Riviera vs. Bay Lake one-bedroom villa

[TinkB278]

It’s the same “situation” as 12 other DVC properties. They really messed up the shower situation at BLT..

Right but riviera is the newest one. They had the chance to remedy this.

 

[havoc315]

Right but riviera is the newest one. They had the chance to remedy this.

To me, it’s not broken. I find Riviera has the best bathroom layout of any DVC property.

 

[TinkB278]

To me, it’s not broken. I find Riviera has the best bathroom layout of any DVC property.

I guess that just illustrates how we all use dvc differently! It makes the one bedroom unusable for us unless it’s for just a few people, but in that case I’d rather just book a studio.

 

[havoc315]

I guess that just illustrates how we all use dvc differently! It makes the one bedroom unusable for us unless it’s for just a few people, but in that case I’d rather just book a studio.

Yes.. which is why it’s good to have options.
And not expect every resort and room to be the same.

 

[Sue M]

Hi everyone! I just booked a one-bedroom lake view direct from Disney at Bay Lake in mid-May. We stayed here in June 2018 and it was great. It's 5 of us, two adults and 3 adult/adultish children. Loved being able to walk to MK. We drove to the other three resorts. (We may have taken the monorail to Epcot once?)

I am reconsidering the Riviera which didn't exist on our last trip (nor did the skyliner which they were building). The Riviera could cost less (standard view) or only a few dollars more for a preferred view. I've read some old posts and it sounds like a lot of the standard views are very decent, so that could be a nice price savings for us if we went that route.

For anyone familiar with both resorts, how will the sleeping be at Riviera? Looks like a murphy bed at RR versus hidabed at BL, which is good for two of my kids, and another drop down murphy style bed at RR versus the chair bed at BL (which would be a 17 year old who is 6'2" using). Is the little murphy bed decent sized and/or at least comparable to the chair bed? Or is it too tiny for an adult?

My other concern is the one bathroom....at RR it looks to be "sort of" two bathroom areas in one, meaning some components can be separated by a door, but only one of the bathroom areas has a toilet (ie one toilet for 5 people). Is this a deal breaker for five adults?? I worry that it is.

Finally, how do the transportation options at RR work? We can do the skyliner to Epcot and to HS, and we'd drive to AK. How do we get to MK, drive? Or??? I seem to recall if you drive to MK you still have to take a monorail in from the parking lot? Is that correct?

Can we walk to Carribean and use their restaurants etc. Are the restaurant options at RR and Carribean good? We only ate at the California Grill on our first night at Contemporary and ate breakfast in our villa and our other meals in the resorts...it didn't seem like there were a lot of exciting options at BL and Contemporary, really.

We used the pool a couple times at BL, and it was good for us. How do the pools at RR compare?

I guess the real question is, do we go with what worked, even though it might be kind of boring to do the same thing again but is a sure thing that we enjoyed, or do we try something new and if we don't like it as well we chalk it up to experience! Help! Lots of questions here, if you can advise on any of my questions, I'd sure appreciate it. I know I've asked about 20 questions in this post!

We are a west coast family who typically goes to DLR, the DW trips are quite expensive and a splurge, and we feel so uninformed and so newbie which causes me a lot of anxiety since I feel like such an expert at DLR!! The helpful insight here really helps.

Thank you!

I can’t speak to rooms as we haven’t stayed at either. But our last trip we stayed at CBR and did walk to Riviera for a couple of meals. We enjoyed their CS restaurant. We also walked around and their pool looks really nice. It was an easy walk between the resorts.
I also liked the food options at CBR. The food court was good, and their TS, Sebastian’s was possibly one of the best meals on our trip.

As forgetting to MK from Riviera I’d take the bus. Yes you do have to take the monorail or boat to get to TTC if you drive.

 

[Frugal Fairy Tales]

I've stayed in a standard one-bedroom at Riviera. The rooms are gorgeous, as is the ONE shower they have. However, it is only ONE shower. There is also a tub without a shower (they should have made this a shower/tub combo). And there is only one toilet. The bathroom situation is better at BLT. The sleeping situation is better at Riviera with the pull down murphy queen which I found to be comfortable. I will never understand why the shower situation at Riviera is better in the studio vs the one-bedroom, especially for the high points/cost. Seems like a mistake... unless Disney wants to encourage you to go for the two-bedroom! I think you will have a great time at either resort though!!

