News Disney Riviera Resort announced

Bocabear

Bocabear

Well-Known Member
When the Contemporary was built, a hotel having a pool was an exciting feature...48 years ago...The contemporary had 2 pools...the round "Teen Pool" had fountain jets that went from the sides into the center... a water featrue of sorts...I remember playing in them... The Poly had a beautiful pool with a cavern and waterslide... Small by our current standards... What was built was over the top for the time...But it is no longer 1971 and most hotels, even the cheap ones offsite, have MUCH nicer pools than what Disney tends to put in... They can and should do much better... In this day and age, Stormaling Bay pool should be the norm in Disney's Premium resorts...
 
C

CLEtoWDW

Well-Known Member
One positive aspect of the resort is it looks like the entire resort is indoors. I can’t begin to tell you how crazy it drives me when we stay at OKW and you have to leave the room and walk out into an absolute downpour. Have everything within one building definitely has its perks in central Florida.
 
HauntedPirate

HauntedPirate

Park nostalgist
Premium Member
Outside of Kidani, there has been little thought given to resort pools for over a decade. Very bland and uninspired. If they really want to pack'em in and ensure high occupancy rates into the future, methinks Disney needs to contract with some of the companies that are featured on "Pool Kings" and upgrade most of their pools. ;) Of course, that could cannibalize a few visits to TL and BB. Dang it... in that case, they'll never do it...:cry:
 
Sirwalterraleigh

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
CLEtoWDW said:
One positive aspect of the resort is it looks like the entire resort is indoors. I can’t begin to tell you how crazy it drives me when we stay at OKW and you have to leave the room and walk out into an absolute downpour. Have everything within one building definitely has its perks in central Florida.
Click to expand...
They’ve all been internal for the last 10 years...poly is retrofit...so there’s that.
 
Sirwalterraleigh

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
nickys said:
Not quite. If you’re at Bay Lake and you want to eat, you still have to go via the walkway. It may be covered but it ain’t weatherproof. That’s still under 10 years.
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Internal hallways...they’ve never done a “covered add on”...open walkways with partial covering at Beach, wilderness, bay lake, grand Floridian.

To your point though...the Florida lodge building concept has been abandoned. Towers are cheaper...that is the way of the future
 
kong1802

kong1802

Well-Known Member
What is the main draw of this DVC? I've been baffled since day 1.

I get the draw to the others. They are deluxe accommodations (WDW standard) that you prepay for vs paying rack rate at those resorts. For example, if you want stormalong, pony up the $400/night or use DVC. If you want the MK loop, pay $500/night, or use DVC. You want the theming and amenities of WL or AK, pay $350/night or use DVC.....etc....

With this resort, what are you paying for? The gondolas? Those can be had at the nearby moderate or value resorts. Pay $175-250/night or use DVC. If there's a signature restaurant, can't anyone use that? (See Chef Mickey's, Ohana)

I guess where I'm having trouble is that most of the amenities at Riviera can be enjoyed without the $400/night price tag that other DVC locations have. So why pony up the dough for it? Is i location? Again, those can be had at the next door moderate...Is it just the rooms? Are any WDW deluxes worth it for the room alone?

Unless they did build out that trench, then I definitely get it :)
 
MisterPenguin

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
kong1802 said:
What is the main draw of this DVC?
Click to expand...

Well, for one, they better be nice rooms/suites. :)

Secondly, there is a premium for being a "park resort", i.e., having special access to a resort either by having special transportation that is not a bus, or, in the case of AKL, having a Savannah with animals hanging outside your porch. And so, Riviera will have its own gondola station to two parks.

Third, they'll have rooftop access (exclusive?) to a restaurant and/or viewing area to watch Epcot and DHS fireworks.
 
nickys

nickys

Premium Member
kong1802 said:
What is the main draw of this DVC? I've been baffled since day 1.

I get the draw to the others. They are deluxe accommodations (WDW standard) that you prepay for vs paying rack rate at those resorts. For example, if you want stormalong, pony up the $400/night or use DVC. If you want the MK loop, pay $500/night, or use DVC. You want the theming and amenities of WL or AK, pay $350/night or use DVC.....etc....

