Good morning! A lot of people are starting to book their hotels for runDisney events, and I have been getting a lot of emails from folks asking for help on where to stay, so I thought I would do a few hotel reviews to help those out headed to a runDisney event, or just headed out on vacation.
Port Orleans Riverside is in the moderate resort category (below deluxe and above value). It is a hot commodity because it is one of two moderate resorts that sleep 5 people over the age of 3 (values only sleep 4).
It is a beautiful and relaxing resort with a laid back atmosphere and southern charm. The “hub” of the resort centers around the check in area, food court, lounge, restaurant, and gift shop. The below photo is the other side that faces the marina.
There is one feature pool at this resort complete with waterslide and a pool bar. There are also quiet pools throughout the resort.
Port Orleans Riverside is divided up into two sections, Alligator Bayou and the mansions. Alligator Bayou has cute touches from the Princess and the frog, and has a very woodsy/country feel.
Below you can see a photo of the pull down trundle bed available in some rooms for a 5th person.
Across the river you will find the mansions. They are very majestic looking sitting on the riverbank. Most of the rooms have a very southern feel, and then there are a group of “royal rooms” which happen to be my personal favorite.
The royal rooms cost a little extra, but pack a big punch. Fireworks over the beds, and cute Disney touches everywhere.
These rooms are in a preferred (aka close to the main buildings) section of the resort. However, there is more than one bus stop so even if you are further away you don’t have to walk to the front of the resort to catch a bus to the parks! However, this is a big resort (2048 rooms!) so paying extra for a preferred location is something I recommend.
All rooms have either two queens of a king bed (king bed is a separate bookable category) and have double sinks, flat screen TV’s, a coffee maker and refrigerator.
Another perk of this resort is the ability to take the boat to Downtown Disney instead of a bus. It’s a scenic relaxing ride and a nice change of pace if you aren’t in a hurry to get somewhere.
This is my favorite moderate resort, we stayed here for Princess this past year and it worked out great for the race!
QOTD: Do you prefer a quiet relaxed resort or one right in the middle of the action?
If you have any questions about this resort or any others, feel free to email me at heather@travelwiththemagic.com for details, and vacation booking help.
Port Orleans Riverside is definitely on my list of Disney hotels to stay at (OK, I wanna stay at all of them!). I stayed at the other Port Orleans resort for my first marathon.
This resort actually shows up cheaper than even Art of Animation for a family of five sometimes. When I finally do take the whole gang for a proper Disney vacation, this resort is on my short list for sure.
You must be looking at the family suites at AoA bc the regular rooms won’t sleep 5 🙂
Just tell me when you want to book haha!
How beautiful!!
I actually JUST stayed at Port Orleans Riverside at the end of July and wrote about it on my blog, so I find this extremely timing! My favorite little touch was the alligator on the trundle bed. Everything was well done, I thought, and I would happily stay there again. Though, I probably will not as I want to experience the other hotels as well! We didn’t pay for a preferred room, and we were quite glad we did not. It gave us a chance to explore more and we saw so much more of the resort. It has beautiful landscape, so we never got bored with our walk to and fro. 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it! I have a lot of clients with little ones that prefer a quicker walk to the busses, but I agree the walk is very pretty. I have run through there many times on trips!
I LOVE Port Orleans!!!! So pretty! And a gorgeous place to run!