Why did you buy into Riviera?

[Anakin415]

As a soon to be owner I’m wondering why Riviera owners bought into Riviera? Skyliner, theme, room layout and size, price, dining, location?
Just curious im wondering what the most popular reasons are.

I’m only looking for those that bought or are going to buy at Riviera. NOT WHY YOU ARE NOT BUYING INTO RIVIERA.

1) Residential/Sophisticated/Boutique Hotel Style:
We usually stay at boutique hotels when on vacation (like Langhams, Thompson’s etc.) so we were thrilled that Disney built a more residential boutique style hotel.! A “Touch Of Disney” with quality design, quality f&b & a sense of sophistication all fall into this reason. No other DVC resort fit our aesthetic perfectly. When we spend a “sensory overload day“ at the amazing WDW parks we wanted a place we could really decompress and relax. If they had a spa it would be even more perfect!

2) Syliner to our favorite WDW Parks Epcot and HS. (Lounging poolside with champagne for lunch at Riviera, dinner later that nt at Monsieur Paul & a night cap at Toppolinos Rooftop bar would be a perfect day/nt for us.). Plus we can’t wait for all the upgrades at Epcot!

3)Art History We live in SF and stay in the Left Bank when visiting Paris ...Art is in our soul. (Minor in Art History) So the subtle art theming of the hotel...made it a no brainer for us. Mickey as a painter! Yes!

4) We were Okay with Resale Restrictions: Thanks to DIS Boards and DVC YouTube we knew about the resale restrictions.
But we asked ourselves, “we are not looking to make money on this purchase but looking to make magical memories for 50 years”. Also, we compared this purchase to purchasing our cars....we never thought about making money on the cars. We bought them for their quality, design, safety and luxury. (One car we have owned & drive since 1998.) We look forward to 50 years of ownership and memories as well with Riviera! (PS our DVC Direct Sales Rep was very transparent and disclosed the resale restriction to us.)

5) Great Incentives & Deed Purchase Date/Location;: when we bought our RIV deed (the savings discounts were amazing!) was on Valentine’s Day during our first non-DVC stay at Aulani. Our purchase date and location of where we bought our home resort (Riviera) will always have a special memory for us. We were glad we “pulled the DVC trigger” while on our Valentines/Engagement vacay at Aulani.

6) Room types. As a childless couple the great studio rms are perfect for the two of us ....but will book the larger rm when friends & family want to join us. (Our fave rm is the Deluxe Studio Preferred View.)

7) Firework Rooftop View Bar (Those 4 words all together says it all!)

....many more reason highlighted by others on this post...

We are very happy with our purchase and look forward to meeting others that call the Riviera home! Happy as well that we will be enjoying “joie de vivre” for many years to come!

 

[summerw]

1. Skyliner: reminds me of the one in Disneyland I rode many times as a child and it drops you off closer than any other form of transportation. We stayed at a monorail resort and it was up and down so much at park opening, the communication about it was awful, it’s stuffy inside and I feel like the resort monorail takes forever.

2 The bathrooms!

3 Murphy beds

4 Nostalgia for both the time I lived in Italy and the trip we took while there to the French Riviera.

5 A real quick-service (didn’t love BC’s version)

6 It was for sale with a 50 year contract when we were ready to purchase. So was Copper Creek but I don’t love it the way I love the simple, clean style of Riviera and who wants to deal with the mess with getting a studio the cabins cause—although I wouldn’t be angry staying in a cabin if I had the points. Lol.

