Poly or RR?

[Hubalorian]

No luck required if on the beach at poly

No luck required if on the Terrance of Topalinos

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

Fwiw we found Poly to be very crowded when we were there. I didn’t like the main areas even though my son could get Dole Whip right there.

For me, I like the peace and quiet of Riviera, plus the food is much better.

For a trip in August I’d definitely throw CCV into the mix as well, and maybe AK if your kids would enjoy seeing the animals. But again, peace and quiet are really important to me.

 

[mabucco]

No luck required if on the Terrance of Topalinos

Is there a way to ‘just go up there’ without a reservation? What is your experience with Walk-Up’s at Topolinos?

 

[eticketplease]

Is there a way to ‘just go up there’ without a reservation? What is your experience with Walk-Up’s at Topolinos?

I'm believe you can grab a seat at the bar but you may still have to wait a bit.

 

[sndral]

... Riviera is all contained in one building, which is nice during the summer rain and hurricane season. The restaurants at the Riviera are some of the best on property, QS included…

Not sure why you use the plural ‘restaurants’ for the Riviera, AFAIK there’s one restaurant - Toppolinos - + a quick service & a pool bar that serves food. We liked Toppolinos when we first tried it out, but have been increasingly less impressed as time has gone on. This is for dinner, I have no opinion on breakfast there. Riviera is a Skyliner ride away from Epcot’s back door & all the food options in the countries there if the Skyliner isn’t shut down for a thunderstorm & if you have park hoppers to get into Epcot for a bite to eat.
Poly has 2 restaurants - Ohana & Kona + a very good QS - Captain Cooks & the most popular bar on property Trader Sam’s + the pool bar. A short stroll next door (or 1 quick monorail hop or a pretty boat ride) takes you to 4 GF restaurants - Citricos, Narcoossees, 1900 Park Faire, the GF cafe &, if budget allows you can always splurge at a 5th - V&A. Even the Contemporary’s numerous restaurants are easily reachable via monorail.
Riviera feels isolated to me & a bit stark, the lobby is very small & the grounds are compact. I assume you can walk over to CBR’s food court where there are more options.
The Poly is lush. The lobby is a bit busy for my taste - especially around dinner time, but at least it’s a decent size & during the day it’s fairly calm. We walked over from the VGF for lunch at the Poly Tower’s Wailua grill last week & really enjoyed the experience, we also strolled over for lunch at Captain Cook’s, dinner one night at Kona & a late desert another night at Kona.
We just returned from 11 days at the VGF & I was concerned about sharing buses w/ the new Poly tower - either we got very lucky or they are running more buses since we always got a seat & never waited longer than 5 minutes for a bus at the GF. Since the buses pick up at the Poly first, I’d be far less worried about bus seating from the Poly stop v. the second GF stop. I did notice folks waiting to board the Skyliner at the Riviera when we rode it since they have to wait for an empty cabin to go by - but it was the very busy NYE weekend, so I assume that’s unusual .
We also fared well w/ monorails. The Poly has an advantage over the GF in that you can easily walk to the TTC monorail stop if your longhouse is on that side of the Poly & grab the Epcot monorail w/out doing the resort/Epcot monorail hop. You can even grab the express monorail from the TTC for a non stop ride to the MK.
We weren’t as lucky w/ our boat timing & seemed to always walk up just as the MK-GF-Poly boat was pulling away from the dock, so we had some waits for boat rides .

 

[WeIcomeHome]

