I am going to say that for years I only stayed at Riverside and recently I brought future daughter in law for a short two nighter to share the resort with her. I don’t think there has ever been a trip to that resort that we didn’t go to DS (or downtown Disney) when we stayed there. I would never schedule meals at another resort, but DS was easy for me.
That boat ride, traveling past FQ, the Treehouses, and arriving at DS is magical to me.
You’re going to have a fantastic time and two weeks is ahhhhhmazing! As a basis for scale, WDW is about the same size as San Francisco and the Bronx. A very general generalization is that it takes an hour to get anywhere. The actual driving/traveling doesn’t, the the waiting for bus/van/monorail/skyliner/boat does. Plus the walking in and out of the locations and going through the taps. It usually ends up pretty accurate when traveling to another location for dining reservations.
Are you planning on spending any evenings in the parks? One of the strategies we use frequently is visiting a nearby hotel for a meal, both quick serve and table service. It gives us some downtime from the park, but we’re still close by to go back after we’ve rested.
So it’s so different at DLP where you have to basically walk through Downtown Disney anytime you go back to the hotel or in/out of the parks. Disney Springs is very separate and much, much larger. I would say most of the deluxe resort areas are bigger than Downtown Disney. I wouldn’t stay completely away from Disney Springs over two weeks but I absolutely would not plan on eating there every night.
One other thing I think you should possibly reconsider is table service in general. It’s MUCH faster at WDW than at DLP. I think there are also a lot more young kids. I very much hear you regarding sitting for a long time, etc (I have 3 and 6 year old boys) but we do a decent amount of table service at WDW. You can be quick enough and the menus are usually basic enough.
Hi, yes we will definitely be spending the evenings in the parks. Maybe not every evening but definitely a few.
Definitely go to Disney Springs some over the 2 weeks from Riverside. The boat ride is very nice - just plan on doing DS things when there and not just eating. The Lego Store would likely appeal to the kids and they may love T-Rex and/or Rainforest Cafe (those both do Landry’s cards so if that’s the plan, snag one of those before the trip).
Do figure out mobile ordering for the QS in the parks. It will save you a fair amount of time and make the QS experience in crowded parks much better.
We eventually figured out that TS meals can be forced rest breaks. Too often at QS it was eat fast so we can ride the next ride which after a while gets exhausting. TS forces you to take an hour or so, enjoy the AC, get off your feet and slow down a little. There are lots of ADRs that your kids would likely enjoy - like many character meals - that are likely worth considering or the SciFi restaurant which has you in a drive-in movie theater so the kids have a show to watch during the meal. You get some better food and the kids get to meet characters.
Overall the QS can be OK food - it is relatively expensive for what it is - often a TS will only cost a little more (25-50%) but be much higher quality food. Anyway, some things to consider - but I would definitely try a few ADRs during your trip to see how things go. And remember you can always cancel at no cost > 24 hours out (and you can reschedule and then cancel for free as well) so if you do an ADR or 2 early in the trip and decide it doesn’t work for your family, just cancel the rest and go QS. But if you book no ADRs in advance it is tough to get what you want, when you want, day of or on short notice.
If you’re worried about kids sitting for awhile choose fun restaurants - character dining, Sci-Fi, Rainforest Cafe. Etc. I went with a 2 and 4 yo and characters held their attention and they couldn’t turn away from the sci-fi screen.
This is a key tip. Your ADR (dining reservation) can be canceled 24 hrs prior. I’ve actually found its midnight day before.
If your supper plans have changed and it’s still over an hour or so away, you can go into the Disney app and modify to a later day. And then cancel.
In June we were 90 minutes late to one of our ADRs. It seems if you arrive any time on the day of, you won’t be charged $10/person for no show. That charge is applied the next day. This was true as of June 2022. Disney seems to change all the time.
It is difficult to get a phone number of the restaurant.
We have brought several toddlers to Disney table service restaurants, Epcot particularly. We’ve usually gotten them an appetizer because the items on the children’s menu were not something they’d eat.
I will second the tip about planning a sit down, table service meal - late lunch maybe - to relax and remove yourselves from the stimulation of the parks. Tho they are expensive, we did plan buffets, because the sights and smells of food help remind excited and or tired (or both) kids that yes, they are hungry.
Disney World is huge - far too large for the 4 or 5 days most visitors try to plan. 2 weeks is awesome. I’d definitely plan some resort time in the afternoons. 
We stayed at Riverside at the start of December last year. Disney Springs was an absolute madhouse! Much better before 4pm, but trying to get a quick dinner was crazy. 45 min wait at the mac’n’cheese food truck. 60 min wait at Polite Pig… Quick Serve at Riverside was good, and Beignets at French Quarter were a great treat. But I would definitely scope out some easy in-park options for dining, and keep in mind most table serve have nice food options for kids. When it’s super busy, like it will be in early December, table service can be FASTER than quick serve.
This is really good to know! I was able to get a Space 220 reservation on a day we will be hopping from MK to Epcot next month, but then Bippity Boppity Boutique reservations opened up and went really fast. Serendipitously, I was able to snag one before they booked up, but not with ideal timing—the BBB reservation is at 12:50 and the Space 220 reservation is at 2:45. We’ll want to do the photo shoot after BBB and will probably be able to monorail over and make it within the grace period at least but I keep considering just canceling S220 because last (and only other) time we did BBB, we had to wait 45 minutes past appt time to start and S220 seems almost impossible to bump and dump and I don’t want to have to pay the no show fee…but with your info, I’m just going to keep the reservation and cross my fingers
Be cautious with this.
I would never plan to be late. The restaurant does reserve the right to turn you away if you are late for your ADR. most times they will accommodate you, though you may have to wait for availability.
Keep the ressie and cross your fingers is a reasonable plan. But be prepared that the plan may fail.
Just tossing 2 cents in
Totally!! I would not expect them to let us in if we were outside the 15 minute grace period…and we will be trying to get there on time for the reservation, but if that fails and we get there late, it would be nice if we didn’t get charged a 40$ no show fee. I also have the reservation finder set up to try to change to a better time (and frankly to change to just the lounge) if that comes available.
Is showing up day of, even late, enough to avoid the $10 per surcharge? I’ve never had a restaurant deny us entry for being late so we have never had to deal with the question.
The good news is the Space reservation at 2:45 is moving away from the most crowded times so if you’re late, it increases the chances they may be able to accommodate you anyway.
It should be but I would check your records closely as there have been reports of being charged no-show with late arrival.
Happened to us once, pre-covid, at Skipper’s Canteen. IIRC we were something like 20 minutes late. Seated us but the no show fee was on the card when the statement came.
So they both served you and charged you for not appearing? That’s comical. Did you reach out to Disney to have the charges reversed?
I’ve had that happen to me as well and Disney did reverse the charge after I called to request it. I was also charged the $10 fee for showing up to GG as a party of 1 when I had a reservation for 2, but that was a one off and they reversed it too.
Yes. Called and pointed out that I had the receipt where we ate there. They issued a credit.
Hijack: Wait, what? … Does this mean POFQ people can swim at POR?
Yup!