 

[Helvetica]

1. 50 Year Contract. I'm 35 now and I'm planning on using all 50 years.
2. Location: I like that it's kind of in the center of Walt Disney World. It has really easy access to DHS and Epcot while it's also not that far away from Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Disney Springs.
3. Resort Layout: I like that it's compact and not super sprawling.
4. Number of Rooms: It only has about 300 rooms. Which makes it one of the smallest resorts on property. Now there are a few DVC resorts that connect to a hotel, like Grand Floridian which has a DVC side of 142 rooms, but it shares amenities with the hotel side which has over 867 rooms. Then you have resorts like Saratoga which has over 1300 rooms. Personally, I really like that Riviera is small.
5. The rooms. I really like the rooms. Especially the one bedrooms. I know that they're subject to change over time, but the size and layout are a huge plus to me.
6. Skyliner. I know it's had problems, but I enjoy it. I think they'll figure it out as they go along. Plus, I hate buses.
7. Aestetics. I know it's not for everyone, but it really suites me quite nicely. I like things that are more neutral at home and it makes me feel at home.
8. Flexibility. I like that I can use my points to visit other resorts. I know that this isn't exclusive to Rivieria people, but I like it all the same. This May I'm going to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge and next year I'm planning on checking out Old Key West for one of my two annual trips.

Overall, I'm happy with my purchase. The resale restrictions bother me and it made me wait longer to buy it than I was originally planning and I only purchased 200 points as opposed to how many I was originally planning on buying. For me, the positives outweighed the negatives.

 

[jarestel]

I’m only looking for those that bought or are going to buy at Riviera. NOT WHY YOU ARE NOT BUYING INTO RIVIERA.

I know I'm violating the premise of your post, but please bear with me.

We stayed at Riviera in January and though we had no plans to purchase add-on points there, we were extremely impressed with the resort, the rooms, Topolino's, and the skyliner transportation. So impressed that we almost pulled the trigger on an add-on. We aren't budget points people (tend to avoid value and standard rooms) so we are certainly willing to spend a few points more for upscale accommodations and, I must say, Riviera was certainly worth the extra points.

In the end, we realized we had enough points already and with retirement looming we didn't want to spend any more on points we didn't really need. But if I were 10 years younger I'm pretty confident I'd be a Riviera owner today!

 

[Punkrockbebop]

Location/Skyliner: Before actually seeing it, I was against the resort because of the location. When we saw it in person, however, location became a big bonus. After staying there in February, it cemented the choice for us. The Skyliner was SUPER efficient and fun to ride, and the dedicated one-resort busses were efficient, as well. We MUCH prefer the skyliner to the busses or the monorail, however.

Rooms: the rooms are very large, spacious, well-appointed and thought out, every room has a balcony and a good view, and the feel is peaceful and quiet. Each room has an entry foyer, which is such a nice feeling upon entering the room.

Quality/Details: We love luxury, and found that every detail is well thought out and the quality is obvious in the details. The money they must have spent on the soundproofing under the carpet, alone, is apparent; we couldn’t even hear each other in the next room. The hardware and fixtures are high end, as are the bathroom soaking tub, shower, marble, etc. Lots of well-thought out data ports and storage.

Restaurants: the food is of a very high quality in every restaurant in the resort, especially Toppolinos. The view from there is fantastic and it would be a great place to meet for drinks. The pool bar is fantastic and was very relaxing to hang out in.

 

[gharter]

I don't get it.
We had reservations at AKL where we own. I kept looking at Riviera as it was somewhere new, where we had not stayed. We also were planning to eat at Toppolinos.
There have been enough cancellations that we could finally reserve there.
Our 4 night, 5 day Savannah view 1Br at AKL is 158 points.
Riviera 1 BR standard is 192 points and comparable preferred view is 232 points.
Those points are not even reasonable.
Even though the roomis available, an easy pass.

 

[pineapplepalms]

I don't get it.
We had reservations at AKL where we own. I kept looking at Riviera as it was somewhere new, where we had not stayed. We also were planning to eat at Toppolinos.
There have been enough cancellations that we could finally reserve there.
Our 4 night, 5 day Savannah view 1Br at AKL is 158 points.
Riviera 1 BR standard is 192 points and comparable preferred view is 232 points.
Those points are not even reasonable.
Even though the roomis available, an easy pass.

