stopher1
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2008
- Messages
- 14,402
Port Orleans Resort - as we know it today, is really just the combination of two very different resorts as they were originally built and opened. The French Quarter portion is the original Port Orleans Resort. The Riverside portion was originally operated as DIXIE LANDINGS, which was a celebration of the old south. Riverside is further divided into Magnolia Bend and Alligator Bayou. Magnolia Bend buildings are designed to look like grand old plantations, while Alligator Bayou is more back river, country type dwellings, that might be found deeper in the woods, more rustic and less genteel than the rest.
They were both temporarily closed after 9/11 when bookings for WDW dropped into the basement as people didn't really want to travel for a time. When they finally reopened it in I believe it was mid-2002, rather than being two distinct resorts, they were blended into one single resort complex under the revised name banner. I've read and been told by others that Disney took that opportunity to follow legal advice and remove the Dixie Landings name since it implied a lot of different things about the old south that the lawyers weren't too thrilled with... but I cannot say for certain that that's why they did it.
Because there were originally once separate resorts, each one has it's own entrance/DME drop-off point (porte cachere)/Bell Services/Check-in desk/restaurant complex/feature pool/etc.
Here's the Riverside entrance
Porte Cachere
Prior to staying there ourselves, I read an interesting article about the two resorts and how they were designed. FQ of course celebrates the New Orleans area, and the hustle and bustle of being basically the mouth of the river - the hub of transportation in that day. Then as you go further up river you find the gracious, sprawling plantation complexes of Magnolia Bend and the port town at Dixie Landings. Then continue further up river, and you'll find the backwoods country of Alligator Bayou where supplies aren't as prevalent, and structures don't always match, since building materials aren't as readily available upriver as they are "in town". (While the buildings do look similar, as you wander around, you'll notice a variety of different brick, wood and exterior surfaces used the further you get from the main building... less brick, more wood, etc. It's really kind of cool how they played that concept out).
Looking back towards the main building, as we head into AB and the room we stayed in. The bridge you see takes you across to Ol' Man Island
The waterwheel is right outside the food court
Riverside has both a food court and a table service - Boatwrights
Birds up the wazoo were on this bank every day of our stay
Across the water behind the trees is Ol' Man Island - the feature pool
Standing on Ol' Man Island, looking across the river to the boat landing, with the main building behind. On the left side is the main lobby. In the center under the tower is main foyer, with the restuarants to the right side, and Fulton's General Store to the top right as well
Ol' Man Island is a fun place. There is the pool, a pool bar, a playground area, and the Ol' Fishing Hole where you can go and fish with a cane pole. It's a neat place for young kids to go and be able to catch something. Catch & release like elsewhere on property, but in a protected little cove, stocked with a lot of fish. Sorry, no pics of that though.
Looking down river, beyond the boat launch, towards Magnolia Bend, where the buildings are more grand, and the landscaping more refined...
Walking up into Alligator Bayou - this is the part of Riverside that will accomodate 5 in a room, via 2 doubles and a trundle bed (shorter than a twin though, so not really a good fit for anyone older than a pre-teen, though I know adults who've slept on one
The building we were in - building 25 -two of my kids are right in front of the room we were in. Note the design differences in the first pic and this one. The first one had brick, ours doesn't. Different roof lines too. Small subtle differences that might not be readily picked up on, but they do help tell the story effectively
Our first floor room
They were both temporarily closed after 9/11 when bookings for WDW dropped into the basement as people didn't really want to travel for a time. When they finally reopened it in I believe it was mid-2002, rather than being two distinct resorts, they were blended into one single resort complex under the revised name banner. I've read and been told by others that Disney took that opportunity to follow legal advice and remove the Dixie Landings name since it implied a lot of different things about the old south that the lawyers weren't too thrilled with... but I cannot say for certain that that's why they did it.
Because there were originally once separate resorts, each one has it's own entrance/DME drop-off point (porte cachere)/Bell Services/Check-in desk/restaurant complex/feature pool/etc.
Here's the Riverside entrance
Porte Cachere
Prior to staying there ourselves, I read an interesting article about the two resorts and how they were designed. FQ of course celebrates the New Orleans area, and the hustle and bustle of being basically the mouth of the river - the hub of transportation in that day. Then as you go further up river you find the gracious, sprawling plantation complexes of Magnolia Bend and the port town at Dixie Landings. Then continue further up river, and you'll find the backwoods country of Alligator Bayou where supplies aren't as prevalent, and structures don't always match, since building materials aren't as readily available upriver as they are "in town". (While the buildings do look similar, as you wander around, you'll notice a variety of different brick, wood and exterior surfaces used the further you get from the main building... less brick, more wood, etc. It's really kind of cool how they played that concept out).
Looking back towards the main building, as we head into AB and the room we stayed in. The bridge you see takes you across to Ol' Man Island
The waterwheel is right outside the food court
Riverside has both a food court and a table service - Boatwrights
Birds up the wazoo were on this bank every day of our stay
Across the water behind the trees is Ol' Man Island - the feature pool
Standing on Ol' Man Island, looking across the river to the boat landing, with the main building behind. On the left side is the main lobby. In the center under the tower is main foyer, with the restuarants to the right side, and Fulton's General Store to the top right as well
Ol' Man Island is a fun place. There is the pool, a pool bar, a playground area, and the Ol' Fishing Hole where you can go and fish with a cane pole. It's a neat place for young kids to go and be able to catch something. Catch & release like elsewhere on property, but in a protected little cove, stocked with a lot of fish. Sorry, no pics of that though.
Looking down river, beyond the boat launch, towards Magnolia Bend, where the buildings are more grand, and the landscaping more refined...
Walking up into Alligator Bayou - this is the part of Riverside that will accomodate 5 in a room, via 2 doubles and a trundle bed (shorter than a twin though, so not really a good fit for anyone older than a pre-teen, though I know adults who've slept on one
The building we were in - building 25 -two of my kids are right in front of the room we were in. Note the design differences in the first pic and this one. The first one had brick, ours doesn't. Different roof lines too. Small subtle differences that might not be readily picked up on, but they do help tell the story effectively
Our first floor room
I think you will really enjoy it.
They are not very happy with the idea, but as they would say..."too bad, soo sad"
