Riviera or Copper Creek?

[gjdarbo]

I've been spending the last few months deciding how/when to buy into DVC. We're a young couple, no kids yet, looking to stay in studios for the time being during our trips to WDW. I've got some questions for you all.

1. I'm aware of the resale restrictions at Riviera. I don't believe our Disney habits will change much, but I know life happens. We have 3 WDW trips planned for 2020 and we love going, so I know DVC is right for us. I'm going in January so I'm planning on checking out Riviera while I'm there. We've had lunch at Wilderness Lodge (where we did our DVC tour) before and love the resort. My favorite park is MK and hers is Epcot. Any of you out there own at Riviera? How are you liking it so far? We're trying to decide if it's the resort for us.

2. How many points would you recommend starting with? Not particularly interested in the Tower Studios at Riviera, as we would more likely stay in the Deluxe Studios. I'm thinking of starting with 150 but wanted some opinions on that amount.

3. Do we determine our "use year", or is this assigned to us? This is a concept I still haven't fully researched, but plan to do so - so don't attack me lol. Our big trips would most likely be between Jan-May or Sept-Oct during the slower times (I know it's NEVER slow anymore, but hear me out).

 

[sethschroeder]

I think it comes down to a couple things.

• Do you see yourself affording a 1BR at either of these resorts? That will be important when you have kids.
• On your planned vacation what parks will you spend more time? MK or Epcot/HS? Remember all the new stuff coming and at Epcot/HS studio as well.

I would pick the resort based on the parks you likely will visit more and where you could afford a 1BR.

As far as Use Year I ended up with my larger contract going with April for a normal September/December/January stay. My reasoning is that I can always bank points and would need to know prior to a lock-in anyways. On top of that I have a longer period to walk a reservation.

 

[€lairebear]

our first dvc contract was ccv. We initially bought 150 points and added on another 75 all sight unseen and worst never been to wdw. Thankfully no regrets at all. Even though ccv is not a monorail resort we love ccv and the theming and it felt most like home for us among the mk resorts. We just had our first trip home back in December and stayed in a one bedroom for 10 nights. No complaints service and staff were awesome. Can not wait to return! We sat on the skyliner and toured the riviera and ended up adding on there (175 points). Something which we didn’t anticipate as we just closed on a grand Californian contract (still waiting for points to load) via resale. I have been reading and researching on dvc prior to buying in and more so with Rivera. I feel folks have been more critical and about riviera. We love both Rivera and ccv. The riviera theming is complete opposite of ccv but I love the room layout and the skyliner and enjoy riding it. We have two little ones. Kids love MK and we love Epcot so we have the best of both worlds. There’s also bcv and bwv, although it is great tat those resorts you can walk to two parks that’s not important for us personally. After spending the day at the parks our family rather ride the skyliner and if the skyliner is down we can always use the bus or Uber. Every family looks at purchasing a resort differently and there’s not write or wrong. That’s just our take why we bought Rivera despite the sales restrictions.

 

[€lairebear]

Also I wanted to add if you plan on buying 150 I suggest buying a little more because the add on sickness is real! We added enough for us to be flexible staying in studio or one bedroom. Good luck!

 

[Sandisw]

When do you typically,travel? Having a UY just prior to when you are traveling, gives you extra insurance if you had to cancel or change a trip since you’d still have time to bank points or use up borrowed points before the UY ends.

In terms of resort, you are looking at two completely different styles and vibes. Getting studios at CCV will be harder than at RIV, based on what we currently know,

Both resorts have alternative ways to parks, boat to MK from CCV and Skyliner from RIV to Epcot and HS, so it’s buses for the rest, Each of those is subject to weather so be prepared at times to hav to bus to all the parks.

RiV will make sense to be bought direct but you could buy CCV on the resale market for less than direct, However since you are going about 3 times a year, you can save with the AP discount so direct makes sense,

I debated between the 2 but then realized, especially having talked to my k
adult children, RIV made more sense, Studios and 1 bedrooms are larger, sleep 5, and when Skyliner is up and running..which I think will be 95% of the time..,it gives easy access to so many different options for food and experiences over CCV.

Good luck,

 

[gjdarbo]

our first dvc contract was ccv. We initially bought 150 points and added on another 75 all sight unseen and worst never been to wdw. Thankfully no regrets at all. Even though ccv is not a monorail resort we love ccv and the theming and it felt most like home for us among the mk resorts. We just had our first trip home back in December and stayed in a one bedroom for 10 nights. No complaints service and staff were awesome. Can not wait to return! We sat on the skyliner and toured the riviera and ended up adding on there (175 points). Something which we didn’t anticipate as we just closed on a grand Californian contract (still waiting for points to load) via resale. I have been reading and researching on dvc prior to buying in and more so with Rivera. I feel folks have been more critical and about riviera. We love both Rivera and ccv. The riviera theming is complete opposite of ccv but I love the room layout and the skyliner and enjoy riding it. We have two little ones. Kids love MK and we love Epcot so we have the best of both worlds. There’s also bcv and bwv, although it is great tat those resorts you can walk to two parks that’s not important for us personally. After spending the day at the parks our family rather ride the skyliner and if the skyliner is down we can always use the bus or Uber. Every family looks at purchasing a resort differently and there’s not write or wrong. That’s just our take why we bought Rivera despite the sales restrictions.

