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In this Disney Port Orleans Resort – Riverside review we will cover a variety of different things from the kinds of rooms, amenities, ratings, rates and more. We hope that what we cover will help you in deciding where you might want to stay while visiting Disney World.
As a leading UK travel agent that books customers to every single on-site Disney hotel we have first-hand knowledge on every resort and what it can offer every family we send there. Hopefully this article will give you a better understanding on whether booking the Disney Port Orleans Resort-Riverside for your Disney World holiday would be a good choice.
Brief History
The original idea of the Port Orleans Resort – Riverside was to represent the “Old South” and when they first opened up on February 2, 1992 was “Disney’s Dixie Landing Resort”. When it first opened the rooms offered were only located at “Alligator Bayou” but shortly after they opened up more rooms in the Magnolia Bend section giving them over 2,000 rooms to offer their guests. On April 1, 2001 the resort was renamed Port Orleans -Riverside to match it’s sister resort Port Orleans – French Quarter.
Category & Star Rating
When it comes to the star rating for the Disney Port Orleans Resort-Riverside, on average, those who have stayed there rated this resort a 3.9 out of 5 stars. The resort is also one of Disney’s moderate resorts and by some considered to be one of the better moderate resorts that they offer.
Resort Theme
The entire resort is based on the “Old South” and is divided into four different areas that include:
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Sassagoula Steamboat Company
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Ol’ Man Island
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Alligator Bayou
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Magnolia Bend
Alligator Bayou and Magnolia Bend are both very huge complexes that offer over 1,000 rooms each and have seven different sections within these unique Southern designed buildings, with Southern plantation style buildings.
The Sassagoula Steamboat Company is the actual main lobby area where you check in, find main bus depot, shopping, and dining.
The Ol’ Man Island is an actual island in the middle of the resort that includes a “Fishin’ Hole”, playground, and swimming pool.
The overall landscaping is beautiful and lush that offers a great variety of beautiful flowers, trees, wooded areas, water areas, and more. Great for anyone who loves the beauty of nature.
Last Major Refurbishment
The very last refurbishment that the Disney Port Orleans Resort-Riverside had was just finished this past September when they refurbished all of the roof tops of the 16 different guest room buildings.
Location, Transportation & Accessibility To Parks
Unless you rent your own car, in order to get to the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios, along with their two water parks; Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon, will have to rely mainly on the Disney bus system. Because the resort is so large they do have numerous different bus stops. However, because of the different stops, it will take a while to get to your destination. If your destination is Disney Springs you can take the bus system or their boat system.
Other forms of transportation you can choose to pay for would be Uber, Lyft, Minnie Vans, or rent your own vehicle.
Rooms And Rates
All of the areas where the rooms are located are all intended to transport you to the charming world of the “Old South” with interesting swamps and beautiful plantations and there are a variety of different types of rooms to choose from to help enhance your stay at the resort. Inside the rooms you will find more charming Southern accents.
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Standard View Rooms
Views of parking areas. Available with two queens or two queens one child size Murphy bed. Sleeps 4 adults or 4 adults and 1 child.
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Woods View Rooms
Views of the bayou, woods, courtyard or other landscaping. Beds they offer are the same as in the Standard View Rooms.
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River View Rooms
Views of the river. Beds they offer are the same as the Standard View and Woods View Rooms.
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Pool View Rooms
Views of the courtyard pool. The beds they offer are the same as the other rooms mentioned above.
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King Bed Rooms
These rooms have views of landscaping, courtyard, gardens, bayou, courtyard pool, or riverfront. They offer one king bed that sleeps two or one king and one child size Murphy bed and sleeps two adults and one child.
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Preferred Rooms
Has views of landscaping, bayou, garden, or courtyard. They offer two queen beds and sleep four or two queens and one child sized Murphy bed and sleeps four adults and one child.
