Although it’s rather a lengthy title, we were all so tired on Birthday Boxing Day that we didn’t actually do much other than eat, so hopefully it won’t be too long a blog today.
We woke up early to get packed before we headed off to Topolinos Terrace for breakfast. We had a late checkout, so put everything in the car other comfy clothes for the girls to get changed into and headed to Riviera Resort.
We checked into the restaurant (we weren’t asked how many adults and children which we thought nothing of until later, but my advice is to make sure you tell them if there are children in your party at check in!) and were seated almost straight away at a table with lovely views out of the window. Last time we visited it was so foggy that you could literally see nothing out of the windows, so it was great to experience it on a sunny day. The hotel is absolutely beautiful, and the view are stunning.
Our server bought us a selection of pastries and muffins, all of which are lovely, and took our order. The girls loved the children’s waffles that came on sticks last time, so ordered them again with Winnie (wearing an age 9 badge!) ordering first to make sure they knew we wanted the children’s version. However, when they arrived, they got 4 regular sized waffles plus eggs and bacon each. Now, bear in mind that the girls had hardly eaten since being ill, there was no way on earth they were going to manage even half of it. They just looked completely overwhelmed. When our server returned, we asked about the waffles saying they were hoping for the child portion, and she said that we were down as 4 adults so that’s what she bought. It didn’t really matter as they taste the same, but she’d even commented on the fact that it was Winnie’s birthday so knew she wasn’t 10. She said she’d alter the bill and bring a box for leftovers, and I suppose it was a lesson learnt in that we need to ask for the child version if that’s what we want in future.
Anyway, the food was still lovely, and the characters were great (although they did seem a long way away this time) and I would definitely put it as our number one-character breakfast by a good way.
After we’d finished, we headed onto the patio to take a look at the view (and have a nosey at the pool, not that were ever likely to be staying there as Polly is terrified of the gondolas) before heading back to the Polynesian to collect the rest of our bits and move to Wilderness Lodge. We were actually changed and out of the room before 11am so didn’t need the late check out after all.
We arrived at Wilderness Lodge and were greeted at the door by the lovely CM who works. There. He started talking to the girls and as Winnie was wearing her lei from the Polynesian, he said, “Oh, you must be Polly and Winnie who have just come over from the Polynesian. I’ve heard you are both lovely girls!” The girls were completely shocked that he knew their names and kept trying to work out how it was possible. They decided Mickey must have told him before they arrived!
Steve checked in whilst we had a look around reception (the girls love going into the shops by themselves, although they constantly look back to check I’m there!) All the Cast Members were really friendly, and we got the same homely feel as you do in Animal Kingdom Lodge, which was lovely. We then headed to the pool until the room was ready. We opted for the main pool, and the girls enjoyed joining in the games and playing on the slide, although they did say they might prefer the quiet pool next time.
Our room was ready around 3, so we headed up to check it out (and promptly requested maintenance to turn the air conditioning down just as we had done at the Polynesian. When you sleep with no heating on at home, you need it colder that 68 degrees!!) I had requested a corner DVC studio and we were so excited that we got one. It was huge and almost had 2 separate rooms, with a TV in the bedroom as well as the lounge area (that formed the sofa bed for the girls). The only issue was that the toilet was in direct eyeline of anyone on the sofa/ sofa bed, so if you don’t want to be sliding the doors closed for those middle-of-the-night wees, I suggested you are all very closely acquainted!! We also had a view of the lake, which we were excited about until we realised that also meant we could hear the water pageant at 9.45pm every night so loudly that it may as well have been in the room!!
We unpacked only the things we knew we’d need for this part of our stay (I made notes on my phone of what was in each case to make things easier. Last trip I kept one case per room change, but that wasn’t ideal for keeping the cases to the correct weight, so this way we knew the weights wouldn’t alter and we could just put things back where they came from once, we were ready to pack up.)
We’d booked tea at Artist Point seeing as we were already at Wilderness Lodge, so got changed and headed down. They couldn’t find our reservation (even though it was on my MDE) so that took a while to sort out, but eventually we were seated. I’d gone back for my camera which I initially forgot, only to discover that the battery was dead as I’d left it on by mistake but decided to just use the phone instead as I couldn’t be bothered heading up to the room again.
If you’ve never done tea here, it really is a lovely experience. The whole room is set to look like an enchanted forest, the starters and desserts are also themed (you get starters for everyone, and the children also get an extra starter consisting of vegetable sticks and dips) and you choose your main course. Steve and I had prime rib and the girls had chicken, and although we’ve loved it here in the past, the food wasn’t very good. The girl’s chicken was really dry and overcooked, and we really should have complained, but as both said they weren’t that hungry we thought bringing new ones out would be a waste of food. And in reality, the reason we were there was for the characters. Well, the dwarves…our two really don’t like the princesses as they get so nervous trying to talk to them!
Dopey and Grumpy were lots of fun, and even though they were quite a way away, they made the girls laugh a lot. Snow White was great and managed to hold a conversation whilst the girls stood in silence, and the queen was as brilliant as ever.
We headed up to the room to sort the girls’ bed out (we’d requested a topper but got given a weird block of foam so had to see housekeeping to fix it!) At 8pm we realised we could hear the fireworks and see them peeking over the top of the building opposite, so we watched from the balcony before getting to bed for some much needed catch up sleep.
Doodle & Peg Do Disney 