Disney's PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE RESORT Information & Questions

After visiting the hands down BEST site out there for all things Riverside, www.portorleans.org, I was disappointed to see so many food selections gone from the Riverside Mill food court. We are going July this year. This will be our fifth trip. We were there in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2018. My kids loved the make your own pasta and I loved the make your own salad as I eat low carb and it was definitely very filling for the price. Oh well. Anyone know why they took it off. Also, for all the selections gone it doesn’t seem like many new were added- we tend to eat at at the food court for most dinners so it’s just a little disappointing. Still love Riverside and am ecstatic we snagged a discounted rate. Also kudos to the person who created the port orleans website. It gets me so excited every time we book and I start planning lol
We were disappointed in the Riverside Mill’s recent offerings. Although we are staying at Riverside in February, we plan on eating more at French Quarter this trip. Their food court menu seems to be a lot better plus they have Coke Freestyle machines which I absolutely love for my Diet Coke/Diet ginger ale with lime in my refillable mug.
 
We were disappointed in the Riverside Mill’s recent offerings. Although we are staying at Riverside in February, we plan on eating more at French Quarter this trip. Their food court menu seems to be a lot better plus they have Coke Freestyle machines which I absolutely love for my Diet Coke/Diet ginger ale with lime in my refillable mug.

Riverside Mill was our only criticism of POR when we stayed. Sassagoula Floatworks had opened recently and it was so bright and fresh, and the food so much taster, it made Riverside Mill feel really dated.
 
The only major change (and all of this happened 20 years ago) was from Disney's Dixie Landings Resort to Disney's Port Orleans Resort - Riverside. The accommodation buildings retained the same names and numbers as before, as did most other aspects of the resort. There were a couple of minor changes in the main building naming: the "Colonel's Cotton Mill" food court was renamed as "The Riverside Mill", and the lounge/bar became the "River Roost Lounge" instead of the "Cotton Co-op".
I appreciate your response. We 1st stayed at Dixie landings as when it opened in 1992 and still stayed at Dixie landings throughout the 90's. and into the year 2000. It appears that the Dixie landings name was dropped in 2001. So it was DL for 10 years. What finally tuned us off was the great distances from our room to the Disney bus stops as well as the bus frequency. Still confusing to know which property is what as Disney went thru this renaming process.
 
We were disappointed in the Riverside Mill’s recent offerings. Although we are staying at Riverside in February, we plan on eating more at French Quarter this trip. Their food court menu seems to be a lot better plus they have Coke Freestyle machines which I absolutely love for my Diet Coke/Diet ginger ale with lime in my refillable mug.

All the times we have stayed at Riverside we never visited French Quarter food court. How far from Riverside is it? We only ever just walked grounds but must not have come close to it lol.
 


I appreciate your response. We 1st stayed at Dixie landings as when it opened in 1992 and still stayed at Dixie landings throughout the 90's. and into the year 2000. It appears that the Dixie landings name was dropped in 2001. So it was DL for 10 years. What finally tuned us off was the great distances from our room to the Disney bus stops as well as the bus frequency. Still confusing to know which property is what as Disney went thru this renaming process.
We fortunately still have one of the original Dixie Landings refillable mugs that were supposed to be refillable forever. I know the buses can be a little crazy, but we are thankfully pat the “theme park commando” life and are now able to enjoy not rushing to buses. That is one reason we love the entire Port Orleans complex. There is not a more relaxed feel along with beautiful grounds anywhere else on property. Add that to Yehaw Bob, the boat ride to Disney Springs, and the absolutely FANTASTIC cast members and you come up with one special place.
 
All the times we have stayed at Riverside we never visited French Quarter food court. How far from Riverside is it? We only ever just walked grounds but must not have come close to it lol.
The walk to FQ is an easy one. Just go across the bridges from the mansions and go under the bridge closest to Paterre Place in the direction opposite Ol’ Man Island. French Quarter will be just past the bridge on your right. Can’t miss it.
 
Look for a room in Oak Manor. There are actually some: 9013, 9014, 9100, 9099 and the ones above those that are almost Garden View like. If you have TouringPlans you can look at the room views and request a room. 9026, 9025, 9024 and above are also good vies for a Standard View. I am sure that if you keep looking that you will find a discounted Garden View room. The November discounts do not usually come out until the middle of July historically with AP rates usually coming out around the same time. Best of luck in trying to change, but if you can't, the rooms above would work best.

Also, looking at rooms and thinking about it, we are running Wine & Dine on our trip so we'll be up 2-3 mornings at 2:30-3am. My priorities are quiet, but close to transportation I've heard the movie on the lawn before and would prefer not to. (My BFF who I am traveling with is deaf and while she wears a cochlear implant during the day it doesn't bother her at night. I seem to have heightened auditory senses race weekends so I like to minimize sound.) I think the rooms at the back of the buildings would be quieter, but how do they compare in walk to transportation and the food court? (Gotta see Yee Haw Bob and get my tea in the morning before my races!)
 


Also, looking at rooms and thinking about it, we are running Wine & Dine on our trip so we'll be up 2-3 mornings at 2:30-3am. My priorities are quiet, but close to transportation I've heard the movie on the lawn before and would prefer not to. (My BFF who I am traveling with is deaf and while she wears a cochlear implant during the day it doesn't bother her at night. I seem to have heightened auditory senses race weekends so I like to minimize sound.) I think the rooms at the back of the buildings would be quieter, but how do they compare in walk to transportation and the food court? (Gotta see Yee Haw Bob and get my tea in the morning before my races!)
Oak Manor is close to both the East and South bus depots. The East is on the Mansion side and the South is in front of the main resort building. The Garden View rooms will be on the side away from the "Movies Under the Stars" location.
 
