Riviera question

[Yojenitan]

I think Epcot fans will love being able to buy an "Epcot Resort" that doesn't expire in 20 years, especially if they put some good restaurants and a high end pool in place. I also think the location relative to SW:GE will also be a selling point for some people. But will it have the popularity of VGF and Poly? I don't think so.

This is me. We love staying at BCV and because it's so hard to get in there (my 7 month window is today for February and availability for BCV was gone two days ago for our week), we were going to buy points just to be able to guarantee a split stay. I couldn't care any less about Star Wars, I very likely will stay far, far away from HS once it opens. But I would love a chance to be so close to Epcot. It's our absolute favorite park. If Riviera is even half as beautiful as Poly, I'll be purchasing there.

Edit: Also, I don't know if Poly has the same popularity as BCV or VGF... Right now, my entire stay is available for Poly, both Standard and Lakeview. And there's no days at all for BCV.

 

[DenLo]

Coronado is not going to be DVC.

I didn't bring up Coronado the disneymac did. I know it won't be DVC. disneymac seemed to imply it was on the Skyliner route with it's new 500 room tower.

 

[Bing Showei]

I couldn't care any less about Star Wars, I very likely will stay far, far away from HS once it opens.

In a galaxy far, far away?

 

[Donna M]

Disney wouldn't be investing the money in a transportation system that won't be used when it's hot, or can't be used in the daily storms. They had to have done their research, there is too much at stake. And if they go down, stop working, the buses will appear.

We choose our future stay based on what the resort has to offer in term of amenities; a great pool, restaurants, entertainment, and especially the comfort of the room and extras it contains. It sounds like Rivera plans to be on par with VGF. We'll be staying, but not buying points. The gondolas will be fun, but we rent a car.

 

[micheleq]

FWIW we were in the DVC lounge on 7/4 and got chatting with CM John about the Riviera. I asked him if any new pictures or schematics would be coming soon, he said he didn’t think so. He proceeded to tell myself and DH that this resort would be the most luxurious of all DVC resorts and that starting price would be $182 pp, and probably quickly hit $200 pp!

Who knows if it’s all smoke and mirrors, but I’ll be curious to see what information is released next. We own at VGF and I’d like an Epcot area resort as an add on. BWV resale is my first option, but I’d consider a small add on at Riviera if it’s as luxe as they promise.

As for the gondolas, in looking at the construction, they are around 30 feet off the ground. Not too crazy high! That made it seem less terrifying to me (I hate heights!).

 

[Ed597]

For some people, every possible scenario involving the Skyliner system ends with "and then we're all gonna die!"

The Skyliner won't have air conditioning so we'll get overheated . . ."and then we're all gonna die!"

The Skyliner loses power, stranding everyone for hours . . ."and then we're all gonna die!"

The Skyliner is hit by lightning, electrocuting everyone . . . "and then we're all gonna die!"

The Skyliner is hit by high winds, knocking down the gondolas . . ."and then we're all gonna die!"

And one of my favorite scenarios,
The Skyliner unloads so many people at the International Gateway that people will be crushed in the crowds . . ."and then we're all gonna die!"

Yes ! OMG all of those scenarios could come true ! Hopefully not on the same day. I would prefer they just extended the monorail. I do think some people will be nervous during a storm and lightning is a risk, but you should be safe on the inside. Unless it’s some MEGA lightning bolt that blasts right through the roof of a gondola, and something like that could get you on a bus or a monorail it wouldn’t be the gondolas fault. The charge would remain on the outside and passengers would be safe. I just think they don’t look good and take away from the emmersive aspect of the parks. Also I’m not looking forward to crowds at both entrances to Epcot. I don’t remember if it’s going all the way to Animal Kingdom. If not now, that should be it’s next expansion. I think it would be nice to take the monorail from Magic Kingdom to all the other parks. I guess we’ll have to see about the views from the gondolas. I think people will like them. They are sort of a ride and a transportation system. I think the monorail is classic Walt Disney and maybe they can expand it in the future.

 

[Ed597]

Ok, this thread took an interesting turn focusing on air conditioning. I was more concerned about the daily rain storm or break downs discouraging people from wanting to stay at the Riviera, thus further flooding the market with points for a less than desirable resort (in all honesty, it never even dawned on me that they might not be AC...wow). Regardless of whether the gondola is AC, I was thinking about the lack of desire bookings to make this a moderate or deluxe DVC resort. There have been so many conversations here about the 7 month booking window challenges for people the last year.

I can’t wait to see more drawings or a mock-up of a Room! I hope it has the things other people mentioned like a cool roof top restaurant with great views. An awesome pool and watersides would be a good selling point also. Maybe an awesome splash area for kids like Animal Kingdom has. I wonder what kind of accommodations they will have for a large party. Copper Creek has the cabins, Polynesian has the bungalows, other places have the 3 bedroom grand villas? I don’t see an area for separate cabins or bungalow type rooms but who knows? I hope we get some more info soon. Some good French restaurants would be nice, we now have a over abundance of Italian restaurants.

 

[Ed597]

Disney is claiming (what little they are talking about) that Riviera with be a "flagship" DVC property - in other words - luxurious at a high level. They will market the
"less than 5 minute" ride to Epcot and "Less than 10 minute" to DHS, the theme park views of fireworks in TWO parks (Epcot and DHS). With Star Wars land, easy access to DHS will become a much bigger thing.

