Disney's Port Orleans Resort – Riverside
Port Orleans Riverside is the larger of Walt Disney World's two Port Orleans resorts, a Moderate hotel spread across two hundred acres of themed rural Louisiana. It comes in two halves, the grand white-columned mansions of Magnolia Bend and the rustic wooden lodges of Alligator Bayou, linked by bridges and shaded paths along a man-made river. It has the only Walt Disney World Moderate rooms that sleep five in one room, a pool island with a sawmill slide, a sit-down Southern restaurant and a boat to Disney Springs.
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Is it worth it?
Strongest for families who'll spend real time at the resort, rather than families who want the quickest possible run to the parks.
Riverside is the bigger and greener of the two Port Orleans resorts, a Moderate hotel, Disney's mid-range tier between the cheaper Value resorts and the pricier Deluxes. The Moderate money buys two queen beds, expansive grounds, a sit-down restaurant, a pool island and a boat to Disney Springs. Families who plan a few resort days into the trip get the most from it; for an all-parks trip where the room is just somewhere to sleep, the premium over a Value resort is harder to justify.
The downsides follow from the size. It's bus-only to the parks and the main pool is the weakest of any Moderate. Which side and building you book shapes the whole stay, so decide that first.
Best for
Families who'll spend time at the resort and want space and Southern theming, a room that sleeps five or a relaxed sit-down dinner without leaving the grounds.
Magnolia Bend or Alligator Bayou?
The one choice to get right. Magnolia Bend has grand mansions with lifts and river views. Alligator Bayou has rustic two-storey lodges and no lifts.
The only Moderate that sleeps five
Alligator Bayou's fifth-sleeper rooms add a child-size fold-down bed, so a family of five shares a single room.
The four bus depots
The parks are bus only, and the bus works round four stops in turn. It can arrive full at the busy South Depot and skip you, so allow a full hour to reach a park.
The Royal Rooms
The Tiana-themed rooms in building 95 have light Princess and the Frog theming and a headboard that glows with fireflies at night. The premium over a standard room is wasted on a young child who won't notice the theming.
Where is it?
Set along the man-made Sassagoula River, a short boat ride from Disney Springs, with its smaller sister Port Orleans French Quarter next door.
Quick facts for UK families
The two sides of Riverside
Magnolia Bend's grand plantation mansions and Alligator Bayou's rustic backwoods lodges, connected by bridges over the river.
Riverside opened in 1992 as Dixie Landings and took its present name in 2001. It's built as two contrasting places along the Sassagoula, the river that winds through the grounds and on to Disney Springs. Magnolia Bend is the formal half, four three-storey plantation-style mansions with white columns, fountains, clipped gardens and river views, and it holds the only lifts at the resort. Alligator Bayou is the wild half, sixteen low two-storey wooden lodges set among Spanish moss and giant oaks on winding tree-shaded paths.
The two halves look and feel quite different. Both share the pools, the food and the grounds, and both sit a short walk or one boat stop from Port Orleans French Quarter, the smaller New Orleans-themed sister resort next door. Riverside families often wander over to French Quarter for its Mickey beignets and its better toddler splash pool, since guests of either resort can use both.
The themingThings to spot around the resort
Riverside opened with an elaborate backstory that mostly went when the resort was renamed, but plenty of the detail is still there to find, and it makes a good hunt for an older child on a slow morning. The main building is themed as a riverboat company, and the columns in its lobby list eighteen river ports of call, with hidden Mickeys worked into the wood latticework above them and an accurately oriented compass inlaid into the rotunda floor. Dixieland jazz plays through the lobby and the grounds all day. Out on Ol' Man Island stands an eighty-five-ton live oak moved whole from elsewhere on the property, which almost no guest realises is there.
Which side, and which building, to request
It comes down to whether you need a lift, a bathtub or a room that sleeps five.
Magnolia Bend is the side with lifts, so it's the one that suits a pram, because Alligator Bayou's lodges are two-storey with stairs only, and even a ground-floor lodge room sits about eighteen inches up on a step or two. Alligator Bayou is the only side with the fold-down fifth bed, so it's the side for a room that sleeps five. For a bathtub to bath a baby, a ground-floor Magnolia Bend room is the reliable choice, because in the refurbished mansions the upper-floor rooms have a walk-in shower with no tub while the lower floors keep a bath. Getting two of these three right makes the whole stay easier.
