Disney's PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE RESORT Information & Questions

[Kudmani]

Excited to have our first stay at POR booked Aug 13-27 in a garden view AB room. This thread has been very helpful so far. Looking forward to following along and learning tips from everyone. We will have our own vehicle to drive to the parks, but we're planning on using the buses for MK.

 

[ncc1701]

Excited to have our first stay at POR booked Aug 13-27 in a garden view AB room. This thread has been very helpful so far. Looking forward to following along and learning tips from everyone. We will have our own vehicle to drive to the parks, but we're planning on using the buses for MK.

If you plan on going to DS take advantage of the boat. We stay at POFQ but walk up to POR several times a trip.

 

[Kudmani]

If you plan on going to DS take advantage of the boat. We stay at POFQ but walk up to POR several times a trip.

Wanting to try a couple of the qs options at DS. Have only tried Wolfgang Puck and Earl of Sandwich. I think the kids will really enjoy the boat ride as much as they do the monorail.

 

[TigerGuy]

Wanting to try a couple of the qs options at DS. Have only tried Wolfgang Puck and Earl of Sandwich. I think the kids will really enjoy the boat ride as much as they do the monorail.

You should try Deluxe Burger. I actually ate there twice on this last trip. Very good IMO. That is if you like burgers and FF.

 

[Kudmani]

Would also like to try the Riverside Mill or Sassagoula Floatworks for dinner one evening. Checked out the menus and they both look good, possibly a little more variety at POFQ. Anyone have opinions on one or the other?

 

[atkinstogram]

You should try Deluxe Burger. I actually ate there twice on this last trip. Very good IMO. That is if you like burgers and FF.

I wholeheartedly agree with this. Had the Southern burger and it was LUSH. The proximity of D-Luxe and Blaze Pizza is enough to persuade me that POR is the hotel for me ANY time..

 

[lobolabo]

We walked over to POFQ yesterday and had some beignets. Amazing! If only I could get away with having them everyday.

So far this resort is amazing. The theming is fantastic.

 

[alex9179]

We walked over to POFQ yesterday and had some beignets. Amazing! If only I could get away with having them everyday.

So far this resort is amazing. The theming is fantastic.

The one thing two of my three kids keep talking about are trying those beignets! Never mind the new rides, restaurants, and land...

 

[lobolabo]

The one thing two of my three kids keep talking about are trying those beignets! Never mind the new rides, restaurants, and land...

I guess we'll just have to figure out a way to take them home! Or make some of our own!

 

[JennLTX]

The one thing two of my three kids keep talking about are trying those beignets! Never mind the new rides, restaurants, and land...

You have smart, smart children. Those beignets are TOTALLY worth it.

 

[Sharka8]

I am so excited! I was just able to switch my FD at CSR to FD at POR! Every time we've gone to WDW I've dreamed of POR but always stayed in the Disney Springs hotels. The FD offer made it too good of a deal to pass up! (We upgraded from QS.) This trip will be myself, my husband and our 3 year old son. It is the 3 year old's first trip to WDW, we went to Disneyland when he was 1.5. Our reservation is for a Garden View room. What kind of request should I make? We are hoping to rely on Disney transportation the majority of the time but will have a car if needed. We'll be there the first week of September. Currently have a 5 day hopper but will probably up it to 6. Any tips or suggestions are appreciated!

 

[TigerGuy]

I am so excited! I was just able to switch my FD at CSR to FD at POR! Every time we've gone to WDW I've dreamed of POR but always stayed in the Disney Springs hotels. The FD offer made it too good of a deal to pass up! (We upgraded from QS.) This trip will be myself, my husband and our 3 year old son. It is the 3 year old's first trip to WDW, we went to Disneyland when he was 1.5. Our reservation is for a Garden View room. What kind of request should I make? We are hoping to rely on Disney transportation the majority of the time but will have a car if needed. We'll be there the first week of September. Currently have a 5 day hopper but will probably up it to 6. Any tips or suggestions are appreciated!

You are going to love POR. My family of 4 just got back. The boat ride to Disney Springs is one of the best perks of POR make sure if you have time to take that trip. Also we have stayed on a lot of the resorts on property and found that the bus transportation at POR is some of the worst in our experience. When we stay again we plan to drive to all the parks except the Magic Kingdom and that is only so we can avoid parking at the ticket center. Oh and don't forget to ride the boat down and check out POFQ. The boat that takes you to DS also stops there and you can get some beignets. They are sooo good. Enjoy.

 

[jpeterson]

My family and I just got back home from POR a few days ago. We loved the resort. We stayed in the Magnolia mansions building in a standard view room and it was a short walk to most things at the resort.The room we stayed in was very nice and clean.The resort grounds are beautiful and were a joy to walk around.We enjoyed both the pools at POFQ and POR. My 3 year old said she enjoyed POFQ pool more because of the splash area and my 8 year old enjoyed POR pool more as she liked the slide better at POR. The food at the food court was ok. If you have been to Disney before the food is mostly of the same quality as the other food courts so you should know what to expect. Now on to my only negative of our trip. Having stayed at multiple on property resorts over the years in our experience the transportation at POR is some of the worst. We traveled to and from the parks on multiple different times of day and it just was not a good experience. The buses were either standing room only even at 7:00am for rope drop at magic kingdom or running late sometimes even not having a time on the screen at the bus depot. Traveling to Epcot seemed like it had the slowest buses of all to and from the park. If you are planning on staying late and seeing any of the shows be prepared to wait on a bus. Last week POR buses at all the parks had very long lines. In fact after looking at the lines at the other depots they were the longest. We opted one night to ride the POFQ bus then walk as there was hardly anyone in line there and it got us to the resort much quicker even with the walk. This was just our experience from last week. I will say this though the boat ride to Disney springs was a great relaxing experience both times we used it. We all enjoyed it. Having said that my family and I did enjoy the resort and if we stayed again will probably use our own transportation to and from the parks or stay at POFQ instead.

