Orlando Riviera Extravaganza - Nov 2022 - Intro and Travel Day
I was fortunate to return to Walt Disney World this November, and I'm happy to say it is everything I remembered it to be pre-pandemic, and it felt better than ever! My family and I also had a chance to explore outside of Walt Disney World with two days of tropical storm Nicole (more on that later), and two days at Universal Orlando!
The Itinerary
Overall, 7 nights at Walt Disney World, then 5 nights at a VRBO at Vista Cay Resort in Orlando. During those 5 nights, we had 4 day park to park tickets for Universal.
We rely heavily on crowd calendars to plan our Walt Disney World park reservations. Here was our initial Walt Disney World portion plan:
Nov 1 - arrival day - no park reservations
Nov 2 - Disney Hollywood Studios reservation (crowd level 5), then hop to Magic Kingdom
Nov 3 - EPCOT park reservation (crowd level 5), then hop to Animal Kingdom
Nov 4 - Magic Kingdom reservation (crowd level 4), then hop to EPCOT
Nov 5 - Disney Hollywood Studios Reservation (crowd level 6), return there in evening
Nov 6 - Animal Kingdom reservation (crowd level 6), whatever we wanted in the evening
Nov 7 - Animal Kingdom reservation (crowd level 4), EPCOT in the evening
Nov 8 - Departure day. Magic Kingdom reservation (crowd level 4)
The Travelers
For the Walt Disney World portion of the trip, it was myself (44F) and my mother (70F). Because of back pain when walking too long, my mother uses an ECV. It was her first time at Walt Disney World with an ECV. She used one in Disneyland last Fall and I remember frustration from being cut off quite often. I don't remember that frustration as often at Walt Disney World.
We were joined on Nov 8 at the VRBO (vacation rental by owner) by my husband (45M) and daughter (15F) because husband was attending the IT Nation conference being held at Rosen Shingle Creek that year. They didn't have enough rooms at Rosen Shingle Creek, so we rented a 2 bedroom condo at Vista Cay Resort for that portion of the trip, which was an easy walk to the conference center and was much less expensive for his company than a room at Rosen Shingle Creek. While he attended conferences, daughter and I had fun. He was finally able to join us on our last day at Universal.
The Homebase
My mother and I felt very lucky that we were able to get a deluxe studio room, preferred view, at Disney's Riviera Resort, Disney's newest deluxe resort. This resort is a DVC resort meaning it is for Disney Vacation Club owners only. To get this room, we rented DVC points through David's DVC Rental. While there's a little bit of nail-biting because you never know if the kind of unit you want will become available, it was an excellent experience and one I highly recommend. And because you are repurchasing points from owners who can't use them, it's a great deal and only ended up being a few hundred more overall than it would've been to have a standard room at the Caribbean Beach Resort, the moderate resort next door.
I already mentioned that after a week, we transitioned to a VRBO condo unit at Vista Cay resort, which was very reasonably priced for what you got, and we would easily stay there again, especially if the husband needs to attend a conference at the conference center again.
Riviera Resort
Other Considerations
I mentioned already my mother was using an ECV. The other piece of the equation is that I was on a keto diet, and not just any keto diet I made up, but an actually medically supervised diet through a program called Virta, so all of this travel was going to be a challenge to me. I will likely post a summary of what I found to eat during this trip in one of my blogs in hopes of helping others.
Travel Day
Our flight was at 5:50 AM, meaning we needed to be at the small, civilized, airport in my city at about 4:00 AM (any earlier, and nothing is open). This meant the night of Halloween was a relatively sleepless night. My mother arrived in the late afternoon of Halloween (she usually sleeps on my couch the night before early travel like that because I'm much closer to the airport). We got some Panera Bread and watched YouTube videos on the TV while handing out candy to Trick or Treaters. Once Trick or Treating hours were done, we attempted to sleep.
Up at 3:00 AM again, I took a shower (I never feel human until I shower), and we headed to the airport. Our flight was on Delta. Check in and security at my airport was a breeze that early in the morning, basically walked right through each. We had one stop in Atlanta for about 3 hours which allowed us time to get some nice sit-down breakfast (we went to Sweetwater Grill).
Arrived in Orlando shortly after noon, all flights having been smooth and on time. Used to the Magic Express, we had to research our travel options and while the Mears shuttle would have been less expensive, it also had lines and several stops, and we decided for the few dollars more it was, to just take a Lyft, which was a good choice. We rode directly to the security gate at Riviera, where we gave our reservation number and were told "Welcome Home".