It will undoubtably have it's own bus that goes to MK, AK, and DS versus sharing with CBR. It also will have a walkway to the gondola that is mere seconds from the building. If you look at the construction aerials on the rumors thread - the gondola station can't be 50 yards from the building and I could see them putting in a covered walkway. Remember, most folks at CBR will need to take a bus or walk 5-10 minutes to get to the gondola, and at Pop/AoA it will be a mostly 5-10 minute walk only. Riviera will be the only station that is being built so close.

However, that said - I agree with the ranking of properties - and would suspect that Riviera will fall somewhere just below BWV in terms of difficulty and popularity - but it will still be VERY popular with the easy access to Epcot and the Boardwalk area. I suspect there will be two point categories - a "standard" and a "theme Park" with the standard being similar number of points to say the BWV/BCV room rates, and the "Theme park" rooms being a 25-35% premium room category. I think Epcot fans will love being able to buy an "Epcot Resort" that doesn't expire in 20 years, especially if they put some good restaurants and a high end pool in place. I also think the location relative to SW:GE will also be a selling point for some people. But will it have the popularity of VGF and Poly? I don't think so.

Disney seems to be going in the direction of high end DeLuxe. I hope the pool area comes in on the Deluxe end and sets the bar a little higher. Same with the restaurants, hopefully they can give California Grill a run for its money. It has potential for great views paired with great food. The rooms will be the modern bland version. But probably still very nice. A combination of nice rooms, great pool, top notch restaurants, close proximity to Epcot and Hollywood, and a new transportation system. It has a lot of potential! We’ll just have to wait and see.

 

[The Jackal]

This is me. We love staying at BCV and because it's so hard to get in there (my 7 month window is today for February and availability for BCV was gone two days ago for our week), we were going to buy points just to be able to guarantee a split stay. I couldn't care any less about Star Wars, I very likely will stay far, far away from HS once it opens. But I would love a chance to be so close to Epcot. It's our absolute favorite park. If Riviera is even half as beautiful as Poly, I'll be purchasing there.

Edit: Also, I don't know if Poly has the same popularity as BCV or VGF... Right now, my entire stay is available for Poly, both Standard and Lakeview. And there's no days at all for BCV.

Poly has a lot of studios. Both VGF and BCV are small resorts. VGF has 147 rooms, BCV has 282 rooms. They have studios, 1 bedroom and 2 bedrooms and VGF has some 3 bedroom Grand Villas. Poly has 380 rooms with 20 of those being Bungalows. Poly has more studios than BCV and VGF combined making it easier to get, for now.

 

[Eastcoast02]

From what I've read Disney has announced the opening date and start of sales roughly 4 months before opening the resort. With an anticipated Fall 2019 opening do you think that is more in line with September or October? In the announcements for Poly and CCV were pictures of the rooms, but I think finished rooms. Did they release concept art before then?

I think I'm caught up with the "what-ifs" of this resort. I'm definitely not wowed by what they've released so far but I'm really dying to see the room layouts and offerings. Give us pics Disney!

 

[zavandor]

From what I've read Disney has announced the opening date and start of sales roughly 4 months before opening the resort. With an anticipated Fall 2019 opening do you think that is more in line with September or October? In the announcements for Poly and CCV were pictures of the rooms, but I think finished rooms. Did they release concept art before then?

I think I'm caught up with the "what-ifs" of this resort. I'm definitely not wowed by what they've released so far but I'm really dying to see the room layouts and offerings. Give us pics Disney!

At the current sales rate, CCV might sell out by the fall. DVC probably want to keep CCV and Riviera both on active sales at the same time for a few months, so they can test different sale messages for Riviera while not hurting the total sales if they don't work as well as they hope.
So I think Riviera will go on sale a bit earlier than the usual lead period for other resorts, we should hear some news soon.

 

[bakerworld]

IMO east Virginia is even hotter and more humid that FL and BG has gondolas. The Gondola being one of the few rides that I can enjoy (there was a total of 4) we waited 20 minutes in line to get on the thing and was that not worth the wait = slow moving but it actually wasn't hot. I read somewhere that once gondolas get moving there is a passive system that kicks in and while I have no idea what that means in the August heat and humidity of Virginia it was a fairly comfortable ride - kinda like the People Mover in MK.

 

[Jack_Sparrow_NJ]

WDW does have some experience when it comes to a gondola system. Back when MK originally opened there was a "Skyride" I remember being on it but don't recall if it had any cooling. I'm not sure why it was dismantled.

 

[Dean]

WDW does have some experience when it comes to a gondola system. Back when MK originally opened there was a "Skyride" I remember being on it but don't recall if it had any cooling. I'm not sure why it was dismantled.

No, it was open air from close to It's a small world to tomorrow land.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

The old-school amusement park gondolas and the average modern Doppelmayr install have very little resemblance to one another.

 

[Bing Showei]

The old-school amusement park gondolas and the average modern Doppelmayr install have very little resemblance to one another.

Agreed. That’s like comparing a horse drawn Amish buggy to a 1986 Chevette... sans A/C option package... with the windows cracked.

 

[js]

Ill be booking an eight night September stay starting September 6 and if open I want to try the Riviera. Unless I can still get a studio or one bedroom at GF, then I may have to wait since I do love it there lol

 

[Duchie]

Interesting.... we're thinking about a September/October trip this year. If Riviera is open by then we may give it a shot.