Trip Report The NeverEnding Story

Hello WDWMagic friends!
It’s been a long time since I stopped by.
Last time I was here, things were looking like this:

And now…they are looking like this

What have we been up to in the two years since my last trip report?

Well we went to WDW in September 2021 to celebrate a 6th Birthday

Then I went sans kids in March 2022

We were back in April 2022 for another birthday

Annddd then we were back in July, August, September, December, February and April because….we live in Florida now!

Our big move took the better part of a year on both sides of it, but we are finally settled and loving it. I’ve been away from the boards after feeling Disney-Ed out now that we’re local but I am hoping a comeback will help me get some of the magic back. I can’t wait to share our adventures with everyone!

 

[ELeigh]

Magical May Part 1
Once we moved to Florida, I wondered if Disney trips would ever be the same again and came to the conclusion that I would still want to do longer trips from time to time. We had stayed at the Riviera on our April 2022 trip and I fell in love with it. I decided to book a 3 night stay at the Riviera for May 2023 using rented DVC points. Early May has long been my favorite time to take a Disney trip.

It started with O’s first trip in May 2015.

Then we were back in May 2018 with Z.

And again in May 2019.

As May got closer the trip plans evolved (like they do often do) and time got added onto both the front end and the back end of the trip. The plans changed up until the last minute when I ended up with a 3 part Disney/Universal trip.

The trip began as an adult only trip with my friend K who was along for the April Adventures. We had originally planned for a larger group of ladies but unfortunately there was a need to reschedule that trip last minute. K was still able to come down for a visit so me made the most of our time.

After a long day at work, I headed to the Orlando airport to pick up K around 8pm. We had decided to grab dinner in Orlando even though we would be spending the night back at my house. Per instagram recommendations, we had a reservation for JoJos Shake Bar on international drive. We were starving so this was in order:

We also needed to start the trip off right so some adult beverages were also much needed.

Had to make it tequila because it was Cinco de Mayo. This was a Smokey spicy drink that paired well with the sweet bbq brisket sandwich that I apparently forgot to snap a picture of but I promise it was delicious. K’s gin drink and chicken wrap are also not pictured but she enjoyed both. After dinner we did not have room for dessert but we did share this:

Frozen mango margarita was a nice wrap up to the meal. We had toyed with the idea of bar hopping in the area but we agreed that we were too full and too tired.
After a late night, the next morning was a very slow start but eventually we made our way to my family’s favorite hang out spot-the pool. We have plans to get a pool of our own eventually but for now I am happy to have a family member with a pool where I can spend my weekends.

We had storms the previous week that knocked all these mangoes off a tree in my yard, I had followed some advice on how to ripen them. With a few ingredients from the farm stand on the way I was able to whip up some mango salsa

And with a giant bottle of Malibu rum intended for our larger group of ladies, I was able to use the rest of the mangos in this concoction

Mango+Coconut cream+Malibu rum in the blender made for a nice poolside drink.
My whole family joined and K was happy to get a chance to hold my newborn nephew while the kids splashed around. After spending the afternoon, my husband R took our kids home. K and I had plans to check out the local dive bar on our way home which turned into 3 or 4 rounds. Her drink of choice was Malibu and coke, mine was Caribe pineapple cider. The bill was something like 60$ total which was a nice break from the theme park prices.

 

[ELeigh]

Magical May Part 2
The next morning K and I managed to pull ourselves out of bed early enough to pack up the car and head to Orlando for brunch and a bar crawl. We started at Homecomin

I had the watermelon moonshine mash and K got one of the larger moonshine drinks

It was a beautiful day and the drinks hit the spot but we were HUNGRY.

I had the Hallelujah Biscuits and as hungry as I was I could not completely finish the meal. The chicken was perfectly crunchy and I did manage to scarf down every bit of that.

We were too full to eat more but we managed to sqeeuze in another drink. The White Peach Sangria was definitely the best drink of the meal and we split it.
We left Homecomin right around the time that Jock Lindsay’s was opening so we headed there next.

We ordered 2 drinks to share the Cool Headed Monkey (orange) and the Fountain of Youth (blue). I preferred the blue one and K the orange so we ended up finishing those. It was my first time at Jock Lindsay’s and I don’t think I’d be running back, the drinks were not my favorite.
Luckily we had another stop planned. It took some staking out to get seats at the bar at Boathouse but once we did the view was worth it.

