I decided to put the pros and cons of all the suggestions from this thread.
Pros of Poly
- No resale restrictions
- A lower loss of $$$ if need to sell
- Convenient to MK
- On the monorail loop
- A lot of good food on the Monorail loop
- Lower fee = better SAP
- I already have 160 resale points; this will be less trouble. Just add 150 points and call it a day
- Need 11 months to book a resort view 1-bedroom
Cons of Poly
- Crowded Pools, Lobby, QS
- Not relaxing feel
- High point chart
- No QS at PIT
- Higher PPP
- No GV
- Tourist destination
Pros of Riv
- Convenient to HS and Epcot
- Lots of food options in Epcot
- The quietness of the resort compared to Poly
- All in one building
- Lower PPP
- Has the all-inclusive atmosphere
- Have GV
- Skyliner
- Relaxing feel
- Close to 2 parks
- Not a tourist destination
- Good resort view
- amazing calmness
- Easy to find chairs at Pooly
- Good food at the resort
- Dedicated busses
- 5 minutes to get from any one spot at the resort to another.
Cons of Riv
- Resale restrictions
- A higher loss of $$$ if you need to sell
- Higher fee
- If I like it, I will need to sell my Poly points
- Do not need 11 months to book a 1-bedroom
Let me know if I missed anything!
I might quibble with some of the original "pros"/"cons"
A lot of this is personal opinion and preference. So feel free to disagree.
Also to add on to what others said--
In terms of Poly -
- Pools. I might be one of the first to point out that tourists cycle through the Poly. The lava pool can be busy. But I have never once seen the Oasis pool packed. At most, half full. The crowds at the poly tend to congregate in GCH and by the beach. If you're over in Moorea or Tokelau, you won't notice them much.
- Restaurants: Poly has restaurants I would eat at every day: Cpt. Cooks, Kona's, Wailulu, and I'm going to put Tambu Lounge on here as well, as many times, I've made a meal out of wings and a mai tai. It's far more limited over at Riv. Primo Piatto is great--in my opinion the best resort QS on property. But once you move beyond that you don't have a lot of daily dining options. There's topolino's. As a signature restaurant, that might be a once-per-trip offering for me: plus, the menu is limited. (The tomahawk, if they have it, is fabulous.). And then there's a bar and a coffee shop (also, admittedly, one of the better coffee shops on property). Poly also has once-a-trip dining options, specifically 'Ohana, but it has much more beyond this.
- Views. Except for the lower, (a) backside of the Tower and (b) the parking lot side of Pago, there are no terrible views in
DVC Poly. And with luck, you can avoid these with reservation / check-in requests. The entire back side of RIV is not very commanding in terms of its views.
- Overall vibe. And this is where people can simply disagree on personal preferences. So all is good. Outside of the GCH, I find Poly the most relaxing resort on property. It's beautifully landscaped. Views of Seven Seas Lagoon--which also means views of the fireworks and water pageant. The firework views at RIV pale (oh, look it's that, way over there.). Poly is the one place on the resort loop that rarely has more than a 5 minute line, if that. I cannot think of a single time in the last five years where I had to wait more than one monorail to find a seat. And for me--and this is a personal preference--Poly makes me feel like I'm on vacation--the trees, the architecture, the music. RIV has the vibe of hotels I stay on while on work trips. Again, that's not bad. It's just not the reference point I'm looking for when I'm at Disney.
Again, some of this is personal preference. But I did think the pools, restaurants, grounds, and monorail convenience were being sold short in the first list.
