Purchased Riviera

[vint43]

Well, we were the first people to purchase GFV from our sales person a few years back.

Today, we became the first people to buy Riviera from him.

We realize this resort has a lot of "hair on it". The resale restrictions are terrible and the opening annual dues are way high. The exterior design appears a little bland and the interior rooms might also be as well. (Might as well get all the negatives out upfront!).

I do not blame anyone for not having any interest.

However, the actual price per point was lower than we expected. We ended up paying around $170 per pt.

We never regretted buying in at the start of GFV and hope the same holds true for the Riviera over time. We have no expectation the resale situation will be the same - the GFV have held up great - (in fact, we think it will stink!).

We will have to hold these points for the long term. That is part of the deal I think with the Riviera.

The best advice I got on this board several years back was to buy smaller contracts. We did the same today. Making it slightly easier to sell contracts of smaller size down the line or make it easier to pass them down to our kids. I would suggest paying the higher closing costs and keep all your contacts 100 pts or less. In fact, think about just buying 50 pts. contracts. I think small contracts will be especially important for the Riviera as the resale buyer can only stay at this resort. They will want to buy in very small increments - even at highly discounted prices.

Just wanted to let others know who are considering purchasing at the Riviera you are not alone! Even with all the issues, we look forward to having a new resort to select with transportation to the back of Epcot for food & wine, etc.

 

[sachilles]

What is the expiration date on the Riviera contracts?
If you don't mind me asking, to get 170 a point compared to the 188/point advertised, how many points did you have to get to get a price break?

 

[JoeD07]

What is the expiration date on the Riviera contracts?
If you don't mind me asking, to get 170 a point compared to the 188/point advertised, how many points did you have to get to get a price break?

Pretty sure its a 50 year contract, so I would think 2069.

Im also curious how you get it down to 170 pp vs the advertised 188.

 

[freediverdude]

Well congratulations, if you're thinking you won't ever be selling then that part might not bother you. And if you're looking for an Epcot resort that has a longer expiration to pass to kids, then I can see Riviera being more attractive in that way than BWV or BCV. Have to be more careful looking at the details now than in the past, but it may still work for some people depending on circumstances.

 

[vint43]

We ended up buying qty 3 - 90 pt contracts (270 total). We have three older children - so keeping it an easy 3 way split just made sense for us.

The $170 per pt is a very close estimate. At 300, it would have dropped to something closer to 165.

 

[vint43]

To be more accurate:

Total cost per pt was $167.63 @ 270 pts. However, I paid extra to split these into 3 contracts in closing costs. After closing costs, my "fully loaded" cost was closer to $172 per pt. They charge around $400 or so per contract in closing costs. So, creating extra contracts is a real cost to consider. We still very much think it is worth it over time to make it much easier to manage, pass down, sell, etc.

 

[sachilles]

To be more accurate:

Total cost per pt was $167.63 @ 270 pts. However, I paid extra to split these into 3 contracts in closing costs. After closing costs, my "fully loaded" cost was closer to $172 per pt. They charge around $400 or so per contract in closing costs. So, creating extra contracts is a real cost to consider. We still very much think it is worth it over time to make it much easier to manage, pass down, sell, etc.

Yeah that certainly makes sense if the intent is to pass it on to your 3 kids.

 

[Phatscott25]

Did I miss something? I thought it didn't go on sale until Wed?

 

[TheMick424]

Out of curiosity, did they give you any sense of the breakout of the rooms between Standard and Preferred?

 

[vint43]

Did I miss something? I thought it didn't go on sale until Wed?

You can place your purchase starting today. They will start processing the orders on Wednesday.

 

[vint43]

Out of curiosity, did they give you any sense of the breakout of the rooms between Standard and Preferred?

They did not.

For what it is worth, we only selected a preferred view at the GF the first time we stayed. After that, we always went standard view. I am not sure if the Riviera will play out the same. The preferred views at the GF, to us, were never worth the extra points.

Owning here for us was about increasing the odds of getting the standard view rooms we preferred at peak demand times (i.e. 11 month booking at an Epcot resort with back entrance during food & wine, etc). Looking at the design, I think they might classify a lot of rooms as "preferred view" with the large lagoon frontage. However, I really do not know. It was just an additional consideration given the design images we saw.

 

[Phatscott25]

You can place your purchase starting today. They will start processing the orders on Wednesday.

Thank you!

 

[ELMC]

Congrats on your purchase. If there's one thing we know based on past resorts, if you get in on the ground floor then your chance of being able to escape whole is very good. We only need to point to VGF and Poly as recent examples. The recent restrictions might change this, but how much is sheer speculation at this point. However, from a USE standpoint, I have to say that if the resort and location appeals to you, then the opening price is fairly attractive and much lower than what I expected it to be. Given the rising price of direct sales on older resorts, resales, hotel rooms, and rental points, Riviera looks fairly competitive. I'm predicting some pretty robust sales from the get go. We'll see...

 

[GrumpyInPhilly]

Well, we were the first people to purchase GFV from our sales person a few years back.

Today, we became the first people to buy Riviera from him.

We realize this resort has a lot of "hair on it". The resale restrictions are terrible and the opening annual dues are way high. The exterior design appears a little bland and the interior rooms might also be as well. (Might as well get all the negatives out upfront!).

I do not blame anyone for not having any interest.

However, the actual price per point was lower than we expected. We ended up paying around $170 per pt.

