Reimagined Rooms Made Us Fall in Love Again With Disney World’s Most Romantic Resort

So much has changed at Walt Disney World in the last 5 years and is slated to change in the next 5. We’ve lost classic attractions, added exciting new E-Tickets, and will have blockbuster expansions that include Monstropolis, Tropical Americas, Piston Peak, and Villains Land.

Then there are the resorts. Many have seen dramatic transformations that include large-scale reimaginings and modernizations. The upside is that most of these resort redos have been tasteful and well-themed. The downside is that there are towers that, well, tower over the more stout and sprawling properties, including Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs, and the Polynesian. Hardest hit of all is Fort Wilderness, which will soon “welcome” Disney Lakeshore Lodge to the neighborhood.

The list goes on and on. There’s been plenty of progress and improvement, but a lot of the hotel construction–or at least the locations of the additions–have been dubious at best. Given what a nostalgic and sentimental place Walt Disney World is, it can be jarring. Fortunately, there’s one place where time has effectively stood still. If you’re looking to step back in time to 20 years ago, one resort has you covered.

Not much is different at Port Orleans as compared to a decade ago. Or even two decades ago. Sometimes the best things at Walt Disney World are the constants. The most consequential changes came way back in 2001, and it’s been mostly the status quo since then. At least, as contrasted with the projects that have happened at other hotels, and especially other Moderate Resorts, during that time.

At least, not much is different with the bones of the Port Orleans Resorts as a whole, their common areas, and everything that fans love. Thankfully, the rooms have been refreshed several times during that span. The latest still-in-progress overhaul at Port Orleans Riverside recently wrapped up its first phase, revealing new rooms in our favorite section of the resort that are now available for booking.

Port Orleans Riverside Room Redo Timeline

The first phase of the Port Orleans Riverside room refurbishment is unofficially finished. This project was originally slated to end in 2026, but as we noted in the 2026-2027 Walt Disney World Hotel Construction & Refurbishment Tracker, that was always an unrealistic timeline since this is a hard goods overhaul.

Late last year, the work was extended from its original end date to August 2027. However, this isn’t actually a single project that was delayed by over a year. It’s two phases, and only one was put on the calendar originally.

The first phase of this project updated all of the Magnolia Bend rooms, and is now completed. That included both the standard rooms and the Royal Rooms. One of the more consequential changes is that now only Building 95 (Parterre Place) houses Royal Rooms.

Only the standard rooms are covered here, but unfortunately, the redone Royal Rooms appear almost indistinguishable from the standard rooms. That’s a different topic for a different post, though.

Alligator Bayou is receiving the next round of room redos, and crews will soon move to that side of the resort. That had not yet happened during our stay, and it’s my understanding that half of the project won’t start until late summer.

There’s no official date, but Riverside is one of the special Cool Kids’ Summer resorts, and that runs through September 8, 2026. Speaking of which, check out the free resort room amenities available for young families at Riverside, both for this summer and on a permanent basis.

There are also deep discounts on select Riverside rooms that run through August 15, 2026. Both have undoubtedly been a big boost to summer occupancy, so we’d expect the Alligator Bayou work to commence after one or both of the above wind down.

Regardless, making a room request for Magnolia Bend will mitigate exposure to the second phase of this project. Even in the absence of construction, we favor the mansions in Magnolia Bend over the more rustic but charming Alligator Bayou. (Just don’t book a 5th sleeper room if you want a new room.) See Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort Room Reimagining Extended by Year-Plus to 2027 for more on the Alligator Bayou overhaul.

Now let’s head inside the reimagined regular Magnolia Bend guest rooms at Port Orleans Riverside…

Inside Reimagined Riverside Regular Rooms

This room redo at Port Orleans Riverside is a hard goods refurbishment. For those unfamiliar with this term, it’s typically a gut-job during which the furniture, flooring, fixtures, and other elements are replaced. We refer to these as room reimaginings, as they usually result in materially-different rooms.

In between hard goods refurbishments, there are soft goods refurbishments to extend the life of a particular room design, and to give them a fresh look that takes advantage of industry trends and innovations in design. Soft goods refurbishments typically involve updating furnishings, including but not limited to wall coverings, flooring, linens, decor, and some furniture.

