Disney's Port Orleans Resort - Riverside in Orlando, FL

I booked our vacation with Robyn Ayers at Dream Makers Vacation Services. She was exceptionally helpful and professional. She responded to my questions thoroughly and in a timely fashion. It made planning our trip so easy! Not only did she make sure we didn't miss any deadlines, but she checked in with us every step of the way. She also helped us book a car service to and from the airport. I would book through her again in a heartbeat. The Port Orleans Resort - Riverside was a place we could relax after long days of excitement at the Disney theme parks. I appreciated returning to a quiet and clean abode. Our rooms were clean and the staff was fabulous. We received fast and friendly service, We loved the pools and rides on the water taxis. The scenery was beautiful and the resort had anything and everything we wanted. What a wonderful vacation!

We just returned from our first onsite stay at Disney and absolutely loved Riverside. Okay, the rooms are a teeny bit dated and the standard of accommodation isn't as high as you'd get elsewhere for the price- but obviously you are paying for more here than the room. The perks of staying onsite with free dining, fast passes etc were worth it to make our first time experience smooth. We arrived very tired and hungry and the gentleman checking us in was wonderful- I'm sorry I can't remember his name, but he was the manager on duty at reception. He sorted us out, told us everything we needed to know and even gave us some cute First Visit badges. As we were starving we headed straight for the food court where we ordered a large pizza to share, which was 2 QS credits on the dining plan. I swear all I heard about from my husband for two weeks after that was the Riverside pizza! He says it ruined all other pizza for him lol. We did get another one later on and it was just as good as we remembered. Even though we ate all over property in some fancy places like the Cali Grill, nope its that pizza he is still talking about. The staff were all friendly and seemed happy to be there, I asked some questions about how to use the dining plan as it was our first time and they were more than happy to talk us through it. We declined housekeeping as we keep ourselves tidy anyway and the $60 gift card made it worth while. I did ring reception for some extra coffee at one point and the guy who answered the phone was hilarious, asking me if I wanted 'rocket fuel' or 'nasty icky decaf' lol. The rooms are fine and comfortable enough, the air con is noisy but that's standard in most US accommodation. We actually used the ceiling fan more as it was quiet. I requested a room on a high floor in a Mansion building and that was granted, we even had a pool view although the generator next to our room was noisy. Building 85 was perfect, a quick walk to reception and has na bus stop out back. The toiletries provided in the bathroom were really nice- bit mean that they don't all come in small pinchable bottles lol. I would like to highlight one problem/experience we did have while staying onsite. One night at around 10.30pm there was a very large (over 30), very loud group of young adults in the pool right next to our room. Now we don't have any issue with having fun, but honestly this was totally ridiculous how noisy they were. They couldn't have been louder if they were all given megaphones and foghorns. We rang reception to ask if they could possibly be asked to keep it down a bit, and reception told us that 'quiet time' isn't until 11pm but they would send someone round. So we didn't really expect them to do anything. However when the security guard turned up, she must have heard them from a mile away and without hesitation she closed the pool and turfed them out. We watched from the window and they were really disrespectful to her, shouting, complaining, jumping back in the pool. But she held her ground and told them to leave. So I really have to commend the Riverside security guard on handling that situation. Riverside feels super peaceful compared to the parks, and even compared to some other hotels! We dined around in other Disney hotels quite a bit, and as pretty as Animal Kingdom Lodge or the Poly are, they didn't feel nearly as peaceful and relaxed as Riverside. Loved having the little stroll over the bridges to our room, or along the river to French Quarter. It almost feels like you're not at Disney which is nice for a couple of adults wanting some downtime from theme parks. We thought FQ was pretty but felt very squashed together compared to Riverside so I was glad I couldn't get my initial first choice of staying at FQ. Bus service was okay in general, with one exception that we waited a very long time for a waterpark bus, over half an hour. These only pick up at the South stop. In future we'd maybe just Uber to the waterparks. Return bus service was mostly okay, again the only real problem we had was returning from a waterpark. It felt like every other hotel bus turned up twice before ours! Sometimes we'd get on the FQ bus if it arrived sooner and walk back. We used the boat once to go to Disney Springs, it takes a while but is pretty and enjoyable to do. We did use Uber a bit if we were running late or wanting to get to another hotel. Overall we loved our stay and would certainly choose it again if wanting to be onsite at Disney!

