Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort | Full Tour | in 4K UHD | May 2017

Hi, this is Josh with ResortTV1. Today, we're checking out the Port Orleans Riverside Resort. We hope you enjoy the video. As we approach the resort from the main parking lot, just a quick history lesson about the resort. It was originally called the Dixie Landings Resort, and the Port Orleans Resort next to it was originally just called Port Orleans. They changed the name sometime in the early 2000s to Port Orleans Riverside, and they changed Port Orleans next door to Port Orleans French Quarter. So they're basically two parts of the same resort, and they do connect by roads and different methods and waterways and everything like that. As we approach the main entrance of the lobby, you'll notice the southern style architecture as well as just the grand facade of the main building here. There you see the Port Orleans Resort logo. And there's a doorman to greet you, and he's very nice and friendly. And the main entry area here is very large. The ceiling is very high, and it's very impressive. It's a grand southern style architecture. You can see what almost looks like a bell tower here, even though there's actually no bell. In my mind, the structure is very similar to the Beach Club Resort Lobby, even though the style is of course different to fit the type of resort that it is. And they were built approximately at the same time. And as we enter the check-in area, you'll see that it's another very grand, large room. And at the top of the ceiling there, you can see these fan-shaped objects. They actually used to function as fans moving back and forth to circulate the air. But I don't know when they stopped moving, but at least today they weren't moving. And this room is very reminiscent of a southern style plantation ballroom, probably bigger than any plantation ballroom that was ever around, but it still has that kind of a style, even with the chandeliers and everything like that. It's very ornate and very beautiful. You can see the sitting area and the very nice rugs. Just a very grand space. There's even a little place for the kids to watch cartoons as their parents check into the resort. And now back in the main entry area, you see all the different options that spread out from that area. First, we'll go into Fulton's General Store, which is the main store for the resort. And you can buy all kinds of different Disney merchandise, as well as groceries and any other kind of provisions that you might need for your trip. Sort of a small convenience store area, as well as the Disney merchandise that you'd expect in any Disney store. And you can see this is a very large store. It's actually one of the larger resort stores at Walt Disney World. There's lots of different types of merchandise. Some of it's available elsewhere in the parks and the Emporiums and those types of stores. But some of it is unique to Port Orleans Riverside. You can see it almost looks like a stable. The decor is like a stable. And then you can see Donald Duck's nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Looks like they're getting into some kind of trouble as normal. Having a good time, though. And you've got stuffed animals down there. That almost looks like an old-fashioned apothecary. Around the convenience store section where you can see the coolers where you can get different drinks and other provisions that might help you along the way on your trip. And here's more Disney characters. You've got Goofy, and I believe Mickey Mouse's nephews, Morty and Ferdy. But you don't see them very much, so it's really cool to see them out and about at Walt Disney World. And it looks like Goofy was working on some kind of a stove and got himself black with the soot from the stove. So, Goofy being Goofy, which is always awesome. And another look at just the merchandise area of the store here. And lots of just little touches that make it really fun to shop here. It's not just a dry, boring store. It's actually got a lot of character. And another look from the other side at the Goofy, almost like an animatronic or just a character figure there with Morty and Ferdy. Now back out in the main area of the lobby and main entrance area. We're going to go into the bar area, the River Roost. And there's a really nice sitting area here. It's just great to relax and kind of get out of the main lobby if you need to do that. There's also a path that leads down to the food court from here. And you can even go back on to the left back into the bar if you like. So there's several different options for where you can go when you're in the resort. And here is the bar. Really nice. Very ornate and wooden. And there's also the area for the piano player back there in the back. And he plays shows on different nights of the week. I'm not sure exactly when, but it's a lot of fun if you get to catch it. This is Boat Rites. This is their table service restaurant. You can see it looks like they're building a boat. Somebody on a live stream commented that they've been building that boat for about 20 years. But you've got various shipbuilding tools and other kinds of things hanging on the walls to really add to the ambiance of the restaurant. I haven't actually eaten here, but I've been told it's very good. And here's another area of the Boat Rites restaurant. Just another room that you can eat in. You can see it's very cozy and there's even a fireplace there in the back. And now we're in the actual food court. The food court is a very large grand space. Very similar to the rest of this resort. There are a lot of just large grand spaces in this resort. And it's great that Disney seemed to spare no expense in creating this resort. They actually don't create these grand buildings quite as much when they build the newer resorts. And there's the mill there. This is like the Riverside Mill basically is the concept here. And there you see the sign that says the Riverside Mill. And the mill actually used to function, but you'll see a little bit later it doesn't move anymore. At least it wasn't when we were there because there was a drought. It may have been due to the drought, I'm not sure. But this is the food area. You can get your different types of food items, whatever you like. And there's lots of different choices since it is a food court. And here as we move to the back of the food court main room here, you can see the mill and the shaft that comes from the mill. There's a water wheel outside that used to turn again like I said. And it unfortunately isn't turning now, but it's still really neat to look at the machinery and just how big everything is and how ornate. And there you can see more of the machinery for the mill. And there's the really large water wheel outside. And there's a look back from the back of the food court to the front towards that Riverside Mill painting there. There's lots of sitting area