With this resort, what are you paying for? The gondolas? Those can be had at the nearby moderate or value resorts. Pay $175-250/night or use DVC. If there's a signature restaurant, can't anyone use that? (See Chef Mickey's, Ohana)

I guess where I'm having trouble is that most of the amenities at Riviera can be enjoyed without the $400/night price tag that other DVC locations have. So why pony up the dough for it? Is i location? Again, those can be had at the next door moderate...Is it just the rooms? Are any WDW deluxes worth it for the room alone?

Unless they did build out that trench, then I definitely get it :)
Click to expand...

As a new owner or as an add-on? Guess it depends on what your reasons for buying DVC are. If it’s just “pre-pay rather than pay for a room at the attached deluxe” then maybe there isn’t a draw.

But DVC allows us to stay at any resort. If you want the home resort advantage, then you buy at that resort. This is being talked about as their signature DVC resort. Who knows if the roof-top restaurant will be open to all? TOTWL isn’t. Maybe it will only have 25 tables and be restricted to owners, full members, or only those staying at Riviera. We just don’t know yet.

The gondolas are the bonus transport option vs the monorail, or boats, or walking distance. And to two parks. It’s an alternative to the Epcot resorts, which can be all but impossible to book at certain times unless you own there. Plus they have the earlier contract end date.

I can see this being popular, as people try it out. The 11 month advantage might be necessary. My view is, if they allow a 25 point add-on I’d be very interested. Maybe even put my boys on the deed. Unfortunately the minimum for CCV is 50, so my wish is less likely to be fulfilled.
 
kong1802

kong1802

Well-Known Member
MisterPenguin said:
Well, for one, they better be nice rooms/suites. :)

Secondly, there is a premium for being a "park resort", i.e., having special access to a resort either by having special transportation that is not a bus, or, in the case of AKL, having a Savannah with animals hanging outside your porch. And so, Riviera will have its own gondola station to two parks.

Third, they'll have rooftop access (exclusive?) to a restaurant and/or viewing area to watch Epcot and DHS fireworks.
Click to expand...

Will Pop and CBR not have stations?

I don't know how it works, but does the BLT allow all DVC members to access their roof, or is it just those that own at BLT?
 
kong1802

kong1802

Well-Known Member
nickys said:
As a new owner or as an add-on? Guess it depends on what your reasons for buying DVC are. If it’s just “pre-pay rather than pay for a room at the attached deluxe” then maybe there isn’t a draw.

But DVC allows us to stay at any resort. If you want the home resort advantage, then you buy at that resort. This is being talked about as their signature DVC resort. Who knows if the roof-top restaurant will be open to all? TOTWL isn’t. Maybe it will only have 25 tables and be restricted to owners, full members, or only those staying at Riviera. We just don’t know yet.

The gondolas are the bonus transport option vs the monorail, or boats, or walking distance. And to two parks. It’s an alternative to the Epcot resorts, which can be all but impossible to book at certain times unless you own there. Plus they have the earlier contract end date.

I can see this being popular, as people try it out. The 11 month advantage might be necessary. My view is, if they allow a 25 point add-on I’d be very interested. Maybe even put my boys on the deed. Unfortunately the minimum for CCV is 50, so my wish is less likely to be fulfilled.
Click to expand...

I'm looking at it from the angle of new owner. As an add on it would obviously need less to sell.

I could see how an exclusive roof top restaurant would be a strong offering, but would you be able to get a reservation there if it only had 25 tables? Would WDW gamble like that? Not take all reservations that wanted one?

That's a fair point about the EPCOT availability. Perhaps that's really all it takes for people to pay the $190/point or whatever it ends up being.

Perhaps the rooms/amenities will really be first rate and command the premium. I just haven't seen that evidence yet.

We'll see in the coming months what they really have planned.
 
MisterPenguin

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
kong1802 said:
Will Pop and CBR not have stations?
Click to expand...

They will, but the poor plebes there will have to take an unsheltered walk to their stations or a bus shuttle. Also, their rooms would presumably not be as nice as the Riviera rooms.

There's a premium, also, for being in a hotel with indoor room access. And, presumably, the Riviera will have the high-end restaurants and shops and amenities you'd expect from a deluxe accommodation.

