PVC or RIV

[KAT4DISNEY]

Hi Everyone! I would like to hear your advice. We are a family of five (2 adults, 3 children - ages: 8, 6 and a baby) and we live in South Florida. We typically go to Disney 4-5 times a year for long weekends and are very flexible on the weekends we can come up. We’re considering purchasing resale at either Poly or Riviera (YES, we know that if we purchase resale at RIV we can only use our points there!).

So, we have two questions:

1. We truly love RIV and we wouldn’t have an issue with staying there every time. However, if we wanted to stay at a different resort every once in a while, do you think it would be hard to find other members to trade points with (our RIV points in exchange for a weekend at a different resort)? Or just renting out a weekend and using that money to book at another resort with another member? Is it worth the possible stress or should this be relatively simple with proper planning?

2. If you were in our shoes, which resort would you choose (PVB or RIV)? Take into consideration where we live/flexibility, etc.

Thank you all!

Your kind of an example of why DVC has the resale restrictions with RIV - to encourage direct.

-If you can book at 11 months and mostly want to stay at RIV then resale could work. You'd have to rent to stay elsewhere though.
-If you can book at 11 months but want to split stays at RIV and other locations then direct at RIV may make the most sense.
-If you want to be flexible and stay at RIV and other locations but can't book until closer to the stay then maybe it's SSR or something less costly than RIV direct.
-If you want to stay at PVB a lot and mix in some other locations now and then and are happy renting for RIV for the occasional stay then PVB resale might be just fine.
-If RIV is a now and then thing and you're happy staying other locations depending on what you find available at less than 7 months then something resale.

 

[Evita_W]

Be sure to compare prices of resale to direct, we found with the incentives right now, direct was only slightly more than resale and since we did financing, direct actually offered us a better interest rate.

Something else to consider is the resale restrictions will apply to all new resorts moving forward and eventually when somebody the older resorts expire that may start being an issue with not being able to get rooms since you would be blocked from the newer resorts and some of the older resorts no longer exist. Granted that's not until 2042 or so, but while that sounds far away, it will be here before you know it.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Be sure to compare prices of resale to direct, we found with the incentives right now, direct was only slightly more than resale and since we did financing, direct actually offered us a better interest rate.

Something else to consider is the resale restrictions will apply to all new resorts moving forward and eventually when somebody the older resorts expire that may start being an issue with not being able to get rooms since you would be blocked from the newer resorts and some of the older resorts no longer exist. Granted that's not until 2042 or so, but while that sounds far away, it will be here before you know it.

Just to point out that as the resorts fall off so do the owners of them and the largest resorts that provide the last minute or best 7 month inventory all have end dates of 2054 or 2057. IMO future inventory really isn't a concern for the older resorts. Even when it gets down to the last 2 or 3 it's still better than what a Riv resale buyer or future resort resale buyers will have for options which is only their home resort and it's no different of course for any direct or grandfathered in owners.

 

[vnovabri]

Oh I love playing around with these numbers!

Poly resale - CON: No Riviera
assuming $145 pp and 125 points
= 18,125

RIV direct - CON: resale restriction (affects sale)
$187 pp for 125 points
= 23,375

So you'd pay $5,250 more for 125 direct RIV points over 125 Poly resale points.
Is this worth paying $5250 to you:
-RIV instead of Poly as HR / access to RIV
-Discounts on APs: $100 per pass for a new pass, $150 per pass for renewals (plat) or additional savings if a Gold Pass works for you
-no ROFR/closing/negotiating process

Ultimately, the difference is not so big that I would make a choice based primarily on cost. Given how much we spend on Disney trips, I would still pick the resort that sparks joy.

(For us, it is RIV and VGF tied for 1st...)

Just curious how you got $187 pp on 125 points for Riviera? When I look at the current deals it looks like its $201 a point and 125-149 is $8 off, so $193pp? Their calculator shows that as Am I missing another deal? Thanks!

 

[Sandisw]

Just curious how you got $187 pp on 125 points for Riviera? When I look at the current deals it looks like its $201 a point and 125-149 is $8 off, so $193pp? Their calculator shows that as Am I missing another deal? Thanks!

I wonder if they forgot that the price of RIV went to $201 in February. It was $195 and that would account for the $6 difference.

 

[HNElle]

Be sure to compare prices of resale to direct, we found with the incentives right now, direct was only slightly more than resale and since we did financing, direct actually offered us a better interest rate.

Something else to consider is the resale restrictions will apply to all new resorts moving forward and eventually when somebody the older resorts expire that may start being an issue with not being able to get rooms since you would be blocked from the newer resorts and some of the older resorts no longer exist. Granted that's not until 2042 or so, but while that sounds far away, it will be here before you know it.

Very good point!!! I hadn’t thought about getting blocked off at some of 2042 resorts later on (if we purchase resale). Definitely strongly considering direct.

 

[crisi]

It is hard to find owners willing to trade. For any number of reasons - its hard to come to an agreement about what everyone's points are worth, you can only trade in and out once a year. And I suspect it will be really difficult for Riviera owners, since the other DVC owners can all take advantage of the seven month window to get their variety fix - Rivera just frankly isn't that huge of a draw to make it worth the bother to find an owner to transfer with - plus - a lot of us get to book Rivera anyway if we want. Don't plan on that being the solution to "I want Riviera, but want to stay somewhere else once in a while."

 

[smsharp]

Very good point!!! I hadn’t thought about getting blocked off at some of 2042 resorts later on (if we purchase resale). Definitely strongly considering direct.

I didn't think about that either. When it is time to add on points I will probably look at direct more seriously.

 

[Evita_W]

Just curious how you got $187 pp on 125 points for Riviera? When I look at the current deals it looks like its $201 a point and 125-149 is $8 off, so $193pp? Their calculator shows that as Am I missing another deal? Thanks!

We got $175 for 206 points, but that is as am addon, I think it is slightly higher for new sales. This is after incentives.

 

[Evita_W]

It is hard to find owners willing to trade. For any number of reasons - its hard to come to an agreement about what everyone's points are worth, you can only trade in and out once a year. And I suspect it will be really difficult for Riviera owners, since the other DVC owners can all take advantage of the seven month window to get their variety fix - Rivera just frankly isn't that huge of a draw to make it worth the bother to find an owner to transfer with - plus - a lot of us get to book Rivera anyway if we want. Don't plan on that being the solution to "I want Riviera, but want to stay somewhere else once in a while."

What we have done is book for other members and they book for us. We haven't found it difficult to find people willing to do so as we have Grand Californian points. But we haven't done this for a while now. I don't know how it will work with Riviera, but I wouldn't buy resale at Riviera as I wouldn't want to be locked out from the other resorts.

 

[kboo]

I wonder if they forgot that the price of RIV went to $201 in February. It was $195 and that would account for the $6 difference.

Yep, My bad. Never mind. Buy Poly!

(if it sparks joy)

 

[crisi]

What we have done is book for other members and they book for us. We haven't found it difficult to find people willing to do so as we have Grand Californian points. But we haven't done this for a while now. I don't know how it will work with Riviera, but I wouldn't buy resale at Riviera as I wouldn't want to be locked out from the other resorts.

Yeah, with VGC points it wouldn't be hard at all. You are in the catbird's seat and probably get to define your own trade.

 

[Evita_W]

Yeah, with VGC points it wouldn't be hard at all. You are in the catbird's seat and probably get to define your own trade.

Yeah, we could actually resell it for about three times what we paid for it, but we won't....lol