Showing posts with label Riviera Resort. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Riviera Resort. Show all posts

Monday, July 12, 2021

Brunch at Topolino's Terrace

It would seem that our February Disney trip revolved around food - but I promise it did not. Well,  mostly. :)

One thing I can say for certain is the fact that we love Topolino's Terrace. Although we haven't visited for dinner (yet), we have eaten brunch here twice - once pre-covid and once mid-covid - and it has passed the test both times! 

In order to properly share the love for Topolino's, I figured it deserved its own post, so here we go...


Topolio's Terrace is located on the 10th floor of the Riviera Resort. It's a premium character dining experience for brunch and a signature dining experience for dinner. The characters included with brunch are precious and revolve around Mickey and his friends, dressed in their favorite artistic attire. 


The restaurant isn't difficult to find - simply take the elevators near Primo Piatta up to the 10th floor, and there you are!


Up first for our meal was a delicious glass of POG juice, known all over Walt Disney World breakfast dining locations. This stuff is incredible!


We also received a basket of pastries and toppings to go along with them.


Not long after we were seated, the characters began. In a modified fashion, they paraded around the restaurant, stopping for brief seconds so guests could capture selfies.


Of course this is not ideal, and I cannot wait for things to return to "normal", but I wouldn't say it ruined or dampened our experience here at all!


As far as our meal went, I absolutely loved the sour cream waffles on our last trip, so I had to order them again. I also had the chance to try the spiced sausage hash as the description was intriguing to me. 


Jason ordered the wood fired butcher's steak and he loved it! Everything we ate that morning was delicious!


As far as Brayden goes, he had the Mickey and Minnie waffle with a side of fruit and eggs. 


The addition of a "Minnie" waffle makes me smile every time I see it! So cute!


More characters paused briefly for a selfie. I say "briefly" because that's exactly what it was - they did not really "stop" for long at all!


You think my child loved seeing the characters? 


Negative. He literally took a nose dive into the booth every time one would pass. Silly boy! 

He's hilarious to watch on every trip - as an infant he loved the characters, which transpired to him not liking them at all, then liking them again for a few trips, then refusing to wave at them. So funny!!


Prior to leaving, we received an autographed card from the Riviera, which took the place of the character's signatures in a signature book.


After we finished eating, we walked out on the rooftop to check out the view. This place is so beautiful and the view was breathtaking! 


I could have stayed up here for hours! 


Another thing I love about the Riviera is the artwork. If you look super close at the bottom right hand of this photo, you can see a "hidden" Mickey, painting a portrait of the countryside. Such a fun touch!

While here, we also took a DVC tour of the resort where we were shown all different types/styles of rooms including the 3 bedroom grand villa! If you haven't taken the tour, I highly recommend you do - it's beautiful!!

Will we be back? Absolutely! We already have brunch booked here for our August trip. If you haven't visited Topolino's Terrace yet, I highly suggest you do!

Thursday, March 25, 2021

Disney 2021: Magic Kingdom & Disney Springs (Again!)

The random renewal of our annual passes meant we had the potential for an "extra" park day prior to the arrival of our friends. The third day of our trip was Wednesday and our originally planned arrival day. So, Jason checked the park reservation system and when he saw a Magic Kingdom day available, he snagged it! We were so excited and planned to let Brayden guide us on his wishes!


We attempted to get out of our resort room early and to the bus stop but we definitely did not beat the MK crowd. Although the line seemed long, everyone was social distanced and in reality, it was basically the amount of people they used to shove on one bus! :) 


It took four buses before we were on and seated, but they were very prompt and came one right after the other. I LOVED the efficiency! 


Bonus: We landed the Wanda Vision bus!!


We'd hoped to arrive inside the park early and with enough time to skip a long wait for 7 Dwarfs Mine Train. Although we arrived just at park opening, the line was already at 60 minutes and we decided to skip it. We later discovered that they are actually opening the parks a bit earlier than the posted park opening time, so we remembered this fact and used it to our benefit later in the trip!


Instead of Mine Train, Brayden spotted the Mad Tea Party and told us he wanted it to be the first ride of the trip!


We also practiced our line standing skills while waiting for the Tomorrowland Speedway!


Can you smell this photo? :)


Dumbo was next followed by Pooh! We literally spanned all of these rides in the course of maybe an hour! It was awesome!!


The Carousel is always a favorite, too!


For breakfast, we walked over to Sleepy Hollow for the nutella waffle since it's been on my "to try" list. Well, we got in line around 10:30 a.m. and although we were in line before 11 a.m., we were told that the menu would switch over to the "lunch" menu at 11, no matter if we were already in line before then or not. I'll admit I was a little disappointed but I've also wanted to try the chicken and waffle, so we stayed in line anyway. 


I'm not kidding when I say that my disappointment faded away when I tasted this beauty! Y'all, this thing is so good! If you haven't tried this before, you need to!! I'll definitely be going back. I also knew we had two additional MK days, so I would have another chance to try the breakfast waffle on another day. Problem solved!

