DW and I just did a resort only stay at the Riviera from Friday, January 15th through this morning. Be warned, this is a long, dry and humorless review – but I hope it is helpful for someone.
ARRIVAL/CHECK-IN/ROOM ASSIGNMENT:
We had booked one of the Tower Studio rooms using DVC points. We did the online check in and our only request was a high floor. We put our anticipated arrival time at 1:00pm. I don’t specifically remember making the selection this time, but I always intend to select that our request is more important than having a room ready first.
We are local, so we were driving in. We got a room ready text just before we arrived at 1:00pm. It was the first time we had our room ready before arriving – we were excited. The text said that we were assigned room 8123 and that it was on the first floor. We didn’t know that all rooms at the Riviera start with 8, so we thought it was on the 8th floor and the text message must have been an error.
The text message was not an error. As I parked the car, DW went to the room with the luggage. I soon got a text from her stating that the room was indeed on the 1st floor, and the only view was of parked cars. Normally, this would not be a big deal for us, but since this was a resort only stay, we would be spending more time than usual in the room and on the patio/balcony. So I decided to inquire at the front desk about a different room. I was approached by a castmember with a tablet and simply asked if there was anything available that was not on the 1st floor. A few minutes later the castmember came back over and told me she had changed our room to 8457, on the 4th floor now and in the opposite wing.
I texted DW, who brought the luggage cart from the first room, and we went to the second room. When we got to the second room, DW was very impressed and told me that we had apparently been upgraded as this new room was much larger than the 1st. I looked up the room types online, and apparently this new room was not a Tower Studio, but rather a Deluxe Studio with a standard view. The castmember at the front desk did not mention the change in room types, but we were obviously very happy with the surprise.
RESORT POOLS:
During this cooler weekend, the Beau Soleil pool was never crowded when we were there. We went swimming there on Friday afternoon shortly after checking out. At one point on Friday afternoon the hot tub had about 7 people in it, but we never saw more than 3 or 4 people in the actual pool. We also used the pool on Sunday afternoon when it was about 62 and cloudy. We were the only people using the pool, though a few others cycled in and out of the hot tub. It was nice having such a nice pool to ourselves. It is just such a nice atmosphere there. We did not use the other pool at all, though it was not crowded but definitely had some people in it every time we wandered by.
DINING:
On Friday afternoon, we stopped at Bar Riva and ordered sandwiches and took them to Beau Soleil pool. I had the Italian sandwich and DW had the chicken sandwich. Both were good sandwiches. We wished there were more sandwiches on the menu, as we would have gone back for lunch again.
For the first time, I decided to purchase a resort refill mug. I found this to be a good value for our resort only stay. As others have reported, they are not allowing you to fill your own mug, but rather you show them the mug, and they give you a normal paper cup of whatever soda you requested. No problem with this, but they should give you something in addition to the mug to show that you have purchased the refillable mug. At times it is cumbersome to have to carry the empty mug in addition to your food and cup of soda.
We used mobile ordering to eat at Primo Piatto for dinner on Friday and breakfasts on Saturday and Sunday. I had the bacon burger which was great, except for the bun, which was rather dry. For breakfast, I had the Croque Madame with a side of scrambled eggs one day, and the Primo Piatto Breakfast the other. Both were good breakfasts, except that the scrambled eggs were very wet and runny both days. I do wish they had other breakfast sandwich type items.
We had an ADR for Topolino’s Terrace on Sunday night. This was our second dinner there, and we really love the restaurant. The food was excellent both times. This time I ordered the veal tomahawk chop which came with a side of cheesy potatoes. Both were great. DW had the salmon dish and really enjoyed it as well.
The only non-resort meal we had was on Saturday afternoon when we went to City Works at Disney Springs to watch the Packer’s NFL playoff game. This was our first time there and it was a great place to watch the game, except that they only played music, so no audio from the game broadcast. The service and food was great as was their “Frose” drink.
This morning, after checking out, we went to the Boardwalk to get breakfast from the Boardwalk Bakery. Before driving over, we had put some of order in the mobile order app, but had not completed ordering because we knew that not all of their bakery items were showing up on the app. When we drove up to the guard shack, the castmember made us complete and submit our order before she would let us through. I understand why, but I don’t know why we had to hit the button stating that we were already there and they should begin our order way before we had even parked our car. This resulted in our order being ready way before we walked all the way over there and so the hot sandwiches were cool by the time we ate them.