Thank you - this is super helpful! I'm happy to know you liked Riviera enough to add on a contract there. We love Wilderness lodge as well but I love the ease of access of getting to HS/Epcot from Riviera.

 

[gjdarbo]

When do you typically,travel? Having a UY just prior to when you are traveling, gives you extra insurance if you had to cancel or change a trip since you’d still have time to bank points or use up borrowed points before the UY ends.

In terms of resort, you are looking at two completely different styles and vibes. Getting studios at CCV will be harder than at RIV, based on what we currently know,

Both resorts have alternative ways to parks, boat to MK from CCV and Skyliner from RIV to Epcot and HS, so it’s buses for the rest, Each of those is subject to weather so be prepared at times to hav to bus to all the parks.

RiV will make sense to be bought direct but you could buy CCV on the resale market for less than direct, However since you are going about 3 times a year, you can save with the AP discount so direct makes sense,

I debated between the 2 but then realized, especially having talked to my k
adult children, RIV made more sense, Studios and 1 bedrooms are larger, sleep 5, and when Skyliner is up and running..which I think will be 95% of the time..,it gives easy access to so many different options for food and experiences over CCV.

Good luck,

Thank you! I'm leaning more towards Riviera right now. Getting to Epcot quickly is a plus, because like you said, it's super easy to get to other food options - and we all know there's a ton of that there! If we had to pick, our preference to travel would most likely be September/October.

 

[gjdarbo]

I think it comes down to a couple things.

• Do you see yourself affording a 1BR at either of these resorts? That will be important when you have kids.
• On your planned vacation what parks will you spend more time? MK or Epcot/HS? Remember all the new stuff coming and at Epcot/HS studio as well.

I would pick the resort based on the parks you likely will visit more and where you could afford a 1BR.

As far as Use Year I ended up with my larger contract going with April for a normal September/December/January stay. My reasoning is that I can always bank points and would need to know prior to a lock-in anyways. On top of that I have a longer period to walk a reservation.

I think we may add on points later. I want to pay cash for the initial buy-in and I know it starts to add up quickly. I'd feel comfortable getting up to 150 to start with. I see us spending more time in Epcot and HS honestly with all the new stuff there right now.

 

[Sandisw]

Thank you! I'm leaning more towards Riviera right now. Getting to Epcot quickly is a plus, because like you said, it's super easy to get to other food options - and we all know there's a ton of that there! If we had to pick, our preference to travel would most likely be September/October.

Then an Aug or Sep UY would be ideal!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Sept-Oct during the slower times

Heads up: October (and even much of September) is not slow for DVC booking. October is actually pretty busy for park volume, plus all the MK early closes makes it far busier than it once was. I'd not count on a CCV studio if you're not booking 11 months out - or a RIV Standard for that matter, although that remains to be seen at sell-out and total declaration.

 

[kboo]

Full disclosure - we own at BLT, VGF and RIV; BLT and VGF were bought ~90% resale. RIV is direct. We did the tour at SSR back in April and looked at CCV villas, agreed they were lovely, but liked RIV better.

Our kids love MK, DH and I love EP and HS, and think that the new things coming to both parks are going to make it even harder to book a resort in the area in the coming years.

No knock on CCV - our kids' favorite casual restaurant is Whispering Canyon and we think the lobby is gorgeous over the holidays, but we are only just now transitioning out of strollers. Also, the 1br only sleeping 4 is a tough one - DH and I each have 1 parent remaining (essentially; my mom can no longer travel). While traveling with my MIL would require us to get a 2br, traveling with my dad we could still make a 5-person 1br work. CCV studios also only sleep 4.

We just returned from a stay in a 1br at RIV and loved it. I thought the rooms were well laid out and anything with a high-ish floor will give you a good view. You'll probably need to own there to get standard. Admittedly the point costs are high compared to CCV, and the overall cost is higher since you can get CCV resale for considerably less (and it would take a long, long time to make up that savings through AP discounts).

If you are thinking of RIV, I would suggest something closer to 200 points - only because if you end up wanting to stay over Xmas, for example, a week in a standard studio is 204 points. In Magic season you could do a standard studio for a week for 160 points, which if you had a 150 point contract you could do with borrowing a small amount.

Another thought might be whether you want to get a guaranteed week in a studio in either resort. Since CCV is "sold out" it might be hard to find a guaranteed week - it is probably still easier to do at RIV but still might not be worth the cost for you. Ultimately, though, you should look at the rooms and the resorts and decide which resort you like better. After our recent stay, we find that we actually prefer RIV over BLT and VGF, though that may change again after VGF's soft goods refurb and the walking path to MK.

