Disney's PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE RESORT Information & Questions

Thanks Andre. We really appreciated your postings on this page and your awesome website. Both have been invaluable sources of information to our family. We share the love that you have for the PO resorts and totally agree with your saying:

Port Orleans Riverside is my second home - I never get homesick when I'm there, but it does happen the other way around!
 
We're researching to potentially do a September 2021 trip to celebrate 1 year of marriage. (Anniversary is in October but we've heard September is better crowd wise.

Anyway, I've read this resort is pretty quiet. I had originally thought of POP but my soon to be husband is looking for a quieter resort.

Which side is better Alligator Bayou or Mansion?

Has anyone taken the boat to disney springs? We're thinking of doing that the first night.

Any feedback is super helpful.

We stayed at POR in April 2017, and stayed in Magnolia Bend - building 85, the first building after you cross from Old Man Island. It was a beautiful location, quiet, peaceful, and just the most beautiful views, yet only a minute or two's walk from the main buildings.

And we took the boat to Disney Springs plenty of times. It's a lovely ride, and Springs is a VERY enjoyable place to spend time.
 
We're researching to potentially do a September 2021 trip to celebrate 1 year of marriage. (Anniversary is in October but we've heard September is better crowd wise.

Anyway, I've read this resort is pretty quiet. I had originally thought of POP but my soon to be husband is looking for a quieter resort.

Which side is better Alligator Bayou or Mansion?

Has anyone taken the boat to disney springs? We're thinking of doing that the first night.

Any feedback is super helpful.
Mansions ( Magnolia Bend ) is beautiful and quiet with large and elegant quiet pools and gorgeous landscaping.
Yes, the boat to Disney Springs is great!
Since it’s your Anniversary, take a romantic horse pulled carriage ride at the resort.
 
We are staying in the Alligator Bayou section of Riverside. Which building is the closest to the Sassagoula Steamboat Company, shopping, food court etc? Which building in the Alligator Bayou section is your favorite and why?
Thank you in advance.
 


We are staying in the Alligator Bayou section of Riverside. Which building is the closest to the Sassagoula Steamboat Company, shopping, food court etc? Which building in the Alligator Bayou section is your favorite and why?
Thank you in advance.

Building 14 is the closest. My favorite room at POR is a Bldg 14 Riverview - close to everything.
 
We are SO excited, coming back in August, bringing my folks, I know they will love the grounds and being able to walk. SO EXCITED!!! lol
 
We are staying in the Alligator Bayou section of Riverside. Which building is the closest to the Sassagoula Steamboat Company, shopping, food court etc? Which building in the Alligator Bayou section is your favorite and why?

Where you might be depends a lot on the room category that you have booked, and/or how many people are in the room. There are four options to assure you of an Alligator Bayou room:
  • Preferred Locations category guarantees you a room in buildings 14, 15, 18 or 27 (not the river or pool facing rooms though).
  • Standard 5th Sleeper and Garden View 5th Sleeper means you could be placed anywhere else in the Alligator Bayou area, other than those four preferred buildings. Standard Views are all around the outer edges of the resort, mostly facing the parking lots, while Garden View rooms face inward towards the lawns, bayou, woods, etc.
  • Having five people (all aged 3+) in a room is the only other way to guarantee an AB room. If you also have River View booked with five people (for example) then you'll get a fairly good location in buildings 14, 27 or 38 alongside the river pathway that goes around the central island.
Andre
 


Has anyone seen the stainless steel refillable mugs offered for sale at POR (or FQ, for that matter)? We'd only use for coffee and water so aren't wanting the plastic kind if possible.

Thanks!
 
We are just about to book a May trip to POR! We've always stayed in Alligator Bayou but this time I'm hoping for the Mansions.
 
