The Official Riviera Owners & Info Thread

[arich35]

I assume the rooms that face the walkway towards Caribbean Beach is standard? We haven't gotten a room over there yet but that is the only view I really wouldn't enjoy. We typically request high floor facing Epcot for standard view, great view. We had a 1 bedroom in December last year that you could see Spaceship Earth from the bed all lit up at night.
We stayed in a preferred view once and it was over the quiet pool and it was really nice too but not worth the extra points IMO

 

[airjay75]

I assume the rooms that face the walkway towards Caribbean Beach is standard? We haven't gotten a room over there yet but that is the only view I really wouldn't enjoy. We typically request high floor facing Epcot for standard view, great view. We had a 1 bedroom in December last year that you could see Spaceship Earth from the bed all lit up at night.
We stayed in a preferred view once and it was over the quiet pool and it was really nice too but not worth the extra points IMO

Pretty sure that is preferred. Basically, if you have a view of the water from your room, whether that is the pond on the west side of the resort facing the Skyliner, the center "U" of the backside of the resort or a view, or the lake/pond on the east side of the resort, you are in a preferred room.

 

[byurick]

 

[RuntheMouse]

Just a random thought, but what's everyone's opinion on preferred views vs. resort views? I have my first preferred view stay coming up in May. I don't want to have any preconceived opinions about it before the stay, but after three consecutive resort view stays and firework views, its hard to imagine the grass is greener!

We prefer the resort view rooms. We enjoy fireworks views from our balcony and are rarely in the parks that late anymore so it’s nice to see them. Also, really like that those rooms face North so the sun isn’t cooking you when you’re trying to enjoy the balcony.

We had the dreaded east side facing the CBR retention pond preferred room location once. Not of fan of that location.

 

[arich35]

Pretty sure that is preferred. Basically, if you have a view of the water from your room, whether that is the pond on the west side of the resort facing the Skyliner, the center "U" of the backside of the resort or a view, or the lake/pond on the east side of the resort, you are in a preferred room.

I would be pretty pissed if that was my room and I booked preferred.

 

[airjay75]

I would be pretty pissed if that was my room and I booked preferred.

I agree. TBH, I have started to view resort vs. preferred distinction at RIV as primarily a way to preserve low point rooms for RIV owners. If you have the choice between resort and preferred when booking, I personally can't justify the points for a preferred view even if it is the central U of the resort (which might be worth a small premium). But, resort views are more difficult to book if you aren't an owner, and preferred view availability can remain well into the 7-month booking window for most rooms.

 

[muppets3d]

I agree. TBH, I have started to view resort vs. preferred distinction at RIV as primarily a way to preserve low point rooms for RIV owners. If you have the choice between resort and preferred when booking, I personally can't justify the points for a preferred view even if it is the central U of the resort (which might be worth a small premium). But, resort views are more difficult to book if you aren't an owner, and preferred view availability can remain well into the 7-month booking window for most rooms.

I would have done the point allocation totally differently if they put me in charge, but they didn't and this is the reality we have. I think the preferred view is a waste of points at Riviera. Even the central U area which is beautiful isn't worth the large points premium for preferred view to me. I wish, at a minimum, they would make the section of the resort on the west wing facing the Skyliner resort view as well to make them easier to book.

 

[jennypenny]

I've said it before and I'll say it again (not that DVC is listening lol), there should be 3 view categories at RR so a lake/courtyard view is guaranteed and the parking lot view towards the port cochere that faces nothing is guaranteed (and maybe add first and second floor standard view rooms into that category). I'd pay preferred (and even higher) to be guaranteed a view of the main courtyard, and I'd like to know if I'm opting to use fewer points whether I'm getting a view towards epcot or a view of nothing but parking lot or bonnet creek. I like BLT's view structure.