I was fortunate enough to be able to take the members of my Girl Scout troop to this resort over the weekend (as they voted on this as their year end trip using some of the cookie money they had earned) and they had a blast. We stayed over in the Alligator Bayou buildings (I have previously stayed at Magnolia Bend) and I loved the feel of the buildings and grounds. We had a nice view of the bridges, the pool for the area was close by (as was the main pool and fishin' hole), and the walk to the dining area and gift shop was very reasonable. We had 5 people in the room (2 adults, 3 teens) and the queen beds and fold down extra bed easily accommodated us all. The interior of the room was decorated to feel somewhat rustic, but still felt fun and vibrant. There are also bus stops all around the property for convenience as well. The room was clean and there were plenty of towels for 5 people, though unlike some of the other resorts the shower did not have large bottles of shampoo and body wash built into them, though they did provide the usual hotel size bottles of the Disney shampoo and bar soap. The girls loved the carriage ride that was offered at night, plus we were able to take the boat to Disney Springs for another great way to see some of the other properties in a more relaxed manner. If you are taking the boat make sure to get there plenty early and be patient, as they can get full fast. The main pool is always great fun, with music, a great water slide, and a nice pool side dining area (for drinks and snacks). You can also rent bicycles to tour the property, though we did not try that option this time. We had most of our meals at the main dining hall which offers very hearty breakfasts (I particularly love the eggs, mickey waffle, home fries, bacon, sausage platter that is offered as it fills you up and helps you save money by not snacking in the park all day), and many of their dishes have Cajun or southern inspiration to them. There is also the ability to make you own pasta combinations for those who has a traveler with more limited food interests. You can also go to Boatwrights Dining Hall for a more intimate and (slightly more pricey dining experience), or get a nightcap and show at the bar if that is of your liking. I am already looking forward to the next time I stay at this property as I feel that it caters well to adults without children or those families with older children as the two times I've stayed here I have not felt overwhelmed with large amounts of younger children like at some of the other resorts.

We recently stayed here in early May, and overall I was pretty satisfied with the stay. First We will start with the room. I will say I felt like the room was nicer in person than How it was in the photos. Overall the room was very clean and my only complaint was storage options for clothes. Our party consists of 2 adults and a toddler. There was space in the bathroom to hang clothes up but otherwise there were only three small drawers which was not enough for all of us. We were in alligator bayou on the 2nd floor, my other complaint was no elevator so let’s say we got a workout each day with the stroller. This property is pretty large, the other adult in our party has slight mobility issues and it was quite a walk each day to get around, if I had known in advance I would have requested a room closer to the lobby. Make use of a map on this property because I didn’t realize until the 3rd day we were taking the longer way to breakfast. We had breakfast daily at Hotel and there was a decent selection of food, pretty basic but I had no complaints. For dinner we did chose to walk to the neighboring French Quarter for dinner as their menu was more appealing to us but riverside does offer a decent selection as well. We Only ate at the dining hall so I can’t speak to the other restaurants that are on property. The dining hall also has food you can take back to your room as does the general store. As don’t know if this cupcake is Specific to this property or not but I had the most amazing cookies and cream cupcake.All of my interactions with staff were pleasant. The thing I love most about this property is the boat that will take you to Disney springs we actually did this twice and it was a nice ride each time. In regards to the buses that take you to the parks my only complaint is that I didn’t feel like the lines were as organized, both days we were unsure which line to stand in to get on the correct bus. The property itself is really nice and picturesque. There are several pools, we went to one of the quiet ones Which was a very nice pool but we did walk by the bigger pool which looks like a lot of fun if you have kids. Overall I really enjoyed my stay and would consider staying here again.

I visited for a week with my husband and 2 teenagers. The grounds are spotless, but that’s where it ends. I know everyone says the room is just somewhere to sleep, but we arrived to a dirty room. We were to tired to complain on our first night and were straight out on our first morning to a park. We came back to our room still not been cleaned and had to call reception to ask for milk for the coffee machine!! Our room was cleaned once in a week and I find that unacceptable for the price you pay. This is the fourth Disney hotel I’ve stayed at and is the worst. I tried to complain at reception but was told that they don’t have time to clean rooms every day. There are better hotels for half the price. Total joke!!