 

[TinkB278]

I've stayed in a standard one-bedroom at Riviera. The rooms are gorgeous, as is the ONE shower they have. However, it is only ONE shower. There is also a tub without a shower (they should have made this a shower/tub combo). And there is only one toilet. The bathroom situation is better at BLT. The sleeping situation is better at Riviera with the pull down murphy queen which I found to be comfortable. I will never understand why the shower situation at Riviera is better in the studio vs the one-bedroom, especially for the high points/cost. Seems like a mistake... unless Disney wants to encourage you to go for the two-bedroom! I think you will have a great time at either resort though!!

I completely forgot about the one bedroom only having one shower. This was our other problem in addition to the one toilet. They put two showers in a studio but not the one bedroom. I don’t get it.

 

[Frugal Fairy Tales]

I can’t compare as I have only stayed Riv 1 bedroom. Fwiw…

I’ve stayed RIV twice with my fam of 5 adults. The bathroom is unfortunate. There is a tub and sink off the master but the only shower is with the only toilet (another sink is there so no sink issues lol). For easy access to EP we find it worth the hassle (basically just needed to remember to check in with others before showering to make sure we had no shower/toilet conflicts ). The one person drop down bed (twin-ish size?) in the living room is ok for my 6ft brother so I think 6’2” would be ok. Just take the bus to MK from RIV. It’s like a 15 min ride and it drops you off in front of MK, no TTC nonsense.

Will you have park hoppers? If not maybe stick with BLT. If yes I vote RIV. We do dinner in Epcot almost every night with 5 adults so easy access to International Gateway is great. Easy access to MK wouldn’t be as useful to us as EP is- but that just depends on where your crew spends their time.

To throw out something different- how about a split stay with both? That would be my ideal here. Coming from CA myself I thought people were crazy for doing that but after doing it once at WDW I’m addicted. Easy access to 3 parks is nice with an MK/EP hotel split. Mid-trip pack up and drop bags at bell services, go to the park for the day and from the park go to your next hotel and meet your bags there. Bell Services will transfer them for you! Also with Disney seriously slacking in the housekeeping department (every 2 days they do trash and towels- that’s it no matter how long your stay) this would give you a fully cleaned room partway through your trip. Not a small detail when teens are involved

I emphatically agree the bathroom situation in the RIV one-bedroom is unfortunate. This is really the only thing wrong with the resort... but it's a biggie. Two separate bathrooms would have been much more magical! I actually really loved staying at Riviera, but would personally stay in a studio next time vs a one-bedroom for the better shower situation and lower points/cost (I'm not recommending a studio for your party of five, however). Also the Riviera has a great location when the skyliner is running but a bad location when the skyliner is not running. Disney needs to offer some sort of communication within its app about when the skyliner is down so you don't head for the Intl gateway from Epcot only to find the skyliner is not running and that you need to head to the front gate of Epcot to catch a bus back to Riviera!

 

[kboo]

To throw out something different- how about a split stay with both? That would be my ideal here. Coming from CA myself I thought people were crazy for doing that but after doing it once at WDW I’m addicted. Easy access to 3 parks is nice with an MK/EP hotel split. Mid-trip pack up and drop bags at bell services, go to the park for the day and from the park go to your next hotel and meet your bags there. Bell Services will transfer them for you! Also with Disney seriously slacking in the housekeeping department (every 2 days they do trash and towels- that’s it no matter how long your stay) this would give you a fully cleaned room partway through your trip. Not a small detail when teens are involved

We own at both BLT and RIV (and VGF) and do split stays ALL the time to be close to 3 parks. That said - I would not really want to move in the middle of a 5 night stay. I feel like 3+3 is the minimum for us. (Last spring we did 3+5+2 finishing in a RIV studio, but the last 2 nights were very relaxed and we mostly just did EP and slept in.

And yes, you can walk over to Caribbean Beach. Sebastian's is actually one of the best value dinners you'll find at WDW.

We are trying Sebastian's on our upcoming trip (arrival night at RIV).

