Jump to: Front Desk & Checkin | Mail & Packages | Other Services | In-Room Facilities | Parking | Laundry | Recreation

Front Desk – Checkin / Checkout

When you first arrive at Port Orleans Riverside or French Quarter you usually go to your resort’s Front Desk in the main lobby and give them the booking confirmation details for registration. If you don›t already have a Magic Band, you will be given a plastic keycard for each member of your party which will act as room key, provide charging privileges (with a PIN number), and tap access for parking, theme park tickets, Lightning Lane entry, etc.

Officially, rooms are not available until 3pm but sometimes you may find that a room may be available earlier – it can’t hurt to ask. As a word of warning though, at peak times – and especially at Riverside – this area can get very busy so be prepared for a wait.

A faster online checkin facility is available allowing resort guests to pre-register for their stay via Disney’s website or app. The system allows you to provide such information as full guest names, arrival time, on-site (e.g. cell phone) contact details, a credit card number for room-charges, and a few special room requests (although, as always, these cannot be guaranteed). For more details, or to use the service, log in to the My Disney Experience page at www.mydisneyexperience.com or download the app.

Once checked in online, you can use the “Direct To Room” process to skip the Front Desk completely if you wish. When your room is ready, you will receive a text message or email, or notification from the MDE app, of your room number and you can go straight there and use either a Magic Band or your mobile device to access the room. If your room is not yet ready when you arrive, simply leave your bags with Bell Services for free and head off to enjoy the parks or the resort facilities in the meantime. Once you get to your room, give Bell Services a call and they will deliver your bags (don›t forget to tip the porter). Note: Rooms will be held until 6am the following morning as long as a deposit payment has been made.

Checkout time is 11am. Again, Bell Services can collect your bags from your room and store them until you are ready to leave which allows you to spend the rest of the day at the parks if you wish (no charge, apart from tipping the porter). Express Checkout is available if you have already registered your credit card at the front desk, in which case an itemised receipt will be emailed to you on your departure day.

It is sometimes possible to extend your checkout time until 12:30pm or 1:00pm without any extra charge, but this is subject to limited availability – please ask at the Front Desk towards the end of your stay to see if this option is available. If you need to stay later than 1pm, there will be a charge of 50% of the daily rate.

If you plan to hang around the resort for a while after you’ve checked out – for example if you are taking an afternoon flight – do remember that you still have access to all of the resort facilities. This includes use of the swimming pools where there are free towels, plus shower and changing facilities at both of the main feature pools (lockers are no longer provided).

Mail, Packages, and other Deliveries

Sending

There are mailboxes located at both front desks and in the shops for sending mail, and you can purchase stamps from the gift shop. The shops have scales to weigh heavier items.

If you want to ship your purchases back home – for example if you are flying with hand luggage only – the resort Front Desk can handle this for you. They will provide the packaging materials, box your items up, and arrange for the shipment. The price is worked out on a sliding scale based on the total value of the items, not their weight or size. Note: Disney will only ship purchases that were made at Walt Disney World, and you must have kept all of the receipts to confirm this.

Receiving

If you want to have letters or small packages posted to you during your stay, Disney recommends that you have them sent to the following central postal address, which receives all incoming mail and forwards it on to the relevant resorts:

GUEST: {Lead Guest Name and check-in date} Disney’s Port Orleans Resort Riverside or Disney’s Port Orleans Resort French Quarter Post Office Box 10,000 Lake Buena Vista Florida 32830-1000 USA

However if you want to ship any larger packages by courier rather than by post, or if you have local or perishable deliveries such as groceries from companies like Garden Grocer or Amazon Now, then you should use the appropriate full street address:

If the package is for a guest not listed on the reservation, use the name of the primary guest on the reservation, but always make sure to include the world GUEST and the arrival date if not yet at the resort. Don’t quote the booking reservation number, but if you already know the room number you can include that.

If a package arrives before a guest has checked in, the item will be held in storage for them. You will get a call or message from the front desk to notify you if a package arrives during your stay. Do make sure you work your timings out so the package arrives in good time though – you don’t want to miss it, but equally it’s best not to have it delivered too far ahead of your arrival date, especially for perishable orders. Any packages delivered after you have departed will be automatically returned to sender.

There is a $6 charge for handling any mail or packages delivered via post or courier, including Amazon parcels, which you should pick up from the Front Desk.

Local Deliveries, Groceries, etc.

