So FYI, this trip report is probably going to be more of a review than a play-by-play report, so here goes.
For background, we are new to DVC, and this was our Welcome Home trip. We have a FW for the first week of December, but due to banked points from initial buying, we opted-out and booked a 3-bd GV for 8 days. We are a husband and wife and a 4-yr old daughter, and this trip my mom, my SIL and her 6-yr old daughter tagged along.
So, first thoughts about RIV. We absolutely loved this place! We have stayed at multiple resorts before, but bought RIV sight-unseen, so we were slightly nervous because RIV seems to be either a "love it" or "hate it" kind of place. We loved the design, the layout, the pools, and especially the rooms. Granted, we stayed in a GV (and will probably not be able to afford the points for that again), but the room was absolutely stunning - spacious, gorgeous appointments, high-end counters, tile, etc. The lobby was nice, but not spectacular, but I feel like a huge, awe-inspiring lobby (like AKL, for example), is something that's cool at first glance, but then quickly loses it's appeal - so the RIV lobby was not a negative for us. Primo Piatto had a decent variety of good food and good hours. La Petit Cafe was nice and coffee was decent, but we only saw it in the mornings, not the later selections. We are not big drinkers, so we didn't utilize Bar Riva, but it looked nice. The only slight disappointment was Topolino's (more on that later). And finally, the Skyliner is awesome! We had one time that we had to wait 8 minutes to get on, but all other times were walk-on. Easy to use, fast, and kind-of a ride all in itself. Granted, we didn't have any bad weather, so there were no major interruptions - if that had happened, then it might have affected our opinion somewhat...
Overall, we are TOTALLY happy with RIV. I can't think of a major negative about the place. During a trip to AKL, my SIL even commented about how much nicer RIV was compared to AKL. Which is funny, because AKV was out initial choice to buy-in, but couldn't find a good contract there and ultimately decided that we wanted a FW at RIV - and are now super happy that we did it.
Next review - G+. I know that I am in the extreme minority here, and it annoys me too that it costs extra, but we loved G+! I have heard horror stories of using G+, and the lines were still long. Well, it was moderately busy every day that we were at the parks, but not a single LL had a wait of longer than 10 minutes. I found it easy to use and a HUGE time-saver. In fact, we only used the Stand-by lines for 2 or 3 rides during the entire trip, all else we used LL.
I was a G+ rookie, since our last trip was October '21, and G+ hadn't been introduced yet. There were a few annoyances, such as a few times that I thought that I should have been able to stack a ride, but the app wouldn't let me for some reason (this was probably my lack of understanding of how it works, rather than a glitch, though), and I also don't know why ILL$ allows you to pick a times, but G+ doesn't - it sure would be nice to be able to pick at least an approximate time, rather than it being a crap-shoot.
Okay, so first day was Epcot, which was packed and the Holiday booths were good, but most had fairly long lines. Guardians was awesome and totally worth the ILL$ cost. We ate at Le Cellier - I would probably not eat there again. The food was pretty good, but the restaurant is loud and the tables are all VERY close together. We had a Candlelight Processional package through Le Cellier, which was awesome and Isabella Rosselini was much better than I expected. Harmonious is still not my favorite compered to Reflections of Earth, so I won't be sad to see it go.
Day 2 was HS, which was great but very busy. Ate at Mama Melrose because it was the only one I could get with a Fantasmic package. This is our second time eating at Mama Melrose, and I know it gets mixed reviews, but we have liked it both times. It's definitely not high-end Italian food, but it's pretty good. Fantasmic was great, but I was expecting it to have changed after the long hiatus - but it was mostly the same as I remember.
Day 3 - AK. Still busy, but probably the least busy day that we were there. It was little bit cool, so we didn't do Kali, but did almost everything else. Ate at Tiffins, which is excellent and expensive. We had planned to go to AKL and eat at Jiko, but I found out after-the-fact that Jiko is closed on Tuesdays, so we "settled" for Tiffins, and it was well worth it. I had Surf and Turf, which was cooked perfectly.
On Day 4, we went to DS just for a couple of hours. My wife loves DS, but I am really NOT into shopping, so I got into the VL for Gideon's and wandered around. Eventually got bunch of cookies, then went to dinner at Jaleo. As far as restaurants, Jaleo was probably the highlight of the trip. The tasting menu was awesome with a bunch of courses and a huge range of textures and flavors. Ths only complaint about the tasting menu was that the timing of the courses was very inconsistent. Maybe it was because they were busy, I don't know, but there were times that it was 20 minutes between courses, but then they would literally set 3 courses down at the same time - that happened twice during the tasting. Would still gladly do it again, though.