Royal Guest Rooms
This is a group of rooms that have specialty themes. These rooms offer the luxury of living like a prince or princess enjoying luxury of what one might expect from Cinderella’s Castle. Other “royal” themes from Aladdin to Beauty and the Beast can also be found in these child inspired rooms.
Room Types
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Royal Guest Rooms/Standard View
Views of parking areas. Offer two queen beds and sleeps four people.
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Royal Guest Rooms/River View
Views of the riverfront. Offers the same beds as the Standard View.
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Royal Guest Rooms/Woods View
Views of bayou, landscaping, or courtyard. Offers the same beds as the Standard and River view rooms.
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Royal Guest Rooms/Pool View
Views of the courtyard pool. Offers the same beds as the other rooms listed above.
All of these rooms include the following: hairdryer, safe, coffee maker, phone with voicemail, iron, ironing board, free WiFi, and mini fridge.
Room Rates
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Standard View Rooms – £246.64 to £421.42
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Woods View Rooms – £258.17 to £433.84
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Pool View Rooms – £265.27 to £425.85
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King Bed Rooms – £299.87 to £440.94
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Preferred Rooms – £301.65 to £460.45
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River View Rooms – £301.65 to £460.45
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Royal Guest Rooms/Standard View – £301.65 to £464.89
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Royal Guest Rooms/Woods View – £306.97 to £471.99
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Royal Guest Rooms/River View – £313.18 to £492.39
Resort Amenities & Recreation
Like many of the resorts, there are plenty of things to do while staying at the Disney Port Orleans Resort – Riverside. Here are some of the things you can enjoy:
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Movies Under the Stars
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Campfire activities
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Painting classes
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Cane Pole Fishin’ Hole
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Playground
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Swimming pool that has an old saw mill theme with a 95 foot water slide plus 4 other pools
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Bike rentals
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Surrey rentals
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Guided bass fishing
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Fireworks boat cruises
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Medicine Show Arcade
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Walking/Jogging trails
Resort Dining
You’ll find that the Riverside offers a whole host of Southern comfort foods to choose from coming from the following dining venues:
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Boatwright’s Dining Hall
Here they serve up some great “soul food” and other Southern favorites like Crawfish Bisque, Jambalaya, Shrimp & Grits, Nashville Hot Chicken, Smoked Sausage, BBQ Beef Brisket, Pecan Pie Cheesecake and more. All served in a space resembling a shipbuilding yard in the South.
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Muddy Rivers
Is located on Ol’ Man’s Island. It’s a pool bar where you can sit and relax drinking different variety of beverages. As the kids enjoy the pool and playground.
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River Roost
This is a true Southern bar that serves popular Southern beverages especially ones made famous in Louisiana like Southern Hurricane, Bayou Rum, Abita Beer. They also serve bar snacks like Mardi Gras Fritters and Hummingbird Cake.
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Riverside Mill Food Court
This is a quick service restaurant set in an old mill and offer a wide variety of American inspired meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Enjoy breakfast favorites or for lunch and dinner enjoy pizza, chicken, hamburgers, and other classics with a Southern spin on them like Bayou Lasagna.
Pros & Cons Of Staying Here
As always, there are going to be some pros and cons no matter where you might stay. Here are a few of the key pros and cons we found in our Disney Port Orleans Resort – Riverside review:
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Pro – Many of the rooms in the Alligator Bayou section do offer a “5th sleeper” so that families of five can be easily accommodated.
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Pro – They are just a short bus or boat ride away from the great shopping, dining, & entertainment area of Disney Springs.
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Con – The bus system is the main transportation and has multiple stops before getting to its destination and this could mean a lot of travel time getting to where you want.
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Con – The resort is spread out over 200 acres so this can be rough on older people or just on people who are extremely tired after a busy day exploring Disney World.
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Con – Can get extremely crowded and noisy at their pools especially their feature pool.