There is no fee for food/grocery orders – for example WalMart, Garden Grocer or Amazon Pantry – if you collect your order in person from Bell Services, however there is a $6 per order (not per bag or box) fee if you want it brought directly your room. Bell Services can keep perishable or chilled items refrigerated for you. Note: any deliveries which contain alcoholic products, or need signing for, must be received by the guest in person in the lobby, the resort cannot accept and hold such items for you.

The resort asks that water deliveries be kept to a maximum of one pack per outer cardboard box, as Walmart and some other companies have started boxing two large packs of water into a single outer carton, and these heavy items cause handling issues.

Disney has recently restricted many third-party vendors from conducting business on Disney property without prior contractual arrangement. Some exceptions who are still permitted to deliver to resorts include Owner’s Locker for long-term storage boxes, and Scooterbug for ECV rentals.

Other Resort Services

Although there are no business bureau or computer rental facilities at either of the Port Orleans resorts, the Front Desk used to be able to send and receive faxes for you at a charge but it’s uncertain whether that system is still available. Port Orleans French Quarter also has a small conference room available for hire. The Front Desk can also supply items such as electrical adapter plugs/etc, and other essentials can be purchased from the resort gift shops.

There is a Fuel Rod purchase/refresh station located in both lobbies. For a one-off fee of $38 (paid by credit card) you can buy a portable phone charging system which gives you a fully charged portable battery, plus short cables for Micro-USB, Apple 30-pin, and Apple Lightning devices. When your battery pack runs low you can recharge it yourself, or just swap it (as often as you like) for a fully charged replacement at any similar kiosk around Walt Disney World, and at other compatible locations.

ATM machines (cash dispensers) are located in the main lobby area at Riverside and beside the Front Desk at French Quarter, next to the Arcade entrance. Note: As with all such machines in Walt Disney World, there is a charge of roughly $2 per transaction for withdrawing cash.

A concierge (Guest Services) desk is located in each lobby area from which you can get general information, purchase park and other tickets, make dining reservations, etc. Their hours are normally 8am to 8pm, but you can also ask at the main Front Desk when they are closed.

Pay phones used to be located near to the Front Desks in both lobbies and in the food courts, but these have been gradually removed as mobile phones have become more commonplace.

There were film drop locations in both gift shops where you could take your photographic films to be sent off for developing and printing, but this service has presumably been discontinued due to the prevalence of digital media.

In-Room Facilities

Post-COVID, daily housekeeping (often referred to by guests as “MouseKeeping”) was almost completely eliminated. However now your room should be serviced, beds made, trash removed, and surfaces/etc cleaned every other day of your stay.

Complimentary wireless internet access is available in all guest rooms, plus in the main public areas – lobby, restaurants, areas surrounding the feature swimming pools, bus stops and Porte-Cochère. Disney buses now also provide wi-fi. The SSID names vary between resorts & rooms, parks, and transportation, so you will need to sign in to each one for the first time separately.

Ice machines are located on each floor of every accommodation building. At French Quarter these are located next to the elevators, and in the Riverside Alligator Bayou section they are located at the junction between the two halves of each Lodge. The Riverside Magnolia Bend mansion buildings have several locations within the central sections of the buildings. Ice buckets are provided in your room.

Snack, drink & confectionery vending machines are located next to the ice machines, and also in each of the poolside guest laundry rooms.

An in-room baby-sitting service is bookable, contact the Front Desk for information. Disney generally recommends using Kids Night Out, but there is also the Fairy Godmother service. Both companies charge by the hour with a minimum of four hours, and Kids Night Out in particular allow you to specify your detailed requirements – even down to the age range and gender of the sitter. The sitters will bring along age-appropriate toys and can look after your children either in the room or take them out to the food court for meals, and then put them to bed if required. Note: sitters are not allowed to take children swimming or bath them for legal reasons.

Car Parking

Effective from January 2023, car parking at all Disney Resort Hotels is now free of charge. You will be asked to show ID or scan your Magic Band at the security gatehouse.

Theme park parking also remains “complimentary” for all resort hotel guests, and self-parking at the water parks, Disney Springs and the ESPN Wide World of Sports remains free for everyone.

Note: Previously, from 21 March 2018, overnight self-parking at Port Orleans incurred a nightly fee of $19 per car (and more for the Deluxe resorts) which was applied to each guest's hotel folio upon check-out. That rate was gradually increased over the years, but has now been completely rescinded.