Day 5 - MVMCP. We liked the party, and Minnie's Christmas fireworks was awesome, but I think that we will probably forego the parties in future years. Its too packed with people and we don't feel like the stuff other than the fireworks are worth the cost. Long lines for meet-and-greets, cheap cookies, and a show at the castle stage that is hard to see - just not worth it to us.
Day 6 was a resort day. Started with breakfast at Boma. This was somewhat a miss for us, because we waited 30 minutes past our reservations time, and I was somewhat disappointed because I expected more African food options, but otherwise the food was good. After that, it was back to RIV for pool time and dinner at Topolinos. Now, I have to say that Topolino's is good - the restaurant and the view are beautiful, the service was good, and the food was good - but not great. I think that maybe I was expecting too much - because I have heard many reports that said that Topolino's is the best on WDW property - but for us, it was 3rd-best of this trip, after Tiffins and Jaleo. The gnocchi appetizer was good, but WAY too salty (and I love salt), and my lobster linguine was fine, but not spectacular. The dessert creme brulee was good but expensive and very small.
Our last day was an initial stop at MK for my 4 yr old DD's appointment at BBB. This was lots of fun and well worth the cost. The FGM apprentices were very good and patient and actually appeared happy to be there. If my DD is still into princesses when we go back, we will probably do this again. We left MK and went to Epcot for an ADR at Space 220. I know everyone likes to rag on this place, but this is our second time and we loved it again. I do think that it slightly overpriced, but the food was very good. My one complaint was that the visuals on the "windows" were exactly the same as last year - it would be nice if they updated them every once in a while.
All-in-all, great trip. Super happy about buying DVC at RIV. Obviously, I wish stuff was cheaper and the parks were less packed, but I know that those things aren't going to change. My mom will almost certainly not be back due to those things, but we definitely will.
For background, we are new to DVC, and this was our Welcome Home trip. We have a FW for the first week of December, but due to banked points from initial buying, we opted-out and booked a 3-bd GV for 8 days. We are a husband and wife and a 4-yr old daughter, and this trip my mom, my SIL and her 6-yr old daughter tagged along.
So, first thoughts about RIV. We absolutely loved this place! We have stayed at multiple resorts before, but bought RIV sight-unseen, so we were slightly nervous because RIV seems to be either a "love it" or "hate it" kind of place. We loved the design, the layout, the pools, and especially the rooms. Granted, we stayed in a GV (and will probably not be able to afford the points for that again), but the room was absolutely stunning - spacious, gorgeous appointments, high-end counters, tile, etc. The lobby was nice, but not spectacular, but I feel like a huge, awe-inspiring lobby (like AKL, for example), is something that's cool at first glance, but then quickly loses it's appeal - so the RIV lobby was not a negative for us. Primo Piatto had a decent variety of good food and good hours. La Petit Cafe was nice and coffee was decent, but we only saw it in the mornings, not the later selections. We are not big drinkers, so we didn't utilize Bar Riva, but it looked nice. The only slight disappointment was Topolino's (more on that later). And finally, the Skyliner is awesome! We had one time that we had to wait 8 minutes to get on, but all other times were walk-on. Easy to use, fast, and kind-of a ride all in itself. Granted, we didn't have any bad weather, so there were no major interruptions - if that had happened, then it might have affected our opinion somewhat...
Overall, we are TOTALLY happy with RIV. I can't think of a major negative about the place. During a trip to AKL, my SIL even commented about how much nicer RIV was compared to AKL. Which is funny, because AKV was out initial choice to buy-in, but couldn't find a good contract there and ultimately decided that we wanted a FW at RIV - and are now super happy that we did it.
Next review - G+. I know that I am in the extreme minority here, and it annoys me too that it costs extra, but we loved G+! I have heard horror stories of using G+, and the lines were still long. Well, it was moderately busy every day that we were at the parks, but not a single LL had a wait of longer than 10 minutes. I found it easy to use and a HUGE time-saver. In fact, we only used the Stand-by lines for 2 or 3 rides during the entire trip, all else we used LL.
