Riveria direct

[JETSDAD]

Also, if hypothetically one was to go this route (buy resale and then pick up small contracts direct over time), would you receive blue card once you reach 150 points direct? Also I assume all the direct points would need to be same use year to count towards blue card?

Yes, they would need to be the same membership but you could gradually add on to get to 150....if you tried to buy a different UY then that would be a different membership.

 

[Lorana]

Also, if hypothetically one was to go this route (buy resale and then pick up small contracts direct over time), would you receive blue card once you reach 150 points direct? Also I assume all the direct points would need to be same use year to count towards blue card?

As long as the requirement doesn't change, then, yes, once you get to 150 points, you'd gain the blue card.
But let's say you purchase over time in 125 increments and get to 125 points, and before you buy the next 25 point contract, DVC raises the minimum to 175. You then would not get a blue card at 150 because that last contract has a requirement of a total of 175 points, so you'd need to get to 175 then before you get the blue card.

 

[Royal Consort]

I am concerned about availability. I would hate to do this and never be able to actually use it. Currently, we do not plan ahead that far.

How much availability is there at 2/3 months out? We tend to go in Sept and Dec and jan each year so those we can book ahead but I'd love to be able to view the availability for 2/3 months out and do random available nights in addition to that. We have stayed at most resorts and certainly have our favorites but really like being able to stay at a variety of places.

In my view, if you're buying Riviera you need to be using the 11 month advantage. You won't always get in within the 7 month mark, particularly in Sept-Jan time frame. If you're looking at availability a couple of months out I would caution against Riviera and you're better off buying 300 Saratoga Springs resale points to use as sleep around points. Don't buy Riviera expecting to book it 2-3 months out, it likely won't be available and you're paying a premium for something you aren't using. But if you are prepared to book ahead for sept-jan, as you said, then it may work out well.

 

[Sandisw]

If you have a fixed week, do you still have to book it at 11 months to guarantee that you get it? Are there any downsides to a fixed week?

They book it automatically for you ahead of time. If you do t want it, you have to tell them to cancel it.

The downside is you are buying a 7 night stay and if you never use it, you may have paid extra for it. I say “may” because the points are based on the chart when the resort opened. Since then, there have been reallocations on the chart that have erased that premium.

We opted out because we would never use it and wanted a contract that matched what we would do.

Some feel FWs will sell better on resale. I am not sure I feel that way.

 

[JETSDAD]

They book it automatically for you ahead of time. If you do t want it, you have to tell them to cancel it.

The downside is you are buying a 7 night stay and if you never use it, you may have paid extra for it. I say “may” because the points are based on the chart when the resort opened. Since then, there have been reallocations on the chart that have erased that premium.

We opted out because we would never use it and wanted a contract that matched what we would do.

Some feel FWs will sell better on resale. I am not sure I feel that way.

If someone never uses the GW they haven't paid extra for anything. When they cancel the GW they get all the points to use elsewhere. They really only pay extra when they use it because of the 10% premium in number of points for the GW (whether or not it actually ends up being a premium can change as you mentioned).

 

[brazzledazzler]

If you love Riviera, buy Riviera. Many folks on the boards are value-minded, and resale will save most buyers thousands of dollars. But, I also know DISboards wisdom is: buy where you want to stay.

I did months of research, read the boards, and toured the resorts we were interested in buying. I never thought I would want Riviera due to resale restrictions—then we toured and fell in love.

We bought enough points to get a good incentive discount. While we enjoy staying at different locations, we always want to stay at Riviera once a year, and we like studios. If you want a studio at Riviera, especially a Std, you have to own there.

We plan to add on resale in the future, but we love owning Riviera and know we will make great memories there with our little kiddos.

We broke our contract into smaller contracts to ensure ease of selling in the future. It was a very little extra in closing cost and totally worth it. Smaller contracts resell easier.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[Sandisw]

If someone never uses the GW they haven't paid extra for anything. When they cancel the GW they get all the points to use elsewhere. They really only pay extra when they use it because of the 10% premium in number of points for the GW (whether or not it actually ends up being a premium can change as you mentioned).

OMG...that is right...no idea what I was thinking!!

 

[Jimmy Geppetto]

Also, when buying direct, is Disney willing to negotiate on price, if so, do they budge much? I’ve always been locked into buying resale, and I probably still am, so I haven’t spent time researching a direct buy. Apologize if answers to my questions have been addressed in other threads.

