The Official Riviera Owners & Info Thread

How would you rate the experiences for kids there pls? (5yr old)
Trying to decide between RiV and Beach club
Thanks!
 
How would you rate the experiences for kids there pls? (5yr old)
Trying to decide between RiV and Beach club
Thanks!

Hmm yea just the 2 of us. I would still go with BC simply for the play area at SAB assuming swimming is on your list. The splash area at Riviera looked very fun though as well.

I think a 5 yo would love taking the gondola each time though.

We're back at BCV now and it seems a bit more kid friendly feeling.

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Did a Tower a few days ago. Loved it and the resort. Bed was great. 15 points of dues last minute was a tremendous vale. Then moved to a 20 point studio with 2 showers-that was a great room and stay as well.

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The view from your room was amazing! I'm incredibly homesick for WDW and have ten months to go before our next trip, so I'm living vicariously through others right now. Thanks for posting the photos! :)
 


Finally posting pics from our trip at the end of September. I posted a detailed report at that time on the DVCFan Facebook group--a great community there, if you don't already belong! We did a split stay with CCV-RIV-AKL. We did not want to leave Riviera. It definitely won this trip! The CMs went way above and beyond service wise. Everything at Riviera is so easy and close. Even when the Skyliner went down while at Epcot, someone grabbed us from Boardwalk within minutes of our arriving at the bus stop. The only complaint I have is that I was enjoying my time so much, I completely forgot to go out walking with the real camera so my photos are not great. Lol.

The 1 bedroom was so gorgeous, we knew we needed more points and had decided to buy a resale at another resort so we could still split stay with a 1 bedroom at Riviera. Our seller could not get it together after a month of not getting into ROFR, so the broker released us and we decided to buy 50 more points at Riviera instead! Called yesterday and the points were loaded into my account the same day. Also, I love the 6 months same as cash deal I get from Disney Visa. We still plan to make a larger resale buy at some point, but this will tide over our Riviera needs for now!

We're planning our trip for next spring and we're back at Riviera for half of it, planning another dinner at Toppolinos. The pistachio dessert in the pic, mmmmmmm. Also the pasta was excellent. It reminded me of family meals in my host family's kitchen in Italy.

We spent a decent amount of time in the pool. Riviera was planned so well with things I care about... not needing to trek through the lobby when you are wet from the pool, convenient coffee and after dinner treats (that pumpkin mousse dessert!), being able to watch our son swim while we warm up in the spa, cute activities that don't require a lot of time or planning (we loved the art scavenger hunt and the lawn games are great), great transportation (I am so in love with the Skyliner. A moment of quiet before you head to the madness of the park or a quiet time to reflect on your day as you head back).

I love that we can try so many resorts as DVC members but the Riviera has our hearts!IMG_0948.JPG

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It doesn't appear to be back - not on the menu anyway. We'll be there in 2 weeks and I'm still hoping it'll be available while we're there.

Steve
Keep us updated on the Monte Cristo. At this point in the pandemic it doesn't make sense for Bar Riva to not offer their most popular menu item! Give the people what they want Disney!!!

At MCO departing a lovely 8 night stay at Riviera - we must consider this as our first and only DVC purchase - and we learned when asking staff about this item that the way in which the sandwich is prepared is not possible to do with proper physical distancing in the kitchen so it will not return until that can be done safely for staff. No further details were provided.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this resort!
 
At MCO departing a lovely 8 night stay at Riviera - we must consider this as our first and only DVC purchase - and we learned when asking staff about this item that the way in which the sandwich is prepared is not possible to do with proper physical distancing in the kitchen so it will not return until that can be done safely for staff. No further details were provided.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this resort!

That's interesting. I hadn't at all considered that some of the items not on menus had to do with physical distancing in the kitchen. Thanks for passing that on!
 
I absolutely agree. The Riviera is beautiful and I couldn’t be more happy to have it as my home resort. I also wouldn’t mind this “news” circulating so that it easier to snag a room last minute 😎
Me too! We stayed in a 1BR last December and will be in a standard studio in April with 2 kids. Looking forward to it - we had no problem with a VGF studio for a week, which felt quite large for the 4 of us. Really all that matters for us is having 2 showers in a studio! (2 toilets would be a plus, too, I guess we'll use our BLT points for a 1BR that.)