Here are the newly-reimagined rooms at Port Orleans Riverside post-hard goods refurbishment. These feature a fresh coat of light blue paint that brightens the room–or makes it overly bland, boring, and beige–depending upon your perspective.

The flooring has changed once again. Previously, there was a straight arrangement of wood flooring. It looked good, but perhaps slightly dated. Now the floor is a herringbone pattern, similar to other new rooms at Walt Disney World.

I don’t have a strong opinion on this flooring change. This is pretty similar to several other recently-redone rooms at Walt Disney World. The argument could be made that it adds a bit of texture to the space, but I found the previous flooring perfectly fine. It was more classic.

One of the biggest differences of the Riverside room redo versus French Quarter is that the bench seat along the wall has been dropped in favor of the more traditional table and chairs.

This is only a change if you’re contrasting what we would’ve expected here based on the French Quarter template. It’s really more of a return to normal for Moderate Resort rooms, with POFQ now being the outlier.

The chairs are wood with a yellow padded seat and a blue paisley floral pattern on the back. All of this furniture feels substantial, and fits the theme of the reimagined rooms.

From what we understand, guest feedback on the bench seats at French Quarter was mixed, at best, leading to this being dropped from the Riverside redo. Apparently the seating was awkward for a lot of guests.

Our apparently unpopular opinion is that the bench seating was better. At least for our young family. It was easily able to seat both of us with a toddler in between, which was perfect for us. Stylistically, that seating also added a bit of flair to the room via its colorful pattern. I get the complaints, though.

Much like the new rooms at French Quarter, the new Magnolia Bend rooms at Riverside also have a Princess and the Frog motif. There are three prints above the table and chairs, featuring Tiana over the years, from childhood to adulthood.

Across from the beds and adjacent to the table and chairs is the dresser, with the television mounted on the wall above that. There are several USB-A and USB-C ports on the dresser, but I still prefer a dedicated device for faster charging.

The biggest change about the dresser is that it’s longer and slimmer. It doesn’t stick out as far as the old dresser, and extends all the way to the wall that abuts with the bathroom. This means slightly more storage and floor space.

The new shelves above the coffee maker add storage space, and a bit of color with the yellow paisley pattern. The coffee maker is of the ordinary Cuisinart variety capable of making a single cup or two cups at a time, with Joffrey’s packets provided.

The beverage cooler is hidden behind the screened door in the dresser of the console. Note that these are the norm in hotel rooms at Walt Disney World, and you’re technically not supposed to store milk or other dairy products in them.

Since I like to live on the wild side, I always store yogurt and more perishable products in them. No issues thus far–knock on wood. Proper mini-fridges are only in DVC rooms or really old rooms.

The headboards above the beds replace the old wood frame, and extend to the ceiling.

The upper portion features bayou artwork, which I assume is from Princess and the Frog, but honestly, I don’t remember. It could just as easily be Bambi or some other film I’m forgetting. That wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense in a room that’s otherwise PatF, but Disney has made stranger decisions.

These follow the template established by French Quarter, albeit with a few twists. For one, there’s an actual mural here as opposed to a pattern. Both work well. The mosaic pattern is classy, but the mural really pops and gives this room a sense of life.

These are reminiscent of the headboards at other new rooms, with BoardWalk and Grand Floridian coming to mind for me. There’s nice depth and dimension to these, with an upholstered area right above the pillows and then the bayou mural, with a white frame that helps it contrast with the light blue paint of the wall itself.

There’s also a new lighting sconce in between the beds (as opposed to above the headboards at POFQ), as well as fold-out reading lights flanking each side of each headboard. For me, these are improvements over what was there before, giving more personality and pops of color to the rooms to counter the bland/boring/beige complaint, while also classing them up a bit.

If the sheets, mattresses or pillows are different, we couldn’t tell. One underrated room improvement of the last decade has been more plush pillows and mattresses, and that remains true with Riverside’s reimagined rooms. (It’s the same at all Moderate Resorts, to the best of our knowledge.)

Longtime readers of the blog know that I was a big bedrunner proponent, lamenting their loss long as the hotel industry as a whole has moved away from them. But bedrunners have largely been gone for almost a full decade at this point, so it’s senseless to fixate on them.

