July 11, 2021

Wow! What an amazing day at the Riviera Resort! I loved every single second of this day! It all started with Sam mobile ordering from Primo Piatto for breakfast. He and Lainey went to fill our mugs and pick up some yummy food for us to try! And to make it even better, we got to eat it in our amazing dining room!

We tried the croque madame, the lemon blueberry pancakes, Mickey waffles, eggs and fruit. It was all so good!

After our filling breakfast, we once again boarded the skyliner bound for Hollywood Studios. Sam and I had gotten up at 7 am to try to score boarding passes for Rise of the Resistance, but no luck. We thought we might have better luck in the park at 1 pm.

Ok, so we didn't get to Studios immediately after breakfast. In face it was close to lunchtime when we finally arrived, so Pizze Rizzo it was for us! Everyone is a huge fan of their pizza, and we needed a cool place where we could relax while waiting until 1 pm.

As luck would have it, we were done eating right about 1, and we were able to score boarding passes for Rise of the Resistance! I love how wherever you are at Hollywood Studios at 1 pm you can always hear a collective cheer from all the people who were lucky enough to get those prized passes. 

We had some discussion about what to do after lunch. Our boarding group was not until 4 hours later, and Lainey wanted to go back to the resort. So it was decided that Mike, Lexy, Roddy, and Bella would hang out at Studios and try to get on some rides while Sam, Lainey and I would go back. Sam and I wanted to walk around Caribbean Beach Resort anyway, so this seemed like a good time to do that.

But before we could leave, I heard there were some new ears at the Hollywood Tower Hotel gift shop that I needed to purchase. I was glad to get a pair since they were gone later in our trip.

We decided to take the skyliner to Caribbean Beach and walk back to Riviera from there.

Once we dropped Lainey back at the room, Sam and I hung around Riviera then decided to walk back to Caribbean Beach to check out the gift shop.

I so love the detailed mosaic tile work at the Riviera! It is simply stunning. Everyone should at least visit here once to check it out!

Lainey elected to stay at the resort while Sam and I met up with everyone else for some Rise of the Resistance. Sam and I had been on before, but Bella and Roddy had not, so I was eager to see what they thought of it. The skyliner really got my hair blowing on the way to the Studios.

Oh, thank goodness, it finally calmed down in there!

While we were on the skyliner back to the Studios, the others had taken a boat to the Boardwalk to get some ice cream, and now they were taking the friendship boat back to Studios. I wonder who will win?

They won, but really aren't we all winners as we head to Galaxy's Edge to ride Rise of the Resistance?

This time, Mike and Lexy decided to go back to the resort. Sam, Bella, Roddy and I thought Tower of Terror sounded like a great plan. The line said 35 minutes, but we basically walked through the queue, including the library where there was no video playing.

Everything else had ridiculously long wait, that we weren't willing to stand out in the heat for, so we went back as well. Sam and I stopped by the gift shop to pick up some wine and snack because we had a super late dinner at Topolino's Terrace scheduled.

Lexy and Mike decided not to go to Topolino's Terrace, Riviera's restaurant on the top floor, with us, but the rest of us got ready to head out.

I will say, this is an experience not to be missed! This was the most amazing meal we had this trip by far! We got a cute table tucked in a little room, and everything from the drinks to the food to the service was top notch! I got the Filet Mignon which was probably the best steak I've ever had. It was so flavorful and cooked to perfection- I also loved the potatoes. Roddy got the Lobster Fettuccine, which he also said was very good. This is now a do not miss for us- I hate to say it even ahead of Le Cellier.

As we were finishing up dinner, we were told that we should get out to the terrace so that we could see the fireworks going off at Epcot. We just took our drinks outside and enjoyed the evening!

After dinner, Sam and I walked around the lobby and spent some time on the balcony. This was a perfect day!