It was a perfect day for sitting and sipping. K ordered a Mojito and I got the Duck Duck Razz

We also ordered truffle fries but they sadly came soggy and cold. We managed to scarf down plenty of them anyways.
At this point we started to feel the effects of the early wake-up so it was off to Joffreys.

Two oat milk lattes and quite a few purchases for home later we decided to head back towards the parking garage. We managed to pick up one last treat on the way out but saved that for later because we were seriously full.

I said goodbye to Disney for a couple of days and we headed to Universal.

 

[ELeigh]

Magical May Part 3
We left Disney springs and I must have been feeling the effects of the alcohol because I put directions for Universal’s Dockside Resort into the GPS. Our reservation was not at Universals Dockside Resort but I did not find this out until after I waited in line to check in .
In my defense this trip was re-planned at the very last minute while I was in the busiest week of work I have had at my new job. I apologized to K and we headed instead to Cabana Bay.
Once we settled into our room, we changed into our swimsuits and headed to the pool. We wanted to check out the lazy river but had not realized that the floats were not provided and would cost us almost 50$!? For two floats. Again a flaw in my plan due to last minute booking. We were lucky enough to be offered floats of a party that was leaving and spent the next hour or two floating.
In between floating we took turns at the pool bar refilling this cup with at least half of the menu.

I can’t remember any drinks sticking out as the “best” but they were all very refreshing and perfect for poolside sipping.
We wrapped up at the pool in time to freshen up for a late dinner. We grabbed one last drink for the road at the pool bar and headed to the bus for Citywalk. The line was very long at this point (7pm on a Sunday for reference) and we did not make the cut for the first bus. The next bus came about ten minutes later and we managed to get seats but the bus quickly filled up.
We checked in for our reservation at Vivo Italian Kitchen a few minutes early and explored the nearby shops while we waited. Everything was much more crowded than I anticipated at that time on a Sunday but now that I think back the parks may have been closing and people must have been funneling out.
The atmosphere inside Vivo was a welcome reprieve. Very clean and modern with a touch of cozy. We decided against drinks with dinner and opted for lots of water instead to rehydrate.

We ordered these lobster balls for an appetizer and they were perfection. The crispy exterior mixed with the lemony cream sauce made for a melt-in-your-mouth experience.
There was also a bread service but I did not snap a picture and I can’t remember anything else about it.
For our main meal K ordered squid ink pasta which she said was very good

I went with an eggplant pasta dish

Vivo advertises that they make their pasta in house but this definitely did not have the texture of fresh made pasta. The sauce was slightly better than average but I make a really good red sauce so it’s hard for me to be impressed on that front. I was hungry at this point though, and this hit the spot regardless.
We made our way back out of Citywalk to an even more crowded but and I had to spend an uncomfortable ride back next to a gentleman who seemed to be doing everything in his power to take up most of my seat in addition to his. I was practically sitting in K’s lap. Luckily I had a treat waiting in the room to look forward to.

I can’t remember the exact name but this little beauty was filled with hazelnut cream and was the perfect ending to the day. K also had some macarons stashed from Amorettes. Soon after dessert I got ready for bed and quickly fell asleep after a long day in the sun.
The next morning I woke up but had no energy to get out of bed so I actually wrapped up my April TR while I waited for K to get up. Once we were up and moving we packed up the car so we wouldn’t have to come back up before checkout.
We needed coffee desperately so we picked some up at the resort Starbucks. I also got a bagel since I was pretty hungry by this point.
We had breakfast by the pool, floated some more and once we dried off in the sun for a while we made our way to Volcano bay. The walking path is a big perk to staying at Cabana Bay. It was perfect to just walk on over. We have season passes to Universal so we didn’t have to feel guilty at all using our time to go around the lazy river 20+ times. We eventually got hungry and stopped by a quick service restaurant for lunch

This coconut fried chicken hit the spot but it was a little dry. We also stopped by the bar for a drink but I didn’t remember to snap a picture. We headed back to Cabana Bay for one last dip in the pool and then it was time to head for the airport again.
We had to stop at Wawa on the way so that K could get one last fix of their coffee.
We said “see you real soon” and she was off to her flight and I was off home to get ready for the next leg of the trip.

 

[Lyssa]

All the food and drinks in this look amazing

 

[ELeigh]

All the food and drinks in this look amazing

Thanks for following along-a lot more food and drinks to come!