here in this particular food court. And now we're outside the food court and this is what the outside of the building looks like. Almost like a barn from the outside, but it's very large. And there you see the very large water wheel which isn't turning now, but it used to turn even just as recently as a few years ago. So like I said, it may just be refurbishment or they may just be turning it off because of the drought. There's a lot of wooden planked walkways around this area around the river and it's just really well themed and well done here at this Port Orleans Riverside. It's a very pleasant resort to walk around with all the water and the different pathways that lead off in different directions. Different islands that you can go to and we'll cover all those a little bit later in the video. And the bridges are really pleasant to look at as well. This is looking at the water wheel from the other side. Again, you can just see how much room it takes up on the side of the building. It's very large. And that's looking to the main entrance to the main lobby area. It's a very large tall building there. And you can see how everything's connected from outside a little bit better. It's a very grand entryway and a very grand main building. Probably one of the larger main buildings in any Disney resort like I said earlier. And that's the place where you catch your boat to Disney Springs or to some of the other resorts. It's like the boat house basically there. And I believe you can still rent boats there to drive around the waterways or at least you used to be able to. And all the buildings are just themed so well. Fit in with the riverside and the mill theme that they've gone with when they constructed this resort. And here's a boat coming in from either Disney Springs or one of the resorts. And I believe you can take boats definitely to Disney Springs as well as to Port Orleans French Quarter. And I believe also to Key West. That is Old Key West the Disney Vacation Club Resort, of course. And you can see the boat being docked very skillfully by the captain there. There's the outside of Boat Rites the restaurant that we mentioned that was the table service restaurant here at the resort. And back to the main lobby area with that big bell tower looking area even though it's not actually a bell tower. And that's actually the outside of the check-in area and you can see how tall the ceiling is in the Sasagula Steamboat Company. That's the name of the river according to the story of the resort itself. And this is a really neat walkway that heads down towards the actual arcade. That's also very large. The Medicine Show Arcade as it's called. This is probably one of the largest if not the largest arcades still remaining at the Disney Resorts here at Disney World. There's lots of different kind of games and you can see the kids are having a great time. And this is the bridge leading over to what we call Old Man Island, which is the main pool for the resort. It's almost like a very mini water park, but it's very well themed and it's got a very large pool and several different places for the kids to play in the water. There are also several quiet pools around the rest of the resort if you don't want the water park theming and maybe as much of the crowd. There's more quiet and less crowded pools that you can go to as well, but you can see the water feature there in the middle and the different aspects of the pool. And this is from the island looking back at the food court, the mill and the water wheel just to show you that from another perspective. And now walking down a little bit further down Old Man Island where this water park area type thing is. This is a bar called Muddy Rivers. And here you can see some of the directional signs that are used around this area of the resort. Alligator Bayou, the fishing hole and the lobby back to the right. Speaking of the fishing hole, here it is. It's a place where you can rent fishing poles as well as bait and you can actually fish in the resort's river, which is a lot of fun if that's something that you're interested in. There's a hammock if you're interested in that. And this is looking across the river to the Alligator Bayou section of the resort. The foliage is very reminiscent of a swamp area down in the Louisiana area or any other part in the south where there's a swamp. And this part of the resort is supposed to look very rustic and like it does belong in a swamp and it's a lot of fun. The theming is very very nice and well done. And there's the river again. And there you can see the mill again from another side just to show you where it is compared to the rest of the resort. And you can see most of these buildings are in the woods just to show you like what it would look like on a swamp or a bayou. Here's one of the quiet pools we spoke about earlier and you can see there are a lot less people here and it is a lot quieter. So something that if you want to just enjoy a quiet time at the pool with the family, that's a great option. And I love the landscaping in this part of the resort. Just the way the foliage and the pathways interact and are intertwined so tightly just to make it feel like you're in an intimate bayou type setting. And on the other side of the resort, you'll see the second section of the hotel room area, which is the magnolia plantation side. And all of these buildings and resort rooms are styled like old southern plantations. And again with the river, it is very authentic to what a plantation would be. Many plantation houses were on rivers or bodies of water of some type and there you can see the large southern style columns. And as we cross the bridge over into this area, you'll be able to start to see the architecture of some of these buildings. Just how elaborate they are, how elaborate they went with the theme. And here's one of the garden areas leading up to one of the houses. There are three different houses, I believe. And they look like just giant mansions in the buildings where the rooms are. This particular mansion area actually is where the princess suites are or the princess rooms are. And there are different rooms fashioned after different Disney princesses. It's a very beautiful fountain here, again in front of the same princess building area we were talking about. And there are different signs for each princess. Here's the one for Belle. And there are different rooms styled after Belle and her likings from the movie. There you can see a little bit of landscaping here. It's very nice and what you'd expect from a mansion area. And of course the old oak trees like you'd find on any type of a southern plantation. And as we look back out onto the river, you can appreciate the beautiful landscaping here in this part of the resort. All right. Well, that's all for now. We hope you enjoyed the video. Be sure to like, comment, and subscribe. And have a great big beautiful tomorrow. Bye-bye.