The Riviera Resort first impressions were fantastic. The 50th anniversary scent they use in the lobbies right now is also great. Bell Services was very helpful and checked in our bags while we waited for our room. While mom explored a bit, I went outside to one of the little balconies that overlook the lawn and pool and found another guest there who was just relaxing and enjoying wines. We chatted a bit about our excitement being at Disney and how nice the Riviera is. Very pleasant conversation, and I just need to interject here that EVERY Cast Member and nearly every guest I encountered during this trip at Walt Disney World was kind an enthusiastic. All my people interactions were pretty much great this trip, and I feel like that really makes a difference.
Mom and I repaired down to Bar Riva because we were both hungry, frazzled, and dehydrated so drinks and snacks were in order. Mom had a Mediterranean Wave which apparently struck her fancy because she had it many times on this trip, and I had a red wine. We ordered the vegetable skewer which, while it sounded pretty plain, was truly delicious and on our last day, we had to go back and get another one. Bar Riva - 5/5.
Grilled vegetable skewer with grilled chicken at Bar Riva
We got a text that our room was ready very quickly (within the hour), so off we went. We went to Bell Services to ask for our bags and they said they'd bring them. When I said I was happy to take them myself since we didn't want to wait for them, they said they'd follow us right now. I never encountered such amenable services from Bell Services before, even at the Polynesian. So down to our room we all went.
Our room was on the 2nd floor (which is the same level as the lobby) in the West wing. It was one of the furthest rooms from the lobby, but it was quiet and had a lovely view of the skyliner station, the EPCOT fireworks across the street, and a pond with a fountain. ADORED this room. There was a queen size bed, a couch which folding down into a murphy bed, and another twin size bed in the TV console. Great use of space. There was also a split bathroom situation with two showers. One bathroom had a sink and tub/shower. The other bathroom had the toilet and a rain shower. Also we had a kitchenette with a refrigerator, sink, microwave, coffee maker and 50th anniversary blend coffee, and real dishes and silverware.
Below is a little slideshow of our room if you are interested. Use the arrows to move to the next image.
Mom's ECV arrived around 4:00. She rented from Gateway Rentals, and it was overall a great experience. The only issue was that for both pick up and delivery, although she had pre-arranged the time, the time came and went and she had to call to ask. It seemed both times like her call triggered someone to come. Maybe we misunderstood the directions... not sure.
Anyway, scooter came, and we took the skyliner over to the Yacht Club resort by EPCOT. One advantage of staying at the Riviera Resort was skyliner access to EPCOT and Disney Hollywood Studios. The line to EPCOT is direct, and the line to Disney Hollywood Studios requires a transfer at the Caribbean Beach Resort. The skyliner was an ideal mode of transportation with an ECV. While the line needed to be stopped or slowed to load, the cast members were fantastic, the wait was never more than a few minutes, and we had the gondola to ourselves every time.
We had reservations at 5:15 at Ale & Compass - only on our radar because a YouTuber we love went there and loved it. I agree! It was a cozy place, great atmosphere, great service, and really delicious food. Mom had a seafood pot pie which was excellent and a maple old fashioned which was too strong for her (I probably would've liked it). Our server, Helena, who was wonderful and spent some time chatting with us because it wasn't a busy night at all, told us that the maple old fashioned was Frank Sinatra's favorite drink.
The lobby at Disney's Yacht Club resort, where Ale & Compass is located
I had the brick chicken with extra broccolini and a malbec. Ale & Compass overall rating 4.5/5. (Yes, we do decimals. Listen, everything was so good that sometimes you wanted to indicate something was wonderful and you'd do it again even if it wasn't better than something else you rated a 5).
Sun was setting and we were starting to feel our travels, but were still excited, so we decided to take the skyliner over to the Caribbean Beach Resort and have a little walk back. The walking path around the Caribbean Beach Resort and Riviera was peaceful and lovely.
Back in our room, we barely stayed awake, but managed to take in the 9:00 showing of Harmonious from our room's balcony. You don't see the whole show because of trees, but the fireworks are very visible.
Next time, we head to Disney Hollywood Studios in the pre-dawn hours, and then get rained out at the Magic Kingdom. We also dine at the Hollywood Brown Derby. If you like this blog, head on over to our Facebook page where you can like and follow us to see more of this content when it posts. Until next time...
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