 

[ELeigh]

Magical May Part 4
My original plan was to drop K off then go home, do laundry, and re-pack so that I could head to WDW bright and early for some solo time and have R bring the kids afterschool. By the time I got home though, I realized any relaxation I would achieve would be negated by the all nighter it would take to pull it off. R was also not feeling his best-he had the last legs of a cold the rest of us caught a couple of weeks prior. We decided he would take some time to recover before joining us.
Plan B commenced and I dropped off the kids and used their time at school to get prepped. This also allowed me to pick up groceries for the room in our area which I found helpful.
The day flew by and soon I had picked up Z and we were waiting in a very long pickup line for O

The car was full to the brim for our 5 night stay. It took almost 30 minutes to pick up O because they were trying a new procedure and by the time we left her school it felt like we should already be in Orlando.
I was trying to keep this trip a surprise but R unknowingly spilled the beans. Luckily he didn’t divulge too many details and the kids were still surprised when we pulled in to the Riviera Resort.
We stayed for 2 nights in April 2022 and I was immediately dying to get back and booked this 3 night stay. It was past check in time so we got a room ready text as soon as we arrived on property. The kids were put to work helping lug all of our stuff up to the 3rd floor but before long they were in their happy place.

After countless trips down the water slide they were promised more pool time later and we got freshened up for dinner. By this point the room was already a mess so I didn’t snap room pics but it is on my agenda in the future because I love all the little details the Riviera rooms have. I especially love that the bathroom has two showers (one with a tub and one without). Makes it so much easier to get the after pool rinses done quickly.

We didn’t have to go too far for dinner.

We checked in and had a short wait. O enjoyed the art in the waiting area.

I snapped this picture (with our reflections unintentionally in the background) to send to my friend who loves pineapples.

O and I had matching sweaters so we had to document.
In a few short minutes we were sitting down ready for dinner.

It was an uncomfortably long time before our waiter came to take our order and when he did it was just to quickly take drink orders. The restaurant did not seem too packed and it was a Tuesday night during the slow season so I am not sure what was going on. We put our drink orders in but again waited quite a while but at least we were given water while we waited.

Finally the drinks arrived, I had ordered the French Rose. It went down smooth and I enjoyed it.

O and Z both opted for lemonade. We were all very ready to eat but unfortunately for us we were in for more waiting.

 

[ELeigh]

Magical May Part 5
We finally got a chance to sample the food when our bread service arrived. Both kids tried and didn’t care for the fancy olive oil to dip.

I ordered the burrata appetizer and that arrived around the same time. I shared some of the bread with the kids but the rest was all mine and it was delicious

The kids meals came out a couple of minutes after my appetizer. I do appreciate this timing so that I can get a head start on helping the kids cut up their meat etc. and still enjoy a hot meal myself. I feel like the potion size of O’s pasta (main course) was comically small.

Z opted for steak

I ordered the rigatoni which came out ten minutes later, the timing of the meal was getting better.

The pasta was on top with the chicken piled up below. The pasta was creamy, cheeses and delicious but the chicken was a bit texturally off from sitting under the pasta so I didn’t finish it.
About five minutes later, our waiter swung by briefly to ask if we were ready for the gelato that the kids ordered. The plates were cleared as I finished up my entree and the kids were very anxious for dessert. While we waited we they tried to pry more information out of me since I had kept them in the dark while planning. Somehow it took 15 minutes for Gelato to come out but at least it was adorable

I was also able to order a dessert in that time frame which ended up coming out at the same time

This crème brûlée concoction was out of this world good.
Overall the food quality was the experience I was hoping for while the service definitely was not.

We took full advantage of sunset on the rooftop terrace but then quickly made our way back to our own room to try to catch some fireworks from the balcony. We had to crane our necks a bit and look past some trees but we got a pretty good show.

Then it was time for bed with promises of more fun to come.

 

[ELeigh]

Magical May Part 6
I wish we could say we all got a great night sleep and woke up ready to go for our first full day, but unfortunately I was suffering from allergies and couldn’t stop coughing once I laid down. I was able to shift some plans around and we were able to sleep in a bit.
Once everyone was up and ready we drove over to the Polynesian. The kids were trying to guess the breakfast plan and they had figured out it was going to be a character meal but didn’t realize which one until we pulled in the gates.

We had a short wait once we arrived but soon enough we were seated.

We were immediately greeted by our server and we got started with coconut bread and POG juice. The kids got a sneak peak at which characters we would be meeting.
Pacing at this meal was much better than our dinner the night before, once we had all tried the bread, more food arrived.

We had some time to eat before any visitors arrived and we were finishing up the first round of food when they did the character introductions/dance. A server came around to check on us and asked if we would like more waffles

We managed to scarf down all of these in between characters.

