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!
Stayed at POR last week in a king room in Magnolia Terrace. I loved the blue paint color in the shower area of the bathroom. Would love to find out what the name of the color is. Any ideas??
From someone who lives in Mississippi, I can 10000% get behind all the blue they put in the rooms. It is a Southern tradition to paint your porch ceiling this color blue, ever since at least the early 1800’s. It was thought to extend the daylight when electric lights weren’t common. I am not sure if that is what Disney was shooting for here, but it is definitely the first thing I thought of when I saw it!!! Which, armed with this knowledge makes it a lot more cohesive. We are staying at Riverside in November in Alligator Bayou and are so excited, as Princess and the Frog is one of our all time favorite Disney movies!!!
Hello my mom And I stayed at alligator Bayou section 14 with a Gardenview I believe it was one of the updated rooms. Just wondering what kind of Mattresses do they have in these rooms? It was the best sleep We’ve ever hadâ¤ï¸I’ve been looking for weeks we’ve gotten home and can’t get no answers from anybody I know it was a Sealy pillow top but when I brought that information home to Canada they had no idea what I was talking about LOL.. We love the room we had a fantastic time
I hate these new very high beds they are putting everywhere. I am 5ft 4 tall, so pretty average female and I had great trouble climbing in and out. Think it would be impossible for older people. Storage for luggage is not a higher priority than safety! You should warn people who are not agile to avoid these rooms.
I’ve stayed at Port Orleans Alligator Bayou 4 times in the last 2 years. The refurbishment in the Alligator Bayou rooms is so odd!! None of the woods match, they painted the wood ceiling trim a light blue? Why? They left the green colors in the bathroom tile and vanity, but painted over the wood in the bathroom light blue? The colors in the patch work window curtains they chose to use are just ugly. I get Disney was trying to incorporate theming with the new curtain fabric, but the colors they chose for the entire room are wrong. Maybe they should have redesigned a new fish shower curtain and flour/food sack divider curtains instead of replacing them with the blue shower and divider curtains now in place. The twig beds were well themed for Alligator Bayou. They kept the twig table, why? Maybe they could have re-stained the pull down 5th sleeper and nightstand to match the other dark woods in the room? The feel of the room is overall depressing, and in no way feels like a moderate. None of my family were negative about the rooms, until we got home and began talking about where we would stay next trip. Nobody in our family chooses to ever stay in Alligator Bayou again. The rooms were seriously depressing and dark. Much rather stay in the Mansions or French Quarter.
Useless article because it’s not dated. When was this article written?
I can’t find dates on any posts on this site. I have no idea when anything takes place.
Great article! Have they finished refurbishing all the alligator bayou rooms?
I can’t stand NOT having carpet in my hotel room, and I am so saddened by the reduced theming at so many Disney hotels. It really is a shame. The wonderful themes that transport you into one (or many, as with the Royal Guest Rooms) of Disney’s amazing animated films has always been the leading reason for us to stay on-site. If they do away with that trend, we may opt for a universal hotel or just a Best Western next time.
As early to bed, early to rise kinda people we were disturbed by a family
here a couple of years ago coming in very late every night…I’m worried with this new flooring that when we go back next year, and if we have guests above us doing the same, the noise could be even louder, as no longer deadened by carpet?
As a former customer service representative, I feel I need to add to Tom’s thoughts on how to convey complaints.
The people who came at me “guns a blazin'” wouldn’t get any help from me. I’d would apologize for the inconvenience and make up some excuse why their problem couldn’t be addressed.
For those who were polite I went above and beyond to fix their problem. Remember, you catch more bees with honey than vinegar.
I don’t hate these new rooms, but I loved the old theming of Alligator Bayou. The turquoise is super weird, and along with the new headboard it looks like the room doesn’t know what it wants to be. I think next time we’ll be trying out Magnolia Bend.
Glad to know we weren’t the only ones with those exact thoughts! In my mind I kept asking myself, why did they do this? Am I missing something?
While I like the removal of the yucky carpeting, I really dislike the new theming. I preferred the older shipping crate theming, which kind of made it feel like you had been transported to another time/era. I hate the plastic shower curtain that looks like something from Walmart. This is OFF-topic. But I also hate what they’ve done to CSR and CBR. I don’t want to see a big, modern tower at those resort. I want to feel like I’m a magical hideaway. For a time CBR, was that place; I preferred it even over some of the deluxes.
I like the fact that they are removing the carpets. We are from Finland in a 1930s historic wooden house and except for a small carpet (tho its not really a carpet) in the kitchen, we dont have a single carpet in the whole house and its great. Not just because of cleaning but it looks nicer. Our floor of course is the original 1930s wooden floor, made totally differently than modern wooden floors and gives more of a rustic feel.
As for how the new rooms look like, we dont like them. Tbh, I dont understand this need to have everything Disneyfied too much (generally speaking). I prefer minimalist and Disney understated in hotel rooms (and theming can be done in such a way too that its not in your face all the time). Really disappointed with these new rooms.
Also why is it that only the new POP century rooms have proper showers with proper hoses, not just that silly shower head sticking out of the wall?