I don’t get it.
The name of this thread and OP’s post are very specific. There are many other RIV threads available that are not specifically about why people bought RIV. It would be unfortunate for this one to turn into another one of those.

 

[shelly3girls]

We had no intention of buying more points anywhere but we took a quick trip to Disney two weeks ago when our daughter's international spring break trip was canceled. We had to change rooms one night since we booked the trip with only two days notice so we stopped at Riviera to just see it. It was a total coincidence that a member update was schedule for 15 minutes after we arrived and two hours later we were signing the papers for new points.

1. Room size- as a family of 5 the size of the rooms is very appealing.
2. resort size- we really prefer the boutique feel of the resort
3. location- Epcot is our favorite, we already own BCV but have no idea what will happen in 2042

There are many reasons that we chose to buy but these are the top 3 that made us choose this over buying another resort resale. The Grand Floridian is still on our radar for resale so we will see what happens over the next few months.

 

[The Jackal]

4. Number of Rooms: It only has about 300 rooms. Which makes it one of the smallest resorts on property. Now there are a few DVC resorts that connect to a hotel, like Grand Floridian which has a DVC side of 142 rooms, but it shares amenities with the hotel side which has over 867 rooms. Then you have resorts like Saratoga which has over 1300 rooms. Personally, I really like that Riviera is small.

RIV has 489 rooms making it the 6th largest DVC resort. SSR 1320, OKW 761, AKV/L 709, AUL 709, BWV 532, RIV 489, BLT 428, PVB 380, BCV 282, VB 211, CCV 210, BRV 181, VGF 147, HHI 123 and VGC 71. The real outlier is PVB since it only has studios and Bungalows the resort would be much smaller if it had 1 and 2 bedrooms.

 

[shelly3girls]

I cannot speak for Helvetica, but for us we cared about the total rooms sharing the amenities not just DVC rooms. I do not know the size of the resorts but you share the pool and quick service with a lot more rooms than just the 282 DVC rooms at BCV. That mattered to us.

 

[Lorana]

RIV has 489 rooms making it the 6th largest DVC resort. SSR 1320, OKW 761, AKV/L 709, AUL 709, BWV 532, RIV 489, BLT 428, PVB 380, BCV 282, VB 211, CCV 210, BRV 181, VGF 147, HHI 123 and VGC 71. The real outlier is PVB since it only has studios and Bungalows the resort would be much smaller if it had 1 and 2 bedrooms.

Oh, is there a list of total hotel rooms at DVC resorts that also have hotel rooms? It'd be interesting (to me at least) to see that comparison, too. Thank you for this!

 

[The Jackal]

Oh, is there a list of total hotel rooms at DVC resorts that also have hotel rooms? It'd be interesting (to me at least) to see that comparison, too. Thank you for this!

If you do a google search DVC room inventory you can find room sizes and amounts for DVC resorts. Not sure if RIV rooms have been added to most yet.

https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/hotels/number-rooms
Just add the two resorts together like Disney Beach Club villas and Disney Beach Club Resort for total hotel rooms.

 

[marcoi]

1.Room size
2. love the theme
3.acsess to the parks, as my kids get older epcot and HWS will be the picks for older kids.
4.double first year points
5. i wasn't scared of the reselling restrictions, you get longer contracts and planning on keeping it.
6. i like NEW

 

[RivShore]

If you do a google search DVC room inventory you can find room sizes and amounts for DVC resorts. Not sure if RIV rooms have been added to most yet.

https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/hotels/number-rooms
Just add the two resorts together like Disney Beach Club villas and Disney Beach Club Resort for total hotel rooms.

Thanks for that link!

So when you look at overall resort rooms (DVC & Cash), the list is much different and Riviera is by far the smallest.

