What do you like about the Riviera?

[jerseygal]

Love the rooms, lobby, and two pools, convenience to Skyliner! One of my favorite resorts, rooms are Sooo nice, can’t wait to return for a few nights in May!

 

[Drew729]

We did the tour in September. I thought the rooms were fantastic, possibly the best of any resort in DVC. I liked that the property overall and the resort felt compact compared to some resorts. Skyliner great when working, a thunderstorm meant we came back by bus to BCV. It was a little more than an hour to get from the platform at Riviera back to BCV with a stop at BWV, that was not fun.

Perfectly adequate with moderate location. Shiny and new.

 

[disneyfunfamily4]

I honestly didn't love it when I first saw picture of it. But we decided to take the skyliner over and take a look and tour the rooms. The kids and I loved it so in December we stayed in a 2 bedroom villa and it was amazing. We loved the coffee shop, the quick service dining. We did a split stay and moved to a 2 bedroom at the beach club and wished we had stayed at the Rivera the whole time. I'm not knocking the beach club but the rooms definitely lacked luster after staying at the Rivera. We're planning on adding more points at the RR soon. My husband just thinks it's ok, he loves WL but our teenage girls and I love the Rivera. I always say if we all liked the same thing this world would be so boring.

 

[akk]

The rooms are nice but I don't think as nice as Grand Floridian. Probably more on par with SSR and BCV. And none are as big as OKW. The Skyliner is the highlight of the resort. It is easy to get to Epcot or Studios. The coffee shop is convenient and has good pastries. Don't like the color of the building. Can't even tell what it is. ?blue/gray? The lobby is too small for the building. It gets crowded at check in time. The pool is very plain, but nice to have a separate quiet pool. The rooftop restaurant is ridiculously expensive. I didn't like it at first but it grew on me. Nice big TV's in the rooms. And they improved the choice of TV channels since my last visit to Disney. We were there three nights and the weather was terrible so that may have skewed my opinion. But was good to have a nice 2 bedroom with cool drissly weather to come back to.

 

[justme0729]

The skyliner is the best mode of transport right now with Covid since you don't have to share with any other party and it gets you to 2 parks very quickly. When I was there, there was rarely a line so you just walked on instead of waiting. It makes it very easy to pop into Epcot. The rooms/ hallways with Disney artwork are really pretty, the quick service is good, the quiet pool is nice for adults, and everything is very close (bus station, skyliner, dining, lobby). I personally don't think it has the "magic" of an MK resort with the castle view in the distance but it is probably my favorite after the MK resorts.

 

[princesscinderella]

We really liked the rooms they are very beautiful and the Murphy beds instead of the couch beds. We are a family of five and like that both the studio and 1 bedroom fit all of us.

 

[Transferteck]

I love that everyone doesn’t love it. I also like the higher point chart because the last people I want to spend a vacation with are value seeking people. I want to relax, unwind, maybe visit a park, pool, or bar and not have it crowded because of it being so cheap or affordable. Riviera helps me accomplish this. If I wanted cheap or value I would go to Universal Studios or stay at BW.

 

[Turn the Page]

We haven't tried any of the food yet but we like the available options, the rooms sleep 5, I like the tower design rather than the spread out structure with the looooooong hallways, we adore the Skyliner, and the pool may not be SAB but it has a fun slide and zero depth entry and the kiddie pool is adorable.

I'm not wild about the lobby, it does seem rather small but I can't honestly say the size of the lobby affects my vacation one iota and I do strongly feel that the lobby, for reasons i'm unclear on, really doesn't look it's best in photos. It feels much nicer in person.

The only thing we really didn't like is the grocery selection in the gift shop. It was miniscule. But, we tend to cook in our villa a lot and get a grocery delivery.

 

[Turn the Page]

I love that everyone doesn’t love it. I also like the higher point chart because the last people I want to spend a vacation with are value seeking people. I want to relax, unwind, maybe visit a park, pool, or bar and not have it crowded because of it being so cheap or affordable. Riviera helps me accomplish this. If I wanted cheap or value I would go to Universal Studios or stay at BW.

I was listening to a podcast recently and the commentators were arguing that the high point charts would cause people to buy Riviera points then use them at other, cheaper resorts. I can see the occasional stay at BW or BLT or something but who on earth is using RIV for SAP?

I usually really like that guy too but I think he missed the mark that time.

 

[Gf77]

ㅤ

 

[tidefan]

The rooms are nice but I don't think as nice as Grand Floridian. Probably more on par with SSR and BCV. And none are as big as OKW. The Skyliner is the highlight of the resort. It is easy to get to Epcot or Studios. The coffee shop is convenient and has good pastries. Don't like the color of the building. Can't even tell what it is. ?blue/gray? The lobby is too small for the building. It gets crowded at check in time. The pool is very plain, but nice to have a separate quiet pool. The rooftop restaurant is ridiculously expensive. I didn't like it at first but it grew on me. Nice big TV's in the rooms. And they improved the choice of TV channels since my last visit to Disney. We were there three nights and the weather was terrible so that may have skewed my opinion. But was good to have a nice 2 bedroom with cool drissly weather to come back to.

I almost can't believe I'm going to say this, but yes, SSR has some of the nicest rooms in DVC now. Who would have thought that 3 years ago!

Riviera is nice, but I think that the rooms at VGF, especially the 1/2/3 Bedrooms are a bit nicer. I'd stay at either in a heartbeat though!

 

[Happy2BMommy0812]

I’ll echo what others have said.

1) I really like the rooms
2) It’s small, which means less of a walk to get where you need to go
3) Small also means less people at transportation or pool
4) Quiet pool is amazing, feature pool is fun (not my favorite on property, but I don’t dislike it)
5) Skyliner
6) Quick service options

We have stayed at almost all the DVCs (just not Boulder Ridge or Kidani), and I think each is so unique, it really goes to show the diverse taste of DVC owners. We own at RIV and Poly and love them. But, honestly, I appreciate them all for one thing or another. That being said, I’d probably never opt to stay at Kidani or Boulder Ridge, or stay at Boardwalk, Old Key West or Copper Creek again. The DVC rooms were just not for me. (I would do club level on the resort side at Boardwalk and Wilderness though).

 

[DVCsloth]

First class resort all the way. Love the Skyliner, never had an issue with the busses they ran like clockwork. Have another stay coming in September, using GFV and CCV points. 3 nights in a studio then 4 nights in a 1 BR. Very elegant design inside and out. Definitely considering buying points there although I do want to add on to my CCV. Only negative imo are the resale restrictions. 3rd favorite resort.

 

[Cinderbrella1]

Our family of 6 stayed here over the Christmas holiday and we very much enjoyed our stay. The two bedroom was gorgeous, and very comparable to the VGF (stayed in a Grand and a Two Bedroom there). We cooked a few meals here, and had plenty of space. Our adult children much preferred the Murphy bed over the sofa couch! We ate in all of the restaurants, except for Bar Riva, and the food and service was very good. The staff was wonderful, too! Before returning home, they helped us with packing up a few light sabers. The Sky Liner was up and running for our entire trip, and it was such a peaceful way to get to EPCOT and DHS. We did have a car rental this trip (for the very first time), so we did not have to use the buses very often. Our children are older, so we did use the adult pool more often than the feature pool, and the hot tub and pool were very relaxing. This was a great place to stay! We hope to return again someday.