Not sure why you use the plural ‘restaurants’ for the Riviera, AFAIK there’s one restaurant - Toppolinos - + a quick service & a pool bar that serves food. We liked Toppolinos when we first tried it out, but have been increasingly less impressed as time has gone on. This is for dinner, I have no opinion on breakfast there. Riviera is a Skyliner ride away from Epcot’s back door & all the food options in the countries there if the Skyliner isn’t shut down for a thunderstorm & if you have park hoppers to get into Epcot for a bite to eat.
Poly has 2 restaurants - Ohana & Kona + a very good QS - Captain Cooks & the most popular bar on property Trader Sam’s + the pool bar. A short stroll next door (or 1 quick monorail hop or a pretty boat ride) takes you to 4 GF restaurants - Citricos, Narcoossees, 1900 Park Faire, the GF cafe &, if budget allows you can always splurge at a 5th - V&A. Even the Contemporary’s numerous restaurants are easily reachable via monorail.
Riviera feels isolated to me & a bit stark, the lobby is very small & the grounds are compact. I assume you can walk over to CBR’s food court where there are more options.
The Poly is lush. The lobby is a bit busy for my taste - especially around dinner time, but at least it’s a decent size & during the day it’s fairly calm. We walked over from the VGF for lunch at the Poly Tower’s Wailua grill last week & really enjoyed the experience, we also strolled over for lunch at Captain Cook’s, dinner one night at Kona & a late desert another night at Kona.
We just returned from 11 days at the VGF & I was concerned about sharing buses w/ the new Poly tower - either we got very lucky or they are running more buses since we always got a seat & never waited longer than 5 minutes for a bus at the GF. Since the buses pick up at the Poly first, I’d be far less worried about bus seating from the Poly stop v. the second GF stop. I did notice folks waiting to board the Skyliner at the Riviera when we rode it since they have to wait for an empty cabin to go by - but it was the very busy NYE weekend, so I assume that’s unusual .
We also fared well w/ monorails. The Poly has an advantage over the GF in that you can easily walk to the TTC monorail stop if your longhouse is on that side of the Poly & grab the Epcot monorail w/out doing the resort/Epcot monorail hop. You can even grab the express monorail from the TTC for a non stop ride to the MK.
We weren’t as lucky w/ our boat timing & seemed to always walk up just as the MK-GF-Poly boat was pulling away from the dock, so we had some waits for boat rides .

This is clearly a very biased take when you call Captain Cooks a very good QS and act like Primo Piatto is just another QS. IMO Primo Piatto is easily in the top 3 QS on property. My experience is Captain Cooks lacks sufficient seating, particularly when raining, their food was average at best.

I do love me some OHana and Kona has been solid as of late. Bar Riva had a great menu when it first opened. The new menu that came out in 2024 is a disappointment but their food is still really good.

I try not to compare neighboring restaurants but if you're going to include restaurants at GF or BLT as options for Poly, you might as well include CB, BW, YC, BC, and the Swolphin for RR.

 

[sndral]

This is clearly a very biased take when you call Captain Cooks a very good QS and act like Primo Piatto is just another QS. IMO Primo Piatto is easily in the top 3 QS on property. My experience is Captain Cooks lacks sufficient seating, particularly when raining, their food was average at best.

I do love me some OHana and Kona has been solid as of late. Bar Riva had a great menu when it first opened. The new menu that came out in 2024 is a disappointment but their food is still really good.

I try not to compare neighboring restaurants but if you're going to include restaurants at GF or BLT as options for Poly, you might as well include CB, BW, YC, BC, and the Swolphin for RR.

We are all biased, there are popular restaurants at WDW that I dislike, & unpopular ones that I like. Even restaurants that were once favorites loose their allure as menus change (Ohana cough cough.) Captain Cooks was still reliably good last week when I had lunch there IMO. Kona seems to have improved their management so it’s back on my positive list, Steakhouse 71 over at the Contemporary was a cluster OTH, so I’ll give it a pass until management gets their act together.
I don’t own at either Riviera or Poly, I offered my perspective about the differences between the resorts.
I have more experience w/ the Poly because I stayed there years ago & I’ve owned next door at my favorite - the VGF - for a decade & it’s an easy walk/boat ride over to the Poly . I have less experience w/ the Riviera & no opinion on the Riviera’s quick service venue (other than that it is quick service & not a sit down restaurant) since I haven’t eaten there, hopefully if it’s good, it stays good & doesn’t suffer the penny pinching decline in quality/variety that I’ve seen w/ so many WDW restaurants/QS & yes I’m still bitter about the disappearance of the strawberry shortcake at the Land .
Personally, if I’m looking at a MK heavy trip one of the monorail resorts can’t be beat. If I’m looking at an Epcot/DHS focused trip I’d try for BWVs or the BC .

