This was our fourth stay here (May 2022, July 2022, August 2023, May 2026). My review today is our most recent stay, a week in May 2026. There was 7 in our group: 4 adults and 3 kids ages 6,4,and 10 months. We requested adjoining rooms and that worked out great. The resort provided a port a crib for the baby. The resort gift shop has a little area with toiletries and basic meds which came in handy. There's a lot of walking at the resort - from our room to the food court, lobby, bus stop, pool, etc. But it's so beautiful and relaxing that we didn't mind. For guests who want a resort with minimal walking, this would not be it. For guest who enjoy nature and don't mind walking to and from areas, it's perfect.
This is an exceptionally beautiful Disney Resort. Vast amounts of trees, shrubs, foliage, plenty of walking trails, multiple pools, two completely different guest room areas of the resort (Alligator Bayou and Magnolia Bend), a large food court, sit down table service restaurant, arcade, bar area, and gift shop. There's stops for horse and carriage rides and for river boats to French Quarter resort and Disney Springs area. There's a lot going on here but at the same time, because of the layout and amount of trees, it's quiet and peaceful.
ROOMS: The two areas of guest room buildings are very distinct from one another.
The buildings in Alligator Bayou are nestled within a vast array of trees and foliage. Even though there's a lot of buildings in this area it's impossible to see them all at once because the buildings are all so hidden by the trees. In fact, even buildings next to each other aren't fully visible. There's a maze of walkways - but plenty of directional signs - along with little bridges over pools of water. It's a cozy area, buildings surrounded by nature.
The Alligator Bayou buildings do NOT have elevators. If stairs are an issue guests must request a ground floor when making their reservation or book a room in the Magnolia Bend area, which has elevators. It seems most - if not all - of the rooms in Alligator Bayou are "Fifth Sleepers", meaning there's a fold down kid-sized bed that when folded up doubles as a bench. Advantages of this set up is there's an extra bed for a kid so the room sleeps more family members. Disadvantages is that with this 5th sleeper there's no dresser top to set things on and less dresser drawers. These rooms can be a bit crowded for a family especially if there's a port a crib and/or stroller in the room. Some of the rooms do seem a bit outdated, but they're clean and there's fun colorful alligator decor. There's room under the beds to store suitcases. The tub/showers have a curtain and there's a curtain to separate the bathroom area from the bedroom area.
The Magnolia Bend buildings, where we stayed this time, are a bit larger, have elevators, wider walkways, and are more open. There's trees, but more specifically appointed with a groomed vibe as opposed to the more wild appearing greenery in Alligator Bayou. Because of the more open landscaping we had a lot more natural light into the rooms which was nice. Another big plus is a very long dresser and mini fridge combo that has a lot of storage and provides a big space on top for setting things. There's even more storage in the bathroom area with a set of shelves and a large closet with plenty of hangers. The mini fridge kept all our food and drinks cold. There's room under the bed to store suitcases. The shower has a sliding door and there's a heavy wooden, decorated, sliding door to separate the bathroom area from the bed area. The bed was incredibly comfortable (we had a King Bed) and there's plenty of pillows.
FOOD: We never ate in the table service dining room, so I can't comment on that. It was always busy, though. We used the food court, which had a pretty good variety of meals for breakfast/lunch/dinner and a grab and go cold case with salads, sandwiches, drinks, beer, yogurts, etc. Plenty of hot coffee and beverage dispensers. Even when busy there was never a long wait to get a drink. We were on the Disney Dining Plan and used our included refillable resort mugs every day. Plenty of tables and lots of windows in the food court. We also did the mobile order on our Disney App and picked up our food which was all packed up "to go".
POOLS: Several pools with different sizes and vibes. The largest pool has a bar attached, slides, music playing over the speakers, and a large hot tub area. Lots of families enjoying this pool area. All the pools are fenced in.
LAUNDRY: There was a laundry room next to the building we stayed in, adjacent to the pool. The machines use an App for payment and also lets the user know how much time until the machine is done. We used the laundry room and everything worked great.
DISNEY BUSES: This resort often gets a bad rap for the multiple bus stops. It's a BIG resort, but we never had an issues at all with the Disney bus transportation. All of the bus stops are covered with benches, beverage vending machines, and TVs showing the arrival times of the buses. The buses do stop at each bus stop throughout the resort but it's not that big of a deal.
Overall this is one of our favorite Disney on site resorts. We like the beauty of the place, food court, and pools. It's also a short walk or boat ride down to Port Orleans French Quarter Resort. We usually take a stroll over there at least once during our stays at Riverside.
