Disney’s Character Brunch Review at the Riviera Resort

Topolino’s Terrace at the new Riviera Resort in Disney World is a character experience not to be missed!  The food is delicious, and in my opinion worth every penny. Keep reading for my review of our brunch character dining experience at Disney’s Riviera Resort.

Reservations are strongly recommended and currently they can be made up to 60 days in advance! I tend to err on the side of too many reservations, rather than end up sad you couldn’t get one the week before.  You can cancel them up to 24 hours in advance with no penalty, and Disney usually sends an email around that time reminding you of your reservation.  You do need a Disney account to make your reservation. You do not have to be staying on Disney property to eat at Topolino’s.

Logistics of Brunch at Topolino’s

Topolino’s Terrace is the name of the restaurant. Topolino literally means “little mouse!” This is what Europeans call Mickey! It is located on the 10^th floor of the new Disney Vacation Club resort called the Riviera Resort. The resort is beautiful and (you guessed it), has a European inspired theme. Take a few minutes before or after your reservation to walk the grounds and enjoy the view of the Skyliner. I’d highly recommend stopping for a coffee at Le Petite Cafe during your visit-the cinnamon cold brew does not disappoint!

Tip:  Not all elevators lead to the restaurant! Ask a cast member if you need help. 

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How To Get To Topolino’s

You can access the Riviera Resort via Disney bus from Disney Springs, a Disney theme park, a car (your own or Uber/Lyft/Minnie Van), OR if you are at Hollywood Studios/Epcot/Caribbean Beach Resort/Art of Animation/Pop Century you can get to it via the Skyliner! 

If you need to use Disney transportation to get to Riviera Resort (assuming you aren’t staying on the Skyliner route or coming from Hollywood Studios/Epcot), you can take your resort bus to a theme park or Disney Springs, then from the theme park or Disney Springs to the Riviera. Check your My Disney Experience app for opening hours of theme parks and Disney Springs. Theme park buses typically begin going to theme parks an hour before opening. Buses go to Disney Springs from opening to one hour after closing.

Transportation Tips

If you are using a Disney bus, please allow at least an hour to get to your reservation.  Disney buses are usually very reliable, but we’ve waited 40 minutes for one before (there is usually a screen at each bus stop telling you when the next bus will come and we watched it go from 20 minutes to 40 minutes pretty quickly!), and it would be stressful to be late for your reservation! 

Check the operating times of the Skyliner.  If you are staying on the Skyliner route and make a 7:30am breakfast reservation, it will be a big bummer if you walk up to the Skyliner at 7:00am thinking you will be early only to discover it doesn’t start running until 7:30am! 

Buses do not run from theme parks back to Disney Springs UNTIL 4:00pm!!!! If you need to return to your resort before 4pm, take a bus from Riviera to Disney Springs, then grab a bus from Disney Springs to your resort. After 4pm, you can take a bus from Riviera to a theme park, then from the theme park back to your resort.

If you are able, driving/taking Uber or Lyft is much easier!

Times and Cost

The character dining experience is only available for breakfast/brunch hours.  Currently, character dining reservations can be made from 7:30am until 12:15pm. 

Topolino’s is also available for dinner reservations, which are from 5:00pm until 9:30pm.  Dinners are most likely very yummy, but there are no characters. 

Back to brunch!

Adult Cost: $42 per  adult

Child Cost: $27 per child

The Menu

Even though this experience isn’t cheap, Disney delivered.  We all had several options of food, and for most of us, we had trouble deciding what we wanted.  The menu has something for everyone.  I kind of felt like it was a Disney cruise, because there was one price but several options.  I asked if we could be greedy and order more than one thing off the menu, and was told that they prefer each person order one entrée, but they would be happy to accommodate us if we wanted a little something extra, such as sharing a fruit plate.  It’s also worth mentioning that while a lot character meals at Disney are buffet (and maybe that lets you get a bit more bang for your buck), I am a bit anti buffet for various reasons (germs, kids needing to go back every 3 seconds so you never get to sit and enjoy your food, etc), so this was perfect for our family!

The Meal

The meal began with a super fun presentation of various breads and dipping sauces, one which tasted like Nutella.  We may have fought over this one and put it on everything.  The butter and homemade jam were also great. 

Included in the price of your experience is soda, coffee, tea and a delicious juice called POG juice (if you aren’t familiar with it, POG juice is a blend of passion fruit, orange and guava juices).  We hadn’t ever had this specialty juice, and my kids all drank a ton of it! 

Hubs and I went all out and each had adult drinks. My mimosa was delicious and the bloody Mary my husband ordered was superb. 

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My waffles were perfection! The description is as follows:

Roasted Apple, Chantilly, Orange-Maple Syrup, and served with choice of Smoked Bacon, Ham, Sausage, or Plant-based Sausage. I chose bacon, which in my opinion was the perfect consistency!  Fully cooked but not burnt. 

The waffles were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The orange maple syrup was unique and yummy, and the Chantilly was an amazing layer of flavor that complimented the whole dish. It is definitely a sweet entrée, which was up my alley! 

I am also picky about how eggs are cooked and was very pleased with the consistency and dryness of these eggs.  I don’t enjoy runny eggs, but these were perfect!

My daughter’s yogurt and fruit plate was beautiful, but it’s sophisticated presentation threw her off a bit!  All of the fruit was perfectly ripe and my little one enjoyed feeling fancy. 

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My oldest chose the waffle dippers, which I thought were adorable, and they came with three choices of sauces for dipping.   It was a hit, and the loved the little cups that are on the waffle sticks (I think they are supposed to be for catching syrup drips but they were more fun to play with.) He even saved his Minnie waffle dipper to show Minnie when she came around to visit us!

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My husband ordered the smoked salmon, and it was good.  He didn’t rave about it, but it was a solid choice.

Character Interaction

Note: close character interaction is currently on hold. At the moment the characters dance and only stop for a few seconds so you can snap a selfie with them. You are asked to stay in your seats when they come by your table.

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Continuing with the European theme of the resort, each character has an art they specialize in.  Donald is a sculptor, Daisy a ballerina, Minnie is a poet and Mickey is a painter.  Upon meeting each of them we were able to “chat” with them and talk about their talents.  There was also a couple of pretty hilarious interactions with Daisy and Donald.  Donald very sweetly gave my hand a kiss, but oh my! Daisy was watching from across the room and did not approve 😊.  Then when Daisy came to visit our table, she was sweet on my son and he just smiled so big!  It was really a neat experience. 

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The characters stop and dance to an Italian song every once in awhile and are introduced every hour. I think it was good quality time with them, and I was happy with our experience.

My final thoughts are this: the character breakfast/brunch at Topolino’s Terrace at the Riviera Resort is a great choice.  It’s a sophisticated atmosphere, but still very kid friendly.  The food is delicious and I really enjoyed every bite!  It was our first character meal, and won’t be our last. 

ONE LAST TIP: When family members ask what to get you/your kids for holidays, ask for Disney gift cards! They can help defray the cost of your trip!