We are just about to book a May trip to POR! We've always stayed in Alligator Bayou but this time I'm hoping for the Mansions.
We have always stayed in the mansions. We have been in all of them, some more than once. We used to prefer Magnolia Terrace but have now fallen in love with Oak Manor (going again in late February for Mardi Gras) since Oak Terrace is no longer a smoking optional room. Stayed in Acadia House with our two dogs a year ago and stayed in Paterre Place a long time ago. My wife stayed a couple of times in Alligator Bayou but didn't really like it. You will love the mansions.
 
We will be here for our fourth time July! So excited we booked when room discounts came out. We decided to go to MX last year; however, kids insisted on Disney this year. Whoot!
 
Booked in a princess room for November for Wine & Dine weekend. A little bummed we're in a standard, but I will keep trying to see if we can get our discount in a garden room, which is our preference. We've got a standard room request for a garden view room, but any requests for a standard room?
 
Booked in a princess room for November for Wine & Dine weekend. A little bummed we're in a standard, but I will keep trying to see if we can get our discount in a garden room, which is our preference. We've got a standard room request for a garden view room, but any requests for a standard room?
Look for a room in Oak Manor. There are actually some: 9013, 9014, 9100, 9099 and the ones above those that are almost Garden View like. If you have TouringPlans you can look at the room views and request a room. 9026, 9025, 9024 and above are also good vies for a Standard View. I am sure that if you keep looking that you will find a discounted Garden View room. The November discounts do not usually come out until the middle of July historically with AP rates usually coming out around the same time. Best of luck in trying to change, but if you can't, the rooms above would work best.
 
It became Port Orleans Riverside. In short, it was rebranded.
We had not stayed there in years and it was confusing to see how the names were changed. Much harder to determine exactly where one might stay without spelling out the building cluster names, etc.
 
We had not stayed there in years and it was confusing to see how the names were changed.

The only major change (and all of this happened 20 years ago) was from Disney's Dixie Landings Resort to Disney's Port Orleans Resort - Riverside. The accommodation buildings retained the same names and numbers as before, as did most other aspects of the resort. There were a couple of minor changes in the main building naming: the "Colonel's Cotton Mill" food court was renamed as "The Riverside Mill", and the lounge/bar became the "River Roost Lounge" instead of the "Cotton Co-op".
 
After visiting the hands down BEST site out there for all things Riverside, www.portorleans.org, I was disappointed to see so many food selections gone from the Riverside Mill food court. We are going July this year. This will be our fifth trip. We were there in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2018. My kids loved the make your own pasta and I loved the make your own salad as I eat low carb and it was definitely very filling for the price. Oh well. Anyone know why they took it off. Also, for all the selections gone it doesn’t seem like many new were added- we tend to eat at at the food court for most dinners so it’s just a little disappointing. Still love Riverside and am ecstatic we snagged a discounted rate. Also kudos to the person who created the port orleans website. It gets me so excited every time we book and I start planning lol
 
Look for a room in Oak Manor. There are actually some: 9013, 9014, 9100, 9099 and the ones above those that are almost Garden View like. If you have TouringPlans you can look at the room views and request a room. 9026, 9025, 9024 and above are also good vies for a Standard View. I am sure that if you keep looking that you will find a discounted Garden View room. The November discounts do not usually come out until the middle of July historically with AP rates usually coming out around the same time. Best of luck in trying to change, but if you can't, the rooms above would work best.

Thanks! I do have touring plans and haven't checked the rooms out yet for the standard view as I'm pretty much on autopilot when staying at Riverside these days. I'll check them out! Right now we're booked on a military rate. I let my AP expire since I promised my husband I'd (we'd) take a year off from Disney World since did a lot of Disney last year. Now my kids want to go "home" to see my parents in CA and go to the Land this summer instead so he may be out of luck! :rotfl2:
 
Anyone know why they took it off.

First, thanks for the kind comments about my website, glad you find it useful.

The Create-Your-Own options were basically victims of their own success I think. They took longer to prepare than simple hand-out burgers, and long lines and wait times have always been an issue at these food courts. I guess management had to choose between spending extra money on more cast members and facilities to service the guests faster... or just cut out the longer-to-prepare items. Guess which option won?

Andre
 

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