Disney Summer Meltdown: Arrival

On today’s adventure we arrive at Port Orleans Riverside for the start of our week’s stay in the Disney bubble. As always, thanks for coming along and taking the time to watch. We really appreciate it.

[@triplg5860]

I see Finn’s fish!

[@theadventuresofmeatballandyou]

Finn can spot fish anywhere at any time. He’s got fish radar.

[@rengibson9086]

Where’s the opening!! I need Finn screaming at me!

[@theadventuresofmeatballandyou]

I don’t know what happened to it! I didn’t think I did anything different.

[@archiegibson8368]

So what’s the difference between French Quarter and Riverside? What’s the difference between Magnolia Bend and Alligator Bayou?

[@theadventuresofmeatballandyou]

French Quarter is smaller, bigger buildings, I think, but smaller. FQ has beignets, a more NOLA feel, a splash pad, and a sea serpent water slide. There are no “quiet pools.” There is a jazz club and jazz plays everywhere. We haven’t stayed there, but I imagine the rooms are pretty much the same style as they are in Riverside. Riverside is more “Old South,” or even Hannibal, Missouri in the Tom and Huck days. Magnolia Bend kinda look like Plantation homes, while Alligator Bayou is more carved out of the swamp, with the buildings almost feeling like small cabins in the swamp. The main buildings carry the idea of that river town; there’s a boat wright, an old mill, and a stagecoach/steamboat depot. The big pool is on old man island, and feels like it too was carved out of the swamps. Part of the reason I love it is because the theming is so good, it really takes you to another place and almost to another time. Yeah, I know we’re in Florida at Disney, but it’s real easy to forget that. It’s real easy to imagine Tom and Huck running around, and returning not to my hotel room, but to my own little really nice swamp cabin.

[@trippgibson6305]

Why were the boat’s not running?

[@theadventuresofmeatballandyou]

They had not had a ton of rain, and the water levels in the Sassagoula were real low. We had a tremendous storm that night, and it must have rained enough to bring the water level back up because the boats started running again. If you ever stay at either of the Port Orleans resorts, Old Key West, or Saratoga Springs, using the boats is the way to go!