newfamilyman
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2005
- Messages
- 708
We celebrated our son’s college graduation with a splurge Disney/Universal trip the second week in December. We are DVC members who have traditionally done split stays in the past; this time none of my waitlists cleared, so we spent the entire 10 nights at the Riviera. We love the Riviera, a modern resort with excellent transportation options. The only negative for me is the lack of a second bathroom in the one-bedroom villas, which admittedly few DVC resorts offer.
This visit was our first trip since Instacart became available, as we have ordered from Garden Grocer in the past. Publix had everything that we needed at very reasonable prices, especially compared to what we are used to spending in Los Angeles. However, I made a mistaken assumption when I placed the order that my name would appear as the account holder. As soon as our flight landed, and I turned off airplane mode, I discovered that the order had been cancelled because my name had not automatically populated. While still waiting to arrive to our gate, I replaced the order, making sure to include my name and even our room number since it was then available, and our groceries still beat our arrival to the resort.
When the app stubbornly refused to unlock our room, we had to go back to the front desk to get key cards. The next problem was that I had purchased filters and ground coffee, but the room had a Keurig. I called housekeeping, who informed me that the units are supposed to have the Cuisinart drip machines, which come with a reusable filter, so there was no need to for disposable ones. The housekeeper replaced the Keurig with a brand-new Cuisinart, right of the box.
Other than experiencing a glitch when I tried to use my phone to connect to the Chromecast-enabled TV in the bedroom (luckily I had no problems casting from my iPad), we experienced no more issues with the room. I should point out, though, that if you decide to enjoy a relaxing bath in the whirlpool tub, be prepared for extremely loud noises about a half hour or so after you drain the tub as it clears out the pipes, I guess?
We spent our first day, Sunday, at the Magic Kingdom. It was a good thing that we brought our ponchos because during the daytime, we experienced the fabled Florida weather of periodic showers but by dinnertime, the rain was coming down in sheets without relief. I hope the crowds attending the Christmas party that night got refunds.
Weather aside, the park’s early closing time discouraged attendance and created the only Disney day this trip where we experienced small crowds. We entered with the maximum five LL selections, two individual and three multi pass, and as a result, we never waited on any particularly long lines.
I was most excited for our first ride on Tiana’s, and the retheme was a letdown. It started off like Living with the Land but with fake vegetables and ended with broken animatronics. Furthermore, marrying a dark-ride story to a thrill ride track, albeit only a moderately thrilling one, results in a relationship with irreconcilable differences. The complete absence of any jeopardy leading to the drop robs it of any anticipatory excitement and made me miss the ominous music and vultures of Splash Mountain. I love a well-themed log ride, but the imagineers really missed the boat, if you will, with this retheming.
The Jingle Cruise overlay, by contrast, was amusing and enjoyable. The decorations were on the rushed and underfunded side but still effective, and the theming gave openings for seasonal jokes, including an amusing pun about literal white elephant gifts.
It was also our first time on Tron. As someone who is unfortunately getting more prone to dizziness and motion sickness with age, this ride was a little too intense for me. I’ve read complaints that the ride was too short, but if you’ve got motion sickness issues, it was a few second longer than I would have preferred.
We ate lunch at the Plaza Restaurant. I got the club sandwich with an onion ring side upgrade that really hit the spot. It is a cozy restaurant that makes for a great spot to take a break.
Dinner was at the Liberty Tree Tavern. I made the reservation for the last time before the party, and by then, the downpour was truly intense. The restaurant is all about theming. The food was enjoyable enough but nothing stood out or was memorable and was my least favorite of the three all-you-care-to-eat, family-style restaurants that we visited this trip.
Monday was our day for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. I purchased unlimited express passes, something unfortunately no longer available at the Hollywood park without a VIP tour.
Having read how early the express pass lane merges with the regular one on Hagrid’s, I was pleasantly surprised at the relatively short wait. Hagrid’s got me in a couple of places but overall was enjoyable. I bowed out while the rest of the family did VelociCoaster twice, which remained their favorite Universal coaster.
Islands of Adventure excels at water rides. Dudley Do Right Ripsaw Falls continues to be my all-time favorite log ride. While the theming is sparse and low-tech, at least there isn’t much to break down, and the track is fantastic at balancing thrills with relaxing stretches. We needed the dryer afterwards. Jurassic Park ride pales in comparison with Jurassic World, but is still fun, even in the rain with ponchos. Hopefully Orlando will get the new-and-improved version that it deserves. It was too rainy to add Bluto’s Barges this trip.
During our last visit, the Bourne stunt show broke down only a few minutes in due to technical difficulties, so I was looking forward to seeing the full show. It was Déjà vu when the show again broke down shortly after it had begun. It was strange to me how the actors stop and calmly walk off the stage, which must be a sign of how commonplace breakdowns are. This time, they were able to fix whatever was wrong, and the rest of the show ran uninterrupted. It was truly astounding how the practical sets merged with the enormous LED background, even as the action itself was reminiscent of the type of fighting you see in “Waterworld” or the old west stunt shows that used to be a theme park staple. I’d still want to see it again and marvel its accomplishments.
Lunch was at Mythos, the only comfortable place to eat in the recurrent rain, so it was wise that I had made a reservation. The service was extremely slow, but the Greek salad was excellent.
We ended up spontaneously having dinner at Bigfire restaurant in CityWalk. I initially wanted to eat at Lombardo’s in the Studios, but we weren’t going to make the reservation in time, and the park was closing early for a private event. Bigfire turned out to be excellent. I followed the server’s recommendation to get one of the steaks, and it was delicious. We got s’mores for dessert, which proved to be the only unsatisfying part of the meal. The server told us that it was designed for four people, and it was $19. However, the fixings were extremely limited, with an inadequate amount of chocolate provided relative to the marshmallows and graham crackers.
