9/11-9/19 at Riviera

[DVCsloth]

Had a pretty awesome stay at Riviera 2 nights standard studio 6 nights standard 1br. Not an owner, but may be one day. A few observations about the Skyliner. Probably the best transportation in WDW as long as you are traveling during off peak hours. I think anyone staying near CBR station has a better location than the Riviera resort because you don't need to switch or wait for open gondolas . Heading to Epcot during busy hours was a pretty good delay with gondolas already full and heading to HS can be crowded changing to the HS line. Although traveling during non peak times is awesome and zips you to and from with a nice breeze flowing through. 1 other issue is with the lightning, if you are at Epcot and not near the gateway you need to guess if they shut it down. It happened to us and we figured it would be down and it was so there was a bus waiting for us. At HS it is not an issue because you see if it's down and just walk to the bus. Awesome resort 3rd favorite!

 

[sethschroeder]

Hopefully they start to figure out the Skyliner. It should run in all weather in Florida from my understanding just Disney not deciding to.

As ride vehicles are getting more back to normal hopefully they start to tweak the system for sending open cars and such as well.

Good to hear good news from Riviera.

 

[Narcoossee11]

Hopefully they start to figure out the Skyliner. It should run in all weather in Florida from my understanding just Disney not deciding to.

As ride vehicles are getting more back to normal hopefully they start to tweak the system for sending open cars and such as well.

Good to hear good news from Riviera.

You do not want to be a steel cage in the sky when it is lightning. Orlando area is the lightning central. More lightning than antwhere in the world .
Rain would not be pleasant either.

 

[sethschroeder]

You do not want to be a steel cage in the sky when it is lightning. Orlando area is the lightning central. More lightning than antwhere in the world .
Rain would not be pleasant either.

Its from my understanding built for the conditions. Additionally I would be more worried about being near street signs and trees in WDW than being in the Gondola.

Additionally its not much of a steel cage when you are talking about non conductive materials completely covering and internally covering the ride vehicle also with likely a fairly extensive system built to avoid any lightning strikes expect for specifically designed locations.

This isn't like a roller coaster with an open top, in a steel ridge vehicle, not directly designed to run through storms of all types.

 

[kilik64]

Uhh wouldnt the gondola basically be a faraday cage if it were hit by lightning?

 

[LPnerd]

Hopefully they start to figure out the Skyliner. It should run in all weather in Florida from my understanding just Disney not deciding to.

As ride vehicles are getting more back to normal hopefully they start to tweak the system for sending open cars and such as well.

Good to hear good news from Riviera.

Please, Sir; let them put people in cars suspended by electrical METAL cable during a thunderstorm. seriously man...

 

[sethschroeder]

Please, Sir; let them put people in cars suspended by electrical METAL cable during a thunderstorm. seriously man...

Lightning is not some magical thing it's all math and science. If they are specifically designed to run through lightning storms then you will be fine.

Also the cable is not electrical the gondolas run off battery power.

 

[emmymac17]

Had a pretty awesome stay at Riviera 2 nights standard studio 6 nights standard 1br. Not an owner, but may be one day. A few observations about the Skyliner. Probably the best transportation in WDW as long as you are traveling during off peak hours. I think anyone staying near CBR station has a better location than the Riviera resort because you don't need to switch or wait for open gondolas . Heading to Epcot during busy hours was a pretty good delay with gondolas already full and heading to HS can be crowded changing to the HS line. Although traveling during non peak times is awesome and zips you to and from with a nice breeze flowing through. 1 other issue is with the lightning, if you are at Epcot and not near the gateway you need to guess if they shut it down. It happened to us and we figured it would be down and it was so there was a bus waiting for us. At HS it is not an issue because you see if it's down and just walk to the bus. Awesome resort 3rd favorite!

We were at the Riviera from 9/11 to 9/17! We are owners there and had an amazing stay! Definitely second the skyliners - we weren't doing rope drop or park close, so skyliner was always a walkup and such a fast and smooth way to get around. Compared to waiting on dead legs for a bus at the end of the day - its fabulous to just hop on and 'fly' home. Even though it rained pretty much every afternoon, there was only one evening the skyliner seemed to be shut down for a prolonged amount of time due to storms - although we were in early most nights to put the little one to bed. I was also impressed with the quality of the food and the overall service at the resort was fantastic

 

[RivShore]

Thanks for bringing this thread back on track from the lightning debate!

We were there too from 9/15 to 9/18.

Finally our first stay in our home resort and we actually liked it more than we thought we would. And the 2 BR is absolutely amazing. Even our skeptical young adult kids loved it.

 

[DVCsloth]

Thanks for bringing this thread back on track from the lightning debate!

We were there too from 9/15 to 9/18.

Finally our first stay in our home resort and we actually liked it more than we thought we would. And the 2 BR is absolutely amazing. Even our skeptical young adult kids loved it.

The Riviera is a pretty awesome resort IMO. We had a standard studio on the 5th floor with a pretty good view of Epcot fireworks then moved to 1 1BR Standard view with an amazing view of the fireworks at MK and Epcot from the balcony or right out of the living room window. I think Disney hit a home run with this resort!

