Some Random Chick Reviews...

For me, Disney World is a near perfect vacation spot. I can't sit still on a beach for more than 20 minutes. I need constant stimulation (meow puurrrrrrr). I love to meet new people. I LOVE to eat. So for me Disney World with its multitude of amusements, excellent full-service restaurants, and even small beaches is almost perfect.  (Who cares about this, right? Don’t worry, we’re getting to the review)

My love of this mega-corporation led me and the Hubs to buying into Disney Vacation Club about five years ago. As DINKS (double-income, no kids) people thought we were nuts to spend the money on Disney when we could go to Europe or Aruba. But the Hubs also has the inability to frickin' relax and also prefers to be overstimulated (meow purr again) on vacation.  So for us it made sense and we use the hell out of it. Now that I've moved closer to Orlando, I've started taking more solo trips. Just overnights and weekends to help me deal with the stress of figuring what I want to be when I grow up for the third time. (I think I want to be a Disney Hotel Manager, just throwing that out there. I have no experience in hotel management, but I worked front desk at a Hilton for 3 days in my 20s. Disney...call me).  (”Ugh why is she droning on?” I know...review is coming, I promise...a proper set-up is important you know!)

Very recently I decided to treat myself to a solo night at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party. I'm sure that's trademarked or copyrighted or something, I wasn't an intellectual property lawyer so I have no idea.  I decided last minute I should get a room since I knew the night would run pretty late and I knew that Disney's Riviera Resort had just opened. The lure of being one of the first people to sleep in a hotel bed was too much so I called to book.  (Wait for it...wait for it...)

(Review Time!) At the last timeshare presentation I sat through....hey, they offer free pastry and ice cream and Disney is expensive, don't judge me...they were really pushing these "Tower Studio" rooms at the Riviera. The rooms are designed for two adults. "Perfect for me and the Hubs," I was assured. So by luck a tower studio was available the night I wanted to stay and I decided to test it out. 

My first thought? HOLY CRAP THIS ROOM IS SMALL. I mean, it's teenie tiny. Really sticking with that European authenticity here. I believe the rooms are at or under 220 sq ft. As you can see from the pictures the only bed in the room is a pull down queen size murphy bed that doubles as your couch when in the upright position. It's a neat bit of Scandinavian engineering in a french themed resort. It was easy enough to pull down but I couldn't get it back up by myself. The bed itself was quite comfortable though. It has two side cubbies that act as nightstands. There are USB and regular outlets in them in case you like to sleep with your phone next to your head like I do. As a side note, anyone who RVs will recognize these cubbies. They're fairly standard in a lot of RV designs. That just made me laugh for some reason. Overall the coziness of the room lulled me into sense of safety and I slept like a baby. It also could have been a sugar coma from all the cookies I had eaten at the Christmas party.  We'll never know for sure. 

Sticking with the  positives, the shower was also heavenly. Give me a rain shower  and I will stay in there until my skin is dried out and pruned.  The additional handheld showerhead is also a bonus. After a grimy day in the parks it's nice to take a good hot shower. The bathroom was huge considering how small the room is. The marble in the bathroom gives it a very upscale look. 

The decor is very nice, though not really Disney. Take a look at that light fixture. Fancy.  I think Disney outdid itself so much with its room themes in the 70s and 80s that the new "Pottery Barn" look they're moving to really leaves something lacking. Not that there's much room in here for anything else. Despite the lack of that "Disney feel", it was very pretty.  The views of the Skyliner from some of the rooms (like mine)  is very charming. 

There was a small balcony which was quite nice to sit on with a cup of tea. The room has a microwave and small fridge and a coffee maker. For people used to getting full kitchens or at least smaller kitchenettes with their DVC rooms, this is a downgrade, but I never cook on vacation anyway so it didn't bother me. 

Now the quirks. There's so many I think it's easier if I bullet them for you:

• The room is so small. So small. The room with two people would be cramped. My husband is 6'2" and I can't imagine having to manuever around him in there for more than a couple of days. 
• There's pretty much no room for luggage. If you're a heavy packer, you're in trouble. If you're someone who likes to unpack their luggage, there's pretty much nowhere to do that. For two people to do it might be near impossible.
• Some of first floor rooms have a small patio outside the door, then a patch of grass, then the parking lot. There's no barriers from people walking from their car to your patio door. This seems like a safety issue to me. A simple well designed railing around the patios would at least give you some sense of separation, but it's just not there. 
• It took me a minute to find the pilllows. They're stored in a bag in the closet. Not a negative, just a note.
• There is a master light switch next to the regular light switch. I hit the master by accident and was very confused as to why my entire room, even the bathroom, went completely black on me. I also have terrible vision and so I was stumbling around in the dark for a moment trying to find my pants because I thought maybe I blew a fuse and needed to tell the front desk. The room is so small I tripped over the trash barrel and did a triple lindy onto the bed. The judges gave me a perfect score. 
• The microwave is pretty much next to your head if you're in bed so that's either annoying or convenient depending on who you are. I see you microwave burrito people...you rock on.  
• Someone I spoke with noted that there was no "kitchen sink" and she had to wash her mug in the bathroom sink. This really bothered her. I didn't particularly mind because I rinsed my mug before I pooped...like a lady.
• If you're a DVC member the biggest drawback is the points. For the same amount of points (or less) you can get a normal sized studio with the full kitchenette at Saratoga, Old Key West, even Animal Kingdom. For the size of this room and the lack of amenities that DVC members are used to, these rooms should be in the single digits at all times of the year. There just isn't enough "there" there. 

Overall, for one person, I liked the room. I felt warm and cozy. I like little spaces when I'm by myself. If I had someone with me I think one of us would've ended up climbing off the balcony after 48 hours, which is saying something because the stairs were right across the hall.  I just wish it wasn't so many points. I might stay again in a true bind (A Disney Emergency), but not for longer than a night or two.  

Check out my sweet amateur pics taken with my crappy phone camera below. Now featuring: "My backpacks on the bathroom floor while I tried to figure out how to put the bed back up". They're copyrighed and trademarked and all that stuff too. Why not. 

A note: This is my first review. I will be adding more as I build the site with links and more info. But for now, this is all I got. Stay tuned!!