Port Orleans Riverside Resort

November 12, 2015 by cryan.com

Seven reasons not to stay at the Port Orleans Riverside resort

1. Large Property layout - The Port Orleans Resort is a fairly big layout. Depending on where your room is, you could be in for a long walk to the lobby or Riverside Mill Food Court. No so much fun on the last day when you have to bring the luggage to the lobby. Also it can be a long walk to get your morning coffee.
2. No pool towels at the secondary pools. You are encouraged to go to the main pool and get towels. Some people did bring towels from their rooms. I recall that the hotel discourage guest from doing this.
3. Small Laundry area - The laundry area is near the pools, so you can go swimming while you wait for your laundry. However, our wait was longer because their weren't any available washing machines. Do you really want to spend vacation time waiting for someone else's laundry to be done before starting yours?
4. Long lines at the Riverside Mill Food Court. During peak times you can anticipate a long wait to ordering your food and then waiting in a different line to pay for it. Also there's nobody working the waiting area to answer any questions.
5. Poor cable - During our stay many of the popular Disney channels were not working. This is a problem if you have a youngster that might want to fall a sleep to Mickey and friends at night.
6. Too Many Bus Stops - There are four bus stops on the property with the main stop being the last stop. This means that it takes that much longer to get back to your room. (Art of Animation has only one stop.)
7. Not stroller friendly - The room we stayed at didn't have a ramp near the garden stairs. We saw plenty of guests that had to ask their children to get out of the stroller just to get up and down a small set of stairs.

Seven Reasons to Stay

1. Ferry Boat to Disney Springs - One of the few places on Disney property where you can go to Disney Springs by boat. Nice romantic way to start an evening at Disney Springs. Boats are running about every 20 minutes during Disney Spring hours.
2. Riverside Mill Food Court was yummy - Lots of good choices and plenty of seating. We didn't eat at Boatwright's since the wait times were very long, but from what I read online it seems to be the place to go.
3. Unique room designs - The bed headboard has a cool 30 second firework show. My daughter loved the princess pictures on the walls and getting a special welcome from Tiana.
4. Horse buggy Rides - A chance to ride in a carriage across the resort property. Great fun for the whole family!
5. Quiet Rooms - We found it very quiet where we stayed. We didn't hear anyone in the halls or banging in the rooms around us.
6. Fulton's General Store - Lots of Disney goodies and essential supplies in case you forget to bring something. Double check before you leave, otherwise you'll pay a premium. But if you forget an item, they will have it in stock! (Also the only place on Disney Property to get an Eeyore Penny Souvenir.)
7. Lively Nightly Entertainment. I just happen to catch some of the entertainment at the River Roost Lounge and the crowd was fired up and singing along to many hits. I didn't get a chance to watch the whole show, but it appear to be a hit even from the people standing in the nearby hallway.

Some additional things to note from our stay during the first week of November, 2015

• There is a quality hair dryer in the room. This isn't a cheap wall mounted hair dryer. There's no need to bring one if your staying at this resort. If your room doesn't have the right one, you can always call the front desk and request one.
• The washer and dryers only take credit cards, no need to bring a bag of quarters or extra cash for the laundry room.
• There is a small dorm room size fridge in the room. Ours didn't seem to keep our drinks all that cold. The refrigerator has no freezer space.
• The coffee machine in the room was just Ok. The one in the Riverside Mill Food Court is better since you can add sugar and fresh cream.
• There are plenty of soda and ice vending machines around and they were well stocked up. I didn?t check the prices on this trip but I think it would be around $3 for a 20oz bottle.
• Plugs are somewhat hard to find in the resort rooms. You should consider bringing a mini extension cord especially if you have multiple USB devices and want to charge them overnight.
• You can buy water at the bus stops, but it cost you $3 for a 20oz bottle. Your better off filling up a Disney mug before heading out.