Laundry

Washing machines and dryers are located in laundry rooms near to each of the quiet/leisure pools at Riverside and also behind Mardi Grogs (near to the Doubloon Lagoon pool) at French Quarter. Washing costs $3.25 by setting up an account in an app (the price was increased from $2.00 to $2.50 on 28 April 2015, and then to $3.00 sometime around the start of 2016, and is now $3.25). Dryers cost the same amount, and can also be paid by app. Individual portions of various detergents/etc – currently Tide, Clorox, Ultra-Downy and Bounce – are available for a further $1 if you haven’t brought your own.

The French Quarter laundry room has 16 washers and 24 dryers, each of the three Alligator Bayou rooms have 8 washers and 10/12 dryers, and the two Magnolia Bends rooms have 10 washers and 16 dryers each. The location of these laundry facilities is very convenient as you can set a machine load going and then take a relaxing dip in the pool while you’re waiting for it to finish. The machines are available 24 hours, but if you’re a night-owl and plan to use the laundry rooms after midnight you’ll need to take your Magic Band or key card to gain access.

The new machines are internet connected. Yes, really! Confusingly, the required CSC app has changed yet again, and the current one is called “One tap Away”. You can download it for Android or iPhone from onetapaway.com. You can also tap to pay with a credit/debit card for one-off use via the terminal in each laundry room. As an introductory offer, the first load set up via the app is free.

There is also a valet laundry service available for which there should be a large laundry bag in your room. Place your items in the bag and fill out the form, and as long as they are in by 8:30am, your cleaned items should be returned by 6:30pm. For Same Day Express Service add $30, and for Overnight Service add $45 (contact Housekeeping for details). Also contact Housekeeping for additional services such as Alterations, Wedding Gown Cleaning, Shoe Repair, or Leather Cleaning. It might be worth checking the rather expensive price list before you plan to use this facility though!

Disney Valet Laundry Rates – Last Verified April 2019
Dry Cleaning	Price		Laundry	Price
Suit	$15.00		Shirt	$6.50
3 PC Suits	$20.00		Shirt Folded	$8.50
Blazers / Sport Jacket	$9.00		Polo / Golf Shirt	$6.50
Pants / Slacks	$8.00		T-Shirts	$5.00
Tuxedos	$20.00		Pants	$8.00
Shorts	$7.00		Shorts	$7.00
Shirt / Blouse	$8.00		Pajamas / Nightgown	$7.50
Sweater / Knit Shirt	$10.00		Sweat Suits	$9.00
Ties	$5.00		Undershorts / Panties	$3.00
Raincoats / Overcoats	$15.00		Undershirts / Bras	$3.00
Vests	$5.00		Blouse	$8.00
Skirt	$8.00		Slips	$5.50
Scarves	$5.00		Socks	$3.00
Dress	$15.00		Swimsuits	$8.00
Gown	$26.00+		Towels	$4.00
Wedding Gowns	Call for price		Handkerchiefs	$3.00
Silks, linens, pleats & lined: 50% surcharge Press only: 75% of Dry Cleaning charge Alterations & Repairs: Market Price Minimum charge: $10.00.

Fairytale Weddings & Honeymoons

Late in 2018, Disney officially extended its Fairytale Weddings & Honeymoons service to include Port Orleans Riverside as a featured venue, expanding on the deluxe-only options that they previously offered. This now allows couples on a more moderate budget to hold their ceremony on the beautiful grassy courtyard lawn in front of the Oak Manor mansion building, overlooking the Sassagoula River. Small to medium/large weddings (10-150 people) can be accommodated.

If you have access to Freeform TV (previously ABC Family) take a look at their 2018 Disney’s Fairytale Weddings Holiday Magic special, which spotlights Christina and Daniel’s traditional Southern-inspired wedding complete with a horse-drawn carriage, a dreamy Riverside manor, and a surprise performance by country star Martina McBride.

Oh, and if you’re still in the earlier stages of your relationship, the gazebo on the riverbank outside the Magnolia Terrace mansion building is a wonderful place to pop the question. You could even book a horse-drawn carriage ride, and arrange with the driver to stop near to the gazebo for an even more romantic surprise setting.

For more information on booking your Disney wedding at Port Orleans Riverside, visit the official disneyweddings.com website.

Recreation

There is a separate section on this site for recreation facilities.