Within each side, some buildings are far better placed than others. In Alligator Bayou the closest lodges to the main building and the food are 14, 15, 18 and 27, with 16 and 17 close behind at a standard rate, while the lodges numbered 34 to 39 are the most remote. In Magnolia Bend, buildings 85 and 90 sit near the pool bridge and the boat dock, and building 95 is the furthest mansion. Building 95 also holds the Royal Guest Rooms, covered below, which sit at a premium over a standard room. Requests aren't guaranteed unless you've paid for the category or have a medical need, so complete online check-in as soon as you book and describe what you need, a ground-floor room near the South Depot, say, rather than a room number. If you're travelling as a larger group or with grandparents alongside and can't fit everyone within one room's occupancy, many rooms connect through a shared door, and they come up more often if a connecting room is the only thing you ask for, since adding a location request as well lowers the odds. Alligator Bayou's lodges are being refurbished in stages into 2027, so if you're booking that side, check which lodges are open for your dates.
The rooms
Two queen beds in every standard room, all about the same size, with a fifth fold-down bed on the Alligator Bayou side.
The rooms are a plain, practical part of Riverside rather than a highlight, and they're much the same size across both sides, around 314 sq ft with two queen beds, a double sink and space for a cot. The refurbished Magnolia Bend rooms have light bayou-themed decor, herringbone vinyl flooring in place of the old carpet, a 55-inch television, USB and mains charging, a combination safe set at a reachable height and a child's step stool at the sink. By the bed is a "Hey Disney!" voice assistant, a Disney version of Alexa that answers park questions, tells a child jokes and stories and can send extra towels to the room, and you can unplug it if you'd rather it were off. There are no balconies, and the windows look onto the outdoor walkways. The in-room cooler chills drinks but has no freezer, so it won't keep ice packs frozen, and there's a coffee-pod maker rather than a kettle, though the front desk lends kettles, box fans and microwaves on request while they last.
| Room | Size | Sleeps | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| King Bed | About 314 sq ft (29 m²) | 2 | One king bed, in either side. The Alligator Bayou king rooms add the child-size fold-down, sleeping three. |
| Standard Location | About 314 sq ft (29 m²) | 4 + cot | Two queen beds, on the Magnolia Bend mansion side with lifts. |
| Standard Location – 5th Sleeper | About 314 sq ft (29 m²) | 5 | Two queens plus a child-size fold-down bed. Alligator Bayou only, and the only booking that guarantees the extra bed. |
| Preferred Location | About 314 sq ft (29 m²) | 4 + cot | The same two-queen room, nearer the main building and shops, in either side. |
| Royal Guest Room | About 314 sq ft (29 m²) | 4 + cot | Two queens in Magnolia Bend building 95, with a firefly headboard and light Tiana theming. |
The rooms are all much the same size, about 314 sq ft (29 m²). One child under three sleeps in a cot on top of the numbers above.
The Alligator Bayou fifth-sleeper rooms
The fifth-sleeper rooms are the reason many families choose Riverside, and they're on the Alligator Bayou side only. A child-size bed folds down from a cabinet over a bench seat, in front of the television, so two adults and three children sleep in one room instead of two. It suits a small child rather than an adult. The lodge rooms have only three small drawers, and the fold-down bed blocks them once it's down, so get out what you need first. Since the start of 2026 only the Standard Location fifth-sleeper category guarantees the bed, so book that one specifically if you're relying on it.
The Tiana rooms in building 95The Royal Guest Rooms
The Royal Guest Rooms in building 95 are two-queen Magnolia Bend rooms with light Princess and the Frog theming. A 2026 refurbishment left a headboard that glows with fireflies at night, a Tiana welcome letter and a child's step stool. They carry a premium over a standard room that's hard to justify for a young child, and they're pleasant enough if you happen to land one as a free upgrade.
Where to eat, from the food court to Boatwright's
A food court for everyday meals, a sit-down Southern restaurant, a piano lounge and a pool bar, with beignets a walk away.
