Riviera Resort DVC Construction Update: Summer 2018
During our recent visit to Caribbean Beach we took a stroll around the Riviera Resort construction zone, which will be the newest DVC addition to Walt Disney World. Pictured above is the concept art showing what the Disney Vacation Club resort will look like once finished. Our photos below show how progress thus far compares to the art.
The Riviera Resort layout follows Disney’s recent trend of doing a single tower rather than a main lobby surrounded by clusters of outlying room building, and we’d assume the latter approach is dead, at least for now. It appears that the Riviera tower has now been topped out, with some interior work now underway.
The resort will feature a large rooftop restaurant, which will occupy just a portion of the upper level space. (We’re not sure what else will be up there.) Riviera Resort be the 15th Disney Vacation Club property, and will have approximately 300 units spread across a variety of accommodation types. The Skyliner gondola system will be another key amenity, connecting Riviera Resort to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, along with other hotels.
During its D23 announcement, Disney indicated that Riviera Resort would open in Fall 2019. If the current pace of construction is any indication, it’s certainly poised to meet that date. (Other projects might get delayed, but not DVC; it’s a goose that lays golden eggs.) The question is when in Fall 2019?
As a general rule, Disney Vacation Club does not discuss or sell a new property at Walt Disney World until the last is nearly or completely sold out. Wilderness Lodge still has units for sale, which is why we’ve heard zilch about this new resort beyond the announcement last year. As of June, Disney has declared 94 of Copper Creek’s 184 vacation homes. In terms of points, the declared inventory now accounts for 58% of the total points available at Copper Creek.
If our math is accurate and Disney Vacation Club sales of Copper Creek maintain their current pace, around 12 months of inventory (1 month of declared inventory and 11 undeclared months) remains before the Wilderness Lodge addition is sold out. Assuming that’s accurate, Riviera Resort is likely to go on sale around July 2019. At its present pace, Riviera Resort could conceivably be ready to debut by late Summer 2019.
This is also fairly consistent with the tower construction over at Coronado Springs, which Disney has stated will open in Summer 2019. We visited the two sites on consecutive days, and the Coronado tower is probably about a month ahead of Riviera Resort at this point, but that tower is also taller and appears to be a slightly more elaborate project. Both resorts could be ready to debut within a month of one another. (Of course, the pace of work on either or both could always change–that’s still a year from now.)
Still, we think a July opening is unlikely. Disney Vacation Club having a slight buffer between Wilderness Lodge and Riviera Resort makes sense. Likewise, having a splashy grand opening of the resort simultaneous with the Skyliner gondola system (once that has completed its testing) makes a lot of sense.
Walt Disney World will undoubtedly want the resort available for October bookings. That’s now one of the busiest months of the year for the hotels and the vast majority of Riviera Resort will be undeclared at that point, and thus available for cash bookings.
It’s also likely that Disney will want to open Riviera Resort as quickly as possible so sales can begin and end as quickly as possible. The long-rumored Disney Vacation Club property adjacent to Fort Wilderness (on the old River Country site) is all but a sure thing at this point, but it seems very unlikely that Disney will acknowledge that resort–even once construction is vertical–until Riviera Resort meets certain sales targets.
That construction will be a bit out of the way, so it’s not as awkward as when Bay Lake Tower’s existence was denied, but it’s still safe to assume Disney wants to sell Riviera Resort as quickly as possible. As such, our money is on Disney’s Riviera Resort opening in September or early October 2019. Of course, all of this is guesswork on our part, but that’s what we think the most likely debut date is, in case you were curious.
Here’s a quick video of progress on Disney’s Riviera Resort as of July 2018:
Now let’s take a quick walk around the Riviera Resort construction site and look at the progress from various angles within Caribbean Beach Resort…
Sorry, we realize this isn’t exactly an exciting photo update. It’s basically just slightly different off-center views of the same tower.
The work on Riviera Resort is visible throughout Caribbean Beach and is especially bad from Martinique, the Old Port Royale area, and Aruba. You can hear this construction from literally anywhere in the resort.
If you want a look at the current progress on other projects around Caribbean Beach, look no further than our Caribbean Beach Resort Summer 2018 Construction Update.
The main tower of Riviera Resort is essentially flanked by two smaller buildings that are also currently under construction. To the left is the Skyliner gondola station that will serve the Riviera (as well as guests on this side of Caribbean Beach) and to the right is…I have no idea. Maybe something for the pool?