RESORT TRANSPORTATION:
We only used the resort buses to get to and from Disney Springs on Saturday afternoon. We only waited about 10 minutes to get picked up at the resort. I left Disney Springs before DW, as she was in the mobile queue at Gideon’s Bakehouse, and I only waited about 10-15 to be picked up from Disney Springs. The buses were running pretty regularly, despite there never being more than one or two other groups on the bus with us, as I was only back at the resort for 10-15 minutes before DW arrived back via bus.
On Saturday morning, we did take the Skyliner to Pop Century and Caribbean Beach just to explore those resorts. We like the Skyliner. However, the Caribbean Beach resort station does not seem well laid out or organized. Without all the castmembers there to direct traffic it would be chaotic and not intuitive at all. The Caribbean Beach station also does not seem convenient to most of the rooms at that resort, or the main lobby. If my phone was correct, it was about ½ mile from the Skyliner station to the main lobby.
MINI GOLF:
On Sunday morning we went and played mini golf at Winter Summerland. In all of our trips to WDW, this was our first time at either miniature golf course. It was more crowded than we expected in the cooler temperatures, but we were able to play at a decent pace and enjoyed the course. We only did 18 holes – the Winterland Course. It was cute during the day, but I hear it is much better at night with the lights on.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
We both really liked our stay at the Riviera. It is a great resort with a great atmosphere. It is probably my second favorite at this point, behind the Boardwalk, our home resort. I do wish that Primo Piatto and Bar Riva had a little more variety to their menus, as the menus get old quickly if you go there more than once. In my opinion, the extra space in the Deluxe Studio is worth spending extra points over the Tower Studio, even for two people. However, I could see this not being an issue if this were a park heavy trip. But for a trip where we spent quite a bit of time in the room, the extra space was great. The only place where I repeatedly noticed a lack of mask compliance was Disney Springs. I was surprised that there were no announcements regarding the mask requirement like there are at the parks.
ARRIVAL/CHECK-IN/ROOM ASSIGNMENT:
We had booked one of the Tower Studio rooms using DVC points. We did the online check in and our only request was a high floor. We put our anticipated arrival time at 1:00pm. I don’t specifically remember making the selection this time, but I always intend to select that our request is more important than having a room ready first.
We are local, so we were driving in. We got a room ready text just before we arrived at 1:00pm. It was the first time we had our room ready before arriving – we were excited. The text said that we were assigned room 8123 and that it was on the first floor. We didn’t know that all rooms at the Riviera start with 8, so we thought it was on the 8th floor and the text message must have been an error.
The text message was not an error. As I parked the car, DW went to the room with the luggage. I soon got a text from her stating that the room was indeed on the 1st floor, and the only view was of parked cars. Normally, this would not be a big deal for us, but since this was a resort only stay, we would be spending more time than usual in the room and on the patio/balcony. So I decided to inquire at the front desk about a different room. I was approached by a castmember with a tablet and simply asked if there was anything available that was not on the 1st floor. A few minutes later the castmember came back over and told me she had changed our room to 8457, on the 4th floor now and in the opposite wing.
I texted DW, who brought the luggage cart from the first room, and we went to the second room. When we got to the second room, DW was very impressed and told me that we had apparently been upgraded as this new room was much larger than the 1st. I looked up the room types online, and apparently this new room was not a Tower Studio, but rather a Deluxe Studio with a standard view. The castmember at the front desk did not mention the change in room types, but we were obviously very happy with the surprise.
RESORT POOLS:
During this cooler weekend, the Beau Soleil pool was never crowded when we were there. We went swimming there on Friday afternoon shortly after checking out. At one point on Friday afternoon the hot tub had about 7 people in it, but we never saw more than 3 or 4 people in the actual pool. We also used the pool on Sunday afternoon when it was about 62 and cloudy. We were the only people using the pool, though a few others cycled in and out of the hot tub. It was nice having such a nice pool to ourselves. It is just such a nice atmosphere there. We did not use the other pool at all, though it was not crowded but definitely had some people in it every time we wandered by.