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

I've said before and I'll say it again (not that DVC is listening lol), there should be 3 view categories at RR so a lake/courtyard view is guaranteed and the parking lot view towards the port cochere that faces nothing is guaranteed (and maybe add first and second floor standard view rooms into that category). I'd pay preferred (and even higher) to be guaranteed a view of the main courtyard, and I'd like to know if I'm opting to use fewer points whether I'm getting a view towards epcot or a view of nothing but parking lot or bonnet creek. I like BLT's view structure.

How can they adjust points for views when they sell FWs of said views? Anyone know? Is it a non-issue?

 

[airjay75]

How can they adjust points for views when they sell FWs of said views? Anyone know? Is it a non-issue?

I don’t know the ins and outs of what they can and can’t adjust - I’m not sure if they can create a new room view category - I know they can move rooms from one category to the other. If she has time, @Sandisw may have a more precise answer.

All that said, I’ve got to think it is mostly a non-issue at this point. RIV has been around since 2019 and I would think that if they’d received enough complaints to warrant significant changes, it would have happened by now. I think the Poly Island Tower is another story. My guide acknowledged on a July tour that they had received a fair number of complaints about some of the views in the rooms. I think there is a decent chance there rooms get moved to different categories there since it just opened.

 

[Tatebeck]

How can they adjust points for views when they sell FWs of said views? Anyone know? Is it a non-issue?

I don’t know the ins and outs of what they can and can’t adjust - I’m not sure if they can create a new room view category - I know they can move rooms from one category to the other. If she has time, @Sandisw may have a more precise answer.

All that said, I’ve got to think it is mostly a non-issue at this point. RIV has been around since 2019 and I would think that if they’d received enough complaints to warrant significant changes, it would have happened by now. I think the Poly Island Tower is another story. My guide acknowledged on a July tour that they had received a fair number of complaints about some of the views in the rooms. I think there is a decent chance there rooms get moved to different categories there since it just opened.

They can make a third booking category. They did it for BWV for the guaranteed BW view rooms.

They never fully sell out of fixed weeks, they just sell them up to a self imposed limit of I believe around 35% of a room type/view. So unless they are trying to shift a major amount of rooms (well over half of a view type would be required), they should still be able to do it without many problems. There could be some weeks that, if they were popular with FW buyers, would be hard to book with regular points though.

 

[Brian Noble]

Points can be adjusted despite the presence of fixed weeks. That's why those carry a 10% premium and are limited to ~1/3 of inventory for any use-day. If you use your automatically booked FW, it consumes all points associated with that contract, whether or not the point values change. If you opt out of your FW in any given year, you can use those points to book based on the then-current point chart.

I know they can move rooms from one category to the other.

There is some disagreement about this. They have done this in the past, but it is not clear they are allowed to.

The plain language wording of the various resort POSes states that adjustments cannot change the total Home Vacation Point values associated with a "Unit". And, as far as I know, most of the Units at RIV include only Resort or Preferred views, but not both. For example (if I am reading the diagram correctly) only Unit 1C has both Views; all of the others are either all Resort or all Preferred. So, I would think that they cannot reallocate across view definitions without violating the "Unit Total Cannot Change" requirement.

The other resort POSes also have this language, but Disney has apparently violated it by e.g. reallocating between "regular" SSR buildings and the treehouses, as well as reclassiifying views at AKV and BLT. In those cases, the total points in the resort were held constant, but the total points for some Units did change. I think most of us believe that the POS forbade Disney from doing this, but in most of those cases, the changes were viewed by the Membership at large as "reasonable" and so no one really made a fuss over it. Probably the one that caused the most consternation was the Treehouses, which were originally sold as equal to 2BRs in point requirements, but later raised.

The RIV POS also has one other way it differs from some of the others. It lists the maximum reallocation values for the views separately. The "maximum reallocation" value is the value per night of a particular type of accommodation if there were no seasonal or day-of-week differences. For example, the maximum reallocaiton value for a Resort Studio (called Standard in the POS) is 20 points per night; for a Preferred Studio it is 25. This suggests that DVC views those as completely separate things.

