40% Off Disney’s Riviera Resort
Walt Disney World is offering up to 40% off stays at Disney’s Riviera Resort for most nights from the hotel’s opening night through March 31, 2020 for Disney Visa Credit Cardholders. In this post, we’ll offer thoughts on the deal, why it’s being offered, and more. (Updated January 14, 2020.)
This deal is available for booking through February 14, 2020, and reservations may be made online, by calling (407) 939-5262, or via your Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. The number of rooms available for this offer is limited, and the offer is nontransferable. (Meaning the cardmember must stay in the room.)
We’ve covered the newest Disney Vacation Club property extensively, and have updated this deal page following our two stays at the hotel since it opened. You can read about these experiences in our Disney’s Riviera Resort Review and our Tower Studio Review: Terrible or Terrific?
Walt Disney World has been touting Disney’s Riviera Resort as being influenced by the “European Riviera,” which presumably means both the French and Italian Riviera regions. We’ve criticized Disney for not going all-in on this theme. The details that have been revealed thus far come across more as Europe-inspired decorations than they do thematic elements.
If you’re wondering what the interiors of the guest rooms will look like, we can help with that. Take a look at our Photo Tour of Disney’s Riviera Resort Rooms from our walk-through of the studio and 1-bedroom units. Despite our criticisms of the hotel in general, we like the rooms–they remind us of a cross between the Grand Floridian Villas and Four Seasons Orlando (albeit not as nice).
One of the main draws of Disney’s Riviera Resort will undoubtedly be the rooftop Topolino’s Terrace – Flavors of the Riviera, a new Signature Restaurant that will offer a fine dining experience at dinner and character meal for breakfast.
See our Review of Topolino’s Terrace Character Breakfast Á la Art with Mickey & Friends, we called that the best character meal at Walt Disney World. We anticipate the latter being one of the hot ticket ADRs going forward. Before even booking at stay at the Riviera, you might want to double-check that ADRs are still available for your travel dates.
The other huge selling point of Disney’s Riviera Resort is its Skyliner gondola station, which will provide direct access to Epcot, or access to Disney’s Hollywood Studios via a transfer. After the main hub station at the adjacent Caribbean Beach Resort, this is the second-most convenient resort Skyliner station.
We’ve already logged a dozen-plus flights on the new gondolas, and offer thoughts in our new Skyliner Gondola Review: Disney World’s Most Magical Flight on Earth. Suffice to say, we love the Skyliner.
Okay, moving on to the discount itself. We’d caution against trying to draw any conclusions about the popularity of Disney’s Riviera Resort or Walt Disney World potentially having hotel occupancy woes based upon this deal.
It’s really common for new hotels to offer atypically aggressive deals for their opening months, and there are a few reasons for this. (We saw the same thing happen with Gran Destino.)
Second, there’s far less info online about Riviera. While diehard Walt Disney World fans are undoubtedly at least generally aware of its existence, that’s far less likely to be true with first-timers. Given that there are no reviews of the upcoming resort and very little info aside from general announcements and construction updates (not exactly what planners are reading), it’s less of a known quantity and more of a gamble.
Third, there’s a disproportionate number of rooms available for regular booking through Disney, as only a fraction of the resort’s total points have been declared into its Disney Vacation Club inventory. These declarations happen as points sell, which explains why there’s zero availability on the DVC side of things but plenty for cash-paying guests.
Finally, the rack rates at Disney’s Riviera Resort are pretty pricey. In looking at the rate charts, standard rooms at Disney’s Riviera Resort are priced above Beach Club, Yacht Club, BoardWalk, Contemporary, and even the Grand Floridian for most dates.
Granted, the Tower Studio is cheaper than some of these resorts for some dates, but that’s supposed to be Riviera Resort’s value option. It being just the two of us, we are really intrigued by the Tower Studio…but not for rates starting at $415 per night. It’s a much more attractive option at 11 DVC points per night!
At 40% off, rates become much more attractive, especially for some travel dates. In doing some spot checking of this discount, we found decent availability, and if you can find a Tower Studio for $249/night or a standard studio room for the mid $300s per night, you might want to give that some thought.
For the best availability, we’d recommend calling Disney or having an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner do it for you. Options seem (to us at least) more limited via the online booking tool.
With that said, you’re still paying more via this Disney Visa discount than you are by booking with DVC points–and that’s true whether you’re an owner or not. Using a $19/point valuation, the prices we found are still significantly higher than what you could score via the rental market. (See our Money-Saving Tips & Guide to Renting DVC Points for more info on how to do that.)