 

[zavandor]

I would buy 100 point direct at RIV with a September UY. This will give you direct benefits for the AP discount.
Then 100 point resale at CCV with a Feb UY. This will give you two UY to work with. It's a bit more complicated to use, you'd have to use the two memberships for different stays, but you'd have home resort advantage at two resorts instead of one and UYs that work for your travel habits.

 

[zakdavid]

I've been spending the last few months deciding how/when to buy into DVC. We're a young couple, no kids yet, looking to stay in studios for the time being during our trips to WDW. I've got some questions for you all.

1. I'm aware of the resale restrictions at Riviera. I don't believe our Disney habits will change much, but I know life happens. We have 3 WDW trips planned for 2020 and we love going, so I know DVC is right for us. I'm going in January so I'm planning on checking out Riviera while I'm there. We've had lunch at Wilderness Lodge (where we did our DVC tour) before and love the resort. My favorite park is MK and hers is Epcot. Any of you out there own at Riviera? How are you liking it so far? We're trying to decide if it's the resort for us.

2. How many points would you recommend starting with? Not particularly interested in the Tower Studios at Riviera, as we would more likely stay in the Deluxe Studios. I'm thinking of starting with 150 but wanted some opinions on that amount.

3. Do we determine our "use year", or is this assigned to us? This is a concept I still haven't fully researched, but plan to do so - so don't attack me lol. Our big trips would most likely be between Jan-May or Sept-Oct during the slower times (I know it's NEVER slow anymore, but hear me out).

My travel pattern is very similar to yours and I went with a September use year for a lot of the reasons folks already posted. Riviera direct and poly via resale.

 

[hamilkm]

I agree with what some others have said. Riviera seems like a good fit for you. I really wanted to purchase an add on there, but ended up going with AKL resale for my add on. I got 35 more points and saved a thousand dollars too.

We own at CC. We love the resort, but not that the studios and 1 BR only sleep 4. We honestly may end up selling it as kids get older. Right now it will still work for us as long as grandpa stays home.

Our other home is the Poly. That is another resort I wold look at if I were you. It has great MK access and monorail access to Epcot. Plus walking to the TTC to get on the Epcot monorail saves so much time vs the other MK resorts. Studios there also sleep 5 and have a second bathroom, so this makes it work well for when kids come along.

I would buy 100 points direct riviera and 100 points resale at the Poly.

 

[Kerrie T]

I stumbled on your post as I am doing my own research on the two resorts. I am wondering if you made a move in either direction?

 

[gjdarbo]

I stumbled on your post as I am doing my own research on the two resorts. I am wondering if you made a move in either direction?

We are actually at Aulani on our honeymoon right now and after weeks of research we bought 150 points at Riviera yesterday! I stopped by Riviera at end of January on our last trip and really loved the resort, more than Copper Creek actually. We are very excited!!

 

[Kerrie T]

We are actually at Aulani on our honeymoon right now and after weeks of research we bought 150 points at Riviera yesterday! I stopped by Riviera at end of January on our last trip and really loved the resort, more than Copper Creek actually. We are very excited!!

Awesome! Congrats! I am on the cusp of Riviera right now myself!

 

[gjdarbo]

Awesome! Congrats! I am on the cusp of Riviera right now myself!

The Skyliner really helped sell it. Such a nice quick ride to both parks. Really no wait compared to boat and monorail and that was super important to us.

 

[zakdavid]

The Skyliner really helped sell it. Such a nice quick ride to both parks. Really no wait compared to boat and monorail and that was super important to us.

I second the skyline benefit. One of the main reasons I picked riviera for my add on.

 

[Disneygal22]

our first dvc contract was ccv. We initially bought 150 points and added on another 75 all sight unseen and worst never been to wdw. Thankfully no regrets at all. Even though ccv is not a monorail resort we love ccv and the theming and it felt most like home for us among the mk resorts. We just had our first trip home back in December and stayed in a one bedroom for 10 nights. No complaints service and staff were awesome. Can not wait to return! We sat on the skyliner and toured the riviera and ended up adding on there (175 points). Something which we didn’t anticipate as we just closed on a grand Californian contract (still waiting for points to load) via resale. I have been reading and researching on dvc prior to buying in and more so with Rivera. I feel folks have been more critical and about riviera. We love both Rivera and ccv. The riviera theming is complete opposite of ccv but I love the room layout and the skyliner and enjoy riding it. We have two little ones. Kids love MK and we love Epcot so we have the best of both worlds. There’s also bcv and bwv, although it is great tat those resorts you can walk to two parks that’s not important for us personally. After spending the day at the parks our family rather ride the skyliner and if the skyliner is down we can always use the bus or Uber. Every family looks at purchasing a resort differently and there’s not write or wrong. That’s just our take why we bought Rivera despite the sales restrictions.

I love rivera too, I am thinking of adding a contract.. do you recommend purchasing a rivera contract??