Port Orleans Riverside Bus stop 1 side or Lobby/Main Pool side

We are staying at Port Orleans Riverside towards the end of July. We are staying in just a standard room and I am trying to decide which is better. A room in Alligator Bayou that is close to the first bus stop or a room in Magnolia which is closer to the lobby and main pool but is at the 3rd bus stop. I have read stories that the 3rd bus stop can be filled by the time it gets to us and its standing room only most of the time. Is this true? If so I am thinking we should request closer to bus stop 1 even if its a farther walk to the pool. Anyone experience the buses and locations of this resort?

We had no problems with room on bus stop 3 on the way to the parks last May. We were there for the early busses to catch RD. I got the sense that was when they ran the most busses the most frequently. We spoke with another family that started their day later, and they complained about wait times. Didn’t complain about room on the bus, though.

We did often have standing room only on the way back when we closed out a park, though. I don’t think that is unusual, unfortunately!

You’re going at a different timeframe, so YMMV.

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When we went last June, we used the East Depot - 3rd bus stop. We never had a problem with wait time for a bus and never had to stand on the way to a park. We rope dropped some days and also started our days later sometimes. We did often have to stand on the way back from the parks at night, but we never had to wait long for a bus to show up. Sometimes two buses would show up at the same time. We are going to stay at POR again in July and will be using the 3rd bus stop.

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Staying at POR in early May so I will give you an update then. We will be staying in a Royal Court room so we’ll be close to third/east bus stop. We are not early risers so no RD for my 19 yr old daughter and me. We’d rather stay up later and sleep in after my DD’s busy year at university. . Crowd Calendar says parks are about 3-4/10 on the days we’ll be there. We plan on arriving about 11 am (I know TP thinks this is nuts!) to the parks and have FPP+ for the rides we want. Don’t have little kids and don’t see shows or parades so we’re more flexible. We plan on using Uber/Lyft to go to AK on our first day so we don’t face aggravation waiting in the heat for a POR bus. Our last and only trip to WDW was in 2011 and we taxied to all parks from BC Villas after hating the bus system the first day. For this trip we plan to get a feel for bus transport and play it by ear. Happy that WDW “allows” ride share services probably because it alleviated bus congestion. Will keep all informed. Our biggest obstacle will be dealing with Central Florida’s heat and humidity since we come from temperate California.

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Same with us, stayed there last June and never had a problem getting a seat on the bus at stop 3.

Coming home to POR from the parks was not as nice, usually crowded. But, that’s probably the same regardless of resort.

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Hi Wenzels
We’re there (from the UK) so may even see you! You’ll be fine. They changed the buses a while back now and they no longer go to all stops, I think. This one will see you right. Great site…

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I stayed at POR a few weeks ago and we were in building 34 in the Alligator Bayou section. We ended up very close to the West Depot, the first stop for park buses. Out of our 8 park days I would say that 3 times in the mornings our bus filled up at our stop and skipped the rest of the stops. I think there is a big advantage in being close to the 1st stop, West Depot. But of course that is just our opinion. The buses are a priority on our trips and not necessarily being close to the front amenities.

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I must have bad luck. I stayed in a royal room in January (so bus stop #3) and we missed most of EMH at MK because every bus that stopped was nearly full and only a few people were let on each time.

Just stayed there last week. I would advise requesting a room near the West Depot. It was always the first stop, so we always got a seat easily. First stop dropped off at the end of the night, too. I don’t recall precisely, but I think that they often ran two buses- one for the north / west / east depots, and another for the main building alone.

We were in building 39- not the worst walk to the main building because you could cut across by the main pool. There were definitely worse buildings.

PLUS the 30’s have recently been refurbished, which was KEY. The first room they tried to give us was in building 17 and it smelled sooooo musty and gross. Not yet refurbushed.

I would not stay at Riverside again, but if I did, I would request a refurbished room in 38 or 39.

Do you know which buildings have been refurbished? It’s disappointing to hear some of the rooms are not in a good state…

See Port Orleans - Scheduled Maintenance and Refurbishment Work

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Thanks. Not good for the preferred rooms then!

I will say that our party stayed in two rooms in Magnolia Bend last May (not the preferred rooms, I think they were in the Magnolia building) and had no problems there.

In December, they went to all stops. Seriously annoying when you’re the last stop, but understandablly necessary