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

Excellent stay at Port Orleans riverside. Staff are all so friendly and helpful. Nice spacious room with plenty of storage space & comfy beds. The water pressure in the shower could have been better which is my only niggle. We had the quick dining plan and choices in the restaurant were good. We stayed 6 nights so I think anything more the food would get a bit repetitive but was fine for what we needed. Bus service excellent. Overall a beautiful resort and a restful stay (apart from the all the walking in the parks obviously).

We stayed for 12 nights in August. We last stayed in 2022 and prior to that we were at Caribbean Beach in 2019. Generally the hotel was ok but that "Disney Magic" feeling is definitely lacking from cast members at this hotel in general. Unfortunately, upon entering the bathroom one evening my son encountered a cockroach; my husband went to check it out and watched it disappear behind one of the wall tiles. We called guest services just before 11pm who said pest control would be over soon. It took until 1am for them to arrive. We were offered a change of room or ours could be treated as long as we stayed out for 2 hours post-treatment. We decided we would rather stay in a just treated room than risk the same thing happening if we moved. We went by front desk the next morning to ask them to treat the room after 2pm as we would be out at the Halloween Party. We returned to our room at 1.30pm to change for the party only to find our room had already been treated and we hadn't had chance to put things like toothbrushes away. When we took our cases out from under our bed at the end of our stay they were thick with dust (photos attached). We raised both issues with guest services but feel like as long as they have your money they aren't interested with absolutely nothing offered as a goodwill gesture to compensate for the issues encountered. We did have a stay at the Boardwalk at the end of our holiday and this resort is worlds away in terms of cleanliness, friendliness and maintenance levels.

We stayed 2 nights in the Acadian section. Room was great - spotless, even the shower. Very quiet, no outside noise. TV was great. Utilized the arcade, fun playing skiball. Nice gift shop, even able to buy distilled water for my husband's CPap machine. Preferred Riverside over last stay at French Quarter.

4th time we've stayed here and it's still one of the better resorts to stay at. The only things holding back a 5 star review is the disturbances at night in the pool area, and the irregular housekeeping. While the smaller pools state that it closes at 11pm, we noticed on a few occasions we could hear shouting and screaming from guests in the pool at half 11 or more in the night. Would probably make sense to have a member of staff go to check everyone is out the pool at the agreed time and nobody is causing any other guests sleepless nights. The housekeeping/maid service is another iffy point. While our first week was brilliant, the second week was a nightmare. We had an ADR at 5pm and were in the process of getting ready when we heard a knock at the door at 4pm; it was housekeeping asking if they could come clean the room. Told them it was far too late as we we had members of our party getting ready or using the shower. Two days later we came back from Magic Kingdom at 3pm and noticed our room had not been done again, with another ADR booked for 5:30pm. We waited down by the smaller pool area and watched the housekeeper/maid clean the room opposite us. However, after she finished that room, she took her cleaning cart and bypassed our room entirely and went to another room further down the hall. We proceed to chase after her and asked her why she skipped our room. She then blatantly lied to our face and showed us her phone to say she was just going to do it. She pulled her cart back to where it was originally and proceeded to clean our room. If she was planning on cleaning our room next, why did she move her cart and bypass our room entirely and then move the cart back to where it was, outside our door in order to clean the room? She got caught red handed as she did not think anybody was watching and tried to come up with an excuse. Safe to say, the 2nd week housekeeping clearly don't have a schedule or routine and just make it up as they go along. However, the 1st week were brilliant!

What an absolute belter of a hotel! From the second you walk through the doors, you’re hit with that Louisiana charm, and the staff can’t do enough for you. We stayed 14 nights in the Alligator Bayou area – ground floor, connecting rooms, right by one of the pools. And wow – there are loads of pools. Even with the Disney parks just a bus ride away, the kids loved our little pool the most. There’s also a bigger one with activities and a bar, perfect for a lazy day (though drinks are pricey – $16 a pint, $20 for a cocktail including tip – a bit steep considering how much you’re already paying to stay there). Evening entertainment is limited – one act every other night at a very small lobby bar – but honestly, after all-day park adventures, the kids were ready for bed by 9pm, so it didn’t matter much. The real issue? The food. The menu barely changes – same meals for lunch and dinner – and after two weeks, it got repetitive. Plus, the queues are long. You line up to get food, then line up again to pay, which feels outdated. A simple “scan as you go” system would be way faster. The dining plan was a bit of a waste for us. It’s expensive, and we couldn’t eat three meals a day in the heat. Some things that should be meals – like a bowl of cereal for the kids – are classed as snacks, which makes no sense. Drink refills were another let-down – only available at the hotel, which isn’t great if you’re out all day at the parks. They really need refill stations closer to rooms or by the pools (or even allow refills in the parks!). They do have vending machines with drinks scattered about, but at $6 for a bottle of water, we skipped those. Transport is good – buses every 15 minutes, boats every 20 – but coming back in the evenings, expect queues. Even with these quirks, the hotel left a great impression, and I’d definitely come back. Just hoping Disney can tweak the dining and drinks setup to match the rest of the experience.