The new trend of throw pillows is an adequate replacement for bed runners, so I’m going to declare victory over bland bedding. This teal pillow with floral patterning adds another pop of color to the otherwise sterile bed. Between this and the headboards, the bed looks about as nice as can be expected.

Adjacent to that bed, there’s a new barn door to the bathroom that replaces the previous curtain that separated the areas. The deeper blue color stands out well, and the pattern mirrors the throw pillow.

One minor difference is no artwork to the right of the door. That would’ve been nice to see, especially since this same space at French Quarter has a piece. But it also only has two above the bench, so still the same number overall.

There’s also a small shelf flanking the headboard closest to the bathroom for a phone. The center bedside table should suffice for this for the other bed, and offers more charging ports.

The middle is where you’ll also find the divisive Alexa ‘Hey Disney!’ device, which is now in all rooms at Walt Disney World. I’ve come to appreciate this for the Soundscapes. Between that and the AC at full blast, outside noise isn’t an issue for me.

The bathroom has been totally updated, with a modernization consistent with other resorts around Walt Disney World.

Here you have two sinks, illuminated bathroom mirror, and make-up mirror. A lot of shelf space and storage has also been added. Personally, I’d be willing to trade those shelves to the right for more counter space so it’s easier for two people to get ready at once.

The bathroom floor has also been redone and now features a mosaic pattern in the color scheme of the entire room, tying the whole redesign together. This looks fantastic, and again helps the room counter the bland/boring/beige accusations.

There’s also a pull-out step stool that’s cleverly integrated into the design. I didn’t properly appreciate this previously, but our daughter loves this, and being able to wash her hands all by herself. We’re big on independent handwashing these days. Some say it’s the most fun that can be had in a hotel room.

I didn’t do the best job of capturing it, but there’s a full-length mirror in the corner, next to a cabinet area with shelves and an ironing board.

Across from the cabinet area is an open closet with hangers and a luggage rack that’s sufficiently sized for an open carry-on suitcase. Probably a better solution than having my bag out in the middle of the room. Above that is extra linens, in case you need more because your spouse cranked the AC to drown out noise from the outside world.

A pocket door leads to the bathroom, where the shower has also been redone, just like other Moderate Resort bathrooms.

As you can see, ours was a traditional walk-in shower. For those who want or need a bathtub, those are also still available. If that’s important to you, we’d recommend making a request during online check-in and then confirming with the front desk before entering the room.

As before, the shampoo, conditioner, and soap are provided via wall-mounted dispensers rather than the small individual bottles. This is nothing new from the old design, but these are new dispensers.

Disney acquired the rights to the formula for the H2O bath products last year, so these are now private label–but identical to before. (See Walt Disney World’s Bath Brand Ended, But Its Scent Spirit Lives On.)

Here’s a video tour of this newly-reimagined regular Magnolia Bend room at Port Orleans Riverside:

We like these redone rooms and view them as an upgrade from the old Riverside rooms, at least the regular non-Royal ones. The previous rooms were beginning to show their age and were never exemplars of themed design in the first place. There are enough pops of color and details that add texture, depth and dimension that these rooms work for us.

From our perspective, these do enough to address concerns about generic or boring rooms. This won’t satisfy every Walt Disney World diehard, but for us, this room finds the perfect middle ground between bland and busy. Maybe they could’ve used a coat of more brightly-colored paint on another wall or another piece of art, but they largely work.

When it comes to both function and form, I appreciate what Disney has done here. These rooms feel elevated, have plenty of storage, and are instantly recognizable as Disney hotel rooms as opposed to something from a random Marriott in Springfield. At the same time, they don’t overdo it. It’s nice to have a middle ground hotel room that’s calming and relaxed, and not an assault on the senses.

How these rank among Moderate Rooms comes down to taste and priorities. Unsurprisingly, the Riverside rooms are very similar to the redone rooms at Port Orleans French Quarter. The biggest difference is the table vs. bench seating. I prefer the latter, but favor the overall look of the Riverside rooms.

When traveling solo, I really like the Coronado Springs rooms, which have held up nicely despite last being refurbished a decade ago. Meanwhile, the standard rooms at Caribbean Beach, which were redone much more recently, are showing their age and look overly bland.

