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Port Orleans Riverside Review | Walt Disney World Resorts

by Melissa August 9, 2017November 11, 2018
written by Melissa August 9, 2017November 11, 2018

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my advertiser disclosure for more details.  

This entry is part 2 of 8 in the series Walt Disney World 2016

Walt Disney World 2016
  • Walt Disney World Trip Report (Introduction)
  • Port Orleans Riverside Review | Walt Disney World Resorts
  • Our Day at Magic Kingdom
  • Our Day at EPCOT
  • EPCOT Food and Wine Festival Review
  • Our Day at Hollywood Studios
  • Other Things to do at Disney World (That aren’t Parks)
  • Where we Ate at Disney World

After much mulling about on which Disney property to stay at, we ultimately decided on Port Orleans Riverside (POR). This would be our first time ever staying on Disney property, so we based our decision on things like online reviews, advice on disboards.com, price, and the bus driving distance to the parks.

Already set to make your booking at the Port Orleans Riverside? Check out my hacks for saving money on Disney Hotels.  In more of a hurry than that? Head over to hotels.com to check rates and book your stay! Be sure also to check Undercovertourist.com for discounted Disney Tickets, and other great tools like Disney park crowd forecasts!

We booked two “Garden View” rooms at POR at $222.80 per night (each). One one for me and Ken, and the other room for Ken’s sister (my sister-in-law, SIL) and her family.

Port Orleans Riverside Review | Walt Disney World Moderate Resorts

I know that Disney is mainly a destination meant for adults with kids, but I was surprised I didn’t see any options for a room with a King Size bed at Port Orleans Riverside. The only option at POR I saw was for two queen size beds. I saw some multi-room suites at different properties (like the Boardwalk Villas or Animal Kingdom Lodge) that had a room with king size bed, but not at POR. After all these years of sharing a king bed, queen beds seem downright tiny!

Hashtag first world problems.

I digress.

A Brief Check-In Hiccup

We used the Magical Express from Orlando International Airport to get to the hotel. Check-in went smoothly and it was time to find our rooms. Well, that didn’t go so smoothly.

For those of you who don’t know, there is an option when you are staying on a Disney property that Disney will pick up your checked bags for you and deliver them to your hotel room. Well, we were only checking one bag. But, my SIL and her family had a bunch of bags plus a crazy heavy car seat and were pushing their toddler in a separate stroller.

Disney guidance says you should expect to wait up to two hours for your bag to get to your room after checking in if you use their service. Since we were arriving fairly late (9pm-ish), we didn’t want to have to wait until 11:00pm for our bags. So, we just picked up our own bags at baggage claim and took them to the Magical Express with us.

The check-in staff at Port Orleans Riverside gave us a map and some quick instructions for how to get to our room, located in the “Alligator Bayou” area of POR. But once we left the reception area, we were totally lost. The map was confusing, it was dark, and we were lugging heavy things with us. We had no idea that Port Orleans Riverside was such a huge sprawling property. Finally, we left the bags with my SIL and her husband, while Ken and I walked ahead trying to find our hotel room.

After what seemed like forever, we found our building number, and then our rooms. We went back to get my SIL and her family. But, my SIL was pretty annoyed that our room was on the 2nd floor and that there weren’t any elevators. Since she had a stroller, she didn’t want to have to climb steps with a stroller every night after a long day at the park. It was definitely understandable. They went into their assigned room, but called down to the front desk to get a new room. In the meantime, I snapped photos of our room!

Garden View Room at POR

This is what our room looked like from the door. Note the Mickey shaped towels on the bed!

Garden View Room at Port Orleans Riverside Garden View Room at Port Orleans Riverside

The piece of furniture with the TV is actually a fold-down bed, and has some storage drawers underneath. (We never folded down the bed).

Fold down bed

Just next to the door to the room was a small table and two chairs.

table and chairs in room at Port Orleans Riverside

You can see where they are in relation to the rest of the room here:

Garden View Room at Port Orleans Riverside

The bathroom area had a room with a tub and toilet, and the double sink vanity was just outside that area. A curtain could be drawn to separate the vanity from the rest of the bedroom.

double sink and vanity at Port Orleans Riverside double sink

I’m not sure why I didn’t turn on the light to take this photo of the bathroom! D’oh!

Bathroom at Port Orleans Riverside Bathroom at Port Orleans Riverside

Just to the left of the sink was an open closet area. I was not a huge fan of the “open” closet. I like to be able to put clothes away and out of sight for multi-day trips in hotels. Plus, I’d imagine if you were traveling with kids, you’d like a spot to be able to store some things behind a closed door.

Closet area

In between the sink area and the pull-out bed was a coffee maker, ice bucket, and a mini fridge.

Coffee area in room Mini fridge in room at Port Orleans Riverside

Our room was in the “Alligator Bayou” area of the hotel.

Alligator Bayou signs

The exterior of the individual buildings was charming.

Exterior of rooms at Port Orleans Riverside Exterior of rooms at Port Orleans Riverside Exterior of rooms at Port Orleans Riverside

Like I mentioned, we were on the 2nd floor, and there were no elevators, so just keep that in mind if you are mobility impaired or are lugging strollers with you.

Stairs to room at Port Orleans Riverside

In addition to the minor complaint about the two queen beds options and our difficulty finding our room, I had a few other minor complaints. I really try to temper my hotel reviews based on the cost of the room. So, if a room costs only $80 per night, I don’t always “complain” about certain things. But, this room was more than $220 per night, so I think these complaints are fair game.