They do not budge on price whatsoever.

As for Fixed Week (FW), there is no down side really. You can cancel the fixed week and the points go back into your account to use as you please. However, if you keep the FW, it is set at a 10% point premium. So for example, if the week you want is normally 150 points, then you have to buy a contract for 165 points with that week being “fixed”. If you use that week… it takes the entire 165 points. If you cancel that week, you have 165 points to use as you please at RIV or any other resort, of course with the typical booking windows (7 vs 11 month).

 

[Jimmy Geppetto]

They do not budge on price whatsoever.

As for Fixed Week (FW), there is no down side really. You can cancel the fixed week and the points go back into your account to use as you please. However, if you keep the FW, it is set at a 10% point premium. So for example, if the week you want is normally 150 points, then you have to buy a contract for 165 points with that week being “fixed”. If you use that week… it takes the entire 165 points. If you cancel that week, you have 165 points to use as you please at RIV or any other resort, of course with the typical booking windows (7 vs 11 month).

EDIT: Just to clarify…when I say “cancel” I mean for that particular year. Once you purchase a contract with a FW, you have it for the life of the contract. You can cancel it each year if you’d like, but it will be attached to the contract and the deed.

 

[CVTmarie23]

If you love Riviera, buy Riviera. Many folks on the boards are value-minded, and resale will save most buyers thousands of dollars. But, I also know DISboards wisdom is: buy where you want to stay.

I did months of research, read the boards, and toured the resorts we were interested in buying. I never thought I would want Riviera due to resale restrictions—then we toured and fell in love.

We bought enough points to get a good incentive discount. While we enjoy staying at different locations, we always want to stay at Riviera once a year, and we like studios. If you want a studio at Riviera, especially a Std, you have to own there.

We plan to add on resale in the future, but we love owning Riviera and know we will make great memories there with our little kiddos.

We broke our contract into smaller contracts to ensure ease of selling in the future. It was a very little extra in closing cost and totally worth it. Smaller contracts resell easier.

Good luck with your decision!

Thanks, this is our current line of thinking. I didn't expect to love riveria as much as I did. While we do enjoy mk resorts right now, our favorite park is Epcot so we really value the skyliner access. I'd say we would definitely book riveria at least once a year at 11 months for 4-5 nights and maybe more. Like in the next few years we are planning with our of state family so we definitely will.

We just need to decide if its worth it to buy 300 points to get the best value price in points. 178pp. Or do a smaller contract direct and add on with resale.

 

[Paul Stupin]

They do not budge on price whatsoever.

As for Fixed Week (FW), there is no down side really. You can cancel the fixed week and the points go back into your account to use as you please. However, if you keep the FW, it is set at a 10% point premium. So for example, if the week you want is normally 150 points, then you have to buy a contract for 165 points with that week being “fixed”. If you use that week… it takes the entire 165 points. If you cancel that week, you have 165 points to use as you please at RIV or any other resort, of course with the typical booking windows (7 vs 11 month).

Wasn’t aware of the specifics surrounding fixed weeks, but there does seem like there could be a downside. Weeks during busy times, for which people buy fixed weeks, are certainly more difficult to book if you don‘t have an FW, but not impossible, especially if you walk the reservation. But with a fixed week, aren't you forever doomed to pay 10% more points for the duration of the contract for that week? Or do the point charts change enough over the years so that the fixed weeks ultimately represent savings? And if they do, how many years does it take for the points required for your particular week to rise over your purchase price so you begin to break even?

Of course, buyers of FWs are paying for the convenience, which of course makes sense. I’d consider buying one as well if I always travelled during a time like Christmas week. But here’s another question. What if I owned a FW, but decided one year that I wanted to book my FW, but didn’t want to pay the premium? So I book my week two months early and walk the reservation to my particular fixed week? Would the system recognize what I was doing and still charge me 10% extra in points?

Again, don’t mean to criticize fixed weeks, I totally understand why they work for a lot of DVC owners. But since I’ve never bought one, I am curious about some of the details!