Everyday meals happen at Riverside Mill, the food court, which is widely rated the best-themed at Walt Disney World, built around a working thirty-five-foot water wheel and cotton press that children like watching. It's open from early morning to late, with five counters covering a bakery and ice cream, a grill, pizza, pasta and Creole dishes and a carved-meats station, plus a grab-and-go cabinet for when a toddler's patience runs out. You order at the counter or through the My Disney Experience app, and unlike the rooms it has a microwave and toaster you can use. Some of the best dishes, the shrimp and grits and the gumbo, are on a dine-in-only board by the till rather than in the app, so check the physical sign before you order. You can buy a refillable resort mug here for the length of the stay, and it refills at any Walt Disney World resort food court, so it comes with you when you walk over to French Quarter.
If a child has a food allergy, there's an allergy-friendly menu card at the food court and at Boatwright's with the gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan choices flagged, and Disney runs a special diets email and phone line you can use before the trip to talk through anything the cards don't cover.
A sit-down dinner on-siteBoatwright's Dining Hall
Boatwright's is the resort's table-service restaurant, and being able to sit down to dinner without leaving the grounds is one real reason to choose Riverside over French Quarter, which has none. It serves Southern and Cajun food in the evenings only, in a room themed as a boat-builder's workshop, with a half-finished 1820s river boat hung from the ceiling and cutlery brought to the table in a woodworker's toolbox. It's one of the easiest table-service bookings at Walt Disney World, often with a walk-up wait rather than a reservation weeks out, which suits a family whose toddler's nap won't be timetabled. There's a create-your-own children's menu for ages nine and under, and the Taste of the Bayou platter, an all-you-care-to-enjoy spread of ribs, chicken, brisket and sides, is a long-running favourite for feeding a hungry family.
Music, the pool bar and deliveryRiver Roost, Muddy Rivers and a pizza to the room
Next to Boatwright's, River Roost is a fireside lounge best known for Yehaa Bob Jackson, a boogie-woogie piano player who has led a sing-along here since 1997 and draws guests from across the resort. It's free, with no cover charge, and the early part of the evening is aimed at families before it turns more adult later on, though the 8:30pm start is a stretch for a jet-lagged toddler in the first days of a trip. It's a bar rather than a character meal, and his nights move around, so check his own calendar at bobjacksonmusic.com before you count on him. Out on Ol' Man Island, the Muddy Rivers pool bar has a covered porch where you can sit with a drink and a Mickey pretzel while the children swim. If a day ends with an over-tired toddler, Sassagoula Pizza Express delivers pizza to the room in the evening, ordered from the room phone.
Ol' Man Island and the quiet pools
A pool island with a sawmill slide and a fenced toddler pool, plus five calm pools dotted round the grounds.
The main pool sits on Ol' Man Island, a three-and-a-half-acre wooded island reached by three wooden bridges and themed as an old sawmill, with a ninety-five-foot slide built into the millworks. The main pool steps down to about three feet at the shallow end rather than sloping up to dry land like a beach, so there's no zero-depth edge for a baby to sit in. Beside it is a separate shallow wading pool for little ones, which is fenced, a real help for one adult watching more than one child, though the playground next to it isn't, so it's a spot for close supervision. There are free children's life vests including infant sizes, and swim nappies are required for nappy-age children. A small hot tub sits beside the main pool with a chair lift and a fifteen-minute limit posted, though it holds only a handful of people and fills fast. Riverside's main pool is regularly called the weakest of any Moderate resort, small for a hotel this size and quick to fill at busy times.
The five leisure pools dotted round the grounds are the quieter draw for a family with young children, three on the Alligator Bayou side and two in Magnolia Bend. They have no slides, bars or lifeguards, but the Alligator Bayou ones are shaded and almost never busy, which makes them the easier place for a quick splash in the Florida heat. None of the pools here has a dedicated splash zone for toddlers, so many families walk or boat the ten minutes to French Quarter, whose pool has an under-height splash area with water cannons that Riverside's lacks. Watch for mosquitoes around the water at dusk.