I was a G+ rookie, since our last trip was October '21, and G+ hadn't been introduced yet. There were a few annoyances, such as a few times that I thought that I should have been able to stack a ride, but the app wouldn't let me for some reason (this was probably my lack of understanding of how it works, rather than a glitch, though), and I also don't know why ILL$ allows you to pick a times, but G+ doesn't - it sure would be nice to be able to pick at least an approximate time, rather than it being a crap-shoot.
Okay, so first day was Epcot, which was packed and the Holiday booths were good, but most had fairly long lines. Guardians was awesome and totally worth the ILL$ cost. We ate at Le Cellier - I would probably not eat there again. The food was pretty good, but the restaurant is loud and the tables are all VERY close together. We had a Candlelight Processional package through Le Cellier, which was awesome and Isabella Rosselini was much better than I expected. Harmonious is still not my favorite compered to Reflections of Earth, so I won't be sad to see it go.
Day 2 was HS, which was great but very busy. Ate at Mama Melrose because it was the only one I could get with a Fantasmic package. This is our second time eating at Mama Melrose, and I know it gets mixed reviews, but we have liked it both times. It's definitely not high-end Italian food, but it's pretty good. Fantasmic was great, but I was expecting it to have changed after the long hiatus - but it was mostly the same as I remember.
Day 3 - AK. Still busy, but probably the least busy day that we were there. It was little bit cool, so we didn't do Kali, but did almost everything else. Ate at Tiffins, which is excellent and expensive. We had planned to go to AKL and eat at Jiko, but I found out after-the-fact that Jiko is closed on Tuesdays, so we "settled" for Tiffins, and it was well worth it. I had Surf and Turf, which was cooked perfectly.
On Day 4, we went to DS just for a couple of hours. My wife loves DS, but I am really NOT into shopping, so I got into the VL for Gideon's and wandered around. Eventually got bunch of cookies, then went to dinner at Jaleo. As far as restaurants, Jaleo was probably the highlight of the trip. The tasting menu was awesome with a bunch of courses and a huge range of textures and flavors. Ths only complaint about the tasting menu was that the timing of the courses was very inconsistent. Maybe it was because they were busy, I don't know, but there were times that it was 20 minutes between courses, but then they would literally set 3 courses down at the same time - that happened twice during the tasting. Would still gladly do it again, though.
Day 5 - MVMCP. We liked the party, and Minnie's Christmas fireworks was awesome, but I think that we will probably forego the parties in future years. Its too packed with people and we don't feel like the stuff other than the fireworks are worth the cost. Long lines for meet-and-greets, cheap cookies, and a show at the castle stage that is hard to see - just not worth it to us.
Day 6 was a resort day. Started with breakfast at Boma. This was somewhat a miss for us, because we waited 30 minutes past our reservations time, and I was somewhat disappointed because I expected more African food options, but otherwise the food was good. After that, it was back to RIV for pool time and dinner at Topolinos. Now, I have to say that Topolino's is good - the restaurant and the view are beautiful, the service was good, and the food was good - but not great. I think that maybe I was expecting too much - because I have heard many reports that said that Topolino's is the best on WDW property - but for us, it was 3rd-best of this trip, after Tiffins and Jaleo. The gnocchi appetizer was good, but WAY too salty (and I love salt), and my lobster linguine was fine, but not spectacular. The dessert creme brulee was good but expensive and very small.
Our last day was an initial stop at MK for my 4 yr old DD's appointment at BBB. This was lots of fun and well worth the cost. The FGM apprentices were very good and patient and actually appeared happy to be there. If my DD is still into princesses when we go back, we will probably do this again. We left MK and went to Epcot for an ADR at Space 220. I know everyone likes to rag on this place, but this is our second time and we loved it again. I do think that it slightly overpriced, but the food was very good. My one complaint was that the visuals on the "windows" were exactly the same as last year - it would be nice if they updated them every once in a while.
All-in-all, great trip. Super happy about buying DVC at RIV. Obviously, I wish stuff was cheaper and the parks were less packed, but I know that those things aren't going to change. My mom will almost certainly not be back due to those things, but we definitely will.
. I had never stepped foot in it until the past week and it quickly eliminated any doubts I had about buying into the resort. Absolutely loved the Skyliner. The rooms are stunning. Even the tower studios that a lot of people seem to like bashing on and I admit based on youtube videos I had my doubts due to the size, I felt like I could easily see my partner and I staying for a more budget trip. I love that the entire resort is all in one building and you don’t have to worry about walking outside in the rain like with nearly every other resort. Couldn’t be happier to make our foray into DVC with Riviera 