Families Resort Best For
There is such a variety of things to do and see at Disney Port Orleans Resort – Riverside just about everyone should love staying at the resort. Even families with younger children would love it especially if staying in one of the Royal Guest rooms.
Actual TripAdviser Reviews
Here are some actual reviews from TripAdviser from those who have actually stayed at the Disney Port Orleans Resort-Riverside:
“We stopped two weeks here. Room was very dark and definitely not cleaned often enough – I don’t think the floor was cleaned our entire stay! Hairs in bathroom on arrival – we didn’t call housekeeping as late so cleaned ourselves. Not enough storage in room so quickly became cluttered. Toilet flush very loud – could hear next door.
We loved the pools and lifeguards were the most professional and attentive I have seen – nothing passed their eyes so felt safe.
The grounds are beautiful, staff friendly, chef was very good catering for my husbands gluten allergy so ate at resort most nights. We loved the refillable cups but would be nice to have healthier options such as milk with this.
We had a water leak in ceiling on 12th night, we were quickly moved to the alligator bayou area but we preferred magnolia bend as decor brighter and nicer buildings despite our new room being in preferred area
We stopped at cabana bay at universal which is also mid range, Disney riverside definitely not as good as cabana.”
“First off I must say we’ve been DVC members since ’07. We’ve read reviews on this resort over the years and wanted to experience it for ourselves. We just finished a 4 day stay this week and I must say we now know why people love this resort. We stayed in Alligator Bayou in the 3400 building, very close to the West bus stop. Room was refurbished and very nice! The walk to the quick service took about 7 minutes, this is a huge resort! The food we tried at the food court had good flavor and was hot. We also watched Piano Bob Saturday night while having some drinks at the bar. Everybody had a great time! Their gift store is big and well stocked. We never had any issues with the buses and/or wait times. The main pool area is large but was full so we used a quiet pool which was fine. It was a quiet resort and seemed as if you were somewhere else other than WDW. At night they “pipe in” cricket sounds which is a nice touch. All staff were very nice and Marc at the bar was a super guy! Although we belong to DVC we can see why people love this place. We will be returning for another visit.”
“This is supposed to be a moderate resort, which I am sure before the pandemic it was. It now seems under staffed. Long queues and unclean facilities. Maybe Disney needs to spend some of their profits on more staff as the ones who work there are great but seems to be struggling with the workload.”
“The resort design truly has that Southern charm. The layout is quite spread out, but luckily there are multiple bus stops throughout the property, so you’re never too far from bus access to the parks. The ferry to and from Disney Springs was pleasant, but took quite some time both to board and to travel.
Our room was small but adequate, with satisfactory amenities. Oddly we couldn’t check in online – we were from a foreign country and despite the website accepting my credit card when I paid for our reservation, the app wouldn’t accept the same card for check-in. The front desk staff was cheerful and very accommodating of our requests.
The main pool was always crowded, but luckily there were several other pools throughout the resort with more manageable crowds.
We enjoyed our stay, and would consider returning here again for future Disney World vacations.”
Similar Properties
The Riverside is very unique compared to most of the other resorts, so there’s probably really only one other property that comes close to being comparable and that would be the Riverside’s own “Sister resort” which would be the Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter. The two are basically interchangeable and guests can enjoy both while staying at either one.
Our Thoughts & Verdict
After taking a close up look at the Port of Orleans Resort – Riverside, it was easy to see why so many guests really enjoy it. It does make you feel that you have been transported back to an era that no longer exists. It’s like stepping back in time and experience the old charm of a once grand era. If you love the past, nature, Southern food and all that is and was part of the South, this is the place to stay.
To help take the stress out of organising your holiday, The House of Travel offers some excellent Disney world holiday packages. This ensures that you can enjoy your time here, with all of the planning in hand. After all, there’s no better way to explore Disney than by letting the experts take charge! Either give us a quick call on 0203 950 7371 or simply fill this quick form here for a call back request today.