With each visit to Caribbean Beach, we see more and more progress on Disney’s Riviera Resort. It’s definitely being worked on with more speed than the Centertown project at Caribbean Beach, and that’s evident both in the respective progress of each and the size of the construction crews actively working on each. It’ll be interesting to see how the tower blends in with the landscape of Caribbean Beach (or doesn’t, which is the more likely scenario) once this is all finished.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
Have any thoughts about Disney’s Riviera Resort? Is this tower-style location with Skyliner access to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot an attractive Disney Vacation Club property to you? Thoughts on when the Riviera will likely open? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
This Riviera resort reminds us of the Aulani layout. We are members 27 years now and have a very hard time getting reservations anywhere and just had to bank points for the first time in our 27 year. Not very magical any longer.
I am not a fan of the new “tower” design for resorts. I love the more intimate and frankly, more interesting look of the lower rise units. I am saddened by the thought of the River Country area being developed. On more than one occasion while staying at Wilderness Lodge DVC, I saw deer right in front of our ground level unit. And of course back then, you could actually see the lake. While the cabins are beautiful, I don’t have enough points to stay there. Of course there is lots of money to be made.
You know they will market it at GFV prices, because it’s NEW! Wishful thinking for it to be anything else. Picture 200 a point.
$188pp. With 1000pts bought they’ll give a $30k rebate so $160k for the contract and dues could reasonably cost $850,000 over the contract’s life. Maybe get a 3BR suite once a week for 50yrs if you wanted, and that would cost $20k per trip.
If DVC saves 50% then as regular reservations that would cost $2mil or $40k per trip before buying park tickets and food?
I’m not sure you are well versed in DVC truthfully. Polynesian Villas, Copper Creek Villas, and Aulani all sold simultaneously. Based on the history, we will get more information on the property closer to the time it will start to sell. It will sell regardless of whether or not CCV has sold out. Likely 4 to 6 months prior to opening per the history of the last few resorts ..
I’m not a DVC owner and am kind of confused. You talk about when sales at Riviera might start dependent on sales finishing at Copper Creek. Does that mean if I wanted to buy into DVC right now, my only choice would be Copper Creek? I couldn’t buy, say, Poly or OKW?
Copper Creek and Aulani are the only two resorts being actively sold. The remainder can be sold, but there is a waitlist for them. It might take a while to but, but they are being sold when DVC takes points back.
For what it’s worth, my wife and I inquired about points for OKW last week, and were notified within a day that they were available. DVC has “right of first refusal” and can buy back points at any time whenever a member attempts to sell them.
Aulani and Copper Creek are what they are actively selling right now but you can buy direct into other resorts. I was just offered Animal Kingdom by my DVC rep last week. You just have to let the rep know which resort you are interested in if not Aulani or CC. They can put you on a waitlist if they have nothing currently available.
Don’t you find it the least bit odd that Disney hasn’t announced exactly what the theme of the Riviera Resort will be? The French Riviera? The Mexican Riviera? The Italian Riviera? The old Las Vegas Hotel with the same name?
And, please, please, PLEASE don’t ever talk about a DVC Resort on the River Country site being a good thing. It will forever destroy the last piece of wilderness and OLD WDW that exists. It is a horrible idea. All those trees will come down for neat little green berms and roads. Horrible. Pathetic. Sad. There is No way to make this work and keep the area the way it is beyond putting a parking structure at the entrance to FW and requiring everyone to bus into the place. I don’t see that happening!
Disney keeps going the way it is, there will be no green space left. Peace and calm will be non-existent.
Disney keeps going the way it is, there will be no green space left. Peace and calm will be non-existent.
They have, it will be the European Riviera
Was mentioned in a DVC promo video they emailed out.
Depends on how you define “attractive”. I don’t think the resort will look all that great, but I love the location and the potential for a “moderate” DVC property. I’m eagerly awaiting the start of sales for this property.
I too am curious as to the cost of this newest DVC property. Will this be toward the Poly Bungalow level, or the OKW level? From what I have seen (pictures / artist renderings) and read, this property doesn’t have that “wow” factor that some of the more expensive DVC options have.
Although I am not interested in buying, once the Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge craze calms down, in about, ohhh…17 years, I would rent points from here.
Thanks for the update! My guess is that the “mystery structure is one of two things, possibly even both, either a service area for deliveries and pickups of trash, food, laundry, etc., which are at every resort, or something to do with the building’s physical plant, since there’s going to be a restaurant on the roof.
Looking at my last picture from June 7th, the give an idea on the progress being made, the wing going out towards Barefoot Bay that is closest to Aruba/the Riviera Skyliner Station, had only 1 floor with yellow wall material on at that point. Other parts of the project had more, but there’s a lot more steel framing, and a lot more yellow over the weeks since we left.
Your picture from the Caribbean Beach’s walkway by the pool, however, confirms something else: They have finally started to put in the new and expanded deck on the waterfront of the refurbished Old Port Royale. The pilings were there, but none of that wood had been put in place on June 7th.