Riverside 10/18-10/25/08

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TINKN
Posts: 1
Joined: November 26th, 2008, 10:59 am

Riverside 10/18-10/25/08

Unread post by TINKN »

We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside from 10/18/08-10/25/08. For reference we have previously stayed at French Quarter, Pop Century, All Star Music and All Star Movies. Our party consisted of myself (Mom) 34, DH 35, DD 7 and DS 5. We had originally booked Wilderness Lodge but when the codes came out for our time frame Riverside was one of the few resorts available for the entire length of our stay. Having previously stayed at French Quarter in 2000 we decided to make the switch. I requested Alligator Bayou building 14 or 15 or as close to the food court as possible. We had heard about how spread out this resort was and were afraid the long walks would ruin our trip.

We arrived via Magical Express at around 2PM and proceeded to check-in. The line was about 5 families long and DH and the kids sat in the lobby and watched cartoons for a bit while I took care of the check-in. Our room was not ready but we were told we had been placed in Acadia House. Not even close to our requested location and we were told the resort was at 97% capacity for the week. So we accepted our assignment and decided to grab a bite to eat in the food court while we waited for our room.

The food court was relatively uncrowded and we never encountered huge waits the entire trip. Maybe our eating habits had something to do with this but I was prepared for the worst based on some of the things we had read and we were pleasantly surprised. We sampled many of the lunch and dinner offerings during the week and for the most part were happy with our choices. The pasta bar got big thumbs up. Pizza was decent. Bakery was good. Chicken strips were a hit. Only complaint would be the turkey sandwich which was pretty bland and the bread was terrible. We did not use the food court during breakfast except to fill our drink mugs on the way to the parks.

The food court has a room next to the water wheel that always seemed uncrowded and had a TV showing The Disney Channel as well as a table with coloring sheets and legos to keep the kids occupied while the adults enjoyed a leisurely meal. There was also a mail box for Mickey where kids could place the masterpieces they had colored for him. There were also several tables outside along the water. The food court was visually appealing inside and out. We did not eat at Boatwrights but do to the open set up you can see the interior of the restaurant as you walked by. Looked nice enough but too open.

I called at 3:00 PM and was assigned room 8408 in Acadia House. It was a nice leisurely stroll from the food court, across the bridge and to the right around the pool, across a second bridge and to the left. Our room was near the front of the building, third floor on the left side of the main building. Not a bad walk at all. Very pretty with an area out front with seating. We used the centrally located elevator to the third floor and a short walk across the front of the building (very pretty view) and our room was 3 rooms from the front corner. Very quiet location. The only draw back would be these rooms look out over a bunch of AC units or something and this is where mousekeeping parks the golf carts in the morning. This did not bother us. We knew going in that we had booked standard view and we were happy not to have to look at a parking lot.

Inside our room was clean and enough room for a family of 4. Not sure about 5 in a room this size, but I guess it is commonly done. We had a few washcloth animals on check in and these were the only ones we received during the visit. We had a similar experience at Pop last year, animals on check in and none for the rest of the week. We were happy as we view this as an extra. Having the fridge in the room was nice to keep drinks cold and allowed us to eat in the room each morning. The food court sells donuts, loaves of bread etc, and this was perfect for us as we are not huge breakfast eaters. I have previously heard it said that the refridgerators are only coolers and are only meant to keep foods at the temperature that they are when they are placed in them. I can tell you that ours routinely froze drinks over night (not solid but ice crystals). The coat hooks are also a nice addition that value resorts do not have and helped to keep the room tidy. I also like the curtain between the sink area and the room. We had some local friends spend a couple of hours with us one day and the kids used this as a changing room while the adults were able to relax.

Our housekeeper was wonderful. We spoke with her a couple of times and she has been working for Disney for 19 years. She has worked in that area of Acadia house for 14-15 years. She works Monday through Friday because she has seniority and someone else works the area on the weekends. On the days when she cleaned our room she made a game of placing the kids’ dolls and stuffed animals in creative displays such as watching TV or reading a book. The kids loved to come back to the room to find out what their “friends” were doing. She said she had been offered a transfer several times to deluxe hotels but declined as there is actually more to cleaning a deluxe room due to room service etc. She said if we came back to Riverside to request the same section and she will probably be there as she has no plans of leaving. I know mousekeeping reports at this resort are spotty but we could not have been happier. If you are worried this is the section to request.

We swam at Ol’ Man Island several times and the kids enjoyed the pool and the water slide. We also used the hot tub a few times. A word to the wise, this hot tub is very deep. My son who is 42” got out in the center and was on his tip toes panicking feeling like he was going to go under. The pool bar has a wrap around porch with tables that are perfect for relaxing out of the sun. The pool is more shaded than many of the Disney pools we have seen. We liked this as we are always concerned about sun exposure. The kiddie pool is a little boring compared to Pop and All Star resorts, but my kids are past that point so it did not bother us. The playground is adjacent and my kids really enjoyed it. There were several benches around the perimeter for adults to relax. As a contrast we played at the French Quarter playground and my kids liked Riverside better. They felt like the French Quarter was better for little kids. We did not use any of the quiet pools.

The gift shop had a decent variety and we went down many evenings so the kids could trade pins with the cast members. They have a large pin board with pins for the kids to trade in the back room. Just ask at the cash register near the drink coolers. On a couple of occasions they gave us Mardi Gras beads. One thing we had never seen in a resort gift shop was an area that had everything under $10. This was nice for kids trying to stretch their vacation money.

We used the boat to go to French Quarter once and Downtown once. Both times it was earlier in the day and we got on the first boat to come along. It appeared that the lines got quite long in the evening. On the day we went to French Quarter the skipper of the Pirate Cruise took us in the Pirate Cruise boat. The kids got a kick out of a private ride in the Pirate Boat. We had lunch at French Quarter and ate outside. Overall food here was ok. One thing to note was that I ordered a chicken club wrap and assumed it would be made to order. It was pre made and consequently a bit soggy. The food court was very quiet. No guests and even some food stations unmanned at times. We walked back and while a pleasant walk the distance between Acadia House and French Quarter is not one I would want to do more than once. We particularly like the theming of French Quarter and there seemed to be more blooming flowers in bloom there. If given the choice we will go back to French Quarter due to the compactness.

We did not have a car and used the buses the entire week. On our first morning we waited at our depot the North Depot and watched as several buses headed to the park we chose drove by full of guests. After this we decided it worked better for us to grab our mugs in the morning, walk to the food court and get a drink and then out front to the South Depot to catch a bus. That way we know we would get on. After the first morning our fully loaded bus drove past the other stops and we watched angry guests making what gives motions to the bus drivers. Of course on the way home we stayed seated and waited to come around to the North Depot as most of the guests would have exited the bus by then. After the first morning with this strategy we had no problems with the buses. The buses back from the parks were an improvement over the value resorts. Lines were still long but waits not as long as Pop Century after fireworks etc.

Overall, we enjoyed Riverside and would not mind staying here again. We would definitely choose it over any value resort due to the room size, better amenities and the overall relaxed feeling of the resort. We do prefer French Quarter due to themeing and compactness and being the first bus.
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