Now, a DVC doesn't have to be deluxe and the criteria for deluxe-ness isn't exact. But usually a deluxe room checks off all or almost all the amenities' check list. A lower level accommodation may have some of the things a deluxe has, but not all. E.g., you expect a deluxe to have a gym, but adding a gym to All Stars wouldn't make it deluxe.
 
nickys

nickys

Premium Member
kong1802 said:
Will Pop and CBR not have stations?

I don't know how it works, but does the BLT allow all DVC members to access their roof, or is it just those that own at BLT?
Click to expand...

TOTWL is open to all members staying in a WDW resort. At certain times of the year (around 4th July, NYE) it is restricted to members staying at BLT.
 
ABQ

ABQ

Well-Known Member
MisterPenguin said:
They will, but the poor plebes there will have to take an unsheltered walk to their stations or a bus shuttle. Also, their rooms would presumably not be as nice as the Riviera rooms.
Click to expand...
Muhahaahaa, that's the DVC Riviera plan for more vacant Gondolas, Pop and CBR guests will turn to dust like a Joss Whedon scripted vampire in the sunlight. Archimedes would be proud.
 
Lensman

Lensman

Well-Known Member
kong1802 said:
What is the main draw of this DVC? I've been baffled since day 1.

I get the draw to the others. They are deluxe accommodations (WDW standard) that you prepay for vs paying rack rate at those resorts. For example, if you want stormalong, pony up the $400/night or use DVC. If you want the MK loop, pay $500/night, or use DVC. You want the theming and amenities of WL or AK, pay $350/night or use DVC.....etc....

With this resort, what are you paying for? The gondolas? Those can be had at the nearby moderate or value resorts. Pay $175-250/night or use DVC. If there's a signature restaurant, can't anyone use that? (See Chef Mickey's, Ohana)

I guess where I'm having trouble is that most of the amenities at Riviera can be enjoyed without the $400/night price tag that other DVC locations have. So why pony up the dough for it? Is i location? Again, those can be had at the next door moderate...Is it just the rooms? Are any WDW deluxes worth it for the room alone?

Unless they did build out that trench, then I definitely get it :)
Click to expand...
What trench?

There are a number of different interconnected issues with the Riviera DVC, so it's an interesting topic. Thanks for bringing it up! Have we discussed this aspect before in the thread? I've read the whole thing but don't remember a discussion of it's DVC attractiveness.

One aspect is that they simply need another DVC to sell and they're sort of running out of deluxe resorts to convert - though they could continue to convert more of the Poly or WL or build another BLT.

But I suspect that the main aspect is that they'd like to be able to sell a DVC connected to DHS when SW:GE opens. This is their best shot at that. I'm not sure if they could have built anything like it close to DHS without having sightline issues or water management issues or having to build a parking structure or where would they put a lake do they have to build a lake?

I do think that the issue of building a standalone DVC vs one attached to an existing resort and sharing infrastructure is one worth discussing. I remember but can't find a discussion of this, but I recall that the idea came up of Disney using "conversion" as a means of rightsizing their room inventory. So in this case Disney is "converting" a bunch of moderate price-point CBR rooms into higher end DVC Riviera rooms (offset by the addition of moderate price-point CSR rooms, but that may be related or unrelated). In doing so they get to share the Skyliner infrastructure, the lake, as well as probably some utility infrastructure. They also get to convert from the casual low-rise density to the currently more-popular covered, high-rise density that seems to have become more popular for some reason.

Some other factors to note:
1. Disney is getting rid of the "value/moderate/deluxe" categorization.
2. Everyone suspects that the prices will go up for CBR/AoA/Pop after the Skyliner starts running and SW:GE opens and they become more popular.
3. OKW and SSR are also at the old "deluxe" level and continue to be booked, and according to your criteria they have even less going for them. :) I own at OKW but I'm not offended, don't worry! OKW has great balconies and spacious one and two bedrooms and great grand villas. They're huge if you're used to cramped NYC apartments. Finally, I can't wait for autonomous personal transit to become a reality so I can avoid the bus. I'm also looking forward to whatever the mysteriously rumored non-Skyliner transport replacement is for AKV and whether it will hit OKW/SSR/Disney Springs or CSR?

I think the trend will continue. If Riviera sells well, we'll see another DVC built somewhere on the shores of Barefoot Bay. My bet is just to the north of the new CBR Skyliner station. I think there will likely be another DVC somewhere else between the two - either the second BLT or the FW one, or maybe both?
 

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