Our favorite of all is the upscale and underrated ‘Under the Sea’ rooms, and I really hope to see that non-standard style implemented elsewhere.

The reimagined regular rooms at Port Orleans Riverside don’t reinvent the wheel.

Again, they’re iterative to French Quarter, and bring some stylistic flourishes from the redone rooms at BoardWalk, although without nearly as much detail. Even though we don’t love the BoardWalk rooms, that’s praise in this case, as Port Orleans Riverside is considerably less expensive.

They aren’t the pinnacle of themed design at Walt Disney World, but they’re pretty good for a Moderate Resort. This makes me look forward to seeing how the overhauled Alligator Bayou rooms turn out, and I hope Disney puts more daylight between those rooms and these. (Maybe that’s where the ‘Under the Sea’ room approach is adopted?!)

Falling Back in Love with Riverside’s Romanticism

We have a lot of personal history at Port Orleans Riverside. I remember staying here as a kid (albeit as Dixie Landings) when Shades of Green was overbooked and we had to be relocated. It’s where Sarah and I stayed during our engagement in November 2007. It’s the first resort we did during our daughter’s first Walt Disney World trip in 2024.

However, this was our first stay at Riverside in over two years (a decently long time for us). And honestly, it reminded us of why we fell in love with this resort nearly 20 years ago and how nice it is to actually be there. It’s truly like nowhere else at Walt Disney World, with a serene setting that oozes charm and romantic ambiance throughout the last sprawling, unspoiled Moderate Resort.

As I’ve mentioned in our Rankings of All Resort Hotels at Walt Disney World from Worst to Best, we’ve booked Riverside less and less over the years. We’ve found that we love the idea of the resort more than actually staying here, which breaks my heart a little.

When it comes to objective recommendations to first-timers, Riverside’s reduced ranking is justified. Guest feedback is pretty clear on the more sprawling resorts. But at the same time, this was a fantastic stay at Riverside and one that makes us want to return regularly.

The larger layout and multiple bus stops didn’t bother us in the least, and most was easily overcome with a room request. We were in Building 85, which was perfect. A short walk to the Ol’ Man Island feature pool, leisure pool, bus stop, and main lobby. The back half of this building is non-preferred rooms, and highly recommend this as a room request.

In terms of places to be, none of the Moderate Resorts hold a candle to the Port Orleans Resorts. Arguably, no other resort at any tier does, period. While many other hotels at Walt Disney World have had DVC added or other ill-advised expansion shoehorned in, Port Orleans remains true to its original design.

If anything, Riverside has aged like a fine wine, with trees maturing and wildlife returning as the resort has aged. Port Orleans is probably more lush than any other resort, which makes the walk not just more bearable thanks to shade, but downright lovely.

We are suckers for early morning and late night walks around resorts, and Port Orleans is #1 for these peaceful promenades. It is just so romantic and undisturbed. Port Orleans is the one resort complex that time forgot now that Fort Wilderness has Lakeshore Lodge towering over it.

Although Port Orleans doesn’t have any modern flagship feature like the Skyliner or adjacent towers adding upmarket amenities, it’s no slouch when it comes to amenities! The Port Orleans Resorts have horse-drawn carriages, Mickey beignets, beloved nighttime entertainment, and the Sassagoula River Cruise to Disney Springs. They’re also just underrated settings with spectacular atmosphere.

When comparing Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter, it depends upon whether you want a sprawling resort to explore or something compact with only one bus stop. For a while, we went with a “best of both worlds” approach, staying at Port Orleans French Quarter so we’d be close to the bus stop when we were in a hurry, and able to walk over to Riverside when we wanted to slow down.

That’s still the optimal approach for most casual guests, but we might rethink that with our next trip, as this was a fantastic stay in the new rooms at Riverside that made us fall in love with the resort all over again.

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Your Thoughts

Do you agree or disagree with our take on the reimagined rooms at Port Orleans Riverside? Think this redesign threads the needle on bland vs. busy? Any changes you like or dislike about these rooms? Are you a fan of Riverside, or do you prefer less sprawling resorts? Agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!