Our Stay at Disney’s Riviera Resort

Disney’s Riviera Resort - a sprawling luxury accommodation which opened its doors as recently as December 2019 - is a testament to the limitless dedication of the Disney Imagineering team, and a tribute to the love of the French Riviera that Walt Disney himself was well-known for. Since we paid in points, we didn’t have to worry about the exorbitant price tag of a normal resort stay. As members of the Disney Vacation Club, the Riviera is our home resort, and this made it easy enough for us to book a five-night stay in a Deluxe Studio looking out onto the family pool, the beautiful lake and the Disney Skyliner transportation system. So, what was our experience actually like?

Our Deluxe Studio room came equipped with a twin-sized Murphy bed that fell straight across the couch!

The Room

There are several types of rooms that Disney Vacation Club members are able to book at the Riviera Resort, and several more that cash guests can rent and utilize during their visits. Our room was a Deluxe Studio room - and what an amazing room it was! Our floor was hardwood, making for easy cleanup should we have dropped any of our takeout food on the ground (more on the many, many food options later in this article!), and our primary bed was raised off the ground with enough space to accommodate our two suitcases underneath. You’ll note that we indicated a ‘primary’ bed; this is because there is also a twin-sized Murphy bed tucked into the wall behind the couch, allowing up to four people to sleep in this large room! What’s more, the bathroom featured both a standing rainfall shower and a bath tub with showerhead as two separate entities, a partition dividing the two. And let’s not forget about the amazing view from a balcony that was just large enough to accommodate two chairs and a sitting table!

There are three ‘wet areas’ on Riviera resort property, but the primary pool is the only one with a well-themed waterslide!

The Pool

One of the best things about staying at a Disney resort is that almost every resort features a themed pool of some sort. The Riviera is no exception, with a family pool themed to the French Riviera and a sizable lighthouse-themed water slide. But, Disney’s newest resort goes one step further, offering an additional pool as a ‘quiet’ area which is kept open later and geared more towards adults. And let’s not forget the child-oriented Splash pad themed to Fantasia (1940), which is just around the corner! From dawn til well after dusk, you are met with many different opportunities to swim your cares away. A self-service towel dispensary can also be found adjacent any of the three ‘wet’ areas, all of which require a Disney resort room key or magic band to enter.

The Retail

Disney’s Riviera Resort offers only one gift shop, which is a bit small in comparison to the much larger gift shops found at resorts like Coronado Springs, Caribbean Beach Resort and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. However, one quick tour of the 'La Boutique' Gift Shop should be enough to assure you that they carry everything you might need during your stay at the resort, from snacks to chapstick to umbrellas to branded blankets and collared shirts! The shop’s central location in the main lobby adjacent the front desk makes it easy to access for guests on all floors and from all sides of the resort, and it keeps regular business hours on all seven days of the week.

The menu at Bar Riva is heavy on the cocktails, but there are also three other food service options if your tummy is rumbling for something more substantial!

The Food 

One thing is for certain - you’ll never go hungry at Disney’s Riviera Resort! Just around the corner from 'La Boutique' Gift Shop is Le Petit Café, a small baked goods and coffee shop that operates in the early morning and early afternoon to serve pastries and beverages. Downstairs, you’ll find more substantial meal offerings at Primo Piatto (Quick Service) and the pool bar, Bar Riva, both of which keep longer hours and allow for mobile order. You can get themed alcoholic beverages at any of these locations, but if you’re looking for a truly amazing culinary or libational experience, you need to zip up to the 10th floor and give Topolino’s Terrace your full attention! Topolino’s offers an amazing character breakfast in terms of both dining and interaction, and an equally as amazing five-star meal for lunch and/or dinner. Topolino’s may not be the cheapest meal option, but it is most assuredly some of the best food we’ve ever had - easily worth the price tag! When you’re finished with a meal at Topolino’s, don’t sleep on your chance to walk out onto the terrace itself and witness an amazing view of the resort perimeter, with spectacular views of the nighttime fireworks show at EPCOT as well!

The Skyliner has a stop right at the Riviera, so you can catch a direct flight to EPCOT or an indirect flight to Disney’s Hollywood Studios!

The Skyliner

By far one of the biggest perks of a stay at Disney’s Riviera Resort is quick access to the Disney Skyliner transportation system, which links you directly to EPCOT and near-directly to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The Skyliner is an omnimoving gondola system that connects the two parks with four resorts adjacent the Caribbean Beach resort transfer hub. The Riviera happens to be the last stop before connecting lines head directly to EPCOT, so it’s usually quite easy to pick up an empty gondola and make it to EPCOT’s UK pavilion inside of twenty minutes flat! Those with a profound fear of heights may choose to avoid this travel experience - but be advised that they will need to arrange for separate transportation, as the Skyliner is the only offered transportation to DHS and EPCOT unless operations are suspended due to weather or technical issues.

The VLOG

So, did we enjoy our stay at the Riviera Resort? Absolutely! Would we stay there again? Also absolutely! However, knowing that the price tag for a rack rate stay at this luxury resort is much higher for guests operating outside of the DVC program, we want to make it easy for you to make this decision for yourself, based on your own preferences, needs and family size. To that end, check out our vlog from the visit, featuring a complete room and resort tour!