Right as we finished eating, we heard the music change and I knew that meant a cavalcade was about to pass by. So, I positioned Brayden and I where we could see the characters. Look at what this little turkey did when Tink passed by! 


He covered his eyes! I thought he was just being shy but no...he then informed me that he "only waves at Mickey and Minnie"! Lord...kids, y'all! They are hilarious!


On the other hand, I didn't care who was passing by, I waved away!

Before leaving MK for the day, we met up with Jason's cousin and her husband who were randomly in the Magic Kingdom that day. Isn't it funny how we weren't even supposed to be there yet but all ended up in the same park on the same day?! Crazy how stuff like that happens some times!


Back to our friends who were traveling that day - we kept tabs on them all morning, from their arrival to the airport, to the crazy security lines, getting on the plane, and actually taking off! I could NOT believe the ice and snow thawed out enough for them to fly and they actually MADE it on time as planned!


YAY they are here!!

Our original plan for the day was to hang out at Disney Springs with an early afternoon/late lunch reservation at Homecomin'. This was my first experience here and I was curious to see what all the hype was about!


I also loved reading about Chef Art Smith's "Disney story"! It's located along the wall on the way to the restrooms and it was neat to read how his early days at Disney began!


We ordered Deviled Eggs to share and I ordered the fried chicken, biscuit, and fries. Brayden had their mac and cheese and YUM! The mac and cheese was amazing!


I'm going to have an incredibly unpopular opinion here, so please don't hate me....

I wasn't a huge fan. The fried chicken tasted funny and to be honest, I've had better fried chicken back home. I was kind of bummed too because I've heard such amazing things about their food! The deviled eggs were good but they were just ok to us (we both agreed that Jason's grandmother's deviled eggs are the best we've ever had). Honestly the best thing I ate there was the biscuit and the mac and cheese. Whomp whomp.... Oh well. I'd be willing to give it another shot and order something different next time!


After lunch, we shopped around for a while and enjoyed catching up with our friends!


Brayden also kept asking for a balloon and I told him he had to "earn" it. He was so good at dinner and we decided that was it! Yay for his first Disney balloon!!


For dessert, I wanted to try Everglazed. The line wasn't long and we really enjoyed being able to watch the donut making process through the window!


I had the Reeses Nitro which was a Peanut Butter Explosion donut on top of a Nitro cold brew with peanut butter and vanilla syrups. 

This. Was. By. Far. The. Best. Thing. I. Had. The. Entire. Trip.

So I still dream about this combo? Yes, yes I do. Do I plan to return to Everlgazed on our next trip? Yep...and if I have the chance to return multiple times, I will! 


Y'all....this is seriously what dreams are made of!!

Another very unpopular opinion - I liked Everglazed better than Gideons! Also, the peanut butter cold brew at Everlgazed was much better than the one at Gideon's. 

I'm just unpopular opinioning it up here! :)


To end the evening, we decided to take a bus from Springs over to Riviera since our friends hadn't visited the resort yet. With staying at Pop, we were able to take the Skyliner back to our resort and it all worked out perfectly in the end! It was truly a fabulous way to end our evening! 

Thursday, May 7, 2020

Disney's Riviera Resort and Primo Piatto

As a piggyback off of my recent Topolino's Terrace restaurant review at Walt Disney World, I also wanted to share a fun tip that I heard on a podcast prior to our February Disney vacation.


Our plan for the day included an attempt at a boarding group on Rise of the Resistance, which we did obtain. Our boarding group was #78 and after watching the rate of groups throughout the day, we assumed our time would be called back around 2 p.m.

So, instead of dining for lunch at Hollywood Studios, we used the tip I mentioned earlier and took a Skyliner to Disney's Riviera Resort for lunch at Primo Piata, their counter service location.


This was our first time to experience the Riviera and it is gorgeous! We loved the grounds, the layout of the resort, the proximity to HS and Epcot, and the Skyliner access! If the opportunity arises, we would love to stay here one day!


The theming around this resort is spot on, too and was inspired by Walt Disney's travels across Europe.


 Look how gorgeous the views are!


Once inside, we took a tour through the lobby and hallways. The lobby was quaint but beautiful!


I absolutely loved the photos of Walt and Lillian on their European travels.


These photos lined the hallway on the way to the elevator.


We then took the elevators down to the first floor where Primo Piatto was located.

The size of this dining area reminded me a lot of the size of Roaring Fork at Disney's Wilderness Lodge Resort, maybe a tad bit bigger.


I ordered the tuna salad while Jason ordered the Riviera Burger.


Brayden of course had chicken tenders. :)


For dessert, we split a chocolate lava cake and it was divine!


Our lunch didn't take long and we were back on the Skyliner and at Hollywood Studios in plenty of time for our Rise of the Resistance boarding!


 I still can't get over those views!

Another perk to the Skyliner being so close is the Caribbean Beach hub which includes a Joffrey's Coffee booth. My favorite is the Toffee Flight latte (warm) and I might have ordered it a couple of times during our trip! :)


Have you tried any of the dining offerings at Disney's Riviera Resort? What were your thoughts?

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