 

[DVChris]

I found this thread very helpful in learning about fixed weeks. There are several other threads that you can search for on this site:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/all-about-fixed-weeks-riv-ccv-aul-vgf-poly-charts.3806985/

 

[JETSDAD]

Wasn’t aware of the specifics surrounding fixed weeks, but there does seem like there could be a downside. Weeks during busy times, for which people buy fixed weeks, are certainly more difficult to book if you don‘t have an FW, but not impossible, especially if you walk the reservation. But with a fixed week, aren't you forever doomed to pay 10% more points for the duration of the contract for that week? Or do the point charts change enough over the years so that the fixed weeks ultimately represent savings? And if they do, how many years does it take for the points required for your particular week to rise over your purchase price so you begin to break even?

Of course, buyers of FWs are paying for the convenience, which of course makes sense. I’d consider buying one as well if I always travelled during a time like Christmas week. But here’s another question. What if I owned a FW, but decided one year that I wanted to book my FW, but didn’t want to pay the premium? So I book my week two months early and walk the reservation to my particular fixed week? Would the system recognize what I was doing and still charge me 10% extra in points?

Again, don’t mean to criticize fixed weeks, I totally understand why they work for a lot of DVC owners. But since I’ve never bought one, I am curious about some of the details!

If point charts increase for the time that someone has a GW then they can actually end up saving points. If points required decrease then the premium could essentially be higher than 10%. If the room ends up being available at 11 months they could also just cancel and book it with the points, freeing up the difference (if there is one). The 10% premium is based on the first year, it doesn't change. So if a room required 150 points you would have to buy 165 points and that's what the auto booking would always take.

 

[brazzledazzler]

If you love Riviera, buy Riviera. A lot of folks on the boards are value-minded, and resale will save most buyers thousands of dollars. But, I also know DISboards wisdoms is: buy where you want to stay.

I did months of research, I read the boards, and I toured the resorts we were interested in buying. I never thought I would want Riviera due to resale restrictions—then we toured and fell in love.

We bought enough points to get a good incentive discount. While we are enjoying staying at different locations, we always want to stay at Riviera once a year and we like studios. If you want a studio at Riviera, especially a Std, you have to own.

In the future we plan to add-on resale, but we love owning Riviera and know we will make great memories there with our little kiddos. Good luck in your decision!

Thanks, this is our current line of thinking. I didn't expect to love riveria as much as I did. While we do enjoy mk resorts right now, our favorite park is Epcot so we really value the skyliner access. I'd say we would definitely book riveria at least once a year at 11 months for 4-5 nights and maybe more. Like in the next few years we are planning with our of state family so we definitely will.

We just need to decide if its worth it to buy 300 points to get the best value price in points. 178pp. Or do a smaller contract direct and add on with resale.

If you can afford more points, buy them. I think it depends on your travel plans and accommodations.

We live in Tampa Bay (driving distance), and only stay for 2-4 nights. We were primarily interested in studios for now. But, we wanted the flexibility of 1-2 bedrooms if we bring other family one day. We bought enough points to have options.

We bought what we could afford and might plan to add-on at another resort for 11-month advantage. We shall see!

I will say, DVC is meant for vacation planners. If you are primarily looking for rooms at the last minute or 2-3 months ahead, DVC isn’t a great fit. You can usually find 2 nights somewhere, but it’s stressful and not guaranteed. That’s my 2 cents.

 

[Paul Stupin]

I found this thread very helpful in learning about fixed weeks. There are several other threads that you can search for on this site:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/all-about-fixed-weeks-riv-ccv-aul-vgf-poly-charts.3806985/

Very useful! Thanx!

 

[RoseGold]

In my view, if you're buying Riviera you need to be using the 11 month advantage.

For people who want to run out the clock and have someone to leave RIV to, I think there's a good argument to buy RIV for sleeparound points. My biggest problem with RIV is the exit strategy. If you never plan to exit, that doesn't matter.

 

[havoc315]

We took a tour today of the bwv today and they sent us to riveria which we fell in love with. We are still waiting on details but buying direct 300 points at riveria gave the biggest discount on price per point ($178pp).

We had the intention to purchase resale contracts but have been hesitant because of the restrictions and not being able to stay at the riveria.

We have 3 young children and are 2 hours away. We usually rent points and stay in studios at the poly because of the room sizes. We have done 1 bedrooms and will probably start booking those more as the kids get older.

I know we could save a significant amount by purchasing resale but I don't love the idea of not being able to stay at the riveria or other future resorts. Other resales we have looked at had prices of 150-170/point (we haven't looked much) so it doesn't seem like a huge huge jump for this particular incentive.