This visit was our first trip since Instacart became available, as we have ordered from Garden Grocer in the past. Publix had everything that we needed at very reasonable prices, especially compared to what we are used to spending in Los Angeles. However, I made a mistaken assumption when I placed the order that my name would appear as the account holder. As soon as our flight landed, and I turned off airplane mode, I discovered that the order had been cancelled because my name had not automatically populated. While still waiting to arrive to our gate, I replaced the order, making sure to include my name and even our room number since it was then available, and our groceries still beat our arrival to the resort.
When the app stubbornly refused to unlock our room, we had to go back to the front desk to get key cards. The next problem was that I had purchased filters and ground coffee, but the room had a Keurig. I called housekeeping, who informed me that the units are supposed to have the Cuisinart drip machines, which come with a reusable filter, so there was no need to for disposable ones. The housekeeper replaced the Keurig with a brand-new Cuisinart, right of the box.
Other than experiencing a glitch when I tried to use my phone to connect to the Chromecast-enabled TV in the bedroom (luckily I had no problems casting from my iPad), we experienced no more issues with the room. I should point out, though, that if you decide to enjoy a relaxing bath in the whirlpool tub, be prepared for extremely loud noises about a half hour or so after you drain the tub as it clears out the pipes, I guess?
We spent our first day, Sunday, at the Magic Kingdom. It was a good thing that we brought our ponchos because during the daytime, we experienced the fabled Florida weather of periodic showers but by dinnertime, the rain was coming down in sheets without relief. I hope the crowds attending the Christmas party that night got refunds.
Weather aside, the park’s early closing time discouraged attendance and created the only Disney day this trip where we experienced small crowds. We entered with the maximum five LL selections, two individual and three multi pass, and as a result, we never waited on any particularly long lines.
I was most excited for our first ride on Tiana’s, and the retheme was a letdown. It started off like Living with the Land but with fake vegetables and ended with broken animatronics. Furthermore, marrying a dark-ride story to a thrill ride track, albeit only a moderately thrilling one, results in a relationship with irreconcilable differences. The complete absence of any jeopardy leading to the drop robs it of any anticipatory excitement and made me miss the ominous music and vultures of Splash Mountain. I love a well-themed log ride, but the imagineers really missed the boat, if you will, with this retheming.
The Jingle Cruise overlay, by contrast, was amusing and enjoyable. The decorations were on the rushed and underfunded side but still effective, and the theming gave openings for seasonal jokes, including an amusing pun about literal white elephant gifts.
It was also our first time on Tron. As someone who is unfortunately getting more prone to dizziness and motion sickness with age, this ride was a little too intense for me. I’ve read complaints that the ride was too short, but if you’ve got motion sickness issues, it was a few second longer than I would have preferred.
We ate lunch at the Plaza Restaurant. I got the club sandwich with an onion ring side upgrade that really hit the spot. It is a cozy restaurant that makes for a great spot to take a break.
Dinner was at the Liberty Tree Tavern. I made the reservation for the last time before the party, and by then, the downpour was truly intense. The restaurant is all about theming. The food was enjoyable enough but nothing stood out or was memorable and was my least favorite of the three all-you-care-to-eat, family-style restaurants that we visited this trip.
Monday was our day for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. I purchased unlimited express passes, something unfortunately no longer available at the Hollywood park without a VIP tour.
Having read how early the express pass lane merges with the regular one on Hagrid’s, I was pleasantly surprised at the relatively short wait. Hagrid’s got me in a couple of places but overall was enjoyable. I bowed out while the rest of the family did VelociCoaster twice, which remained their favorite Universal coaster.
Islands of Adventure excels at water rides. Dudley Do Right Ripsaw Falls continues to be my all-time favorite log ride. While the theming is sparse and low-tech, at least there isn’t much to break down, and the track is fantastic at balancing thrills with relaxing stretches. We needed the dryer afterwards. Jurassic Park ride pales in comparison with Jurassic World, but is still fun, even in the rain with ponchos. Hopefully Orlando will get the new-and-improved version that it deserves. It was too rainy to add Bluto’s Barges this trip.
During our last visit, the Bourne stunt show broke down only a few minutes in due to technical difficulties, so I was looking forward to seeing the full show. It was Déjà vu when the show again broke down shortly after it had begun. It was strange to me how the actors stop and calmly walk off the stage, which must be a sign of how commonplace breakdowns are. This time, they were able to fix whatever was wrong, and the rest of the show ran uninterrupted. It was truly astounding how the practical sets merged with the enormous LED background, even as the action itself was reminiscent of the type of fighting you see in “Waterworld” or the old west stunt shows that used to be a theme park staple. I’d still want to see it again and marvel its accomplishments.
Lunch was at Mythos, the only comfortable place to eat in the recurrent rain, so it was wise that I had made a reservation. The service was extremely slow, but the Greek salad was excellent.
We ended up spontaneously having dinner at Bigfire restaurant in CityWalk. I initially wanted to eat at Lombardo’s in the Studios, but we weren’t going to make the reservation in time, and the park was closing early for a private event. Bigfire turned out to be excellent. I followed the server’s recommendation to get one of the steaks, and it was delicious. We got s’mores for dessert, which proved to be the only unsatisfying part of the meal. The server told us that it was designed for four people, and it was $19. However, the fixings were extremely limited, with an inadequate amount of chocolate provided relative to the marshmallows and graham crackers.
