Me and my partner stayed at port orleans riverside for the first 2 weeks of december the hotel grounds are beautiful we stayed in the mansions area the room we had was really lovely. for the first 2 days it was wonderful very nice and peaceful and then we went down to the food court for breakfast the 3rd day and what a shock the whole place was crammed full of cheerleaders and their parents which apparently is the case every year for the pop warner cheerleader contest unfortunatly they seemed to think they were the only people there now i don't mind people enjoying themselves but when there is about 50 girls cheering while you are eating it gets a bit much and the parents were no better very loud and rude. I think if the hotel is going to have them there every year they should lay down some ground rules for the benefit of other guests. As for the resort itself it is wonderful very spaced out but very pleasant to walk around the staff are all very friendly and helpful. Any other time of the year i would highly recommened it but if your planning a trip in early december i would advise you to give it a miss and stay somwhere else it's not worth the headache and the long lines in the food court.

Went to Port Orleans Riverside Disney this past Monday, December 10th and just got home Friday December 14th.

I recommend arriving in the AM. We left Boston at 7AM and arrived at Orlando Airport by 9:30 AM.

The Magical Express bus was waiting for us, no wait at the airport. Upon arrival at our hotel, which was the one and only stop that morning, we entered the lobby, and were taken directly to the front desk. No lines, no wait. The lobby was decorated festively for the holidays, absolutely stunning.

We got into our room right away, and were off for a full day at the Magic Kingdom.

Our room was more than large enough, ample towels, extra pillows, coffee maker and fridge. Very clean, lots of hot water, and a very quiet AC. What ever our need was at the time, we always got our questions answered promptly and with a smile!

When we came back from our days at the park, it was lovely to sit by the fireplace off the lobby, have a beverage, and have pub style food at the bar. We love the buffalo boneless chicken fingers!! It was a lovely way to end our day. We have nothing against children, (have one ourselves) but after a long day of lines, children crying, it was such a relief to sit quietly and have appetizers and drinks.

The horse drawn buggies, are so romantic, and for the more athletic you can rent a surrey bicycle (but they are not allowed at the French Quarter). We took the ferry almost every night to have dinner at downtown Disney. The Ferry ride in the night time is also very romantic, and quiet. After dinner, a 25 minute ferry ride back to the resort. Who could ask for better?

We have been to many disney resorts, including the luxury resorts, but this one is quiet, awesome food, romantic, and away from the hussle and bustle of being directly in Disney.

Leigh and Brian Keezer

My self (37), husband (53) and 15 year old niece stayed here from 25 Nov - 01 Dec 2007. I had booked a water view room almost a year in advance. Upon checking in around 9am we were assigned our room. When we got to the room, there wasn't even a pool view. I called the front desk and asked for a room change, it took some time but we were finally given a room on the second floor of the Acadian house with a view of the river. Very nice. This was my first stay at this moderate catagory hotel and I liked it better than the Coronado and the caribbean beach resorts. I really liked all the plants, flowers and trees around the resort , not to mention the beautiful river that winds it's way thru the resort. It made me feel like I was at home in Seattle.

Our room was very clean and the only thing missing was shampoo and soap in the bathroom. One call to mousekeeping and they were brought to our room. The bathroom area was large but not much shelf space for stuff. Luckily we had a hanging toiletry bag so I just hung it from one of the hangers. It was also really nice to have a mini frige in the room to hold water and any left over snacks or food.

We stayed in room 8255 and it was a short walk to the main pool, quiet pool and the food court/check in area as well as the north depot bus stop to go to the parks. The resort has all kinds of activities such as watercraft rental, horse drawn carriage rides in the evenings, the water taxi to the sister resort the Port Orleans French Quarter and Downtown Disney, a video game arcade,
bike and surrey rentals, and you can even rent fishing poles and go fishing. Catch and release of course :-)

We had a breakfast one morning at Boatwrights, I had eggs benedict (very good), niece had the french toast which was 3 HUGE slices of french bread baguette covered with cinnamon and sugar and hubby had the stuffed french toast which he said was very good also. Service at Boatwrights was friendly and pretty fast. We did purchase the dining plan as part of our package thru AAA. We also ate several times in the food court area and found the selections to be pretty good and the quality of the food to be pretty good. I don't think any of us completely finished our meals as the portions are very large.

My fondest memory of this resort will be my encounter with some wildlife. One evening after returning from the parks. I was outside late at night just enjoying the quiet night air and I happened to look over in the bushes and there was a pretty good sized critter creeping out of the bushes. I had to do a double take before I realized I was looking at a armadillo! He walked right across the path in front of me! He didn't seem to even know I was there or he didn't care because he just went on his way. Pretty cool to see one that close up. We sure don't have them back in Seattle!

We used the airport check desk at the resort and this is a really great service for guests. If you use the magic express service to return to the airport, a word to the wise.......
Call bell services as soon as your bags are all packed and ready on the moring you check out and have them take your luggage to the check out area, get in line for the airline check in desk as soon as you can. There was a pretty long line when I got there and it took about an hour for me to get to the desk to check in. This desk closes at 1pm and I think this is because the connection between the resort and the airline gets cut off at that time. The cast members working this desk are at the mercy of the computer system linked to the airlines so please be patient with them. There are luggage scales right there and your luggage will be weighed before being tagged. If your luggage is over the 50 pound weight limit, it's my understanding you will not be able to use this service. I suggest buying a luggage scale and weighing your bags prior to getting in this line. We had a hand held luggage scale and it worked perfectly!

Overall our experience at the Port Orleans Riverside was a wonderful one and I highly recommend this hotel to anyone looking for a beautiful resort and great Disney service at a moderate price.

This was my fifth trip to Walt Disneyworld and I've stayed at the Grand Floridian, the Coronado Springs, the Caribbean Beach Resort, the Beach Club and now the PO Riverside. The Riverside was by far my favorite moderate catagory hotel and I would stay here again without a doubt.

My favorite moderate resort is Disney's Port Orleans-French Quarter, but Riverside comes in a close second!

This resort is themed with "Southern Belle Charm" while POFQ is "Mardi Gras". Riverside is relaxed with rooms themed from the bayou to cotton plantation mansions.

This resort is quite large and spread out. It can also be confusing with 4 different bus stops. Our first night there, we got off the bus a stop too early and then had a hard time finding our room. There are a lot of windy paths and if you aren't careful, you can end up walking a ways.

It was very quiet during our stay, which was enjoyable. We had one of the quiet pools to ourselves many afternoons. The main pool (which is very themed) was always quite busy.

This resort is also located within walking distance to its sister resort-French Quarter. There is another food court as well as amazingly themed pool.

The rooms are decent size and very clean. There are 2 sinks separated from the toilet/bath area. This is very helpful when getting ready in the morning!

I found this resort to be very relaxing. I was not visiting during peak season, so I know that played a part. It was a great experience though!