First visit was Pluto.

Stitch was up next

Mickey liked Z’s shirt

The kids thought Lilo was a little bit creepy but kept that to themselves and posed for the picture anyways.
Overall our meal at Ohana was a good one between food, service and characters.
I could have spent all day at the Poly but we had some big plans for afterwards so we wrapped it up with a quick stop in the shops and headed back to our car.

 

[ELeigh]

Magical May Part 7
The kids were eager to see what the next surprise of the day was. When we got here they figured it out:

We were happy to see that the parking lot was relatively empty and hoped that was a good sign. They recently released FL resident discounted tickets and when we tried to go on a weekend it was beyond packed.
Everything was essentially a walk on and we breezed through the park.

Z was happy to inform me that we had all earned our “Typhoon Lagoon completion badge” and that he earned his “Disney Water Park Completion Badge”-We have been to blizzard beach several times but O and I chickened out of the tallest slide there.
We squeezed in a treat while we were drying off:

Dole whips for the kids

Passion fruit Pina Colada for mom. I was excited to find this at the Snack Shack since I’d been dreaming about it since I tried it at Blizzard beach-it did not disappoint. We made our way back to the front entrance via lazy river and said see you later to Typhoon Lagoon.

 

[ELeigh]

Magical May Part 8
We had a light lunch from the groceries I had brought in our room and relaxed for a bit before venturing out again. We explored the Riviera Resort a bit

Then I gave the kids the choice of trying to get to our next destination using the most modes of transportation or the least and they chose the most so we headed for the sky liner.

We wanted to catch a glimpse of Epcot so that was our first stop.

We ended up waiting quite a while for a Boat to take us to our next stop because there was an issue but the kids didn’t seem to mind.

Once we boarded it was off to the boardwalk for the next leg of the journey. We took a quick bathroom break and then it was off to the bus stop where our plan hit a snag. The bus we needed-to magic kingdom-took almost 30 minutes which put us in a pinch for reaching our final destination on time.

It got a little sweaty during the wait but we finally made it. We had another hit of a wait with a monorail down for service but we boarded monorail black for the final leg of our journey.

These two were more than ready to get to our final stop and may have slightly regretted their choice but it was an adventure.

 

[littleroo]

Love the smiles! Enjoying this for sure!

 

[ELeigh]

Magical May Part 8
After a tour of the WDW resort, everyone was ready to sit down and eat.

Our waitress was very friendly with the kids which was a welcome change from some of our other recent dining experiences. The pacing of this meal also seemed to flow much better and we soon had drinks and bread (I forgot to snap a picture but it was gone quickly)

The key lime pie martini was perfect. We ordered an appetizer to share.

The kids were excited to try the calamari and that too was gone in a flash. I appreciate the sauce being served on the side as none of us was really a fan of it. The kids were willing to try the pickled vegetables but left them for me to finish and I was more than ready.

Sometime after this trip O decided she no longer likes any type of breaded chicken but here is proof she ate it that day. Z ordered steak again and enjoyed it.

I ordered the plant based meal which was a vegetable paella. The combination of flavors was like nothing I’ve ever experienced and it was amazing. I am plotting when I can get back just to order this again.
We finished the meal with some dessert

Everyone left happy and we explored the resort some more before heading out. We opted for the quickest route back this time.

After a monorail ride to magic kingdom and one bus ride, the pool at the Riviera Resort was calling our name. Once the sun went down it got a little chilly but I was happy to get some time in the hot tub and then relax while the kids swam until way past bed time.

 

[ELeigh]

Magical May Part 8
Despite the late night, we were able to get up bright and early. I made myself coffee and drank it out on the balcony while strategically tapping my phone to set us up with virtual queue and our first LL. After a quick breakfast of groceries in our room we were off to the sky liner. We were ready for rope drop in no time.

We had a quick checkpoint to check our resort guest status for early entry and then we chose the line heading out of world showcase (we already had a date with Remy secured for later). We caught some topiaries along the way.

Once the crowds were unleashed we headed straight for Soarin

We had a very bendy Eiffel Tower but I think O and Z are now convinced it looks like that in real life because we’ve never gotten a good view. By the time the park opened to all guests we were on our way to our next attraction.

The kids were excited to build their car, the only other times we’ve done Test Track the screens were roped off during Covid. This car did better than I expected in the rankings and the kids enjoyed the ride.
At this time I offered them to cross back over and ride Nemo or wait for our virtual que for guardians and they chose the later. After a quick restroom break our number was called so it was perfect timing.