  • First, the toilet flushes are SO LOUD. Seriously. Ken and I are both middle-of-the-night pee’ers, and those flushes were so startling in the middle of the night. We could also hear the flushes of neighbors’ toilets. I’m not sure what kind of plumbing they have going on in that place, but it was nuts!
  • Second, there is only one nightstand in between the two beds. Ken and I both wear glasses and like to keep water on our nightstands, but only one of us could have a nightstand! (I guess we could’ve slept in separate beds, and then both just shared the middle nightstand). So, it was a little annoying that only one of us had a place to keep glasses, water, or cell phone in the middle of the night.
  • There was a serious lack of storage. Only three very small drawers under the pull-out bed which was barely enough to fit clothes for the duration of our trip. I couldn’t imagine staying in this room with more than two people.

Port Orleans Riverside Grounds

Now, back to the more positive elements of the Port Orleans Riverside. The grounds of this hotel are gorgeous and sprawling. (Sprawling is okay when you’re not lugging suitcases after a late night flight!).

Port Orleans Riverside Grounds Port Orleans Riverside Grounds Port Orleans Riverside Grounds Port Orleans Riverside Grounds Port Orleans Riverside Grounds

The buildings around the reception area housed restaurants, the cafeteria (counter-service restaurants, in Disney parlance), and the gift shop. There was also a ferry to Disney Springs, and signs posted for horse drawn carriage rides, even though we never saw any of them.

Port Orleans Riverside Grounds Port Orleans Riverside Grounds Port Orleans Riverside Grounds Port Orleans Riverside Grounds Port Orleans Riverside Grounds Port Orleans Riverside Grounds Port Orleans Riverside Grounds Port Orleans Riverside Grounds Port Orleans Riverside Grounds

The entrance to the hotel was also lovely.

Entrance to Port Orleans Riverside Entrance to Port Orleans Riverside

Reception and Registration Area

The reception area was large, light, and airy. There were plenty of staff working the large front desk to minimize wait times.

Reception area at Port Orleans Riverside Reception area at Port Orleans Riverside Reception area at Port Orleans Riverside Reception area at Port Orleans Riverside Reception area at Port Orleans Riverside Reception area at Port Orleans Riverside

There was even a spot with a TV and little chairs to keep kids occupied during check-in.

Reception area at Port Orleans Riverside Reception area at Port Orleans Riverside Reception area at Port Orleans Riverside

And since we were there in the fall, the lobby was home to a staff pumpkin decorating contest display!

Pumpkins in lobby Pumpkins in lobby Pumpkins in lobby

The Cafeteria / Counter Service

The counter-service restaurant at Port Orleans Riverside had a good selection of food and was reasonably priced (for Disney, that is). We ate there two or three times during our stay. The counter service restaurant was about a 6 minute walk from our hotel room in the Alligator Bayou area.

Counter Service Restaurant at Port Orleans Riverside Counter Service Restaurant at Port Orleans Riverside Counter Service Restaurant at Port Orleans Riverside Counter Service Restaurant at Port Orleans Riverside

The Pool

There were at least three pools at Port Orleans Riverside. Two “standard” swimming pools with no frills, but likely in place to ensure that any pool is just a short walk from any given hotel room at POR.

But the big “Main” pool is really the main attraction, and is about a two minute walk from the buildings in the reception area.

Pool at Port Orleans Riverside Pool at Port Orleans Riverside Pool at Port Orleans Riverside Pool at Port Orleans Riverside

There was also a hot tub and a small kiddie pool.

Hot tub at Port Orleans Riverside Kiddie pool at Port Orleans Riverside

Like I mentioned, there were an additional two “basic” swimming pools at other parts of the property, but I didn’t get any photos of those.

Transportation and Bus Depots

Our hotel room was closest to the “West Depot” bus stop. It was about a 4 minute walk from our room, and for what it’s worth, it appeared that we were the first stop in the mornings, because the buses were empty when they got to our stop and filled up as we went to subsequent stops.

West Depot bus stop at Port Orleans Riverside West Depot bus stop at Port Orleans Riverside\

I also noticed there was a bus depot in front of the main hotel entrance, but we never used that one for transportation to the parks.

Bus transportation

Evening S’mores

There was a lot of entertainment available at POR, but since we spent most of our time at the parks, we didn’t have much time to partake in things like evening movies. But, on our last night we did participate in roasted marshmallows. I’ve been a HUGE fan of this type of resort event since experiencing something similar during our stay at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa!

Forgive the blurriness of these photos! We took these with our waterproof GoPro camera right after we left the pool. So there are still a lot of water smudges all over them! We hadn’t brought our regular camera or even our phones with us to the pool!

Roasting marshmallows at Port Orleans Riverside Evening s’mores at Port Orleans Riverside Evening s’mores at Port Orleans Riverside

Bottom Line

Overall, I’d recommend Port Orleans Riverside. We had a few minor complaints about the room itself and the check-in process, but the property was gorgeous and homey. I’d definitely stay here again (but, I’m tempted to try out many different other Disney hotels, so that’s probably the only reason why I wouldn’t stay here again in the near future. To many fun options to try out!).

Ready to book the Port Orleans Riverside or compare rates on other Disney property hotels?  Head over to hotels.com to check it out! Be sure also to check Undercovertourist.com for discounted Disney Tickets (and other great tools like Disney park crowd forecasts!)

Have you stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside at Disney? What were your thoughts?

best disney moderate resortsgarden view room at port orleans riversidemoderate resortsport orleans riversideport orleans riverside reviewwalt disney world resorts
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February 28, 2014

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