Overall Resort	Overall Resort Rooms	Hotel	Num. Rooms
Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge	1,430	Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge (Jambo House)	972
Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge		Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas - Kidani Village	458
Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa	1,320	Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa	1,260
Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa		Treehouse Villas at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort	60
Disney's Polynesian Village Resort	1,227	Disney's Polynesian Village Resort	847
Disney's Polynesian Village Resort		Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows	380
Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa	1,014	Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa	867
Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa		The Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa	147
Disney's Contemporary Resort	950	Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort	295
Disney's Contemporary Resort		Disney's Contemporary Resort	655
Disney's BoardWalk Inn	910	Disney's BoardWalk Inn	378
Disney's BoardWalk Inn		Disney's BoardWalk Villas	532
Reflections - A Disney Lakeside Lodge	900	Reflections - A Disney Lakeside Lodge	900
Disney's Beach Club Resort	865	Disney's Beach Club Resort	583
Disney's Beach Club Resort		Disney's Beach Club Villas	282
Disney's Wilderness Lodge	786	Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge	136
Disney's Wilderness Lodge		Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney's Wilderness Lodge	220
Disney's Wilderness Lodge		Disney's Wilderness Lodge	430
Disney's Old Key West Resort	761	Disney's Old Key West Resort	761
Disney's Riviera Resort	489	Disney's Riviera Resort	489

Edited to remove Cabins at Ft. Wilderness

 

[ChipNdale8887]

Thanks for that link!

So when you look at overall resort rooms (DVC & Cash), the list is much different and Riviera is by far the smallest.

Overall Resort	Overall Resort Rooms	Hotel	Num. Rooms
Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge	1,430	Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge (Jambo House)	972
Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge		Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas - Kidani Village	458
Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa	1,320	Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa	1,260
Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa		Treehouse Villas at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort	60
Disney's Polynesian Village Resort	1,227	Disney's Polynesian Village Resort	847
Disney's Polynesian Village Resort		Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows	380
Disney's Wilderness Lodge	1,195	Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge	136
Disney's Wilderness Lodge		Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney's Wilderness Lodge	220
Disney's Wilderness Lodge		Disney's Wilderness Lodge	430
Disney's Wilderness Lodge		The Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort	409
Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa	1,014	Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa	867
Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa		The Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa	147
Disney's Contemporary Resort	950	Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort	295
Disney's Contemporary Resort		Disney's Contemporary Resort	655
Disney's BoardWalk Inn	910	Disney's BoardWalk Inn	378
Disney's BoardWalk Inn		Disney's BoardWalk Villas	532
Reflections - A Disney Lakeside Lodge	900	Reflections - A Disney Lakeside Lodge	900
Disney's Beach Club Resort	865	Disney's Beach Club Resort	583
Disney's Beach Club Resort		Disney's Beach Club Villas	282
Disney's Old Key West Resort	761	Disney's Old Key West Resort	761
Disney's Riviera Resort	489	Disney's Riviera Resort	489

I think in the Reflections post the DVC portion of reflections is only around 2 rooms. Not 100% sure though. So I imagine the hotel side makes up the other 700.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I think in the Reflections post the DVC portion of reflections is only around 2 rooms. Not 100% sure though. So I imagine the hotel side makes up the other 700.

I thought Reflections was intended to be just a DVC resort. Is that not true?

 

[ChipNdale8887]

I thought Reflections was intended to be just a DVC resort. Is that not true?

No I think that was only Riviera. Reflections is DVC and Hotel, I'm pretty sure.

 

[Lorana]

Wilderness Lodge is only 786. The 409 Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort are a part of Fort Wilderness, not the Wilderness Lodge.

 

[RivShore]

Wilderness Lodge is only 786. The 409 Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort are a part of Fort Wilderness, not the Wilderness Lodge.

Thanks - I wasn't sure if it was. I'll update the list!

 

[The Jackal]

One could also look and say Caribbean Beach Resort And RIV are one large resort. They tore down a section of it to build it and they have 1,536 rooms there. The main building at CBR is a shorter walk from RIV then a lot of SSR and OKW to the main buildings and from Kidani to Jambo house. It’s not much different than what Disney did at Coronado Springs Resort building the Grand Destino Tower, they just consider that one resort.