We unfortunately ran into some ride issues and ended up waiting about 45 minutes in the queue but it was well worth it. It was the kids first time and they both enjoyed it.
At this time we had a couple of hours until until our LL with Remy and it was just about 11am so we decided to start eating around the world.

 

[ELeigh]

Magical May Part 9
Im team #mexicofirst when it comes to world showcase. None of the flower and garden items could compete with mine and Zs favorite Epcot snack so there was only one place to head
We had the entire indoor seating area to ourselves, if I remember correctly it was not quite 11 but they had opened at 10:30 that day.

We shared the Empandas con queso kids meal-one each for myself and Z while O stuck with the chips. I got the El Tigre margarita for myself and it didn’t disappoint.
Next it was time for a ride to see our friends

The kids have seen various stages of broken animatronics on this ride and we’re happy to see the whole gang in order in this day.
Next it was time to head to China and we happened upon a “princess” (not sure if she really counts). O wanted to meet but Z was too cool

We stopped by the festival booth

We got the crab ragoons a to share and the tropical moon for me. 10/10 reviews on both.
O thought the panda topiaries were very cute so we stopped to visit on our way out.

In Germany we opted for a sweet treat.

O played photographer and snapped a picture of me with some of my favorite characters.

We still had plenty of ground to cover but we stopped by the trains for a bit.

 

[ELeigh]

Magical May Part 10
We took a short walk through Italy and stopped on our way out for Gelato.

The kids took care of that while I had my own snack from the Magnolia Terrace booth.

I was nice enough to share but the Jumbolaya was a little spicy for them and honestly a little spicy for me but I enjoyed it. The kids preferred the gelato to the banana bread pudding so I got to eat most of that.
Somehow Z was still hungry so I grabbed him another nearby snack

We were coming up on our time with Remy and now finally full so we skipped snacks for a bit. In Japan we did some shopping and came out with Mario toys. We didn’t stop in Morocco as the kid were more than ready to get on a ride at this point.
They loved Remy but after that they were definitely hitting a wall. I asked if they wanted to finish the world showcase but we had technically walked through the rest of the countries on the way in. I had one thing to check off my list though and it was an important one. They made the walk back to America with me to get this

I thought it was going to be an orange creamsicle coffee but I didn’t realize the different locations had different specialty ones so it was key lime pie flavored. Still pretty good and the caffeine was very crucial to our plans.
We were stuffed but I was able to grab a snack for later on the way out

 

[ELeigh]

Magical May Part 11
The kids were more than ready for some pool time and on our way we met some friends:

We took a nice afternoon dip and then ordered a late lunch/early dinner from the Riviera quick service location

Panini for me-this was pretty good but the chicken was basically a half chicken breast that wasn’t cut which was difficult to eat on the sandwich without it falling apart.

The kids split a pizza and some snacks from the room.
I had stacked our lightning lanes throughout the day so we hopped on a bus and we were soon meeting another friend

The kids next request was for Peter Pan, we had a lightning lane for that as well. Once we finished up with Peter we had a lightning lane for Big thunder but it was threatening to storm and the outside rides down. We used our modified “use it anywhere” pass to ride Haunted Mansion instead. The rain was starting at that point so we headed back into fantasy land for Mickeys Philharmagic which is always a favorite and saved us from rain on this day. We then squeezed in Small World and had another modified lightning lane pass that we used to ride Winnie the Pooh

Z had to test if he could still fit here.
By then Big Thunder seemed like it was about to open so we headed back but it was still closed. We rode pirates while we waited and then finally got to ride Big Thunder.

At this point we had an ILL for the Mine Train coming up but that was still closed so we went to ride some attractions in that area while we waited.
We did Teacups

Then Ariel, dumbo and barnstormer because we still had time to kill. Then we had a tough choice-mine train was still not open and it was about an hour until fireworks when our number was called for Tron. I asked the kids if they’d rather ride something New or watch fireworks and the unanimous vote was for Tron. O second guessed herself many times during line once she saw the ride in action But somehow I convinced her to get on. The I was shocked at how smooth the ride was and the kids both really enjoyed it.
We were just in time to hop in line for our SDMT ILL before park close. We took our time moving out afterwards and stopped for a sweet treat

Our bus was there shortly and we had a quiet ride back to Riviera. I polished off my croissant from earlier and then we all slept like rocks after a long day.