my one exception to "standard view till I die"

No wait, also Boardwalk view except since we don't own there, that only happens if we waitlist and get lucky.

 

[tjkraz]

I can see your point. But there are other preferred views at RIV that are not as nice. Also as a comparison at BLT. Their most expensive Theme Park view also overlook a big parking lot.

The blandest Preferred views are in this section outlined in red. But even there, you're looking at the pond, beach, lawn, kiddie water play area and a portion of CBR. No traffic or outside noise.

The Standard View side of the resort is 100% parking lot on both wings. You could probably take a nice photo if you're right above the Porte Cochere and zoom in pretty tight. But in reality, it's impossible to miss the congestion on that side. (And yes, I'd 100% book Standard View to save points because I don't pay extra for views.) But if people are left paying for Preferred because Standard is gone, it's superior IMO.

 

[crisi]

I just think Disney should be putting more up front effort into balancing the points between the standard and preferred rooms so the demand is equal. They got it right with SSR, Poly, and AKV, and got close with Aulani, so it CAN be done.

Its really hard for them to go backwards. They need to get it at least mostly right up front. And I agree with you, but I'm not holding my breath.