Quick question: Since the Royal Guest rooms have not been refurbished yet, do they still have the individual shampoo and conditioner bottles or do they have the 3 big bottles attached to the shower wall.
 
I know the Port Orleans buses have been discussed ad nauseam. The first page of this thread has numerous posts about the buses. But the thread is 5 years old, and I really don't have time to sift through 451 pages to see if the information is current, so I'm hoping someone can confirm whether or not the information I've found is correct as of my posting. portorleans.org shows the theme park bus order is as follows:

Park -> French Quarter (if shared) -> Riverside West -> Riverside North -> Riverside East -> Riverside South -> Park

That site also indicates that from ~8am-11am, one bus goes from Riverside South to Magic Kingdom and another bus picks up at the other three stops and goes to Magic Kingdom. I have scoured the internet looking for bus order information and I have seen numerous conflicting comments. Some people say they stayed near the West bus stop and were never the first people on the bus. Others said they always got on empty buses at the South stop. Someone said they always had full buses pass them by at the East stop. Obviously, there are many factors that could have affected the experiences of all these people. What is the current nominal order for park buses? Does Disney still operate the two buses to Magic Kingdom as described above? Do they do this for any other parks? Does the order/frequency change during busy times (like mornings)? Do they do something to keep the stops at the end from continually getting the short end of the stick? It might make sense that the East stop is not ideal because you have people from West and North getting on before you. Does the South stop get a lot more people than the other stops? I would expect it to, especially around mealtimes, but if it's the last stop on the route, that seems like a recipe for long lines.

I'm going to make my room request for next weekend soon, so I'm trying to make an educated request. Proximity to "the right" bus stop is probably #1 on my list, as it's going to be a park till you drop weekend trip and we won't have much time to spend at the resort.

Thanks for the help.
 
I know the Port Orleans buses have been discussed ad nauseam.

That much is certainly true. :)

Everything else is just common practice and guidelines, they seem to change routes and move goalposts regularly. I'm not sure whether the separate MK buses in the morning (one for South, another bus for West>North>East) is exactly a rule, or if it even still happens on a regular basis. And even if it does, it could change again next week, or just be random depending on demand and/or available buses/drivers.

The normal route is definitely still West>North>East>South though, but any more is rather a case of finding out when you get there. Personally, I've given up on second-guessing the system and mostly just use the South Depot for convenience unless another one is much closer to me. And if I stand, I stand, it's only about a ten minute ride from there.

Oh, and remember that while using the West Depot might mean buses could arrive nice and empty in the mornings, as soon as a significant number of people start leaving the parks (lunchtime to mid-afternoon) the West Depot may have buses arriving already full of guests returning from parks to the hotel.

Andre
 
We are here now and went to Magic Kingdom yesterday. We are using the South bus stop. The MK buses were empty when they arrived in the morning. Epcot had extra hours yesterday and we saw a lot of buses for that park.
All of the park buses stopped at the west depot first on the way back from the park. Most of the buses only went to Riverside.
We have had great luck with the buses and the boat. Most of the time we only waited a few minutes for one.
 
If I wanted to catch the very first bus from POR to DHS on a day with a 7 am open, what time should I plan to be at the South Depot bus stop? What if I want to pick up the bus at the West Depot? We will be checking out and dropping bags with bell services before rope-dropping TSL. RIP my sleep schedule
 
If I wanted to catch the very first bus from POR to DHS on a day with a 7 am open, what time should I plan to be at the South Depot bus stop? What if I want to pick up the bus at the West Depot? We will be checking out and dropping bags with bell services before rope-dropping TSL. RIP my sleep schedule
We went to DHS this morning from the south depot and the bus arrived at 5:54 am. The bus time showed up on the bus app which is how we knew that it was coming. We also had three minutes to put on our shoes and run to the bus stop, since I had just remembered to check the app. DHS opened at 7 am today and we arrived at the park around 6:08 am. Baggage check was almost empty and they started letting people into the park around 6:20 am but we were held at the end of Hollywood Blvd until 7 am.

I have heard that the earliest bus to DHS starts at 5:30am, but I don't have any confirmation of that. The bus app lists the bus times for each of the four depots.
 
We went to DHS this morning from the south depot and the bus arrived at 5:54 am

I would agree that the main South Depot would be the best bet, just in case they aren't supporting the outer circle run yet. They should do all of them, but why risk it? If the park opens at 7am at the moment, there ought to be buses starting at least an hour before then.

Did the RoTR registration open for you once you had scanned your magic bands to enter the park (even though you were held at Hollywood Boulevard) or at official park opening time?

Andre
 
I would agree that the main South Depot would be the best bet, just in case they aren't supporting the outer circle run yet. They should do all of them, but why risk it? If the park opens at 7am at the moment, there ought to be buses starting at least an hour before then.

Did the RoTR registration open for you once you had scanned your magic bands to enter the park (even though you were held at Hollywood Boulevard) or at official park opening time?

Andre
They let us in the park around 6:20 am but the boarding groups didn’t open up until 7 am. They held everyone at Hollywood Boulevard until the opening time of 7am
 

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