Refreshed Rooms at Port Orleans Riverside
Port Orleans Riverside has (slowly) renovated its rooms, with a new look inspired by the Princess and the Frog. In this post, we’ll share photos and thoughts on the updated Walt Disney World hotel rooms, which are similar to the refreshed rooms at Port Orleans French Quarter. (Updated September 6, 2021.)
At this time, both Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter remain closed, despite Walt Disney World having reopened over a year ago. These two sister resorts will be among the last hotels to come back, with returns currently scheduled two weeks apart in October 2021. However, these dates are subject to change–other hotels have had theirs pushed back–so see our 2021 Hotel Reopening Dates at Walt Disney World for the latest updates.
When Port Orleans Resort – Riverside reopens, the room refurbishment project covered here should be totally finished. It was over 90% done when the hotel closed last March, and it’s our understanding that the remaining work has since been completed. In addition to the new rooms you see here, this also means that the Royal Rooms have likely been remodeled. We’ll be staying at Riverside on reopening night, and will have a full report, plus photos & videos. For now, here’s what you need to know about the new-look rooms…
In case you’re unfamiliar with the project at Port Orleans Resort – Riverside, it’s a soft goods refurbishment. This is more like an ‘aesthetic refresh’ than the wholesale room redesigns (hard goods refurbishments) that have been occurring elsewhere around Walt Disney World, probably most notably with the new room at Pop Century and at All Star Movies.
Soft goods refurbishments occur between hard 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. At Walt Disney World, this has been utilized quite effectively to better utilize space. While we may quibble over the thematic changes, I think we can all agree that Disney has done a good job of increasing storage space and making rooms feel more spacious.
Last year, Walt Disney World started leaving form letters from the hotel manager soliciting guest feedback, which is standard operating procedure across all resorts. Hotel managers and their staff actually read these emails and act on them.
This year, for the first time at Port Orleans Riverside, a Cast Member knocked on our door and gave us a “thank you” card for being repeat guests at the hotel. This is the first we’ve received this card, so I’m going to guess it’s either a very new program or we were “missed” on our last couple of stays this spring. While walking around, we saw that same Cast Member with a stack of them.
This is a nice touch, especially given that one of our main complaints about Walt Disney World hotels has been that the level of service doesn’t hold a candle to real-world counterparts. There are several more steps that could be taken in the right direction, with having the in-room phone actually routing calls to the front desk (rather than a call center, as is currently the case) being high on my list.
As for the refurbished rooms, these are definitely not as significant as other recent changes around Walt Disney World resorts, which is probably for the best.
In fact, if you haven’t stayed in the Alligator Bayou rooms at Port Orleans Riverside recently, you might not instantly recognize the changes. (You can see other room types in our full Port Orleans Riverside Resort Review.)
The biggest changes to the Alligator Bayou rooms are the carpet being replaced by hard wood flooring, rustic woodwork replaced, larger television, and elevated bed frame for luggage storage.
We know some of you prefer carpet, but we don’t. This looks classier and will be easier to clean. We’ve had no issues with the floor being noisier in these rooms, but your mileage may vary on that.
The beds are also now elevated and on wood frames, with space for luggage storage underneath. In the cramped Moderate and Value Resorts, this is a big win. I’m also pretty confident that the mattresses in these rooms are new–and they’re spectacular.
Elsewhere in the room, the chairs have been reupholstered, and there are new blinds. Nothing revolutionary, and the new designs freshen things up. No comment on the lack of bed runners–you all already know where I stand on that. 😉
One thing I personally don’t like about the new rooms is the natural wood being replaced in the headboards and trim. (The frame around the bathroom mirror was also changed, but I’ll let that go because it’s a functional improvement.)
It seems like Disney has tried to mute the rustic vibe a bit, making this a compromise between Princess and the Frog decor and rustic bayou theme. Maybe I’m alone in this, but I didn’t think the Princess and the Frog art was incompatible with the natural wood stylings of the bayou.
Why is this turquoise accenting necessary? It stands out from the rest of the room, and not in a good way.
One explanation I’ve heard for this is that Disney was receiving lower guest satisfaction scores for Alligator Bayou than Magnolia Bend, and one of the primary complaints was that the rooms were “too rustic.” I don’t agree with the complaint, but it doesn’t surprise me, either.
More turquoise in the bathroom, but at least the backlit mirror is nice.
Of course, there are also now soap dispensers attached to the wall in the shower.
As for whether you should avoid Alligator Bayou during the refurbishments, we don’t believe that’s necessary. These buildings are fairly compact, and the work is being done with the entire building completely closed.
There is no major external work, so it should not be disrupting if you’re in adjacent buildings. Plus, the buildings in Alligator Bayou are often separated from one another by water and dense foliage (see above), so you probably won’t even notice the work is occurring unless you actively go looking for it.
