Trip Report 8/18 to 8/21

How was your stay at Riverside? Leave your comments or full trip reports here. Photos welcome.
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srauseo
Posts: 2
Joined: August 28th, 2017, 2:43 pm

Trip Report 8/18 to 8/21

Unread post by srauseo »

Long time lurker - first time poster!

We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside for three nights of our ten day Orlando trip. This is my second time at Riverside. Last time I stayed in the Alligator Bayou preferred section. This time we were in Magnolia Bend in the Magnolia Terrace building. We had requested a room in this building to be near family that had reserved Royal Rooms. We had requested connecting or rooms close together for them. They got adjoining but not connecting rooms. So, requests pretty close to fulfilled, which was very nice.

We had King Bed Room #8932. This room overlooked a lawn area with some large trees with the parking lot was in the distance. It was very quiet. The room also seemed huge. I'm not sure if it was just the lack of the second bed or if the room was a little larger than normal. It was very comfortable for two people. We were closest to the East Depot with a pretty quick walk to the main pool. Mousekeeping was good - no issues.

Our room was not ready on arrival (about 9:30am) but my sister's was so we dumped all our bags in her room. DH and I got changed and headed to the pool while they went to lunch. Once they were ready, we caught a bus to the Magic Kingdom as we had some stuff to work out with Guest Relations (DAS card for my nephew, converting old tickets, etc.). Bus rides there and back were smooth with very short waits. Got the text that my room was ready around 12:30 while I was on the bus back. So I moved some of our stuff back to our room and went back to the pool to rejoin DH. I really like the Ol' Man Island pool. I like the shady spots and all the different nooks and crannies so that it doesn't feel like you're in a mass of people. There was no cocktail waitress that day due to a staffing issue so we got drinks at the bar. That night we did the Highway in the Sky dinner. We just took a bus to the Magic Kingdom and walked to the Contemporary. We had allowed plenty of time for transit and arrived early so we had a little drink at the Wave bar before the event started. We ended up talking a cab home at the end of the night from Trader Sam's as it was pretty late and my feet were killing me from my heels!

The next day we took the boat over to Disney Springs for the day. I love the boat ride. Very scenic and relaxing and a nice change of pace. We took the boat back after dinner and walked over to the River Roost to see Ye Haa Bob. We were able to snag two seats at the bar but the lounge was pretty packed by about a half hour before show time. Almost everyone was clearly there for the show. We stayed for a few songs and then caught a bus over to AK for late night at Pandora. Got a bus back with no problem around 12:30am or so.

On our last day at Riverside we went to the World Showcase for the day. No problem getting a bus there and were in France at 10am as planned. Had a great day at EPCOT and headed back to Riverside after late dinner at Le Cellier with, again, a short wait for a bus.

We checked out early Monday morning as we had a PPO ADR in Hollywood Studios and were switching hotels to Beach Club that day. This was, of course, the one time we had a problem with a bus. We waited over a half hour for a Studios bus. People seemed to be waiting a long time for AK buses as well. Meanwhile, multiple MK and EPCOT buses went by. It was frustrating, especially after things had been going so smoothly. It also took a long time to have our luggage transferred. Apparently the bags all leave Riverside at noon and they make multiple stops so it can take hours for your bags to show up. I told my sister we should have packed day bags but she ignored my advice and our luggage didn't arrive until after 2:00. So, even though our room was ready at 12:30, the kids couldn't change to go to the pool which was a bit of a bummer. Lessons learned.

My family said they had a great meal at Boatwrights. My mom said the catfish was fantastic. I also had a great meal there on my previous trip. I've seen some people knock this place but we all really liked it.

Overall, I love this resort and I see why so many people are huge fans. It's welcoming, comfortable, not too huge but still spacious. It feels very serene and the lush, mature vegetation helps keeps things cool. It's also a good, central location. Having a second option to get to and from Disney Springs is a nice perk. The dining options are good and the lounge is a bonus. I'd happily recommend Riverside and would definitely go back.
erij11
Posts: 1
Joined: October 6th, 2017, 12:30 pm

Re: Trip Report 8/18 to 8/21

Unread post by erij11 »

Loved your trip report! I just joined this forum and I'm looking forward to my first stay at Riverside! I booked a royal room and I'm super excited to be going with my 18 year old daughter in March.
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