Girlstar30
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2025
- Messages
- 2,635
Woke up bright and early this morning to have breakfast at the Whispering Canyon Cafe. I had been warned that the restaurant had a sense of humor that might not appeal to us.
We had been to Primetime Cafe so I did not mind this approach and found it quite amusing. My wife was not a fan and my cousin decided it was best for her son with anxiety not to attend. No problem.
We waited in the majestic lobby on rocking chairs in front of the fireplace. How relaxing. Our name was called and the adventure began. Nothing too crazy on the rude humor front, straws thrown at the table, asking for Ketchup and being brought out like 15 bottles instead of one
Our server was very talkative, a little TOO talkative, which made for some slow service and a little too much leisurely time at other tables talking about sports and other things. We were hungry. The food is served family style which again we're not really big fans of having to flag down the server every time we wanted something else. We prefer buffets where we can get the food ourselves. It was all you care to enjoy though, so that was a plus on getting to try different things. My wife ordered a skillet that included a lot of BBQ and I ordered a Heritage breakfast skillet. We both agreed that the food was tasty. I especially loved the biscuits and gravy! I wish I had two stomachs it was probably one, if not the best, biscuits and gravy I've ever had! We left satisfied, but both agreed that we could do without the "rude humor" aspect of it so it's not somewhere we'd want to eat every time. Time to relax and then get picked up by our guide! Off to the Riviera!
When i first walked into the Riviera I felt pretty neutral. For some reason I had convinced myself before coming that I wasn't interested. Boy, that was about to change big time! The lobby was a lobby. Not anything over the top like the others, but not necessarily bad. One thing I noticed off the bat was that the service here was impeccable. Everybody smiling, greeting us, making sure everyone was happy. They looked happy. From being trained in customer service as a former cast member and Marriott employee, I thought to myself, This hotel does it right. I also loved how the hotel rooms were in the same building. So far everywhere we stayed was like that. Very convenient. Our guide showed us Le Petit Cafe. We're not big coffee drinkers, but we love a good pastry. I did wish that they had something else there, another restaurant? But it made sense with the theming. We went past and saw the Library lounge which I thought was a great quiet space, but I also thought it was a missed opportunity for a DVC lounge. Our guide was raving about the shirtless Walt picture. As a huge Walt fan, I was glad a hotel had nods to him! Time to see the rooms!
As we walked down the hallways, I was captivated by the artwork. Pensive looking princesses, it wasn't your run of the mill typical princess look (my complaint about VDH) and I loved it. This hotel had a lot of nods to Disney classics. The first room we were shown was the tower room and it looked like... an office space? I disliked it immediately. I thought this would be the style of all of the rooms and I was so disappointed. The hotel had really started to grow on me! Thankfully we were shown the two bedroom lockoff next. What a gorgeous and luxurious room! Beauty and the beast! The aristocats! My nostalgic childhood wrapped in a beautiful package. Was that marble flooring In the bathrooms??? What a beautiful chandelier
Loved the etching behind the bed. Nice views outside, would love to watch the skyliner or epcot fireworks from my room!
Continuing outside to see the skyliner i admired the beautiful mosaics. The skyliner was there ready to take us to two theme parks or some other hotels to explore. When our guide told us about gelatos by the pool I was losing my mind, A little slice of Europe this was without having to go all the way to Europe!
As an artist, my wife appreciated all of the artwork. Our guide told us about Topolinos (which was closed sadly) and Breakfast a la Art. Are you kidding me?? This was the hotel for me! Can this hotel be any more of a perfect fit? I noticed my wife was so tired from the previous days and wasn't really paying attention anymore, while I was beaming. I told our guide thank you and we would discuss and get back to him. I had to come back here before the trip ended!!!! We didn't get to explore the pool area and I at least wanted to eat at Primo Piatto! We had dinner reservations tonight at Snow White Storybook dining at WL. Time to chill before going, family was meeting us and was super excited for this one.
We loved the rare Snow White characters at the WL Storybook Dining and the dance they put on, especially Grumpy! The characters spent a lot of time at our table and we got lots of pictures and interaction. The evil queen was the star of the show. Meeting her she was spot on in character! She made us laugh with her one liners and it was one of those character interactions you never forget. Unfortunately, the food fell really flat. We didn't like the quality or the taste. We both agreed that it was our least favorite food we had so far and we felt no need to return again. The meat tasted... microwaved? The desserts tasted like they'd been sitting in a fridge. Appetizers were nothing to write home about. This left our dining choices at WL super limited. No signature or fine dining either. I was happy we were off to Baylake tomorrow and I was already planning my trip back to Riviera!
In the morning there was free hot chocolate in the lobby, what a nice touch and fond way to say goodbye! I was thirsty when I woke up and we ran out of water and the merchandise store was closed. My wife went to the front desk and they were gracious enough to give us free bottled waters while we transferred to Baylake Tower. It really was a charming hotel and fabulous front desk. Too bad it just didn't check enough boxes all around. The longer contract and MF were definetely attractive, but I just couldn't get over the lackluster rooms. Oh well, off to Baylake Tower, one I was REALLY looking forward to! To be continued!