Here’s a video of the new Port Orleans Riverside rooms that Sarah shot:
Overall, we were mostly just glad to be back at Port Orleans Riverside. I forgot how much I love this resort, and wandering around the resort’s grounds at sunset, night, and evening is so enjoyable. It’s such a charming and romantic resort, with beautiful and varied horticulture. (Once I get a chance to cull and edit my 2,000+ sunrise/sunset/night photos, I’ll have to do a follow-up post!)
In the end, these refurbished rooms at Riverside are not huge changes a la Pop Century. The rooms were not gutted, and most furnishings carry over from the previous design. From a functional perspective, our impression of the room was positive. From a thematic one, we’re mixed. Toning down the rustic design was unnecessary, but we love to see Princess and the Frog, one of Disney’s most underrated animated films, highlighted in these rooms. If you were a fan of the Alligator Bayou rooms at Port Orleans Riverside before, you’ll probably still be a fan. If you weren’t a fan…well, everyone is entitled to be wrong if they so choose. 😉
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Your Thoughts
Do you agree or disagree with our take on the refreshed rooms at Port Orleans Riverside? Are you a fan of this resort, or do you prefer the more compact resorts? Any features of the redesign that you like or dislike? Are bed runners a hill worth dying on? 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!
The blue on the trim looks like it could be a variation on “haint paint” which you can find all over New Orleans – it’s often found on the ceiling of porches to confuse evil spirits into thinking that your porch is just the sky and that they should travel through instead of paying you an unwanted visit.
We stayed in a newly refurbished room in October of 2018 and loved it. There were definitely more USB ports, more outlets, and the under bed storage is wonderful. I hope they get more buildings done before we return again in October of 2019.
I’m with most on preferring the mansions I guess. There is an odd smell in the bayou, and I don’t love lugging my suitcase upstairs because bayou has no elevators. I do like the look of the new rooms for the most part though.
Maybe my eyes are planing tricks on me, but the new color on the beds and walls looks more like french blue than turquoise, which would make a little more sense theme-wise. That being said, I did like the previous wood finishes better.
Are they refurbishing the rooms in Magnolia Bend as well?
We stayed in a new refurbished room about 2 weeks ago. Everything was nice except the lighting situation . You had 3 options while in bed. The very bright wall hanging lights that couldn’t be turned off individually or dimmed (all on /all off) , The light in the ceiling fan , or the light by the door. We ended up usually using the light by the door has it gave the least amount of light and allowed us to wind down. Usually you have an option to turn off your side of the bed’s lights.
Port Orleans Riverside was our first on-property resort stay, and still up there as perhaps my favorite. We loved the theming: the charm and character with the “flour sack” curtains and so forth. Overall this update doesn’t remove all the charm, but I still prefer the look prior to the refurb. I agree with others that the headboard and purple/blue colortones look out of place, and the mirror even more so. I’m torn on the beds and floor. I do see the extra storage, but I think about our first visit was with a one year old who had just begun to crawl. I would have hated trying to keep him from going under the beds!
Bring back bedrunners! 🙂
On a sidenote, does Disney still do towel animals? During our first and second visits to Port Orleans, we got one at arrival and few more over the course of our stay. Last summer we stayed at both Riverside and Animal Kingdom Jambo House and never received a towel animal at either location…..
Excellent point about the toddler crawling under the bed! Didn’t even think of this and now that you pointed it out, I’ll give it another two years or so before booking a room with a raised bed! That would be a nightmare. And, I wonder if anyone thought to make sure there are no pointy things (nails, etc.) sticking out under there.
Disney has quit doing towel animals because they take time away from cleaning the rooms and too many good linens were used. Just buy one of the books on towel origami and you can make your own.
Making my own towel origami is a bit like buying my own flowers for my anniversary. That’s classic Disney-them making you feel like they they are making magic for you. That’s the kind of thing that justifies paying more than a ‘regular’ vacation.
I think the towel animals are entirely hit or miss depending on your cleaning staff. We didn’t have any during our stay at Saratoga Springs last fall (not super surprising since DVC does not have daily mousekeeping), but we did have one at Jambo House two weeks ago.
This seems to have incoherent theming. I didn’t love the previous rooms though to be fair, and I still like these fine. I’m all for adding more Princess and the Frog theming. Just doesn’t feel like the whole thing meshes together. I do like modernizing the bed and such though. It feels fresher… just not good imagineering.
Sad to say this is one of the most reasonable refurbs I’ve seen though. Lately they’ve been stripping theming out of everything when they refurbish and it’s pretty upsetting for someone like me — that’s 75% of the reason I spend the extra money on their resorts. For now they still have the awesome Royal Rooms in POR though. So that makes me happy. Hope they keep them. I’m not interested in subtle. If I want subtle I’ll stay at Swan/Dolphin or go for Disney Springs.
Which building number were you in?
We’ve stayed at Riverside twice so far and our main complaint was not enough outlets & no usb ports making it a bit difficult to charge our devices. Hopefully, they have added some?