Out on the groundsThings to do around the resort
The grounds are Riverside's strength for a family with young children. There's a nightly marshmallow campfire behind Ol' Man Island with sing-alongs, and an outdoor film on the Oak Manor lawn on several evenings a week, both early enough to end a day without a late bedtime. A mile-long paved path runs along the river for a morning pram walk, past the ducks, otters and rabbits that live around the water, though signs ask you not to feed the birds, which can nip. The Fishin' Hole on the island hires out cane poles for catch-and-release fishing that slightly older children enjoy. You can hire bikes and covered surrey bikes for the paths, take a twenty-five-minute horse-drawn carriage ride along the river or play in the Medicine Show Arcade, one of the largest resort arcades on the property. There's a craft session most afternoons, hair braiding down at the marina dock, face painting in the lobby some evenings and Mickey tie-dye to make, and in summer the seasonal Cool Kids' Summer programme adds a Disney character greeting in the lobby twice a day, so you can meet a character without queuing in a park, plus poolside activities, trivia nights and a pyjama party. The rest of the year has its own moments, with French Quarter's Fat Tuesday Pargo Parade winding through Riverside and past Ol' Man Island, a Creole Christmas soundtrack over the grounds from mid-November and a Cajun-roasted Thanksgiving dinner served in the food court on the day. Check the current resort schedule for your dates. The resort has no spa or gym.
Getting around by bus and boat
Buses to all four parks from four depots, and a boat to Disney Springs but not the parks.
Riverside reaches all four parks by bus, with no monorail, Skyliner or boat to the parks, so a park morning takes some planning. The resort has four bus depots, and a bus works round them in turn, which means it can fill at an earlier stop and reach the busy South Depot by the main building already full, then move on without you. On a bad morning that can mean a long wait, so the safe plan is to allow a full hour from your room to a park gate for anything time-critical, such as a booked breakfast. Journeys themselves are short once you're moving, roughly ten to twenty minutes to each park, and live wait times show at the stops and in the app. No room is more than about a four-minute walk from a bus stop, so the walk to the main building and the fill-up risk are what tire you out, not the distance to the stop. An internal shuttle runs between the four depots and the main building, so you're not pushing a pram the whole way from a far Alligator Bayou lodge, whether you're heading to the food court or to a different depot. French Quarter, by contrast, has a single bus stop that's never skipped, which is the main reason some families with a buggy lean to the smaller sister resort.
The boat isn't a way to reach the parks. It runs along the Sassagoula to Disney Springs, stopping at French Quarter on the way, roughly every twenty minutes through the day, with a backup bus when it can't run in a storm. Prams have to be folded on both the boat and the buses. When a nap matters or the timing is tight, a Minnie Van, Disney's premium car service booked through the app, will take you door to door for an extra charge, and self-parking is free if you have a hire car. The two water parks sit on the bus network too, Typhoon Lagoon on the Disney Springs bus and Blizzard Beach on the Animal Kingdom one, and there's no direct bus between resorts, so to reach another hotel you change at a park or at Disney Springs, with an internal shuttle across to Fort Wilderness in the late afternoon. How the buses, boats and the rest of Disney's transport fit together is in our guide to getting around Walt Disney World.
Checking inArrival and the app
You can check in through the My Disney Experience app before you arrive, with rooms ready in the afternoon, and the same app handles your park plans and mobile food orders. As an on-site guest you can buy Lightning Lane passes to skip some queues up to seven days before you travel, which we cover in our tickets and passes guide. Bell Services will hold luggage and any grocery delivery at either end of the stay. There's a cash machine in the main building lobby, and the front desk will change foreign currency, useful if you've landed with sterling in your pocket.
Babies, toddlers and the day-to-day
Cots and baby kit on request, the shop's gaps, and the practical things to plan around.
The front desk lends baby and toddler kit for the room free on request, though none of it is guaranteed, so ask early. A travel cot, a nappy bin, a baby bath seat, a night light, bed bumpers and a box fan that doubles as white noise are all available, and the travel cot fits between the beds and the door, or tucks into the curtained vanity area for a darker place to sleep. Sort milk storage at booking rather than on the day, because the in-room cooler runs warmer than a proper fridge, so a family carrying breast milk or formula should request a medical-grade fridge through Disney's special reservations line when they book.
