Chris and I were so thrilled to team up with David's Vacation Club Rentals again this summer for a quick little staycation at one of the newest locations built for Disney Vacation Club (DVC), Disney's Riviera Resort. We have visited this hotel often, but have never stayed on property. After staying at several Disney resorts I think this one might have jumped to my number one spot. So let's get into why you should book with David's Vacation Club Rentals for your next trip!
If you are unfamiliar with DVCrentals.com and what services they provide, then keep on reading to find out how to book your next dream stay at Walt Disney Resort:
If you are already thinking about booking, but are unsure how all of this works, then I highly suggest reading about their rental process on their website first. It will take you through 5 steps of instructions that will you get you ready to begin the process of booking the resort stay of your dreams.
But first lets check in and see what Disney's Riviera Resort has to offer. For this trip we stayed in a 1 bedroom villa with a preferred view.
Online check-in is available through the My Disney Experience App, which is what we did.
Check-in is at 4PM. Upon arrival, you can either head to the front desk to check-in or if you checked in on the app you can go straight to your room. (you can activate your phone to be your room key)
*note: to get into the pools and for parking your vehicle, a magic band or room key is much easier. We went down to the front desk and asked for 2 room keys later that evening.
Rooms are not guaranteed to be available until 4PM, but you can request Early Check-in when you do Online Check-in. Our room was ready for us at noon which was way earlier than we anticipated!
Check out time is 11am.
Quick little background about the resort:
Disney’s Riviera Resort is the 15th Disney Vacation Club resort. It was designed to showcase the French and Italian Riviera.
The inspiration for Disney’s Riviera Resort came from Walt and Lillian Disney’s travels throughout Europe and the Mediterranean coastline — from France to Italy. During his travels, Walt fell in love with European art, architecture, food, and stories, and his extended tours of the region continue to influence Disney storytelling and theming. Guests visiting Disney's Riviera Resort will find photos from Walt and Lillian Disney's travels hanging throughout the Resort. My favorite place to look for this artwork is the library study area located adjacent to the coffee shop in the main lobby.
Riviera Resort is a Deluxe Disney Vacation Club Resort and offers approximately 300 family-friendly vacation homes including the first-ever Tower Studios, Deluxe Studios, one/two-bedroom Villas, and three-bedroom Grand Villas that sleep up to 12 guests each. The artwork found throughout the resort gives a nod to many beloved Disney characters, and can even be purchased in their main store.
For this staycation, we stayed in a 1 bedroom villa with a preferred view. This room sleeps up to 5 adults. It comes with 1 king bed, a pull down queen size bed and one single pull down bed. It was the first DVC resort to offer a pull-down wall bed behind the sofa rather than the traditional sleeper sofa in the living room. Having a proper mattress that folds down from the wall became so popular that several of the other DVC resorts have now switched over to that design.
The bathroom comes with everything you need from a hair dryer, to shampoo and conditioner from my favorite brand H2O. This was the nicest bathroom I have been in on property with a giant walk in shower and a large soaker tub. There were also two vanity mirror areas to get ready in.
Because it is a 1 bedroom DVC room, it comes with a full size kitchen equipped with a large refrigerator, microwave, and coffee maker. The cabinets and drawers are also full of everything you need to cook throughout the stay.
There is also a dishwasher as well as stackable washer and dryer right in your villa.
I thought the decor was so stunning from the moment you walked into the room. The artwork is so unique to the resort as well. I absolutely LOVED the breakfast nook area. It was the perfect location to sit and relax after a long day at the parks.
Our balcony overlooked the pool area with views of the Disney Sky-liner, Caribbean Beach Resort and the main courtyard. It had two chairs and a small table perfect for lounging, reading a book, and sipping on a coffee. I could honestly sit out there all day. We were on the 6th floor so the views were just stunning both day and night.
Why David's Vaction Club Rentals?
David's was the very first DVC rental company and after 16 years continues to be the leader within the DVC community! They are my personal recommendation and it all comes down to their impeccable customer service.
Guests can save 30-50% when booking with DVC rentals compared to booking the same room from Disney central services.
