Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside is a moderate-tier hotel in the Disney Springs Resort Area of Walt Disney World, spread along the winding Sassagoula River in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It opened on February 2, 1992 as Disney’s Dixie Landings Resort and was renamed and reorganized as the Riverside side of the combined Port Orleans Resort on April 1, 2001, when Disney merged it with the neighboring French Quarter section under one shared name and boat dock system.
The draw here is scale and setting: 2,048 rooms split between the rustic “Alligator Bayou” lodges and the grander antebellum-style “Magnolia Bend” mansions, all wrapped around live oaks, magnolia trees and quiet river paths. It’s a good pick for families who want a real Disney resort experience — theming, boat rides, a table-service restaurant, and official park perks — without paying Deluxe-resort prices.
Stats at a Glance
- Resort: Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside
- Location: Disney Springs Resort Area, Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, FL
- Opened: February 2, 1992 (as Dixie Landings Resort; renamed Riverside April 1, 2001)
- Rooms: 2,048 (Alligator Bayou lodges and Magnolia Bend mansions, including Royal Guest Rooms)
- Price tier: Moderate — standard rooms roughly $290–$565/night depending on season; Royal Guest Rooms from about $400/night
- Park transport: Disney bus service to all four theme parks and both water parks; boat launch to Disney Springs
- Perks: Early Theme Park Entry, complimentary resort transportation, Disney Dining Plan eligibility, MagicBand+/park ticket integration
- Theme: Antebellum-South and Louisiana bayou, with Princess and the Frog-themed Royal Guest Rooms
Rooms, Theming and Dining
Riverside’s two sub-areas feel like different resorts. Alligator Bayou has 1,024 rooms in 16 rustic two-story lodges tucked among trees and waterways, with a woodsy, cabin-like feel. Magnolia Bend has 1,024 rooms across four grand plantation-style “mansion” buildings with a more formal, columned Southern look and closer proximity to the main Sassagoula Steamboat Company building. Around 500 rooms have been converted into Princess and the Frog-themed Royal Guest Rooms, popular with families traveling with young kids.
Dining centers on Boatwright’s Dining Hall, a table-service restaurant serving Southern comfort food, plus the Riverside Mill Food Court for quick service and the River Roost Lounge for drinks. The resort also has a feature pool (Ol’ Man Island), several quiet pools, and boat and bike rentals along the river.
Getting to the Parks and Perks
Like every Walt Disney World-owned resort, Riverside offers complimentary bus transportation to Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, plus a boat launch across the Sassagoula River to Disney Springs. Buses run directly from the resort’s lobby areas rather than a single central hub, so travel time varies a bit by which lodge or mansion building you’re staying in. As an on-site Disney resort, guests here also get Early Theme Park Entry, letting them enter any park 30 minutes before the official opening time.
Who Should Stay Here
Riverside suits families and Disney fans who want authentic theming and on-site perks at a moderate price point rather than Deluxe-resort rates — especially those with young children drawn to the Princess and the Frog rooms. It’s a poor fit for guests who want to walk to a park (there’s no walking path to any theme park) or who need the fastest possible resort-to-park commute, since bus and boat rides add time compared to Deluxe monorail or Skyliner resorts.
Explore more: More Walt Disney World hotels, Magic Kingdom guide, Disney’s Hollywood Studios guide.
Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside FAQs
How do you get from Port Orleans Riverside to the parks, and do you get early entry?
Riverside relies on Disney bus service to all four theme parks and the two water parks, plus a boat to Disney Springs — there’s no monorail, Skyliner, or walking path from this resort. As an on-site Disney hotel, guests do get Early Theme Park Entry, which allows access to any park 30 minutes before its official opening.
Is Port Orleans Riverside worth the price compared to a Value resort?
As a Moderate resort, standard rooms typically run roughly $290–$565 a night depending on season, more than Disney’s Value resorts but less than Deluxe properties. The extra cost buys a table-service restaurant, a themed feature pool, boat rentals, and river-view or water-view room options that Value resorts don’t offer.
What’s the difference between Alligator Bayou and Magnolia Bend?
Alligator Bayou rooms sit in rustic, wooded two-story lodges and tend to be a short walk from Ol’ Man Island, while Magnolia Bend rooms are in grander plantation-style mansion buildings closer to the main lobby, food court, and Boatwright’s Dining Hall. Both sections share the same bus stops, boat dock, and resort-wide perks.
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Photo: MichaelGray (talk) / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.