I’m pretty sure the one bedroom only has one shower and one bubble tub. The studio has a shower and a tub/shower combo. Go figure. what were they thinking ? The bathroom setup at BLT one bedrooms is far superior.

I agree... The Riviera 1BR bath layout works mostly because our kids are young. With teens/adults who may want more privacy, the BLT bathrooms set up is preferable.

Here's my 2 cents - we own at both and stay 1BR a lot. my kids are younger and there's only 4 of us, but here's my take imagining 3 teens:
BEDS/SLEEPING: RIVIERA
The murphy beds are SO comfortable and the twin murphy is definitely large enough and comfortable enough for an adult.

BATHS: BLT
2 showers, 2 tubs, 2 toilets in a 1br
vs.
Riviera's - 1 large shower, 1 large soaking tub, 1 toilet.
Riviera's bathrooms are well-laid out to store items and move around, while BLT's are a little more cramped.

LOCATION: RIV by a smidge
I love the skyliner, I love the peacefulness, and my family's favorite rides are starting to trend to HS and EP. I love being able to hop into EP for dinner. I love the Boardwalk area. But, it sure is nice to walk to MK.

VIEWS: RIV
We stay standard views in both resorts, and have stayed at RIV 3 out of the 4 times we have been at WDW since RIV opened. All of the times at RIV we have had views of fireworks at MK and on the last trip we had views of MK *and* EP fireworks.

DINING: TIE
DH and I argue about california grill v Topolino's constantly. We try to dine at both on each trip. They are both great. I like the CS at Riviera more than the one at BLT/Contemporary. While at BLT you can easily go to so many great restaurants at the other MK resorts, but while at Riviera, you can go to Epcot.

POOLS: RIV
the "quiet" pool is long enough for a real swimmer to do laps and is never crowded. The 2 pools are very close to each other so it's easy to go from one to the other.

 

[Dizzydizney]

@kboo an excellent synopsis!

I agree with who ever said this was a new resort and they could have easily tucked a small bathroom in somewhere. The foyer is huge and a lot of wasted space. But I still love it there....the rooms just feel so Grand.

I don’t think I could spend extra points there, though, for extended family. A 2 bedroom is steep. BLT is perfect for that and am glad to own there too.

I wonder if reflections will ever come off the back burner and wonder what they had planned for that. I know the new GF rooms are not for me. Actually I think I’m done adding on...we have plenty to last our lifetime.

 

[kboo]

@kboo an excellent synopsis!

I agree with who ever said this was a new resort and they could have easily tucked a small bathroom in somewhere. The foyer is huge and a lot of wasted space. But I still love it there....the rooms just feel so Grand.

I don’t think I could spend extra points there, though, for extended family. A 2 bedroom is steep. BLT is perfect for that and am glad to own there too.

I wonder if reflections will ever come off the back burner and wonder what they had planned for that. I know the new GF rooms are not for me. Actually I think I’m done adding on...we have plenty to last our lifetime.

I am such a points miser - one of the benefits of owning at RIV and VGF is the ability to get standard views, and studios as well. So we often do studios there for the first part of a split stay, and then a larger unit for the second half, depending on where we have points and the point charts at that time of year. RIV and VGF have similar bathroom layouts - you actually get 2 showers in the studio but only 1 in the 1br. This upcoming trip we are cramming my dad (he is almost 80, but this trip was booked in January when my mom was still on hospice) into our 1br but going forward when we bring him along we will spring for a 2br standard.

When we bought BLT (our first contract) I think it was really undervalued given its location and layout, and especially when looking at the point charts. Now I think prices have caught up to the value, and I wish I'd bought more BLT points back then.

I don’t think I could spend extra points there, though, for extended family. A 2 bedroom is steep. BLT is perfect for that and am glad to own there too.

We took a tour of the GV when we were there last spring. I had instant addonitis that has not abated. Because if we had a GV we could take my dad *and* my MIL at the same time (they both lost their spouses within the last 3 years). This again goes back to - I wish we'd bought more BLT points when they were cheaper and there wasn't the resale restriction.

 

[mamaofsix]

I considered it, but it's too expensive. They would sleep on the floor to go to DW haha. They are adults but still kids!!

I would not rent a car and upgrade to the 2 bedroom at RR! No parking fees or rental makes it probably about the same cost as a 1 bedroom with a car.