Riverside Trip Report 14-28th May 2015

How was your stay at Riverside? Leave your comments or full trip reports here. Photos welcome.
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BLAKEY1974
Posts: 8
Joined: April 16th, 2015, 3:04 pm

Riverside Trip Report 14-28th May 2015

Unread post by BLAKEY1974 »

After all the helpful hints and tips I read previous to our recent stay I thought I would add a few comments which hopefully should help and future bookings.We travelled from the UK and stayed at the Riverside in the Aligator Bayou building 16.I send a fax a few days before travelling requesting this block if possible as its one of the best locations without paying the preferred location supplement and it also gives the option of a pull out bed which meant out youngest ( 5 ) slept in this and the oldest ( 10 ) had his own double bed and we had the other.
Its fairly close to the main food/drink building and the south bus depot ( 5 mins walk to both ). There was never too long a wait for buses and usually south depot is the first pick up and drop off but this can vary depending on time of day.We always got on the first bus on the Riverside and only waited a few times at Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios for the next bus as the first was full.
We had the quick service dining plan and this worked great here and at the parks. If you get the free refillable cup at the hotel you can still get a bottle drink along with your main meal and dessert and this is ideal to take back to fridge in room and take to parks for next day. The snack credits are great and worth keeping for items such as Dole Whip, Ice Cream Sundae and you can get bags of sweets to bring back home also. You can use a snack credit for a bottle of water but probably more cost effective to pay for this at $2.50 and use a credit for items at $5.50
We booked restraunts at T-rex, Tuskers Safari and Raglan Road which we had to pay for and used the dining credits for all other meals.
We also travelled to Universal Studios 2 separate days and you can call a taxi at the hotel reception for $36 plus $6/$7 tip and it takes about 20 mins travel.There were hardly and queues at Universal so we hit on very lucky here.
The boat at Riverside takes you to Downtown in about 20 mins but can only take 26 people from Riverside as it stops to collect 12 more from French Quarter and runs about every 10 mins so you may not get on the first boat depending on queues etc but you can take the bus if you want.
We had a few days at all Park with Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon in between as rest days.Biggest queues I saw were mainly Seven Dwarfs Minetrain and Toy Story Mania at usually 90 mins so I had alreay booked fastpasses to use here and this was reduced to less than 10 mins.
Breakfast and Lunch using your Quick Service credit at BE OUR GUEST is a must as the food is good but the building inside is excellent
Overall the Riverside is an excellent choice and location and a little planning to book BE OUR GUEST and your fast passes for the longer waiting ride times is recommended
Hope this helps people travelling soon
Thorpy
Posts: 171
Joined: February 10th, 2013, 1:06 pm

Re: Riverside Trip Report 14-28th May 2015

Unread post by Thorpy »

I think a lot of people can get hooked up on walking distances, especially when expressed in it's a 5 minute, 10 minute walk and such like. The reality is that unless you have actual mobility issues, as opposed to laziness, they aren't anything of an inconvenience, except maybe at the end of a day when you're tired, and even then it's a nice unwind time after a cramped bus. The walking is done in the most beautiful of surroundings. I can't think there are many places on the planet that make for a nicer stroll.
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