 

[RivShore]

The Riviera is a pretty awesome resort IMO. We had a standard studio on the 5th floor with a pretty good view of Epcot fireworks then moved to 1 1BR Standard view with an amazing view of the fireworks at MK and Epcot from the balcony or right out of the living room window. I think Disney hit a home run with this resort!

Yes, forgot to mention the view - standard 7th floor west side had a great view of both parks fireworks.

And the fact that everything is in one building doesn't get enough notice - almost every room is a quick walk to fill a mug at quick serve or browse the store. We spent the first half of the week in Jambo and, holy cow, the walk to lobby and then outside to quick serve took way too long.

 

[RoseGold]

Seems like they have to be getting hit by lightning when they are still? They have to know how this impacts them.

 

[BcIcemen]

Stayed at Riveria for 4 nights in August, 2 bedroom standard. We had a view of the fireworks from Epcot from our balconey. We absolutley loved it.

 

[DVCsloth]

Uhh wouldnt the gondola basically be a faraday cage if it were hit by lightning?

Stayed at Riveria for 4 nights in August, 2 bedroom standard. We had a view of the fireworks from Epcot from our balconey. We absolutley loved it.

Maybe a Tesla Coil.

 

[Dizzydizney]

It is a lovely place. Don’t understand the animosity towards it, but whatever, DVC has something for everyone. Food there is great and the non feature pool is a nice size with a large hot tub. Not a big fan of the couch in the one bedroom that is a Murphy bed, but it’s better than the pull out couches where you can’t ever get comfortable. Don’t really sit in the room much anyway. The views from standard are so awesome. Love walking around the lake or just sitting by it.

Love the expiration year too. Our kids will enjoy it, as we won’t outlive the contract.

 

[LPnerd]

Lightning is not some magical thing it's all math and science. If they are specifically designed to run through lightning storms then you will be fine.

Also the cable is not electrical the gondolas run off battery power.

they shut them down during storms, period. lightening is dangerous. they also shut all outdoor rides down during storms , period.

 

[Tigger's ally]

they shut them down during storms, period. lightening is dangerous. they also shut all outdoor rides down during storms , period.

they do, yes. But, like the pp said, they are built to be run during storms including lightning and high winds. Disney just takes extra precautions sometimes.

As far as the Riv goes, Love the food options when all are open. Love the layout of the rooms. Love that everything is under one roof, and most of all, Love that Smell!

 

[brazzledazzler]

Lightning is not some magical thing it's all math and science. If they are specifically designed to run through lightning storms then you will be fine.

Also the cable is not electrical the gondolas run off battery power.

Great comments.

I think people need to read up on the manufacturer of the Gondolas and honestly, how chair lifts work in general. Most people don’t understand basic physics or how grounding works to prevent electrocution.

From what I’ve interpreted, the gondolas are safe to run in lightning (each is its own Faraday Cage), but there is always a risk the main hub could be struck. If that happens, then operators may have use manual systems to bring in all the gondolas that are hanging.

I am making a lot of guesses, without knowing the actual set-up, but we shall see if they change how they run gondolas during lightning storms.

 

[brazzledazzler]

It is a lovely place. Don’t understand the animosity towards it, but whatever, DVC has something for everyone. Food there is great and the non feature pool is a nice size with a large hot tub. Not a big fan of the couch in the one bedroom that is a Murphy bed, but it’s better than the pull out couches where you can’t ever get comfortable. Don’t really sit in the room much anyway. The views from standard are so awesome. Love walking around the lake or just sitting by it.

Love the expiration year too. Our kids will enjoy it, as we won’t outlive the contract.

I love RIV too! The food and drinks there are too notch. I also love that it feels so relaxing . I can’t wait to stay in February (so far away!)

 

[kboo]

I've ridden these gondolas in near-blizzard conditions for skiing... We were there just before Labor Day weekend and they were running them during rainstorms, and even when lightning was visible far away, so I hope they are working on keeping them up more regularly. We've stayed at Riviera now Dec 2019, April 2021 and August/Sept 2021, and this latest trip the gondolas were running the most regularly.

But:

As ride vehicles are getting more back to normal hopefully they start to tweak the system for sending open cars and such as well.

I had to rent an ECV last trip due to an Achilles injury and the open cars/wheelchair-friendly cars was a bit of a challenge at Riviera. Not an issue at EP or HS because they pull the HA cars off line and then put them back in when loaded, but at Riviera once we waited well over a half hour and sent DH and 1 kid on ahead so we wouldn't miss our ADR. As I understand it, not all the cars can be slowed/stopped as easily, and coming from CBR they were already filling the HA cars with ECVs and wheelchairs. Eventually the CM at Riviera had to fill regular cars with the ECVs but even so they needed the car to have the blocks that they put behind the wheels - which many non-HA cars lacked. Sooo ... still easy enough to get on the car and get set up but everyone (including others in your party) has to know where/how to load and load pretty quickly.