Disney’s Port Orleans is broken up into 2 resorts — French Quarter and Riverside. Each has a lot to offer guests.
Not only can you get early entry to the Disney parks when stay here, but you can also find Hey Disney! in your room. During Mardi Gras, you can catch a special parade at the French Quarter. And who could forget, you can eat your weight in Mickey beignets here.
Of course, just like with everything, there is a downside to staying at this resort for your Disney vacation. We’re talking about the transportation situation.
While the French Quarter only has one bus stop, Riverside has 4 bus stops. This means after a long day at the parks, you could be stuck taking a long loop around just to get to your room. As you can see from the map below, the two hotels span a lot of land.
Within Riverside, theme park buses stop at the West Depot first, then the North Depot, East Depot, and finally the River Delta Platform before departing. Which bus stop you will use will be based on where you’re located within the resort. This could cause issues based on which bus stop you’re at.
The issue really becomes frustrating when during peak times, the bus fills up before you are able to get on. This can happen during the morning before the park opening or at night when guests are being taken home. You could be stuck waiting for the next bus to come.
We suggest avoiding this issue by arriving at the bus stop early or even walking to a closer bus stop that will be picked up first. This is a similar situation to Caribbean Beach and Coronado Springs, where there are multiple bus stops around the resort.
This is another reason you could choose to stay at French Quarter over Riverside. You would only have one bus stop — avoiding the longer routes after the park and having a better chance to get a seat on the bus.
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Have you stayed at either of the Port Orleans resorts before? Let us know below.Â
Stayed several times at the French Quarter, always had a good time and the bus stop way ok. I have walked around and seen the buses at Port Orleans and its a much bigger resort.
I went for a week last year and had a great stay at French Quarter, took the bus one morning and then just decided it was way easier to just drive. I had a rental car anyway and it was great to get around without having to worry about missing buses. I do highly recommend taking the boat to Disney springs! It was magical at night
My first ever Disney hotel was Dixie Landings aka now PO Riverside. We never stayed there again because of how huge it is with multiple bus stops. After that POFQ became my family’s favorite resort because of one bus stop and its small size. And for not much more, I now stay at Swan & Dolphin because I can walk to Epcot and avoid the bus altogether unless going to MK or AK.
we’ve never had an issue with the bus transportation at the FQ. my wife would sit while i usually stand. out of the 5 times we stayed there, we only shared buses once with riverside. that bus loop looks like a nightmare.
Port Orleans Riverside has the same problems as other moderates, multiple bus stops. I would not chose French Quarter over Riverside because French Quarter’s food court menu doesn’t appeal to all family members. Moderates have long bus rides on purpose so that people will upgrade to deluxe. It’s the Disney formula. All Stars Disney hotels drop you off at the lobby so that you have a long walk back to your room. More money you pay, the better the vacation.