We had been to Primetime Cafe so I did not mind this approach and found it quite amusing. My wife was not a fan and my cousin decided it was best for her son with anxiety not to attend. No problem.
We waited in the majestic lobby on rocking chairs in front of the fireplace. How relaxing. Our name was called and the adventure began. Nothing too crazy on the rude humor front, straws thrown at the table, asking for Ketchup and being brought out like 15 bottles instead of one
Our server was very talkative, a little TOO talkative, which made for some slow service and a little too much leisurely time at other tables talking about sports and other things. We were hungry. The food is served family style which again we're not really big fans of having to flag down the server every time we wanted something else. We prefer buffets where we can get the food ourselves. It was all you care to enjoy though, so that was a plus on getting to try different things. My wife ordered a skillet that included a lot of BBQ and I ordered a Heritage breakfast skillet. We both agreed that the food was tasty. I especially loved the biscuits and gravy! I wish I had two stomachs it was probably one, if not the best, biscuits and gravy I've ever had! We left satisfied, but both agreed that we could do without the "rude humor" aspect of it so it's not somewhere we'd want to eat every time. Time to relax and then get picked up by our guide! Off to the Riviera!When i first walked into the Riviera I felt pretty neutral. For some reason I had convinced myself before coming that I wasn't interested. Boy, that was about to change big time! The lobby was a lobby. Not anything over the top like the others, but not necessarily bad. One thing I noticed off the bat was that the service here was impeccable. Everybody smiling, greeting us, making sure everyone was happy. They looked happy. From being trained in customer service as a former cast member and Marriott employee, I thought to myself, This hotel does it right. I also loved how the hotel rooms were in the same building. So far everywhere we stayed was like that. Very convenient. Our guide showed us Le Petit Cafe. We're not big coffee drinkers, but we love a good pastry. I did wish that they had something else there, another restaurant? But it made sense with the theming. We went past and saw the Library lounge which I thought was a great quiet space, but I also thought it was a missed opportunity for a DVC lounge. Our guide was raving about the shirtless Walt picture. As a huge Walt fan, I was glad a hotel had nods to him! Time to see the rooms!
As we walked down the hallways, I was captivated by the artwork. Pensive looking princesses, it wasn't your run of the mill typical princess look (my complaint about VDH) and I loved it. This hotel had a lot of nods to Disney classics. The first room we were shown was the tower room and it looked like... an office space? I disliked it immediately. I thought this would be the style of all of the rooms and I was so disappointed. The hotel had really started to grow on me! Thankfully we were shown the two bedroom lockoff next. What a gorgeous and luxurious room! Beauty and the beast! The aristocats! My nostalgic childhood wrapped in a beautiful package. Was that marble flooring In the bathrooms??? What a beautiful chandelier
Loved the etching behind the bed. Nice views outside, would love to watch the skyliner or epcot fireworks from my room!Continuing outside to see the skyliner i admired the beautiful mosaics. The skyliner was there ready to take us to two theme parks or some other hotels to explore. When our guide told us about gelatos by the pool I was losing my mind, A little slice of Europe this was without having to go all the way to Europe!
As an artist, my wife appreciated all of the artwork. Our guide told us about Topolinos (which was closed sadly) and Breakfast a la Art. Are you kidding me?? This was the hotel for me! Can this hotel be any more of a perfect fit? I noticed my wife was so tired from the previous days and wasn't really paying attention anymore, while I was beaming. I told our guide thank you and we would discuss and get back to him. I had to come back here before the trip ended!!!! We didn't get to explore the pool area and I at least wanted to eat at Primo Piatto! We had dinner reservations tonight at Snow White Storybook dining at WL. Time to chill before going, family was meeting us and was super excited for this one.
We loved the rare Snow White characters at the WL Storybook Dining and the dance they put on, especially Grumpy! The characters spent a lot of time at our table and we got lots of pictures and interaction. The evil queen was the star of the show. Meeting her she was spot on in character! She made us laugh with her one liners and it was one of those character interactions you never forget. Unfortunately, the food fell really flat. We didn't like the quality or the taste. We both agreed that it was our least favorite food we had so far and we felt no need to return again. The meat tasted... microwaved? The desserts tasted like they'd been sitting in a fridge. Appetizers were nothing to write home about. This left our dining choices at WL super limited. No signature or fine dining either. I was happy we were off to Baylake tomorrow and I was already planning my trip back to Riviera!
In the morning there was free hot chocolate in the lobby, what a nice touch and fond way to say goodbye! I was thirsty when I woke up and we ran out of water and the merchandise store was closed. My wife went to the front desk and they were gracious enough to give us free bottled waters while we transferred to Baylake Tower. It really was a charming hotel and fabulous front desk. Too bad it just didn't check enough boxes all around. The longer contract and MF were definetely attractive, but I just couldn't get over the lackluster rooms. Oh well, off to Baylake Tower, one I was REALLY looking forward to! To be continued!
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