If we decided to rent points out that we wouldn't use, is that hard to do? What kind of prices can you get for them? We really like the riveria and are ok paying more for that incentive but i was so set on doing a resale that this feels like I am missing something.

You're not missing anything. If you plan to own for at least 15+ years, the direct pricing on Riviera is a great option. I'd much rather pay $178 for Riviera than $150+ for a resort whose contract expires sooner and with restrictions on the use of the points.
Ease of renting points -- Depends how far in advance you rent them out. And you won't necessarily be able to rent out every point. If someone wants to rent 294 of your 300 points, you're not going to be able to find anyone to take the remaining 6.
But if you put them out on the rental market far before they expire, you can always find a taker. Prices of $15 to $20 per point.

 

[swaysui]

How do you get the $500 referral credit for new purchases?

 

[sjdrr1313]

Thanks, this is our current line of thinking. I didn't expect to love riveria as much as I did. While we do enjoy mk resorts right now, our favorite park is Epcot so we really value the skyliner access. I'd say we would definitely book riveria at least once a year at 11 months for 4-5 nights and maybe more. Like in the next few years we are planning with our of state family so we definitely will.

We just need to decide if its worth it to buy 300 points to get the best value price in points. 178pp. Or do a smaller contract direct and add on with resale.

If you bought a smaller contract and then add on resale, would you buy the resale contract at a different resort? Just remember if you buy resale Riviera that can ONLY be used at Riviera, and if you buy somewhere else it can't be used at Riviera at all. Maybe if you know there are certain weeks you'd definitely book riviera at 11 months, buy enough direct to cover that and then buy the rest at a less expensive resort and plan on trying the other resorts out with those points. I 100% love Riviera too, I just worry about if I ever need to sell the contract down the line that it will be harder to sell due to the resale restrictions. I am waiting on ROFR on a SSR contract, but now you have me wanting to look more into the incentives for buying higher point amounts direct...lol. If Disney takes my contract I don't think I can go through all this waiting again, and then know that I'll still have to wait even more for closing and membership and then points...

 

[Lorana]

Again, don’t mean to criticize fixed weeks, I totally understand why they work for a lot of DVC owners. But since I’ve never bought one, I am curious about some of the details!

The link provided is great to follow and read as it gives a ton of info about FWs. But to answer your questions for anyone on this thread:

But with a fixed week, aren't you forever doomed to pay 10% more points for the duration of the contract for that week? Or do the point charts change enough over the years so that the fixed weeks ultimately represent savings? And if they do, how many years does it take for the points required for your particular week to rise over your purchase price so you begin to break even?

Only if the week never changes in point cost.
Also the cost of the FW is set when the resort first opened and doesn’t change, so as point charts change, you’ll pay less or more.

Part of the reason I bought my FWs at CCV was because Thanksgiving Week (#47) was already at 123 points for the week but the FW only cost 118 to purchase. As of 2023, 2 of my 3 FWs are now less than the cost of the week, and one is equal to. If Disney continues to raise the fall and December charts, my weeks become more valuable.

If you follow the link in the thread above, it has the FW price charts so you can see the costs of existing FWs (if available) vs the cost of the week in 2022 and 2023 point charts.

Of course, buyers of FWs are paying for the convenience, which of course makes sense. I’d consider buying one as well if I always travelled during a time like Christmas week. But here’s another question. What if I owned a FW, but decided one year that I wanted to book my FW, but didn’t want to pay the premium? So I book my week two months early and walk the reservation to my particular fixed week? Would the system recognize what I was doing and still charge me 10% extra in points?

We don’t plan in always traveling during our FWs. In fact we got them to have the option of them in the future, but we have yet to actually use them (we went during Thanksgiving this year, but with family, and so didn’t use the studio). I wanted the guarantee, but since those points otherwise act like any other points, the guarantee was nice to have *should I choose to use it.* I love the idea if we want to go in FW 44, 47 or 48 if not having to walk those weeks or the stress of trying to book them, especially as studios are hard to come by at CCV. And while one could argue we should have gotten them as 1BRs (our preference), we figured that once the kids are grown, we might do studios more often when it’s only the two of us (and I’m not as worried about upgrading to a studio if we want it).

If you decide you don’t want to pay the premium and would rather walk the week, you can do that. Disney will see the existing reservation and determine you opted out for the year. You will not get charged the premium if you make the reservation, so it’s a valid option to cancel out and book your own.