How Far Will You Walk To and From Your Room at Disney’s Port Orlean Riverside?
Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside is a gorgeous resort, but it’s also pretty significant in size. Depending on your room location, you might have to walk more to get around the resort than you anticipated. With those thoughts in mind, I wanted to continue our walking series with an overview of the walking distances at Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside.
You’ll likely want to consider these walking distances when selecting a room type, requesting a room, or even deciding if the resort is a proper fit. If you already know you want to stay at a moderate resort that doesn’t require much walking, you’ll want to shift your focus to Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter. French Quarter neighbors Riverside but is a significantly smaller resort with a boutique footprint. Both resorts are distinctly unique but equally beautiful.
How Big is Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort?
Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside is on approximately 200 acres, centered by the Sassagoula River, which extends to Port Orleans French Quarter and continues to Disney Springs. Port Orleans Riverside has about 2048 rooms divided into two sections: Alligator Bayou and Magnolia Bend.
For reference, Alligator Bayou has a preferred room section. Preferred rooms are an upgrade due to their proximity to the resort lobby, transportation, dining, and feature pool area. It is also important to note that the buildings in the Alligator Bayou do not have elevators. However, all the rooms in Magnolia Bend have an elevator in the center of each building.
The other big difference between the two sections is that the rooms in Alligator Bayou have a 5th sleeper option, which makes them appealing to those traveling with a larger group.
Alligator Bayou (Preferred) Walking Distance to Riverside Lobby
We’ll start with the preferred rooms in the Alligator Bayou section. During our last stay, I tracked the distance from building 27 to the Riverside lobby. This is the furthest building away from the lobby in the preferred section of the resort. Given its prime location, I almost felt silly tracking it. But, at the very least, you can see the advantage of being so close to the lobby, dining, primary bus stop, and boat dock. As you can see, it’s only a short distance across the bridge to the feature pool area (Ol’ Man Island on the map).
Another thing you’ll want to be aware of if you’re staying in this area is an almost hidden walkway to the lobby bus stop (South Depot). If you have no reason to stop at the lobby or food court, you can quickly return to your room by taking this path. I have a feeling that most people aren’t aware it exists unless they stumble upon it.
Distance from Alligator Bayou (Building 27) to the Lobby
- 0.16 miles
- Approximately 4 minutes
- 421 steps
Alligator Bayou (35) Walking Distance to Riverside Lobby
During our last stay, we were assigned a room in building 35 of Alligator Bayou, which is between the West Depot and the North Depot bus stops. One side of our building faced the parking lot. So, if you’re in the regular section of Alligator Bayou, your walking distance will likely be about the same as this distance or possibly a few fewer steps. Here’s the distance we tracked.
Distance from Alligator Bayou (building 35) to the Lobby
- 0.30 miles
- Approximately 8 minutes
- 800 Steps
Acadian House Walking Distance to Riverside Lobby
On another visit, I tracked the distance from the center of Acadian House to the lobby. This will also serve as the distance for Magnolia Terrace, which sits next door to Acadian House. Both buildings are in the mansions section of Magnolia Bend. We stayed in a standard room at Riverside in the Magnolia Terrace section last year and felt the short walk across Ol’ Man Island was convenient to the lobby.
Distance from Acadian House to Riverside Lobby
- 0.19 miles
- Approximately 4 minutes
- 478 steps
Royal Rooms (Parterre Place) Walking Distance to Riverside Lobby
Next, we have the walking distance from Parterre Place to the Riverside Lobby. You’ll be in this location if you upgrade to a Royal Room (princess-themed room). Before tracking this distance, I would have told you I wasn’t crazy about this location. So, I was surprised to find it was the same distance to the lobby as the other mansions discussed above.
If you end up in Oak Manor, the building between Parterre Place and Magnolia Terrace, you’ll have approximately the same walk. The nearest bridge sits between the two buildings. You will not walk to Ol’ Man Island to cross over to the lobby unless you’re just doing so for leisure.
Royal Rooms to Riverside Lobby
- 0.19 miles
- Approximately 5 minutes
- 480 steps
Royal Rooms Walking Distance to the French Quarter Lobby
While tracking the former distance, I decided to walk from Parterre Place to the lobby of Port Orleans French Quarter. Parterre Place is the last building at Riverside. However, it sits on the opposite side of the river from the French Quarter. To make this walk, you’ll cross the car bridge (it has a separate pedestrian bridge) and loop down the other side to continue to the French Quarter. The loop on the map below is a sloped area that leads to and from the bridge. Then, you’ll walk under the bridge and on to the French Quarter. Here is the distance.
Riverside Royal Rooms Distance to French Quarter Lobby
- 0.44 miles
- Approximately 10 minutes
- 1200 steps
Riverside Walking Distance to French Quarter (Between the Boat Docks)
If you walked from any other resort section to the French Quarter, the distance would be slightly longer. So, to round things out, I tracked the distance between both resort’s boat docks. We enjoy this walk, but you can take the water taxi or a bus between the resorts if you prefer. (Learn more about how the bus works in our Port Orleans Riverside Transportation Guide.) Here’s what we tracked.
Riverside Boat Dock to French Quarter Boat Dock
- 0.51 miles
- Approximately 11 minutes
- 1250 Steps
We hope these walking distances at Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside helped you decide if the resort is a good fit. In case you missed it, we’ve also recently tracked the distances at a few other resorts:
- Walking Distances at Disney’s Coronado Springs
- Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort Walking Distances
- Are the Little Mermaid Rooms at Art of Animation That Far?
For more information on Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside, you might enjoy the following:
- Alligator Bayou vs. Magnolia Bend: Which Side is Right For You?
- Port Orleans Riverside Photo Report
- Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside vs. French Quarter
- Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Review
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In the Comments
What do you think about these distances around Port Orleans Riverside? Are some of the distances a deal breaker or better than you expected? Let us know below in the comments. We enjoy hearing about your experiences, and your feedback is invaluable.
