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

This was our first time staying on Disney property and wow, the property is beautiful. The grounds are beautifully maintained and there are nice walkways. The main pool is cool, has very attentive lifeguards and a nearby bar. A beer was around $12. Friendly bartenders. There is a nearby playground also which was a hit with the kids. We did prefer the French quarter pool, more kid friendly with a splash park and awesome slide. To get the French quarter pool about 10 minute walk or take the boat. The boat captains were cool. Easy peasy bus transportation to the parks. Now the not so great parts- when we arrived the cast member at the front entrance told us it would be a 30 minute walk to alligator bayou and instead we could wait 15-20 minutes for a golf cart to take us and our luggage. That 15-20 minutes turned into 40 minutes and turns out it was not a 30 minute walk. Oh well, our mistake for not getting dropped off at our building. The dining hall was full to the brim with tater tot filled meals, not at all joking. Seemed like every breakfast came with a pound of tater tots. They must cook hundreds of pounds of tater tots daily. The real downside to the whole dining experience was the mobile ordering. We had 3 bad experiences with this. 2 breakfasts it seemed our ticket was misplaced and the workers were rude and dismissive when asked about order status. One woman working there just kept shouting at people “you will receive a text when your order is ready” One night after returning from Epcot we placed a mobile dinner order. We waiting a long time for the order to be ready, walked back to our room only to find a portion of the order was missing. When I returned to the mobile order station the worker laughed and said I knew you would be back. I think she thought it was funnier than I did. Would never recommend their dining plan or eating on site in their quick service cafeteria. Very disappointing, unless you are a tater tot enthusiast and like excessive waits for mobile ordering.

This hotel is starting to look its age. The aircon units are effective but dreadfully noisy to the point we have to turn it off at night. It sounds like a loud generator. Housekeeping are a bit of a nuisance, even if you hang your no service required sign on the door they still insist on knocking and disturbing you. Not great when I was feeling ill. The bed is so hard we had back ache and asked to move rooms. We were told all mattresses on site are the same so they kindly got us a mattress topper which solved the problem. We were staying for 14 nights so it would have been a significant problem for us considering how much walking is done at Disney parks each day. The food offering is at the lower end of the market. Tastes okay but never hot enough. We wouldn’t stay here again.

We had an amazing time! The quality of service was top notch, plus the facilities were great! All of the cast members were eager to help us every single day! We stayed for several nights and had easy transportation to Disney Springs (through the boat) and the Disney Parks (by bus). We saw several bunnies which made the experience even more memorable.

I have mixed reviews of this resort. I'll start off by saying we enjoyed our stay and it was overall positive. Starting off with the good: Absolutely breathtakingly beautiful property. Especially if you wake up and take a peaceful walk around the resort in the morning. It really is pretty, relaxing, and feels secluded from the craziness of Disney. Our pillows were comfy. The food court has a lot of options. We love the princess and the frog theming, but think it could be laid on a little thicker, would love to see more touches here and there. The main pool was great. My son loved the slide. There is one hot tub at the main pool. I did wish there was a hot tub at the smaller pools because the main pool was so far away and the hot tub there was always full with lots of kids. I know, it's Disney, there are a lot of kids, but some quiet hot tubs at the other pools would be a nice addition. The boat ride to Disney Springs was nice. Things we didn't like: Everything is very spread out and you're doing a TON of walking just to get around your resort. Long walk from the parking lot, long walk to the lobby/food court, long walk to the pool, long walk to the laundry, etc. If it's raining, you're walking in the rain to get to anything from your room. When you're walking as much as you do at Disney, this gets old. It's also easy to get lost when trying to get back to your building. The numbers are laid out weird and the signs are confusing. Everything looks the same, so it's easy to get turned around IMO. Our bathtub was slow to drain, the ceiling fan was loud and shaky, that wasn't a deal breaker, but it seems some maintenance is needed. We enjoyed our time, but we probably won't stay here again. Mostly just due to the amount of walking. Everything else was great. Tips: The West bus stop is the first stop at the resort if you want to get a seat and not standing room on the bus. The lobby bus stop is the last stop. The boat ride to Disney Springs usually has a line at popular dinner times. We had to wait for 3 different trips to happen before we could finally get on the first night. I'd give yourself plenty of time to get to a dinner reservation, at least an hour, maybe a little longer just in case. On the way back the line was very long for the boat. We ended up getting a LYFT instead.