We never regretted buying in at the start of GFV and hope the same holds true for the Riviera over time. We have no expectation the resale situation will be the same - the GFV have held up great - (in fact, we think it will stink!).

We will have to hold these points for the long term. That is part of the deal I think with the Riviera.

The best advice I got on this board several years back was to buy smaller contracts. We did the same today. Making it slightly easier to sell contracts of smaller size down the line or make it easier to pass them down to our kids. I would suggest paying the higher closing costs and keep all your contacts 100 pts or less. In fact, think about just buying 50 pts. contracts. I think small contracts will be especially important for the Riviera as the resale buyer can only stay at this resort. They will want to buy in very small increments - even at highly discounted prices.

Just wanted to let others know who are considering purchasing at the Riviera you are not alone! Even with all the issues, we look forward to having a new resort to select with transportation to the back of Epcot for food & wine, etc.

Congrats on your purchase !!! and Welcome to the DIS !!!

 

[gharter]

Congrats on the purchase. It was of no interest to us, but clearly there will be a demand for it. Thats why they have so many different styles and resorts, something for everyone.
The restaurant does sound amazing and clearly something we will have to check out once it opens.

 

[Irishtripletsmomma]

Well, we were the first people to purchase GFV from our sales person a few years back.

Today, we became the first people to buy Riviera from him.

We realize this resort has a lot of "hair on it". The resale restrictions are terrible and the opening annual dues are way high. The exterior design appears a little bland and the interior rooms might also be as well. (Might as well get all the negatives out upfront!).

I do not blame anyone for not having any interest.

However, the actual price per point was lower than we expected. We ended up paying around $170 per pt.

We never regretted buying in at the start of GFV and hope the same holds true for the Riviera over time. We have no expectation the resale situation will be the same - the GFV have held up great - (in fact, we think it will stink!).

We will have to hold these points for the long term. That is part of the deal I think with the Riviera.

The best advice I got on this board several years back was to buy smaller contracts. We did the same today. Making it slightly easier to sell contracts of smaller size down the line or make it easier to pass them down to our kids. I would suggest paying the higher closing costs and keep all your contacts 100 pts or less. In fact, think about just buying 50 pts. contracts. I think small contracts will be especially important for the Riviera as the resale buyer can only stay at this resort. They will want to buy in very small increments - even at highly discounted prices.

Just wanted to let others know who are considering purchasing at the Riviera you are not alone! Even with all the issues, we look forward to having a new resort to select with transportation to the back of Epcot for food & wine, etc.

Congrats!! We talked to our guide today and were curious about a few things we forgot to ask. Were you able to specify use year and does it include 2019 points, if applicable? Our guide said stays will be able to be booked for mid December onward which is a little later than I was expecting. Thanks for the help

 

[DougEMG]

Congrats on purchase.

I wish I had of bought BLT when it first came out. I eventually did buy BLT resale, ended up paying a little more than opening price ($125 vrs $120) and had 10 years less on the contract. Buying at opening prices with the plan to keep till the end, normally works out as the best option.

 

[skippytx]

Congrats, look forward to a trip report after your first stay.

 

[TexasChick123]

Well, we were the first people to purchase GFV from our sales person a few years back.

Today, we became the first people to buy Riviera from him.

We realize this resort has a lot of "hair on it". The resale restrictions are terrible and the opening annual dues are way high. The exterior design appears a little bland and the interior rooms might also be as well. (Might as well get all the negatives out upfront!).

I do not blame anyone for not having any interest.

However, the actual price per point was lower than we expected. We ended up paying around $170 per pt.

We never regretted buying in at the start of GFV and hope the same holds true for the Riviera over time. We have no expectation the resale situation will be the same - the GFV have held up great - (in fact, we think it will stink!).

We will have to hold these points for the long term. That is part of the deal I think with the Riviera.

The best advice I got on this board several years back was to buy smaller contracts. We did the same today. Making it slightly easier to sell contracts of smaller size down the line or make it easier to pass them down to our kids. I would suggest paying the higher closing costs and keep all your contacts 100 pts or less. In fact, think about just buying 50 pts. contracts. I think small contracts will be especially important for the Riviera as the resale buyer can only stay at this resort. They will want to buy in very small increments - even at highly discounted prices.

Just wanted to let others know who are considering purchasing at the Riviera you are not alone! Even with all the issues, we look forward to having a new resort to select with transportation to the back of Epcot for food & wine, etc.

Congrats! I think we are going to buy it too. I also own at VGF and love it. I am sure this appeals to a lot of us VGF owners, as I see a lot of parallels...

Congrats!! We talked to our guide today and were curious about a few things we forgot to ask. Were you able to specify use year and does it include 2019 points, if applicable? Our guide said stays will be able to be booked for mid December onward which is a little later than I was expecting. Thanks for the help

You will get 2019 points if you purchase any UY other than Feb. My guide didn't know why Feb didn't qualify, but that's what they were told. You can pick the UY. I was also told the resort is set to open on December 16th, and that is the date they were told to stick with. That means that anyone who purchases will owe 2 weeks of dues (Dec16-31) at the end of the year.

 

[striker1064]

You will get 2019 points if you purchase any UY other than Feb. My guide didn't know why Feb didn't qualify, but that's what they were told.

That's what mine said too. We have 2 UYs, one Feb, and Feb doesn't get 2019 points. What's up with that?