The only problem with that, as noted above, is that Disney’s Riviera Resort has only sold about 7.2% of its 6.7 million total points, and under 20% of the total inventory has been declared. (For those who are curious, sales are about on par with other recent DVC resorts–which is better than we expected given the major new DVC resale restrictions that impact the Riviera.)
This means that it’s currently very difficult to rent points in order to stay at the Riviera. Once more points are sold, we predict it’ll still be very difficult to book Riviera, especially once more of the points start hitting the resale market. That makes this discussion about renting points, especially for trips in the near future, sort of an academic.
Ultimately, the long and short of this is that we’d recommend waiting another year or two to book a stay at Disney’s Riviera Resort, and using DVC points (either via rental or your own) for the stay if you’re a Walt Disney World regular. If you’re a first-timer, infrequent visitor, or simply want to stay at Disney’s Riviera Resort as soon as possible without the headache of renting points, this Disney Visa deal is probably the best direct-from-Disney discount you’re ever going to see for this resort.
If you’re considering joining DVC, first be sure to read our Ultimate Guide to Disney Vacation Club. If you still can’t decide whether membership is right for you, “try before you buy” and rent points from DVC Rental Store. If you are convinced a membership is for you, check out the discounted options at DVC Resale Market.
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of this discount for Disney’s Riviera Resort? Will you be taking advantage and booking for this Christmas or early next year, or will you wait until reviews start coming in and/or better deals are available via DVC point rental? Any questions about Disney’s Riviera Resort? Hearing from you is half the fun, so please share your thoughts in the comments below!
Disney called me a few weeks ago. They offered to move us from the Boardwalk Villas to a 1 room villa at the Riviera – for the same price. We had originally booked a tower suite but moved to the Boardwalk once their Winter deal was announced. We couldn’t figure out why they made us the Rivera offer but now we know. Cool.
Thanks! How did you find that link in the first place? I don’t see it anywhere on the Disney Visa site or Disney World. I would just like to know for the future! thanks!
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/visa-riviera-offer/
How do you get to the online booking tool? I have never figured out how to book Disney Visa rooms without calling.
I am also wondering the same thing! I tried linking my Disney Visa online and everything?
Wis the riviera more like a resort, we stayed at Saratoga springs and hated it. I am a Visa card holder and am booked for the boardwalk dec 26 to Jan 4 with 4 rooms for my family with no discount. We want the resort theme nothing like Saratoga springs, is it worth a try?
We are visiting 2nd full week in January. Our original 7-night, 6-day single park pass and Memory Maker ran us ~$5700 at the Boardwalk. Called yesterday and re-booked at the Riviera in a Deluxe Studio with a Preferred View with the card holder discount for ~$4650 all in. Very satisfied with this discount on a brand new property with simple Skyliner access.
I agree…when you look at January on the Month by Month rate Calendar the prices are better then most other months
What number did you call for a card holder?
I just called the main reservation line – 407-939-6244, let the agent know what I wanted to do and they were able to give me the price difference before I made my decision. Once I decided to go for it, I just had to verify the first 6 numbers of my Disney VISA over the phone.
Out of curiosity I am looking online at the Tower Studio which seems tempting for $369 less the 40% discount. But, look closer and see the term “cozy” and clicking on the photos it says “ specially designed for 2 guests, these one of a kind studios are a marvel of efficiency and luxury”.
Then I see “1 Queen sized pull down bed”.
It’s basically a closet with a Murphy bed! Good grief.
A closet with a Murphy bed is probably a bit hyperbolic (although it did make me chuckle) although so too is calling this a “marvel of…luxury.”
They’re basically for a couple wanting a nice resort, but who won’t be in the room a lot. It’s definitely a niche room type, and I think it’ll be interesting to see how guests respond to it.
I completely agree….We looked at dates in March….We will be visiting March 23rd to the 26th…We thought “Hey extend a day and try it out”….When we looked into staying, Rooms were $496 and up for the TINY studio room. With the Visa Discount the room will run you $300 a night plus Taxes for a room . A Regular Sized non view room with the discount will run you over $500 a night….Reminds me of some stores….Jack UP the prices…..Then offer a Discount…..Wait for the Passholder or general discounts to drop soon and stay at another property…..Down the road look at staying here using points…..Have a Magical Day