The VGF 2 pricing thread

[DVCRad]

Disney should build a walkway that connects directly to the backside of world showcase from riv

this would increase the value of riv exponentially and I’d argue make riv one of the best hotels location wise in wdw

of course won’t happen but Disney really should make walkways to all hotels given transit really sucks at wdw as a whole

I think a walkway would be fantastic. It would also service caribbean beach. They could even build one over to DHS. But I agree they will never do it. I wonder if it would have been cheaper to build a walkway to those two parks and then one down to AoA. It certainly would be more reliable but then people with mobility issues couldnt use it.

 

[DVCRad]

We’ve also been stranded a few times when the Skyliner shuts down due to a thunderstorm. The worst occurred at around 7 pm at Epcot when we waited 90 minutes in the pouring rain for a bus back to RIV.

A steady stream of buses for other hotels showed up during these 90 minutes. For example, I counted 6 POP buses, another Skyliner hotel. It seemed as if Disney had forgotten about RIV. The line for a RIV bus was incredibly long by the time a bus came. We spoke with a RIV supervisor when we finally got back. She apologized and said they were aware of the screw-up. They were dispatching multiple buses to get everyone back.

The Skyliner shuts down for thunderstorms, which happens frequently during the stormy summer months.

I’ve thought about this before and I wonder if just walking over to Beach Club or Boardwalk and grabbing an Uber would be a good alternative. You could wait in the lobby or eat/shop if it was going to be a long wait.

 

[New Mouse]

Skyliner has major capacity issues at peak times. Other than that, when it works it's great when it doesn't it's not. Disney will never be dynamic enough because they will not eat the costs of what it takes to staff just in case of a closure. They'd rather just apologize and thank you for your kind donation. Even the token pixie dust has been going away with the amount of recent service failures.

 

[Lorana]

DVC sales are not rebounding as quickly as theme park attendance.

That seems right and I don’t find it terribly surprising. I think there’s a huge pent up demand for vacationing, but do consumers have the level of confidence to put down $30k and sign a 50 year contract? I get freaked out thinking about it myself sometimes. We’ve just all been through a really traumatic time period unlike anything else in our lifetime. I think consumer confidence still needs to come back up and we need to get to a more stable place with Covid before DVC sales fully rebound.

I agree with this. The demand to vacation is there, but the demand to spend a lot of money on a timeshare? Not so much.

Also… for new-to-Disney/DVC guests, the question will also be: is Disney worth it?

I’m a huge Disney fan. We were engaged there then married there. Our kids first vacation was there. We’re about to take 50 people down to celebrate our 20th anniversary.

But… this Disney is not the same Disney we fell in love with. I have a lot of friends who have been taking trips to Disney this year, and a lot of them are not coming back wowed. A lot of entertainment is still missing. Things that were free are costing money (and a lot of it). Food prices have gone up, portion sizes gone down. Crowds are crazy. Chapek may be crowing at the earnings meeting about how much money the parks are making now, but it’s a short-sighted view. How many of these people will be *back* after the experience you delivered them?

That’s one signal I think DVC sales is sending: they won’t be. Yes, consumer confidence is low. But I also think Disney isn’t giving that same magical experience that made us all want to buy in to the Magic. And quite honestly, while my husband and I wanted for decades to buy into DVC, we could afford to for so long… and when we finally did, it was partly because we felt Disney was pricing us out and DVC (with the AP discounts) was the way for us to keep going. And now we’re DVC and feel they’re still pricing us out, lol.

I love Disney, and we’ll keep coming back. But our trip in December felt like we were being nickled and dimed around every corner. We used to tell friends and family that Disney may be expensive but you get your money’s worth - good food and large portions, great entertainment and service, great experiences and memories. But lately we haven’t felt that you get your moneys worth. Sometimes it feels like Chapek is banking on nostalgia. And he’s not wrong. It’s one of the things that keeps us coming back. And the thing that makes us keep holding out in the hopes that this is temporary and Disney will be back to making Magic the way they used to in a year or two.

And I think - aside from consumer confidence - that’s one reason why sales aren’t doing better.

And when I land on Friday, I hope Disney proves me wrong and the Magic is alive and well.

 

[Sandisw]

How often (if ever) have you been staying and had the skyliner unavailable to you? This is my biggest concern with the skyliner. But it might seem like there’s more problems than there are. Not like anyone is going to post a story saying “the skyliner ran perfectly today with no problems!”

