Port Orleans Riverside Thoughts

Hi. We just spent six nights at Port Orleans Riverside. Overall we liked the room. Besides sleeping, we didn’t spend much time in there as we were in the parks for 10 plus hours each day.

They are doing a lot of construction. Near the East Bus Depot, we saw more construction workers than tourists…not that’s bad.

Others complain about the consistency of the bus service. We thought they were good but you couldn’t depend on what’s listed on the monitors. If the next bus is coming at 9:00, it may come at 9:10 or 8:50. But they did come regularly.

The room was smaller than I anticipated. It was also the first hotel I have ever gone to that had no pen or notepad.

The rooms were relatively quiet.

The maids were not that great. One time they left cleaning products in the room. Other times they didn’t provide new coffee so we had to call. Another time they didn’t provide coffee lids, even after leaving a note…on a napkin as there were no notepads.

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We stayed there about 5 years ago in a room for 5 ppl. I found it small too, same size as value. The room really needed to be remodeled, felt old, outlets didn’t work and were loose, caulk repairs looked terrible. I had similar issues with mouse keeping. I liked the atmosphere. Its a decent option for ppl that have 5 in a room and dont want to pay for deluxe. We got a free dining plan that had regular dining, not the quick service they offer now. If I had to do again though, I would get 2 rooms at value, similar price, more space or upgrade to deluxe.

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks for the post. Port Orleans Riverside is the only moderate my family has not stayed at and we are considering it for future trips. I was concerned about the buses given the size of the resort and the frequent complaints.

We found the Wilderness Lodge bus service last May to be good even though it seems to get complaints. In June 2017, we had significant issues with Art of Animation’s bus service in June 2017 even though it was frequently praised at the time for having good bus service.

Seems like each resort can just vary. We had great luck with the buses at AoA.

I have stayed at the PoR many times and as a matter of fact we love it. Has Disney rooms changed? Yes and not for the better. Coverlets of design are no longer used but rather just plain white coverlets are now used. Your right about services as well. Sometimes you get toiletries and some times you have to call to get them. You can bet I call for the price we are paying. This though happens in the Deluxe resorts as well as we stayed at Poly and dealt with all these issues including a hairdrier that obviously been on fire and no longer worked. The room service is touch and go and I no longer feel the necessity to tip. Luggage can be delayed for hours coming from the airport using the Magical Express. Yes things are getting worse but where aren’t they. All and all we still have a wonderful time and deal with these things the best we can.

Yes, I think we had bad luck with AoA buses.

you know there has been a lot of talk about buses. For us we have Never had a big wait or walk for that matter for Disney Bus Service and that includes the Magical Express. Of coarse there are going to be time when the buses scheduled on the display are off. That’s to be expected. Many things come into play here as to why this can happen. The only compliant that we have is how they over stuff the buses at the end of the night going back to our resort. Coarse we could wait for another but hey we want to get back to the resort as we have been on our feet all day. We deal with it. :grimacing:

WE stayed there in May. It was our 1st trip to Disney so I have nothing else to compare it to. We were in alligator bayou in one of the renovated rooms. It was plenty big enough for the 4 of us. My 8 yr old slept in the pull down bed and loved it. The beds were very comfy, in fact, I’m looking to buy one lol. For the most part, all the CMs we came in contact with were super friendly. We didn’t have a problem with the buses. We requested a building near the West Depot bc it’s the first one to pick up/drop off, so you don’t get passed up with a full bus. The only issue we had was that 1, its a very large resort, so it’s a long walk to food/drinks, and on check out day, we couldn’t get a luggage cart or help from bell services, so it was a long trek up front with car seats, and nine million suitcases.

Welcome. We like POR. Good pool and food court. Rooms are comfortable. Never had a problem with service. We drive, so can’t comment on buses/boats.

Yeah, I think you got a miss rather than a hit. We actually really enjoyed POR with our family of 5 in May 2018. We thought the room size was good, but then we are not deluxe people. No bus issues. We had a very sweet lady doing servicing our room. She would leave us thank you notes for the tips and well wishes on the notepad in our room. (Yes, we had a notepad and pen). The other 2 days we had someone else and she cleaned our room well as well.

I thought the resort was beautiful. My room had no USB ports. That kind of annoyed me. I had an inedible meal in the food court (it was late after returning from the parks, so they may not have been at their best.)
If I were to do it over I would try POFQ. Again, Really pretty.