Contrast that to e.g. BLT's POS. It does not call out views seperately but simply lists "Studios" as 15ppn under maximum reallocation. In fact, I assumed RIV's worked the same way until I went looking for maximum reallocation values a couple of days ago. I was very surprised to see them broken out by view.

Caveat: I am neither a lawyer, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn last night.

They can make a third booking category. They did it for BWV for the guaranteed BW view rooms.

But this did not change the point values of those rooms, so it could not have violated the Unit restriction. Boardwalk and P/G are the same point values, they just have different labels. This is the same thing they did at OKW when they created the HH category. So, they could create e.g. a "Skyliner" view out of that wing of the Preferred rooms, but if they followed the BWV/OKW precedent, it would still have the same point values as Preferred. IMO, all that would accomplish is further fragmenting the inventory, making one thing much harder to book.

Edited to add: I got the POS copies from here:
https://dvcfieldguide.com/public

 

[airjay75]

Points can be adjusted despite the presence of fixed weeks. That's why those carry a 10% premium and are limited to ~1/3 of inventory for any use-day. If you use your automatically booked FW, it consumes all points associated with that contract, whether or not the point values change. If you opt out of your FW in any given year, you can use those points to book based on the then-current point chart.


There is some disagreement about this. They have done this in the past, but it is not clear they are allowed to.

The plain language wording of the various resort POSes states that adjustments cannot change the total Home Vacation Point values associated with a "Unit". And, as far as I know, most of the Units at RIV include only Resort or Preferred views, but not both. For example (if I am reading the diagram correctly) only Unit 1C has both Views; all of the others are either all Resort or all Preferred. So, I would think that they cannot reallocate across view definitions without violating the "Unit Total Cannot Change" requirement.

The other resort POSes also have this language, but Disney has apparently violated it by e.g. reallocating between "regular" SSR buildings and the treehouses, as well as reclassiifying views at AKV and BLT. In those cases, the total points in the resort were held constant, but the total points for some Units did change. I think most of us believe that the POS forbade Disney from doing this, but in most of those cases, the changes were viewed by the Membership at large as "reasonable" and so no one really made a fuss over it. Probably the one that caused the most consternation was the Treehouses, which were originally sold as equal to 2BRs in point requirements, but later raised.

The RIV POS also has one other way it differs from some of the others. It lists the maximum reallocation values for the views separately. The "maximum reallocation" value is the value per night of a particular type of accommodation if there were no seasonal or day-of-week differences. For example, the maximum reallocaiton value for a Resort Studio (called Standard in the POS) is 20 points per night; for a Preferred Studio it is 25. This suggests that DVC views those as completely separate things.

Contrast that to e.g. BLT's POS. It does not call out views seperately but simply lists "Studios" as 15ppn under maximum reallocation. In fact, I assumed RIV's worked the same way until I went looking for maximum reallocation values a couple of days ago. I was very surprised to see them broken out by view.

Caveat: I am neither a lawyer, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn last night.


But this did not change the point values of those rooms, so it could not have violated the Unit restriction. Boardwalk and P/G are the same point values, they just have different labels. This is the same thing they did at OKW when they created the HH category. So, they could create e.g. a "Skyliner" view out of that wing of the Preferred rooms, but if they followed the BWV/OKW precedent, it would still have the same point values as Preferred. IMO, all that would accomplish is further fragmenting the inventory, making one thing much harder to book.

Edited to add: I got the POS copies from here:
https://dvcfieldguide.com/public

Incredibly helpful and interesting info - thank you for sharing.

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

They can make a third booking category. They did it for BWV for the guaranteed BW view rooms.

They never fully sell out of fixed weeks, they just sell them up to a self imposed limit of I believe around 35% of a room type/view. So unless they are trying to shift a major amount of rooms (well over half of a view type would be required), they should still be able to do it without many problems. There could be some weeks that, if they were popular with FW buyers, would be hard to book with regular points though.