I don't know about POR specifically but road construction has been causing issues with buses at several other resorts.

 

[nelsonj3]

Here is a full tour of Port Orleans Riverside in 4K UHD with narration to explain the different parts of the resort. This video took me a long time to put together, and I wanted to share it here to help anyone who needs a current overview of the resort.

 

[JennLTX]

Here is a full tour of Port Orleans Riverside in 4K UHD with narration to explain the different parts of the resort. This video took me a long time to put together, and I wanted to share it here to help anyone who needs a current overview of the resort.

Conversation with my son upon viewing this REALLY great video:

DS: Mom. WHY haven't we gone BACK?

Me: You wanted to stay at the Yacht Club and play at Stormalong Bay.

DS: FINE. But why didn't we stay the NEXT year?

Me: Because we bought DVC points and stayed at the Poly.

DS: FINE. Then why aren't we going THIS year?

Me: You said you wanted to stay at the Yacht Club again!

DS: WHY DID YOU LISTEN TO ME????

Me:

So, POR, we'll be checking in late on June 1, 2018. Prefer an AB room in 34, plz.

 

[nelsonj3]

Conversation with my son upon viewing this REALLY great video:

DS: Mom. WHY haven't we gone BACK?

Me: You wanted to stay at the Yacht Club and play at Stormalong Bay.

DS: FINE. But why didn't we stay the NEXT year?

Me: Because we bought DVC points and stayed at the Poly.

DS: FINE. Then why aren't we going THIS year?

Me: You said you wanted to stay at the Yacht Club again!

DS: WHY DID YOU LISTEN TO ME????

Me:

So, POR, we'll be checking in late on June 1, 2018. Prefer an AB room in 34, plz.

That is awesome!! We have an 11 month-old baby, so we haven't had any conversations like that yet, but I'm sure we will!
Hope you have a great trip!!

 

[FelisLachesis]

Conversation with my son upon viewing this REALLY great video:

DS: Mom. WHY haven't we gone BACK?

Me: You wanted to stay at the Yacht Club and play at Stormalong Bay.

DS: FINE. But why didn't we stay the NEXT year?

Me: Because we bought DVC points and stayed at the Poly.

DS: FINE. Then why aren't we going THIS year?

Me: You said you wanted to stay at the Yacht Club again!

DS: WHY DID YOU LISTEN TO ME????

Me:

So, POR, we'll be checking in late on June 1, 2018. Prefer an AB room in 34, plz.

After registering my girl for Dopey, and me for the 5k, I was looking for a DVC points rental, solely to get a monorail resort, because my girl's legs are going to be rubber after running 48.6 miles in 4 days. Unfortunately, in the couple of weeks I tried with the DVC rental places, that plan failed, because everything was booked, and I didn't want to split stay. So after giving up that idea, I picked up my phone:

Me: "I'm calling runDisney to book the room"

girlfriend: "Riverside"

Me: "Don't you want something closer after running all those miles?"

girlfriend: "Riverside"

CastMember: "Hello, and than you for calling runDisney. My name is <I forgot>. How may I help you today?"

Me: "Hi! my girlfriend registered for The Dopey Challenge, and I'd like to book a room for Port Orleans Riverside for marathon weekend"

... Now don't get me wrong, I love Riverside, and I want to call it home, but I was worried about all the extra movement for my girlfriend during WDW Marathon weekend.

 

[JaySwash]

Woot, DW finally came around to my point of view and we just switched our two room reservation from Pop Century to POR in November!

Really stoked, last trip we stayed a FQ and it quickly became my fave resort, tho DW still likes C. Springs the best.

One quick Q: we have garden view rooms, and my family all wants the magnolia bend rooms vs gator bayou.. Do they usually honor that sort of request or should I prep family for possible disappointment?

 

[FelisLachesis]

One quick Q: we have garden view rooms, and my family all wants the magnolia bend rooms vs gator bayou.. Do they usually honor that sort of request or should I prep family for possible disappointment?

That is left in the hands of the Room Assignors. You can put in a request for a mansion room, but as the standard disclaimer for every request: it's never guaranteed. For something this simple, just saying "I'd like to have a room in a Magnolia Bend Mansion," that shouldn't be an issue. It's when you ask for "room 8231" with no reason as to why that causes issues.

 

[keahgirl8]

After registering my girl for Dopey, and me for the 5k, I was looking for a DVC points rental, solely to get a monorail resort, because my girl's legs are going to be rubber after running 48.6 miles in 4 days. Unfortunately, in the couple of weeks I tried with the DVC rental places, that plan failed, because everything was booked, and I didn't want to split stay. So after giving up that idea, I picked up my phone:

Me: "I'm calling runDisney to book the room"

girlfriend: "Riverside"

Me: "Don't you want something closer after running all those miles?"

girlfriend: "Riverside"

CastMember: "Hello, and than you for calling runDisney. My name is <I forgot>. How may I help you today?"

Me: "Hi! my girlfriend registered for The Dopey Challenge, and I'd like to book a room for Port Orleans Riverside for marathon weekend"

... Now don't get me wrong, I love Riverside, and I want to call it home, but I was worried about all the extra movement for my girlfriend during WDW Marathon weekend.

If the start/finish is in the same place as it is for Princess (I think it is?), she'll be fine. It's actually a very short ride. I'd suggest booking preferred, so that you won't have far to walk though.