DINING:
On Friday afternoon, we stopped at Bar Riva and ordered sandwiches and took them to Beau Soleil pool. I had the Italian sandwich and DW had the chicken sandwich. Both were good sandwiches. We wished there were more sandwiches on the menu, as we would have gone back for lunch again.
For the first time, I decided to purchase a resort refill mug. I found this to be a good value for our resort only stay. As others have reported, they are not allowing you to fill your own mug, but rather you show them the mug, and they give you a normal paper cup of whatever soda you requested. No problem with this, but they should give you something in addition to the mug to show that you have purchased the refillable mug. At times it is cumbersome to have to carry the empty mug in addition to your food and cup of soda.
We used mobile ordering to eat at Primo Piatto for dinner on Friday and breakfasts on Saturday and Sunday. I had the bacon burger which was great, except for the bun, which was rather dry. For breakfast, I had the Croque Madame with a side of scrambled eggs one day, and the Primo Piatto Breakfast the other. Both were good breakfasts, except that the scrambled eggs were very wet and runny both days. I do wish they had other breakfast sandwich type items.
We had an ADR for Topolino’s Terrace on Sunday night. This was our second dinner there, and we really love the restaurant. The food was excellent both times. This time I ordered the veal tomahawk chop which came with a side of cheesy potatoes. Both were great. DW had the salmon dish and really enjoyed it as well.
The only non-resort meal we had was on Saturday afternoon when we went to City Works at Disney Springs to watch the Packer’s NFL playoff game. This was our first time there and it was a great place to watch the game, except that they only played music, so no audio from the game broadcast. The service and food was great as was their “Frose” drink.
This morning, after checking out, we went to the Boardwalk to get breakfast from the Boardwalk Bakery. Before driving over, we had put some of order in the mobile order app, but had not completed ordering because we knew that not all of their bakery items were showing up on the app. When we drove up to the guard shack, the castmember made us complete and submit our order before she would let us through. I understand why, but I don’t know why we had to hit the button stating that we were already there and they should begin our order way before we had even parked our car. This resulted in our order being ready way before we walked all the way over there and so the hot sandwiches were cool by the time we ate them.
RESORT TRANSPORTATION:
We only used the resort buses to get to and from Disney Springs on Saturday afternoon. We only waited about 10 minutes to get picked up at the resort. I left Disney Springs before DW, as she was in the mobile queue at Gideon’s Bakehouse, and I only waited about 10-15 to be picked up from Disney Springs. The buses were running pretty regularly, despite there never being more than one or two other groups on the bus with us, as I was only back at the resort for 10-15 minutes before DW arrived back via bus.
On Saturday morning, we did take the Skyliner to Pop Century and Caribbean Beach just to explore those resorts. We like the Skyliner. However, the Caribbean Beach resort station does not seem well laid out or organized. Without all the castmembers there to direct traffic it would be chaotic and not intuitive at all. The Caribbean Beach station also does not seem convenient to most of the rooms at that resort, or the main lobby. If my phone was correct, it was about ½ mile from the Skyliner station to the main lobby.
MINI GOLF:
On Sunday morning we went and played mini golf at Winter Summerland. In all of our trips to WDW, this was our first time at either miniature golf course. It was more crowded than we expected in the cooler temperatures, but we were able to play at a decent pace and enjoyed the course. We only did 18 holes – the Winterland Course. It was cute during the day, but I hear it is much better at night with the lights on.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
We both really liked our stay at the Riviera. It is a great resort with a great atmosphere. It is probably my second favorite at this point, behind the Boardwalk, our home resort. I do wish that Primo Piatto and Bar Riva had a little more variety to their menus, as the menus get old quickly if you go there more than once. In my opinion, the extra space in the Deluxe Studio is worth spending extra points over the Tower Studio, even for two people. However, I could see this not being an issue if this were a park heavy trip. But for a trip where we spent quite a bit of time in the room, the extra space was great. The only place where I repeatedly noticed a lack of mask compliance was Disney Springs. I was surprised that there were no announcements regarding the mask requirement like there are at the parks.