I'm surprised that a VGF 1br is larger - we went from a VGF std 1br to a RIV std 1BR last December, and they felt the same or perhaps even a little larger at RIV. I think in addition to the rooms being *new*, the openness of the LR and more efficient use of space made the RIV feel larger.

Hmm yea just the 2 of us. I would still go with BC simply for the play area at SAB assuming swimming is on your list. The splash area at Riviera looked very fun though as well.

I think a 5 yo would love taking the gondola each time though.

We're back at BCV now and it seems a bit more kid friendly feeling.

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Our kids were 6 and 2 at the time we were at BCV and the 6yo could swim, but the big slide was a little too big but then the little slide was across the walkway so she needed an adult with her. The problem with the sandy bottom area is that it doesn't have any deeper space for bigger kids to swim. So if the older kid actually wanted to swim somewhere, one of the adults had to take her somewhere else.

They were 8 and 4 by the time we were at RIV and both could swim. The kids deem RIV and VGF sort of tied; they like VGF because it's near MK but they also loved the Skyliner, Topolino's and the rooms. They both thought the feature pool at RIV was a little small, and weren't in love with the slide (the big one deemed it too small, the little one didn't want to try it, go figure). We actually ended up going to the other pool to do laps (yay!) and play around. The little one likes to jump in from the side and swim, which is easier to do at the "adult" pool.

I preferred the Riviera pool with my still young-ish kids - we are trying SAB again in the spring, which may suit them better by then.
 
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Has anyone taken the CBR bus back from MK or AK? I am just wondering where it drops off first and how far of a walk it is? Not staying at RIV on my upcoming trip (BWV) but got to thinking you could almost grab a CBR bus instead of waiting for a RIV one and then walk back to the resort.
 
Has anyone taken the CBR bus back from MK or AK? I am just wondering where it drops off first and how far of a walk it is? Not staying at RIV on my upcoming trip (BWV) but got to thinking you could almost grab a CBR bus instead of waiting for a RIV one and then walk back to the resort.

Last I saw, first stop incoming is Martinique (main building side) and last stop outgoing is Aruba (near Riv skyliner station).
 
Hi all. We have a relatively short (6 days) trip planned for my son's 21st birthday in mid January ... Covid allowing. We just got word that a 1 bedroom Villa opened up at the Riviera and since my son really loves the look of the Riviera, we deceided to move from our 2 bedroom lockoff at Boardwalk. He's lucky I love him, because Boardwalk is my favorite place in the world.

Anyway, since we've got every day planned already, the move kind of shakes up our plans so I've got a few questions I'm hoping you all might be able to offer some advice on.

(1) Since it's his 21st, we'll be spending some time on The Boardwalk visiting a few bars after Epcot closes. Assuming we're there more than an hour, is getting an Uber the only way back to Riviera ? Are there any problems getting Ubers down there now ?

(2) On our HS day, is the skyliner a viable option to go to HS if we want to try for Rise of the Resistance ? My son's been dying to go to Galaxy's Edge since it opened and we'll do whatever we need to do to have a reasonable chance at getting Rise of the Resistance ?

(3) We've currently got two reservations at Topolino's for dinner ... and I'm thinking of keeping them both. We're probably going to do 2 or 3 signatures this trip anyway and I've got to say, everything about that place looks great. With Flying Fish and Jiko not open, I'd be open to it. Is it as good as it looks ? I was very disappointed in California Grill my last two trips, so when it comes to top-end dining, Topolino's looks as good as there is right now.

Looking forward to flipping through the whole thread and learning about the resort before the trip. The last time we were in Disney was the week the Skyliner opened, so we sailed through the station there, but Riviera hadn't yet opened. It looks great ... kind of gives me the same vibe Portofino Bay at Universal does, and that's one of our favorite stays. Looking forward to making some time to hang out at Bar Riva and just walking the grounds, in between rushing to parks.