They have! I stayed in one of the new rooms back in February and our party of 4 adults had no issues charging all our devices
We are headed to POR in late May and would love to stay in a refurbished room with nicer bed. How can I find out which buildings have been refurbished?
There is a port orleans fansite, portorleans.org that keeps track of which buildings are finished.
I definitely agree that the headboards seem out of place and also with the other comments about the weird paint trim line. It feels like a mishmash of styles and makes the bayou rooms seem less unique. I’d still love to go back and stay at Riverside as I haven’t stayed since back in the days of it still being called Dixie Landings and having the massive bedframes a kid could properly bust their head open on (speaking from experience).
Do all the POR rooms have a curtain instead of a sliding door for the bathroom sink area? I could’ve sworn the last time I stayed (2 years ago), there was a sliding door….
I’ve never stayed in a room at Riverside that has a sliding door rather than a curtain.
We have went to riverside quite a few times and they never had sliding doors in any of the rooms we stayed in.
I stayed at POR before this back in 2016. Im happy they have decided to make extra room for storage, because for a family of 5 there are almost no where to put any if your belongings anf Im guessing the raised beds fit that purpose. The clean look is much better than a busy bedspread. I will definitely return since this is my favorite resort that fits 5.
Our last on-site stay was 3 years ago at this resort, and the beds were rock-hard. Have those seen a refresh? I know I’ve mentioned before that bed quality is all over the place at WDW regardless of tier, but it’s honestly the most important factor when it comes to staying by the parks for us.
The beds in our room were definitely very plush and nice. I can’t speak to other rooms (particularly Magnolia Bend), but I’d assume mattress replacement has been part of the Alligator Bayou refresh.
Wow. That blue is atrocious. While I think the last room design was a little bit much, this is still a mismash of things that don’t go together. There was already a lot of mixed wood in the room, and now there is another with an awful mirror frame that doesn’t match anything. While I prefer the mansion buildings and locations, I think the Alligator Bayou had better rooms after the last big refurb several years ago. Now, eek.
I agree. I like the old decor better. I do like the extra room under the beds and the wood flooring, but the room decor is very basic and bland for Disney. And…. what’s with all the huge white sheet eyesores?
An issue I haven’t seen addressed regarding the room redesigns, is whether they might partly be motivated by a desire to prevent/reduce bedbugs. We recently stayed at Caribbean Beach (carpeted, even after the refurb) and got bedbugs. It was a huge hassle for us, and a big cost for Disney (they comped our stay and paid to clean all our stuff). I suspect that laminate floors, no runners, and fewer soft goods in general create fewer spaces for the little monsters to hide. It may have nothing to do with it, but as it’s top of mind for me, I thought it might be relevant.
Cleanliness in general is a huge motivation, and I’d assume that would include bedbug prevention, although I’ve never heard that directly.
I have heard some pretty staggering bedbug numbers, but I will spare you all the burden of that knowledge…because you’d probably never stay at a hotel again, period. (I will say that Walt Disney World’s protocol is far better than other hotel chains, for what that’s worth.)
Good to hear!! Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Yikes, when did you stay at CBR? We were there in November 18 and didn’t experience the bug issue, thankfully. Sorry you had to deal with that, but at least you got refunded for your stay.
We were there over New Years. We’ve stayed at numerous Disney hotels across all categories over the years, and this was the first time it’s happened. Disney was really good about jumping in and taking care of it. Just one of those things.
Thanks – best I don’t know!
I would be curious to know the thoughts behind removing the runners from the beds as a strategy. Cost? Reduce housekeeping? Were they being stolen? They actually do kind of serve a purpose, when hotels moved away from those ugly busy bed spreads to the triple sheeted duvets, the runners help keep the white bedding clean as that is where most people will set their suitcases to unpack (rolling bags that have rolled through god knows what).
Same reason bedspreads were removed–cleanliness.
I second the opinion about the wrinkled hospital bed sheet look- definitely not a fan, looks cheap and for some reason clinical..
I’ve always wondered why they couldn’t use a colored “sheet” for the top sheet of the triple sheeting. Since the top “sheet” isn’t really a sheet and is a heavier, patterned cover, but not a bedspread, a color of some sort might make it look less hospital.
The choice to add the turquoise trim to the walls is strange, as it immediately makes the room feel dated, not rustic but more mid-late 80’s, and makes the rooms feel a bit boxier and smaller. But, I love POR, and won’t let these small changes prevent me from going back a lot.
I’m going to make a big assumption here by saying that these refurbishments where the carpets are replaced with “hard wood” flooring and the beds are raised off ground can also be attribute to a proactive attempt to counter the bed bug issues. I’m ok with that!
For the most part, I like the changes they are making across all of the resorts with the room refurbishments. I’m not a fan though of the sterile (sheet only) looking beds. I liked it better when they at least had that throw across the bottom of the beds. I know those were for just “looks” but these all white beds make the rooms look too sterile in my opinion.