I more so meant - If I purchase a FW associated with a specific view and the that view meaning changes (per the suggestions above) what view type corresponds with my FW, and can you legally change the view in those situations?

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

Points can be adjusted despite the presence of fixed weeks. That's why those carry a 10% premium and are limited to ~1/3 of inventory for any use-day. If you use your automatically booked FW, it consumes all points associated with that contract, whether or not the point values change. If you opt out of your FW in any given year, you can use those points to book based on the then-current point chart.


There is some disagreement about this. They have done this in the past, but it is not clear they are allowed to.

The plain language wording of the various resort POSes states that adjustments cannot change the total Home Vacation Point values associated with a "Unit". And, as far as I know, most of the Units at RIV include only Resort or Preferred views, but not both. For example (if I am reading the diagram correctly) only Unit 1C has both Views; all of the others are either all Resort or all Preferred. So, I would think that they cannot reallocate across view definitions without violating the "Unit Total Cannot Change" requirement.

The other resort POSes also have this language, but Disney has apparently violated it by e.g. reallocating between "regular" SSR buildings and the treehouses, as well as reclassiifying views at AKV and BLT. In those cases, the total points in the resort were held constant, but the total points for some Units did change. I think most of us believe that the POS forbade Disney from doing this, but in most of those cases, the changes were viewed by the Membership at large as "reasonable" and so no one really made a fuss over it. Probably the one that caused the most consternation was the Treehouses, which were originally sold as equal to 2BRs in point requirements, but later raised.

The RIV POS also has one other way it differs from some of the others. It lists the maximum reallocation values for the views separately. The "maximum reallocation" value is the value per night of a particular type of accommodation if there were no seasonal or day-of-week differences. For example, the maximum reallocaiton value for a Resort Studio (called Standard in the POS) is 20 points per night; for a Preferred Studio it is 25. This suggests that DVC views those as completely separate things.

Contrast that to e.g. BLT's POS. It does not call out views seperately but simply lists "Studios" as 15ppn under maximum reallocation. In fact, I assumed RIV's worked the same way until I went looking for maximum reallocation values a couple of days ago. I was very surprised to see them broken out by view.

Caveat: I am neither a lawyer, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn last night.


But this did not change the point values of those rooms, so it could not have violated the Unit restriction. Boardwalk and P/G are the same point values, they just have different labels. This is the same thing they did at OKW when they created the HH category. So, they could create e.g. a "Skyliner" view out of that wing of the Preferred rooms, but if they followed the BWV/OKW precedent, it would still have the same point values as Preferred. IMO, all that would accomplish is further fragmenting the inventory, making one thing much harder to book.

Edited to add: I got the POS copies from here:
https://dvcfieldguide.com/public

Yep - I understand that point charts can change even when FW are present. I meant that if my FW39 is for a Standard view, and they then decide to change what constitutes a Standard View, is that allowed to impact my FW, or will my ‘view’ remain fixed to what it was when I purchased - similar to how my points remain fixed.

FWIW - my only example of this is that my FW at CCV is specifically for a studio + tub - not a shower. So when they messed up my reservation this year and could only (easily) book a room with a shower, I needed to sign off that I was ok with it (I’m assuming bc legally it’s not what I’m entitled to).

So if as a ‘standard view’ owner, I’m expecting one thing and then suddenly the definition of ‘standard view’ changes - makes me think there could be some implications.

(Understanding this is purely hypothetical)

 

[muppets3d]

I more so meant - If I purchase a FW associated with a specific view and the that view meaning changes (per the suggestions above) what view type corresponds with my FW, and can you legally change the view in those situations?

I don't see how this would be possible. It's not like they would abolish a particular view completely. They may reallocate some rooms out of that view, but not all of them.

 

[Brian Noble]

I have no earthly idea. The only resorts that created new booking categories did not also have fixed weeks.

However, I suspect the 35% rule might prevent your hypothetical from being possible---assuming that there is any one week that would be above 35% after such a split/reclassification.