One thing I do like about the skyliner is that the stop at Epcot is at the international gateway which I much prefer to use for an Epcot entrance. You all have me second guessing my upcoming VGF2 purchase and are making me consider Riviera

I have stayed at RIV more than half a dozen times in the last year. It went down once for a few hours on one trip. The rest of the trips had no issues.

So, I have not experienced the down time But when it was down, they had buses coming ever 5 minutes for those two parks while we waited for an MK bus.

 

[Ruttangel]

And when I land on Friday, I hope Disney proves me wrong and the Magic is alive and well.

We haven't been able to travel since Aug 2019 and I'm worried that Aug 2022 could be nowhere near as good. I hope I find some magic still left, hope you do too

 

[SusieQ93]

of course won’t happen but Disney really should make walkways to all hotels given transit really sucks at wdw as a whole

As someone who loves walking, I agree. Any time I can rely on my own two feet is a huge plus.

 

[SusieQ93]

I’ve thought about this before and I wonder if just walking over to Beach Club or Boardwalk and grabbing an Uber would be a good alternative. You could wait in the lobby or eat/shop if it was going to be a long wait.

That would normally be what I would do 100%. Now that we have a baby, the Uber solution (which we used to rely on frequently) isn’t so feasible. I know you can get Ubers with car seats, but I don’t know how often they’re available or if I’d feel comfortable with that. So we’re going to be reliant on Disney transportation for some time now.

 

[BeachClub2014]

Disney should build a walkway that connects directly to the backside of world showcase from riv

this would increase the value of riv exponentially and I’d argue make riv one of the best hotels location wise in wdw

of course won’t happen but Disney really should make walkways to all hotels given transit really sucks at wdw as a whole

This would be awesome.

 

[nuhusky123]

This would be awesome.

Put the entrance next to Germany, looks like space on either side. Would be such an amazing amenity

 

[Jwaire]

Put the entrance next to Germany, looks like space on either side. Would be such an amazing amenity

They spent a fortune to build the walking path between Grand Floridian and Magic Kingdom, so it's not out of the realm of possibility. But I don't think it's coming anytime soon. The road leading into Riviera is Esplanade Ave. Maybe they considered it?

 

[BeachClub2014]

They spent a fortune to build the walking path between Grand Floridian and Magic Kingdom, so it's not out of the realm of possibility. But I don't think it's coming anytime soon. The road leading into Riviera is Esplanade Ave. Maybe they considered it?

They could offset the cost by selling all of us RIV owners special paver bricks!

 

[nuhusky123]

They would need to build a bridge, security station and walking path plus a ticket entrance

wouldnt be cheap but wow this would result in a quick sell out of riv. Would also allow dis to increase cash rates in my view five min walking path into Epcot. Wow

major selling point in my view.

 

[Chuck96]

If my wife could walk from RIV into Germany (her favorite WS location), we'd be buying RIV direct tonight. And one of BeachClub2014's bricks! For each of us.

 

[Lorana]

They could offset the cost by selling all of us RIV owners special paver bricks!

I laugh, but I totally would buy one...

 

[RoseGold]

At the time RIV was being built, there were a lot of rumblings about an on-site, luxury Epcot hotel. That makes more sense to me than insanely expensive bridges over a major road and an extra entrance mostly for CB, a moderate resort.

 

[BeachClub2014]

At the time RIV was being built, there were a lot of rumblings about an on-site, luxury Epcot hotel. That makes more sense to me than insanely expensive bridges over a major road and an extra entrance mostly for CB, a moderate resort.

I guess if we had to settle for a whole new luxury resort attached to Epcot then that wouldn't be the worst thing that we had to endure.

 

[SusieQ93]

I’m a huge Disney fan. We were engaged there then married there. Our kids first vacation was there. We’re about to take 50 people down to celebrate our 20th anniversary.

we got engaged and married at Disney World too! And our son’s first vacation will be Disneyland in November. Congratulations on your 20th anniversary! I hope you guys have a wonderful time!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I’ve thought about this before and I wonder if just walking over to Beach Club or Boardwalk and grabbing an Uber would be a good alternative. You could wait in the lobby or eat/shop if it was going to be a long wait.

We ubered from Riv to Boardwalk one evening. Upcharge as there happened to be few around then which would happen during a busy time. Almost $30.

 

[Lorana]

we got engaged and married at Disney World too! And our son’s first vacation will be Disneyland in November. Congratulations on your 20th anniversary! I hope you guys have a wonderful time!

Thank you!! This will technically be our midpoint between our 20th and our 21st (this trip was postponed twice!), but we're so excited to be going. Especially given the snow and single digit temps outside my house right now, lol.

Congrats to you as well!