The resort's single shop, Fulton's General Store, keeps the everyday things you run out of, from sun cream and over-the-counter medicines to cold drinks and snacks, but it isn't a baby shop, so bring your nappies and formula or have a supermarket deliver to Bell Services for the week. There's no baby-care centre here, so changes and feeds happen in the room or a quiet public restroom. Housekeeping comes every other day rather than daily, which matters when a bin is filling with nappies, and there's a self-service laundry beside each of the five quiet pools. The wooded, watery grounds bring out mosquitoes at dusk, so pack insect repellent, which matters most for babies and toddlers who can't apply it themselves.
If a child is ill or has a tumble, there's no medical centre at the resort itself, so the front desk is where you go first, and the nearest first aid station is inside each park. For anything that needs a doctor, AdventHealth Centra Care runs walk-in urgent-care clinics off-site that serve the whole of Walt Disney World. If you'd like an evening to yourselves, in-room babysitting can be arranged through Guest Services, worth knowing since Boatwright's is a grown-up sort of dinner and River Roost turns more adult later on. If the trip falls on a birthday, you can arrange for balloons, a cake or flowers to be set up in the room as a surprise before you arrive, through Disney's in-room floral and gifts service.
Loves and gripes
The praise and the grumbles are both consistent.
Families come back calling Riverside good value for a Moderate and the quietest of Walt Disney World's Moderate resorts, praising the space and the sense of calm after a day in the crowds. The grounds and the river walks draw the warmest words, along with Boatwright's and its Taste of the Bayou platter for a relaxed dinner, Yehaa Bob for a night out and the boat to Disney Springs, which many rate one of the best rides on the whole property.
The grumbles are as steady. The bus and its four depots are the one families raise most, along with the size of the resort and the long walk back from the far lodges after a park day. After that come the main pool, the every-other-day housekeeping and the cooler that isn't a proper fridge, and on the Alligator Bayou side the lack of lifts and the paths that are dark at night.
Questions parents ask
A few things families check before booking, plus the official links and when this guide was last updated.
French Quarter or Riverside for a first trip with a toddler?
For a first trip built mostly around park days, French Quarter is the simpler base, with one bus stop instead of four and shorter walks to reach it. Riverside makes more sense if you'll be around the resort in the day rather than only sleeping there, or if you need the room that sleeps five. If you're torn, some families book part of the stay in each and let Bell Services move the bags, taking the compact base for the youngest days and Riverside's space for the rest.
Does a baby in a cot count towards the room limit?
No. A child under three sleeping in a cot doesn't count towards the room's four-adult limit and there's no charge for it, so a couple with a baby and two older children still fits a standard two-queen room. The cot comes from the front desk on request rather than being in the room as standard, so ask for it when you book.
Will we be near dogs if we book Alligator Bayou?
Some Alligator Bayou lodges are set aside as dog-friendly rooms, the only pet rooms at the resort. If you'd rather not be near dogs, that's a reason to choose Magnolia Bend, which has none, or to ask for an Alligator Bayou lodge away from the pet buildings. If you're travelling with a dog, the reverse is true and you'll need one of those Alligator Bayou rooms.
Is the fold-down fifth bed big enough for an older child?
It's child-size, built for someone up to about five foot three, so it works for a child up to roughly twelve rather than a teenager or an adult. The mattress is on the thin side, fine for a young child but less comfortable for an older one over a long stay. The room takes two adults and three children, not five adults.
Port Orleans Riverside photos
The mansions and lodges of the two sides, the standard rooms and the Royal Guest Rooms, all in one place.
Open the Port Orleans Riverside photo gallery →
Useful links
- Disney's Port Orleans Resort – Riverside: the official hotel page for rooms, dining and live prices.
- Port Orleans French Quarter: our guide to the smaller sister resort next door.
- Magic Kingdom: our guide to the park most families with little ones head to first.
- Tickets and passes: how tickets, early park entry, Lightning Lane and UK booking work.
- Getting around Walt Disney World: the buses, boats, monorail and Skyliner, and how to move between resorts and parks.
- Walt Disney World with little ones: our guide to the resort, its parks and getting there.
Last updated 9 July 2026.