We (family of 4) stayed in the Royal Princess room in Feb and we enjoyed it. It didn’t seem small until a couple of days in and we had bought too many souvenirs. :smile: We were there just to sleep and were in the parks for 10+ hours everyday. It was generally nice and quiet but for two nights we had the loudest family next door with younger kids. Luckily it was just two nights though. We had some service issues too with soap, a missing Amazon Prime Now delivery, and a package shipping issue (cause we bought too much stuff and we ended up having to go to three different counters hauling around a huge box to get it shipped). But we were satisfied and oddly not upset…maybe because we were just happy we were in WDW. I’m sure that’s what it was cause I’m sure I would have complained if we weren’t in WDW. That being said we are staying at Beach Club this coming trip but not because we didn’t like POR but we just wanted a different resort and we love Epcot. Chances are we won’t be going back either just because our girls will be older and we only stayed there for the Princess rooms. But we were happy with our stay. Sorry to hear you were a little disappointed though.

I have learned to carry my own UBS port plug in’s. There not that expense and they do come in handy when none are available.

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My DD19 and I stayed 6 nights in a Royal Court room at POR last May. We were very pleased with our room and the resort. I researched this moderate resort extensively so I knew some of the drawbacks and found many to be unsubstantiated.POR had incredible theming and great ambiance. It is a large resort but most rooms are only 4-5 minutes from the main buildings. We don’t do Disney buses in the mornings because Uber/Lyft is well worth the $7-8 to get personalized transport and drop off close to park entrance. We had no problem taking the buses back to the resort after park close. The boat transport to Disney brings was lovely and relaxing. The food court was your typical food court food. We only grabbed a quick breakfast in the morning (good scrambled eggs) and were never at the resort for lunch and dinner. The gift shop was surprisingly large and well stocked. We missed the nightly entertainment but heard it is excellent. Our Royal court room was lovely, very clean, and well-stocked. The room was fine for a family of four and large for us, two. I “love” the comment about pen and paper. I haven’t seen those type of supplies in a hotel room for a long time and I’ve stayed in some very nice hotels. The toiletries provided were of high quality and I am picky. The TV had a nice range of channels. I am glad WDW got rid of the tacky and unhealthy bedspreads. The white bed linen looks and is nice and clean. Plenty of space for clothes and a nice double sink. My only big complaint is the shower/tub combo. Disney needs to go like other chains and make the space into a big shower that’s glass enclosed. Tubs are just icky. The Housekeeping was very good and we tipped daily. I would highly recommend POR.

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I stayed there Oct 2018. Thought it was very nice, quiet and relaxing. Pool is excellent and so is the pool bar. Can walk over to french quarter for their pool and different food options. Buses were fine, but I agree that the predicted times were out of whack. Worst issues seemed to be around dinner time… They would come every 12 minutes for a park… Then bam, 25 minutes for next one. Food court wasn’t anything special. Not bad, but not a highlight either. At least it had a good variety. I think one of the resorts best feature is the boat to Disney springs!

As someone with little kids I want a tub. It’s something I never thought of before but now notice so many hotels only have showers. It’s annoying.

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We’ve stayed at POR several times, most recently in July 2019 and I have to admit after this last trip, I really don’t have a desire to stay there again. The bus service and the food court were really lacking this last time. We waited in the food court for our food forever and when we finally asked about it, they had never put the pizza order in. It was crazy and chaotic. The bus service to the parks wasn’t bad, but the buses getting home were terrible. Stuff happens and I wouldn’t warn someone away from this resort if they wanted to give it a try, but for us, I think we’re finished there.

As a current mother of little ones, I need a tub! Bathing a tot in the shower that most hotel chains have gone to is inconvenient at best. Since more hotel chains are making this move, if we will be staying longer than 1-2 nights, I make sure to check that the hotel as any tubs at all and almost always list it specifically in my special requests for a room. Tubs can be icky but they can also be well-maintained & kept-up to not be.

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Very annoying! And I never realized it either until I had 2 little ones & happened to get a room that didn’t have a tub (tubs were available at the hotel, just not at the room they gave us first).

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I and my wife stay at PoR every chance we get. We have never stayed at Alligator Bayou as we love Magnolia Bend, Magnolia Terrace. Now the food court is expansive and many choices. Food is fast food style so that’s what your going to get for quality. Want better do a sit down restaurant. Stay at Poly and their court is small and selection is the same. I will agree on this much, all Disney resorts are going down hill from what they used to be. Bus service is just that and if you don’t like the wait (which I have never had a big problem with as we are talking minutes), there are many other options. Funny, I have had better stays here at PoR than Deluxe resorts. All in what you need and are looking for.