Disney World is truly one of the most magical places on earth. Disney has thoroughly thought through every step of a guests experience and has perfected how to create a memorable experience for every guest. My wife and I had the chance to visit Disney World last year and we had an absolutely fantastic experience. A large part of that experience was staying at Disney's Riverside Resort, a moderate priced resort themed like a classic southern plantation. Given our great experience, here is my review of Disney's Riverside Resort as I will list 3 things I loved about the resort and one drawback.
First, I loved the theme. The attention to detail while creating a southern atmosphere truly is spectacular. With the large white columned buildings and the river which runs through the middle of the resort, Disney left no detail to spare when designing this resort. Even the rooms had a certain old world charm with vintage style furniture and bathroom fixtures, but with all the modern amenities as well.
Secondly, the clientele of this resort suited us well. We don't have any kids of our own and when we go on vacation we don't particularly love being surrounded by tons of kids as well. And since this is probably the least kid friendly resort of all the budget and moderate resorts Disney has, it is great for couples. The setting is very romantic and there are very few kids running around making it a very peaceful and wonderful resort to go if you are looking for a little Disney romance!
Thirdly, we loved the fact that you could get on a boat and go to Downtown Disney. After a week of riding buses all around Disney, to be honest it can get a little old. And so it was really great to be able to jump on a boat right at our resort and get down to Downtown Disney to go to dinner or shopping without having to get on another bus. Plus, it is an absolutely pleasant ride of about 20 minutes to get there and one that I would definitely recommend taking if staying at this resort.
The only downside to this resort is that it is not terribly centrally located. It is located near the Magic Kingdom, but if you want to go to any of the other parks, especially the Animal Kingdom, it does take a considerable amount of time to get there on the Disney bus transportation system. After looking at a map, it does seem that other moderately priced resorts such as the Coronado Springs and Caribbean Beach resorts were more centrally located to all of the parks. But if you are going during the off season like we did, you will have little problem seeing everything you want to see as long as you stay long enough.
Overall, we loved our stay at Disney's Riverside Resort and would recommend it to any other Disney World travelers!