The reservation is booked in your name and is easily linked to your My Disney Experience profile for access throughout your stay.
You will receive the same on-property perks including early theme park entry and use of all DVC amenities.
Because you are staying at a deluxe resort you will have access to extended evening theme park hours on select nights.
self-parking and theme park parking is included on all DVC stays
The team @dvcrentals works with 15 DVC resorts, including Aulani in Hawaii!
Food Offerings at Disney's Riviera Resort :
A rooftop, signature table-service restaurant named (Topolino) which is the Italian name for Mickey Mouse. This restaurant features authentic dishes infused with French and Italian flavors at dinner and offers views of the nighttime fireworks spectaculars of Epcot or Disney’s Hollywood Studios. However, You won't want to miss out on their breakfast! This is one of my favorite character dining experiences on property. Not only are the characters outfits super cute but the food is just out of this world good.
Located in the main lobby, this cafe serves the most delicious coffee drinks int he morning and wine at night. The almond glace is my all time favorite drink on property!
The Voyageur's lounge:
Located next to Le Petit Café This area features décor that was inspired by a collection of book titles that Walt Disney gathered, including Walt’s 1935 European "Grand Tour." The lounge showcases some of the unique Disney connections to Europe.
Primo Piatto:
The resorts only quick service location. They offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner and their food is by far some of my favorite on Disney property. This restaurant area is located right next to Bar Riva which is located within walking distance from the pools and rec. areas.
Open- air pool bar located adjacent to Primo Piatto.
Pool Area/Fitness Area:
This resort has 2 pools. The feature pool is relaxing with lounge chairs, colorful umbrellas, and a stone turret slide.
Nearby, S’il Vous Play, an interactive water play area, keeps younger guests cool. This area is inspired by the grand fountains of Europe and features several characters from Fantasia.
This splash are was so beautiful, unlike any other resort!
Towels are available inside the pool area. They also served gelato from my favorite shop at Disney Springs, Vivoli.
The second pool, Beau Soleil, is more of a leisure pool. This is a semi-private pool, which had more of an adult feel, surrounded by lush greenery, will have you feeling like you’ve been transported to the European coast.
Close by is a movie lawn which will show your favorite Disney films. We had the pleasure of watching Frozen 2. Guests can lounge in the grass or watch from the pool.
Shopping:
La Boutique:
Located in the main lobby, this shop has sundries, snacks, apparel and souvenirs.
My favorite parts of this resort:
The beautiful murals located on the walkway to the SkyLiner. These tile mosaics are designed after Tangled and Peter Pan and are just gorgeous to look at. There are so many details and are a great picture spot if you are visiting!
There are so many different lawn games to play at this resort. Now that covid protocols are no longer in place anymore there are a lot more games to play in the morning and evening.
There are great views of the Epcot fireworks from Topolino's Terrace as well as the view we had which was right by the movie playing by the poolside.
Quick service breakfast is the best on property by far. They offer a wide variety of dishes and they are all outstanding. I cannot wait to go back and get more of the French toast bread pudding. YUM. The best part was mobile ordering, bringing the food back to our room and plating it on the pretty dishes. We had a full disney breakfast right in the comfort of our room. Taking in the views on the balcony while I ate Mickey waffles was probably the highlight of my entire trip.
The Riviera Resort is on the SkyLiner Loop, along with Caribbean Beach, Yacht and Beach Club/Boardwalk, Pop Century and Art of Animation. You can hop on for easy access to Hollywood Studios and Epcot. The SkyLiner is probably one of my favorite forms of transportation on Disney Property.
Would I stay here again? Is it worth all the hype?
110% yes, and booking with David's Vacation Rentals is the way to get the best deals possible! Their process is simple and easy and their experts are there to guide you every step of the way!
Thank you so much again @dvcrentals for the incredible staycation. If you have any questions please write them down below and we will answer them to the best of our ability.
Which resort should we stay at next?
If you made it this far thank you so so much for reading! You can find more daily adventures on my instagram, @dreamalongwithtaryn. You can also check in to see all of the latest DVC news at @dvcrentals