Thanks for any thoughts.
 
Hi all. We have a relatively short (6 days) trip planned for my son's 21st birthday in mid January ... Covid allowing. We just got word that a 1 bedroom Villa opened up at the Riviera and since my son really loves the look of the Riviera, we deceided to move from our 2 bedroom lockoff at Boardwalk. He's lucky I love him, because Boardwalk is my favorite place in the world.

Anyway, since we've got every day planned already, the move kind of shakes up our plans so I've got a few questions I'm hoping you all might be able to offer some advice on.

(1) Since it's his 21st, we'll be spending some time on The Boardwalk visiting a few bars after Epcot closes. Assuming we're there more than an hour, is getting an Uber the only way back to Riviera ? Are there any problems getting Ubers down there now ?

(2) On our HS day, is the skyliner a viable option to go to HS if we want to try for Rise of the Resistance ? My son's been dying to go to Galaxy's Edge since it opened and we'll do whatever we need to do to have a reasonable chance at getting Rise of the Resistance ?

(3) We've currently got two reservations at Topolino's for dinner ... and I'm thinking of keeping them both. We're probably going to do 2 or 3 signatures this trip anyway and I've got to say, everything about that place looks great. With Flying Fish and Jiko not open, I'd be open to it. Is it as good as it looks ? I was very disappointed in California Grill my last two trips, so when it comes to top-end dining, Topolino's looks as good as there is right now.

Looking forward to flipping through the whole thread and learning about the resort before the trip. The last time we were in Disney was the week the Skyliner opened, so we sailed through the station there, but Riviera hadn't yet opened. It looks great ... kind of gives me the same vibe Portofino Bay at Universal does, and that's one of our favorite stays. Looking forward to making some time to hang out at Bar Riva and just walking the grounds, in between rushing to parks.

Thanks for any thoughts.
Hi there! Your son is certainly lucky. We have been at RVA since last Saturday and can help with some of your questions:

1. No problems getting ride share services at WDW, but we never hailed any late at night.

2. You don't need to worry about being at the park for getting a boarding group for Rise of the Resistance. Just make sure you're up before 7 am and join the virtual queue on the app from wherever you are.
Tip: since DHS opens a bit later (10 am on weekdays right now), and you have to be up early anyway, this is a good day to go to Topolino's for a delicious breakfast. The food really was very good. If you're there at 7:30-8 am on a weekday, they should be able to seat you even if you don't have a reservation.
So we got our boarding group right at 7, had breakfast, then went over to the Skyliner around the time the park opened. At the CBR transfer there was a wait, about 20 min or so. Not bad at all and plenty of time to get to the boarding group.

3. I wouldn't mind eating there for dinner twice, it's pretty good. But if you do breakfast also, you may want to try somewhere else, maybe Yacht Club? But yeah, not a lot of options right now unless you want to venture out to Disney Springs or maybe one of the high end non-Disney resorts that surround WDW.

More thoughts:
Definitely take a walk around the grounds and lake at night, the resort is so pretty when it's all lit up!

Your son is very interested in galaxy's edge and so are the other billion people that will be there on the not-so-wide alleys and walkways. We did the two rides and left (though we had been there before the pandemic) because we felt pretty uncomfortable. And this was a Wednesday on what is usually a slow week... Be prepared and maybe have a conversation beforehand about what you'd do if anyone in your party starts feeling uncomfortable. Disney is doing a good job generally, but in high crowd areas where the guests vastly outnumber the CMs they really do loose control. There were just so many unmasked people walking around drinking or eating, people not respecting the distance in line, etc. The lines even get crowded from people who are not even in line but decide to sit on a ledge or curb adjacent to where the ride lines go, so people in line are forced to stand right next to them or lose their place. And since there are lines for everything from rides to shopping to eating, and they all extend and wrap around far into the walkways, the whole place gets pretty crowded. It was all just rather chaotic. DH and I were wearing N95 masks and that made it a little better for us, but just FYI.
 

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