Disney's Riviera Resort

You will notice the coastline before you notice the hotel: terracotta roofs, wrought iron balconies, warm stone, olive trees and mosaic tilework, all taking their cue from the stretch between southern France and northern Italy. Artwork through the building reworks Disney and Pixar scenes in European painting styles, which is a nicer idea than it sounds on paper and better executed than most Disney theming of the last decade. Riviera is the newest of Walt Disney World's Deluxe Villa properties and it sits between Caribbean Beach and EPCOT.

Disney Vacation Club built this one from scratch as a villas-only resort, so there is no attached hotel wing and no standard hotel rooms. Every guest is in accommodation with at least a kitchenette, and most of the inventory has a full kitchen. For a British family staying 14 nights, that single fact changes the shape of the holiday and the shape of the food budget.

Transport is what sells the address. Riviera has its own Disney Skyliner station on site, and the gondolas run direct to EPCOT's International Gateway and on to Disney's Hollywood Studios by way of the Caribbean Beach interchange. Two theme parks without ever boarding a bus is a rare thing at Walt Disney World, and it removes the single most common complaint about Disney resort transport.

Early Theme Park Entry applies here as it does at every Disney hotel, so your party can be inside a park 30 minutes before the published opening time every morning of the stay. Extended Evening Hours come with the Deluxe Villa tier, meaning you are eligible for the late sessions Disney runs at Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. Coming back from a late EPCOT night by gondola, with the resort lit up below you, is one of the better small pleasures of a Disney holiday.

Size is manageable. Riviera is essentially one large building rather than a spread-out village, so the walk from the furthest villa to the lobby, the pool or the Skyliner is measured in minutes. Anyone who has stayed at Old Key West or Saratoga Springs will notice the difference immediately.

Tower Studios are unique to Riviera and need explaining properly, because UK families book them by mistake and only find out on arrival. They are a small category designed for two guests, built around a single pull-down bed that folds away during the day, with a compact bathroom and a very limited kitchenette. Space is tight, storage is tighter, and there is nowhere for a third person to sleep. For a couple on a short stay they are charming and comparatively affordable. For a family they are the wrong room entirely.

Deluxe Studios are the category most families should be pricing. They sleep up to five using a combination of a queen bed, a sleeper sofa and a pull-down bed, though layouts vary, so check the bed configuration shown on the booking page for your own dates. Cooking is by kitchenette: a small fridge, a microwave, a sink and a coffee maker. That handles cereal, milk, cold drinks and reheating, which is enough for many families.

One Bedroom Villas move you into a different category of holiday. You get a separate bedroom with a door, a full kitchen with a cooker, a full-size fridge and a dishwasher, and a washer and dryer inside the villa. Two weeks of park clothes in Florida heat generate an enormous amount of washing, and having a machine behind your own front door means packing for a week rather than a fortnight.

Two Bedroom Villas add a Deluxe Studio alongside the one bedroom layout, giving two bathrooms and room for two couples or a family travelling with grandparents. Three Bedroom Grand Villas sit at the top of the range for the largest parties and are a small inventory, so they need booking a long way ahead.

Balconies appear across the categories, and views are sold as separate booking types. Standard views look over the grounds and car parks, preferred views take in the pools and the surrounding Disney landscape, and some higher villas catch fireworks from EPCOT or Hollywood Studios. Ask what your view category actually faces before paying the upgrade.

Come back at two, when the heat has beaten everyone, and the Riviera Pool is where the rest of the day gets decided. A water slide winds down around a tall stone column tower, sun umbrellas cover most of the deck, and the surrounding stonework and planting keep the Mediterranean idea going. Depth suits mixed ages, and the layout means parents can sit within sight of both the shallow end and the bottom of the slide.

S'il Vous Play is the interactive water play area beside it, built to look like a grand European public fountain and themed around characters from Fantasia. Jets, sprays and shallow water make it the right spot for toddlers who are not ready for the main pool. Younger children tend to spend an entire afternoon here without once asking to go anywhere else.

Beau Soleil Pool is the quiet one, tucked away from the main deck with calmer water and no slide. Adults reading a book, anyone recovering from a Magic Kingdom day, and families with a napping baby all end up here. Lifeguards work posted hours at the pools, towels are provided, and the slide carries a height requirement, so check it before promising a five year old anything.

Dry recreation includes lawn chess and bocce ball on the grounds, plus outdoor film screenings on selected evenings and the usual programme of themed pool games and trivia listed in the My Disney Experience app. There is a fitness centre and a games arcade. Riviera is not a resort with boat hire or fishing, and it does not pretend to be.

Fireworks are the evening event. Higher floors and parts of the grounds catch EPCOT and Hollywood Studios shows on a clear night, and the rooftop at Topolino's Terrace is the premium seat. Ask at check-in where staff recommend standing on your dates, because show times and angles shift through the year.

EPCOT is the nearest park in practical terms, reachable by gondola in a few minutes and entered through the International Gateway rather than the main gates. Festivals run through most of the year, with Flower and Garden in spring and Food and Wine from late summer, and a short gondola hop makes a one hour evening visit entirely sensible.

Hollywood Studios comes next, one change away on the Skyliner. Caribbean Beach sits next door and is worth a wander for its own restaurants and its beach on Barefoot Bay, and the Skyliner makes visiting other resorts far easier than it would be by bus. Disney's BoardWalk and the Crescent Lake hotels are a walk from the International Gateway if you want an evening on the promenade.

Disney Springs is a bus ride away and charges no admission, with a two-storey World of Disney store, cinemas, live music and dozens of restaurants. Arrival evening is the classic time to go, before anyone has adjusted to the five hour time difference.

Off property, the shops and supermarkets around Lake Buena Vista and Palm Parkway are roughly 5 miles east and are where British families do the grocery run that a villa kitchen rewards. Flamingo Crossings on the western edge of Disney property is closer still and has grown into a useful cluster of shops and quick restaurants. Universal Orlando is about 11 miles north east on Interstate 4.

Anyone with a hire car and a free day should know that Clearwater Beach on the Gulf coast is around 95 miles west, a comfortable morning's drive on Interstate 4 and a proper reset in the middle of a fortnight of parks.

Families who hate Disney buses should look here first. Two theme parks by gondola, from a station inside your own resort, removes the daily frustration that shapes so many Walt Disney World holidays. Children treat the Skyliner as a ride in its own right, which converts a transport leg into part of the day out.

Couples and smaller parties get an unusual option in the Tower Studio, which is priced below the rest of the resort and suits two adults on a shorter stay. Add Topolino's Terrace, Le Petit Cafe and a rooftop with fireworks views, and Riviera works better as an adult holiday than most Disney hotels with children's characters in the lobby.

Multi-generational groups do well in a Two Bedroom Villa, with two bathrooms, a full kitchen, a washing machine and a door between the generations. Shorter internal walking distances than Old Key West or Saratoga Springs make a real difference to anyone travelling with a grandparent who tires.

Magic Kingdom-focused first-timers with toddlers should think about it carefully. Magic Kingdom is bus only from Riviera and it is one of the longer runs, so a nap-driven day means more coach time than you might want. Wilderness Lodge or a monorail resort suits that particular trip better.

Anyone booking on price should be realistic. Riviera is a premium Deluxe Villa resort and it charges accordingly, with no value tier alternative on site. What you get for it is the newest building stock at Walt Disney World, a kitchen, a laundry and a gondola station, which for a fortnight is a defensible set of trade-offs.