 

[Mle8308]

Not sure why you use the plural ‘restaurants’ for the Riviera, AFAIK there’s one restaurant - Toppolinos - + a quick service & a pool bar that serves food. We liked Toppolinos when we first tried it out, but have been increasingly less impressed as time has gone on. This is for dinner, I have no opinion on breakfast there. Riviera is a Skyliner ride away from Epcot’s back door & all the food options in the countries there if the Skyliner isn’t shut down for a thunderstorm & if you have park hoppers to get into Epcot for a bite to eat.
Poly has 2 restaurants - Ohana & Kona + a very good QS - Captain Cooks & the most popular bar on property Trader Sam’s + the pool bar. A short stroll next door (or 1 quick monorail hop or a pretty boat ride) takes you to 4 GF restaurants - Citricos, Narcoossees, 1900 Park Faire, the GF cafe &, if budget allows you can always splurge at a 5th - V&A. Even the Contemporary’s numerous restaurants are easily reachable via monorail.
Riviera feels isolated to me & a bit stark, the lobby is very small & the grounds are compact. I assume you can walk over to CBR’s food court where there are more options.
The Poly is lush. The lobby is a bit busy for my taste - especially around dinner time, but at least it’s a decent size & during the day it’s fairly calm. We walked over from the VGF for lunch at the Poly Tower’s Wailua grill last week & really enjoyed the experience, we also strolled over for lunch at Captain Cook’s, dinner one night at Kona & a late desert another night at Kona.
We just returned from 11 days at the VGF & I was concerned about sharing buses w/ the new Poly tower - either we got very lucky or they are running more buses since we always got a seat & never waited longer than 5 minutes for a bus at the GF. Since the buses pick up at the Poly first, I’d be far less worried about bus seating from the Poly stop v. the second GF stop. I did notice folks waiting to board the Skyliner at the Riviera when we rode it since they have to wait for an empty cabin to go by - but it was the very busy NYE weekend, so I assume that’s unusual .
We also fared well w/ monorails. The Poly has an advantage over the GF in that you can easily walk to the TTC monorail stop if your longhouse is on that side of the Poly & grab the Epcot monorail w/out doing the resort/Epcot monorail hop. You can even grab the express monorail from the TTC for a non stop ride to the MK.
We weren’t as lucky w/ our boat timing & seemed to always walk up just as the MK-GF-Poly boat was pulling away from the dock, so we had some waits for boat rides .

Because there are other places to purchase food at the Riviera, hence restaurants. The word restaurant doesn't mean it has to be table service. QSR stands for quick service restaurant. Ohana is terrible and Captain Cooks is just okay. Primo Piatto is far superior for QS. But yes, I agree, all are entitled to their own opinions.

 

[Dug720]

I did notice folks waiting to board the Skyliner at the Riviera when we rode it since they have to wait for an empty cabin to go by

It's my understanding that at the CBR hub they are supposed to leave a free car every so many so that there are open ones for Riviera.

If you feel it's really that long of a line it's just "a short stroll" over to the CBR hub - pretty sure it's shorter than or at most the same as the Poly to GF "stroll" - to join that line.

 

[sndral]

It's my understanding that at the CBR hub they are supposed to leave a free car every so many so that there are open ones for Riviera.

If you feel it's really that long of a line it's just "a short stroll" over to the CBR hub - pretty sure it's shorter than or at most the same as the Poly to GF "stroll" - to join that line.

I like the Skyliner & thus take a peaceful ride on it just because & as I noted, I figured the back up was because it was around NYE & very busy everywhere.

 

[tidefan]

Because there are other places to purchase food at the Riviera, hence restaurants. The word restaurant doesn't mean it has to be table service. QSR stands for quick service restaurant. Ohana is terrible and Captain Cooks is just okay. Primo Piatto is far superior for QS. But yes, I agree, all are entitled to their own opinions.

I know this is a sidebar, but I'll throw in my $.02...

The best QS meal at WDW is the Shrimp and Grits at Sassagoula Floatworks over at Port Orleans French Quarter. Follow that up with a tasty set of beignets and IMHO you have the best QS there is.

 

[RuntheMouse]

I know this is a sidebar, but I'll throw in my $.02...

The best QS meal at WDW is the Shrimp and Grits at Sassagoula Floatworks over at Port Orleans French Quarter. Follow that up with a tasty set of beignets and IMHO you have the best QS there is.

I would normally give you a thumbs up on this but I had the shrimp & grits over there in November and it was missing something, it just wasn’t as good as it has been. I even made a special trip over there for lunch.

 

[tidefan]

I would normally give you a thumbs up on this but I had the shrimp & grits over there in November and it was missing something, it just wasn’t as good as it has been. I even made a special trip over there for lunch.

Was just there the first week of January and all was well. I think it may depend on who makes it for you. I love the fact that it is made to order.