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

This hotel made my whole Disney trip perfect. It was beautiful and one of a kind. With pools all over the resort to choose from you never feel it is too busy and you can relax as well as have fun in the pool. To get to my room I could walk along the river and in the trees making it seem I was on an adventure. The staff were lovely and transport to all the Disney parks was so easy because of the direct buses from the main reception of the hotel. There is also a direct park to downtown Disney where all the great restaurants and shops are. I have no complaints about this place and can’t wait to visit the hotel again next week 😊

So we very much enjoyed our trip and stay at Port Orleans Riverside room was clean and comfortable not much storage though we had the room with the pull down bed and one day my daughter was putting the bed up and get something from the drawer beneath and the bed fell back on her hitting her in the nose I tried contacting Disney and only got a automated response back not happy with the level of customer service ! Unfortunately I saw a lower standard this trip It’s sad we always had the best experiences at Disney .

I have stayed at this moderate resort several times before but only for a night prior to starting my Disney package at other resorts. However, last week's stay was for seven nights (longest vacation at Disney). My traveling party was myself (booked a river view Princess-themed room) and my brother and my 10 year old niece in the same room type (next to mine). So, a total of two rooms. I believe the positive aspects of this resort outweigh some negatives, and some of the less than desirable aspects can and have happened at other resorts. So, I don't think these negatives are specific to Port Orleans Riverside. But, they did occur while staying at POR so I have included them in my review. First of all, the resort grounds are just beautiful and relaxing. This is a very large resort which requires a lot of walking just to get to and from the main building and your room. I won't go into detail about the size of the resort due to there being many posts regarding the size. One of my favorite things to do is to get up early and stroll the property. The theming is wonderful. There are bridges, fountains, the river, Old Man Island that the main pool is located on, the alligator bayou section, many quiet pools scattered throughout the resort and the gorgeous mansion buildings. And, as other reviews indicate, the stroll to Port Orleans French Quarter is very pleasant. While at French Quarter, Port Orleans Riverside guests can access their pool (very kid friendly) and their food court. Mickey Beignets are delicious! Port Orleans Riverside's main pool is themed well and there were usually plenty of seating available with some nice shaded areas. The pool bar is fun and also had plenty of seating and lounge chairs around it. If you needed to run over to the main building to get drink refills in your refillable mug or lunch it was a very quick walk from the pool. Also, there is a large arcade with many games. The resort has a bar with entertainment on certain nights . The performer, Yee Haw Bob, is very popular with the audience. We were able to catch a little of the show after dinner one night. And, I agree, it was fun and the audience was enjoying themselves. I believe the resort is in the process of refurbishing their rooms. However, the princess rooms we had have not been refurbed. Both of the rooms we booked were spacious although dated. The beds and pillows were great (extremely comfortable) and housekeeping did a good job while we were there. And, I agree with other reviews of this resort, that the boat transportation to Disney Springs is a plus. We enjoyed the food court. I only had two meals there and some snacks. Everything we had was very good. But, because we were on the deluxe dining plan we did not eat there a lot during our stay. Also, we did not try the sit down restaurant, Boatwrights, so cannot comment on that. Now, the negative aspects of our stay: We booked our vacation approximately five months prior to visiting. As most people know, there are many categories of rooms at all of Disney's resorts that a person may book (at an additional cost depending on the category). These included preferred locations, garden view, standard view, river view, pool view, etc. Because this was my niece's first visit to Disney, I suggested that we book river view in the princess-themed location. Well, the two rooms we were assigned were on the third floor of Oak Manor (my room had a view of some tree branches and my brother and niece's room looked out to a brick wall, gutter and roof). Needless to say, I called the front desk and asked for actual rooms that had a view of the river. There was nothing available that would have been worth the move. Long story short, we were compensated by changing our room categories from river view to standard view, which is exactly what they were. The manager said the rack rate between the standard view and river view was $6.00 a day. I really believed that it was much more but he said because we were on a package, he could not tell us exactly how much more we paid. Receiving the credit was fine, but I would have preferred to have a river view (which is what I booked months ago) and not have had to spend well over an hour on the phone and at the front desk. I asked the manager if he wanted to go look at the room location, and he said he knew what it looked like due to the configuration of the building, so he did not need to see it in person. Even though this resort does not have balconies and some people would argue the view does not matter to them, however, Disney charges for these different views so they should absolutely deliver when they are booked. I will always speak up and expect to get what I paid for. This is not the only resort where I encountered this situation. At the Beach Club last year, I booked a garden view and there were scrub trees blocking my view from the garden area below. Lastly, on the final night of our vacation, my brother was in one of the large quiet pools around 10:00 p.m. Another guest going to the laundry room told him that there was feces in the pool and that he reported it several hours ago. When my brother looked he saw the feces was still floating in the pool. Fortunately, my niece had decided to stay in the room that night and watch television and my brother was extremely thankful she was not in the pool. He indicated that he was just standing near the edge and not going under water as my niece certainly would have been doing. I mention the pool issue because this was part of our experience. But, to be fair, the other guest said he reported this, but, I have know way of knowing if he actually did. And, I know that this type of thing is not exclusive to any one resort. So, even with our issues, I think Port Orleans Riverside is a charming, well-themed resort. And, I would stay here again.

This was my family's first visit to WDW and this resort was recommended to us by seasoned Disney guests. The emtire resort is beautiful and we loved just walking the grounds. There is an excellent table service restaurant on the property, as well as a food court and you can take a leisurely boat ride to Disney Springs. We stayed in a Royal Guest room that was elegantly decorated with plenty of room for three. We took the shuttle bus daily to the parks. There is a good size pool, carriage rides and an epic gift shop. I cannot say enough good things about the staff, room, location or how we were treated at every turn. We will most definitely be back!

Rooms are immaculate housekeeping is amazing the grounds are lovely get a river view room worth the extra money the only thing i did not like was the pool area i liked the pool at caribean beach resort much better when i called to book port orleans riverside was full and the lady told me to give carribean beach a try i read reviews saying its a ling walk to get around the resort but i trusted her she works at disney she was right i loved it there too excellent pool area lots of activities for kids near the pool roasted marshmallows so pretty was impressed i would not stay at either anymore because i found a hidden gem the hilton double tree suites on disney worlds property i saved one thousand five hundred dollars for seven days compared to a moderate resort i like having a separate living room with a closed door to separate the bedroom sooo big and its immaculate of course its a hilton you can book a vacation package to stay at disney springs hotels directly through disney because they are on disney property port orleans riverside is beautiful so is carribean beach resort both are lovely but so is the double tree if you want to save over a thousand dollars and sleep six people comfortably in a suite with a MICROWAVE in room