Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside

Introducing Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside

Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside is a Moderate Resort at Walt Disney World.

Riverside consists of 2,048 rooms in three-story southern-style mansions and two-story rustic bayou dwellings. It is divided into Alligator Bayou (bayou) and Magnolia Bend (mansions).

The resort originally opened February 2, 1992 as Disney’s Dixie Landings Resort. It was renamed in 2001. It now forms part of a larger resort combined with Disney’s’ Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter.

The 2 sections are under the same management and guests can share all facilities. It is about a 10 minute walk between the 2 sections.

The entire resort is huge spanning 325 acres and containing over 3000 guest rooms. This means that almost 10% of all Walt Disney World Resort Rooms are based at the Port Orleans Resort.

Riverside Facilities.

Dining includes Riverside Mill food court and Boatwright’s Dining Hall. Dining options are good but not outstanding. Waiting times at the River Mill food court can be long.

Recreation includes Ol’ Man Island a 3 ½-acre old-fashioned swimming hole with slides.

In addition there are playgrounds, quiet pools, boat rentals, game room, The River Roost Lounge Bar and gift shop.

Playing at the River Roost Lounge on Wednesday to Saturday from 8:30pm is Bob Jackson. Bob performs a very popular piano sing-along comedy show and has developed a cult following. The show can get very crowded so arrive early.

Transportation

Transportation is via motor coach to other Walt Disney World attractions.

There are several bus stops at the Riverside Resort & this does lengthen your journey.

There is a riverboat to Disney Springs.

At certain times of day transport is shared with the French Quarter.

WDWPrepschool has a brilliant transport calculator which is well worth viewing to plan your trip from Riverside.

Our Opinion

Riverside is a very beautiful Disney resort with exceptional grounds and an impressive lobby. Public Rooms are comfortable but not as stunning as in Deluxe Resorts. Bedrooms are very comfortable but not that well equipped with wardrobes and drawers.

We stayed at Riverside in July 2017. Although we are enjoying our stay at Riverside it is highly unlikely we would stay here again. The issue is the resort size and in our opinion Disney appears to be struggling to manage this. There are 3 main issues we have identified.

• The main resort pool is too small for the number of guests. There are however a number of smaller pool across the resort.
• The Riverside Mill Food Court struggles to deal with the number of guests. Queues are long and they regularly run out of drinks especially coffee. In our recent Resort Hop we identified no other Resorts where the quick service was as crowded as Riverside.
• Buses are a big issue. They are regularly at full capacity and it is very rare to get a seat. Riverside always has the largest queues at parks. Often you have to wait for several buses to board. This does not seem to be as big an issue for other Resorts.

However; if you can deal with these issues you may find Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside the perfect location for your Disney Vacation.

Read More

Watch our video tour of Riverside.

If you want to read more about Riverside visit the Unofficial Guide to Disney’s Port Orleans Resorts.

Read our fantastic guide to all the Walt Disney World Resorts.