You are addressing some cultural difference here. Americans that go to Disney often are MAJOR fans, and visit EVERY year or multiple times a year. In other words, we CANNOT get enough “Disney” and do not mind at all the themed hotel rooms. In fact, we go out of our way for them. ” Minimal” is not so much an American concept. Bigger, better and more is our usual mindset. That goes for food portion sizes to theme parks and roller coasters to our skyscrapers. The “shower head sticking out of the wall” is again a standard American thing. I would say it is the most common shower head you will find in our homes and our hotels. Some people when re-styling a bathroom now install the hoses . That is if you dont mind the ugly industrial look of a long hose in your bathroom, or your kids hosing down the entire room. Great for old folks who need to sit/ Not necessarily an issue most of us pay any mind to. Carpets are not so much in fashion right now here. However to many of us, stripping away hotel carpets so the rooms look like someone’s basement is not our idea of a positive change. It looks ugly and cheap.
Well said!!!
We have always love Alligator Bayou. For a family of five it is one of the best choices. I have three boys so they loved the more rustic look. It made the room seem like you were somewhere special. Not just a regular hotel room. It didn’t have any of the characters but that was fine because it had it’s own them. The room now looks more generic even though the characters have been added.
We stayed at Alligator Bayou when our son was 9. We were returning to WDW for a second year, and we didn’t want to spend the extra money on Animal Kingdom lodge as we had done on our first visit. We had a fabulous stay at Alligator Bayou. We really felt like we had been transported to another place. We didn’t miss staying at Animal Kingdom that year (even though we did visit AKL). During subsequent stays, I noticed the carpet really needed work or replacement. I wish they had upgraded the soft goods, not replaced them with such confusing theming.
I remember the old days looking at the huge Disney World Brochure at all the photos of all the hotel choices (Dixie Landings being among them) and feeling amazed by it all. I wanted to go so badly! (I never got to go till 2015). When I look at these pictures, I think, “Hm, those are kind of nice”. I loved the royal room when I stayed there last April. Seriously hoping when they update them, they can find a way to do it without taking all the awesomeness out of it. I’d rather have something overthemed than underthemed.
We love Disney and Riverside is our favorite resort. Glad to see t is being updated as we usually stay in Alligator Bayou.
I love the trend of removing carpet from hotel rooms. I can’t stand the grimy feel of hotel carpet that has been cleaned too many times.
I do hate the shower curtains, however. We stayed at Caribbean Beach in March and the big printed shower curtains just seem so cheap and tacky.
Overall I think the rooms are nice, however. Thanks for the pictures and review!
I highly dislike the fact that they removed the rustic headboards and trim. It is just another instance of the stripping of theme 🙁 The turquoise sticks out like a sore thumb in this design and doesn’t work with the rest of the furniture.
As a person with indoor allergies, I love the no carpet for cleanliness. In fact, they should put a mop in a closet for guest use and I could breathe easy, lol. I know it doesn’t look as pretty and it would be beautiful with a more expensive hard surface flooring, but carpet has never made sense to me, especially if you wear your white socks around a hotel room and they are black on the bottom because everyone wears shoes on the floors. I think of all the grime you step in throughout the day, then stroll right into your room. Ewww. If a resort does have carpet, I hope they schedule regular cleanings, not just vac. Just to be clear, I don’t like carpet at any hotel in general because of the indoor allergy thing. Nothing is worse than paying good money and then you can’t breathe at night. It ruins your vacation. No amount of allergy medication, inhalers, etc. can overcome filthy carpet. Imho, Iger and the board need to loosen the purse strings and re-invest on some of the basics. It is so hard to piece a cohesive look together by adding and taking away as you go even at a home setting as styles and trends change, so I’m sure it’s extra hard to do on a Disney level resort. We recently added new furniture in our house and had a very hard time matching it with our soft lines and existing hard furniture pieces. Cool tones and warm tones, base colors, etc, give me fits, lol. As a family with a limited budget, we have to do our best and shop smart. As a company, this shows where the money is going that maybe cutting into it’s normal budgeting – buying other companies, Disney + streaming, international park expansion to an extent, additional DVC resorts, technological advancements rollouts and theme park improvements (this is the part I am most for.) Tom, I would love to see a post about the financial side of Disney, where is the money actually going? I read various investment articles, but they are usually so focused or read like an annual shareholders *snooze alert* book. A post or series that would relate to a tourist who wants to see not only the entertainment value in their vacation, but a long term vision of what their vacation dollars do would be awesome.
Count me among those who do not like the fake hardwood floors. I get the ease of cleaning motivation. Ditto those with concern about bedbugs. That being said, bedbugs can often be found in…..BEDS!! or in dresser drawers. Stripping out the carpets make the rooms as appealing as sleeping in a McDonalds. And make the rooms look cheaper than necessary. Stayed in a hotel elsewhere recently with these type of floors and found the room industrial and creepy. The photos you have furnished here confirm the cold and unappealing nature of the rooms. What a shame. I am sure the maids will find clean-up faster. But as someone paying for a clean room, I am not sure that “fast” is what I am looking for.