100 Point RIV for $135

It's hard not to believe Riviera is paying more for the skyliner than CBR/POP/AoA. How would transportation be over double if it was even?

It could be even, according to rooms. It would be odd for Disney accounting to put more costs for the Skyliner on one resort over another, and internal resort "P&L" heads would argue that its unfair for them to get hit more than others. This is the daily life of a P&L in a large corporation.

With that said, I would expect that Poly, VGF, and BLT will blow by the RIV figures once the new monorail goes live. I'm guessing that the large portion of the original cost (which was quite low in today's $) is probably fully depreciated and the charge those hotels are paying (as seen in the current dues) are likely to be just the operating costs and not the depreciation of the acquisition costs. RIV is likely paying the operational costs (which may very well be very close to, or even beneath, the costs Poly, VGF, and BLT are paying to operate the monorail) plus the allocated deprecation of the acquisition and construction cost of building the Skyliner. When combined show the large figure you see.

Personally i'm more than OK for paying a premium for premium resort transportation options.
 
If the skyliner operating costs are charged in the same manner as the boat transportation for BWV/BWI, BCV/YC/BC & Swan/Dolphin, then DRR is paying 1/3. (Costs are divided equally among the stops/stations).

For the boats, each stop is paying 1/3. The costs are split between the resorts served by the stop according to the number of rooms. We learned this because of a challenge made to BCV dues many years ago. As a result of that challenge, it was found BCV share was incorrectly calculated and BCV owners actually ended up with a higher charge for the transportation component of the dues.

I have no reason to believe that DVC changed their method of charging for shared transportation. AFAIK, the monorail operating costs are charged b ack to the resorts in the same manner.

So yes, DRR is definitely paying for the operating costs of the Skyliner.

Disney/the Developer paid for the initial build. However, I am very sure that the cost for that was baked into the purchase price that owners pay to buy in.
 
Disney/the Developer paid for the initial build. However, I am very sure that the cost for that was baked into the purchase price that owners pay to buy in.
So Skyliner resorts are paying for the build of the skyliner in their dues(RIV)? Not just the operating costs. So likely if they came out with new Monorail cars the transportation dues for the monorail resorts would also show an increase since they would also be on the hook for the costs of the new Monorail Cars? Just trying to make sure I'm understanding correctly.
 
So Skyliner resorts are paying for the build of the skyliner in their dues(RIV)? Not just the operating costs. So likely if they came out with new Monorail cars the transportation dues for the monorail resorts would also show an increase since they would also be on the hook for the costs of the new Monorail Cars? Just trying to make sure I'm understanding correctly.
No. Only ongoing operating costs are paid with annual dues.

The build was paid for by the Developer (Disney). But I think the Developer got back the Riviera's share of the initial build cost (plus some profit) through the price charged to buy Riviera points.

Disney pays for later capital additions to a resort. When a pool side was added to OKW, Disney paid for it. But Members pay for maintenance of it and any additional staffing required.

I don't know if monorail car replacement would be considered a capital investment or a maintenance expense.
 
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No. Only ongoing operating costs are paid with annual dues.

The build was paid for by the Developer (Disney). I think the Developer got back the Riviera's share of the initial build cost (plus some profit) through the price charged to buy it.
Well remember the transportation division is separate and special line item on the budget. It isn’t a flat fee (Like management) nor is it charged at cost (like wages). It’s considered a sub contractor (similar to a roofer plumber etc) so they likely build in a profit to what they charge each resort and aren’t required to charge at cost. Because of this conflict it’s exactly why the transportation costs have to be removed from the budget for determining certain fractional cost items on the budget (such as management fees). I fully expect every single resort is paying for operating and replacement and/or initial build on transportation. Think of it this way replacement of equipment is an operating cost and will need to be covered eventually, same is true for the initial build out of financed or ran down on the books (some one has to pay the interest and principal). So yes the monorail resorts will be paying for the new resort monorails and probably some share of the epcot line.
 
I don't know if monorail car replacement would be considered a capital investment or a maintenance expense.

I would imagine that, even in the event they leased the cars, it would be a capital investment. I haven't looked at their internal definitions (if they have them) but it would be hard to argue they are a maintenance expense from an accounting standpoint.
 
Well remember the transportation division is separate and special line item on the budget. It isn’t a flat fee (Like management) nor is it charged at cost (like wages). It’s considered a sub contractor (similar to a roofer plumber etc) so they likely build in a profit to what they charge each resort and aren’t required to charge at cost. Because of this conflict it’s exactly why the transportation costs have to be removed from the budget for determining certain fractional cost items on the budget (such as management fees). I fully expect every single resort is paying for operating and replacement and/or initial build on transportation. Think of it this way replacement of equipment is an operating cost and will need to be covered eventually, same is true for the initial build out of financed or ran down on the books (some one has to pay the interest and principal). So yes the monorail resorts will be paying for the new resort monorails and probably some share of the epcot line.
So are you also saying that Riviera is also paying for the skyliner in the transportation line item? I just can't fathom that if they are not, then how can the Skyliner be so expensive to operate that it would be Double and more than the transportation of other resorts busses/monorail costs.
 


So are you also saying that Riviera is also paying for the skyliner in the transportation line item? I just can't fathom that if they are not, then how can the Skyliner be so expensive to operate that it would be Double and more than the transportation of other resorts busses/monorail costs.

It could be for the reason someone mentioned. The points are not all sold yet, so it could have something to do with it,
 
It might also have something to do with the fact that there is a dedicated line specifically to that resort and simply fewer rooms to spread the cost over (relative to the other resorts on the skyliner). If I were justifying it from a Disney exec standpoint, I think a case can be made that it should split the costs evenly with the other resorts despite the fact that those other resorts have 4-5x as many rooms as riviera (which provides more opportunity to spread the cost). It also may get close to the same amount of traffic to the Riviera specific line simply because it is a deluxe resort with character dining; it is the only skyliner hotel that will get significant traffic from 'non-hotel guests'. People will use the skyliner to get from DHS or Epcot to go to dinner/breakfast etc. No one is going to Caribbean beach to have lunch from Epcot.

As others have said perhaps they are overestimating early on to avoid a massive hike in year two; the issue with that is that it will never go down, but if it stays where it is for 3-4 years I am sure people won't complain.

While the monorail serves three resorts, the DVC sides are quite small, especially at VGF. Also maintaining the monorails was probably a well-known cost at the time the dvc sections were built at those resorts- whether it is more to maintain hundreds of gondolas vs. a few monorail cars I am not sure, but I can guess that some of the increased transport costs are related to the number of cars to maintain.
 
So are you also saying that Riviera is also paying for the skyliner in the transportation line item? I just can't fathom that if they are not, then how can the Skyliner be so expensive to operate that it would be Double and more than the transportation of other resorts busses/monorail costs.
The reason why it is so expensive for RIV is because their share of the cost is spread is spread across only 300 rooms.
 

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