NY to WDW PO Riverside-last minute and shortest trip I've ever done

Maleficent Faery

Earning My Ears
Joined
Sep 21, 2018
Hi! I have been going to WDW since the 80s. Stayed in many of the resort hotels over the years. Returning with my own kids is cool and kind of weird because when I go back I STILL feel like a kid, toting around other little kids. ;)
This will be the third trip for my kids 6 & 7.

Due to work circumstances, we decided to book a last minute trip after Labor Day. I booked this trip less than two weeks prior! We booked a package with 4 night stay standard at Port Orleans Riverside, included was two theme park tickets (non hopper). We did not purchase the dining plan. We also bought tickets to MNSSHP. The last time I stayed at PO I think it was still Dixie Landings lol. So I was interested in what the resort was like now. And it was kind of as I remembered. Pretty grounds and quieter than some of the other resorts. The room was slightly bigger than a value resort room. Double sinks, basic bathroom, clean. We enjoyed our stay here.

Flew Frontier from Islip, NY. So much easier than JFK as we live 15 minutes from the airport. Can easily park and walk right up to the entrance. Piece of cake. Frontier is an ultra low fare carrier and the seats are uncomfortable but the prices are great so I don't mind. I planned a 6am flight on Saturday 9/15. Great flight, not a long wait for the Magical Express to arrive. Check in at Riverside took me by surprise, yes it was Saturday but the wait was about a half hour. So we got our bands and took a room that was available (it was still early). It was in the 17 building. Closest to laundry, a quiet pool and south depot bus. It was a little bit of a walk to lobby and food court but not terrible for us. About a 5 minute or less walk to the south bus depot to take you to the parks. Going to the parks there are no more stops and its straight to the parks. Coming back Riverside south is the last stop. You can be on the "local"-First french quarter, then west, north, east, south depot. But the buses were never over crowded and we never had to wait long at all. Really pleasant this time.

We decided not to do the dining plan. My kids are picky eaters and the dining plan had previously not worked for us. Instead I again ordered perishables from Garden Grocer like milk, fruit and yogurt, and also water, and brought snacks with me, nuts, little muffins, etc etc.
We also had a lot of gift cards (visa, mastercard) we used them up on dining and souvenirs or I just paid with my card.

Day 1-Early check in. Plan was to rest then go to Disney Springs. We were tired. I'll never do the 6am again. But we persevered. After resting and a dip in the pool, we took the Riverside ferry to DS, the kids played in that water thing, we shopped a bit, ate dinner at Paradiso (very good). Bought some treats then went back to the hotel.

Day 2-1:10 brunch at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary. We had no problems making last minute reservations which surprised me. Maybe it was the time of year. We had monorail problems (which we were offered a FP each for) and were 20 minutes late for the brunch. They still took us. Yay. The food and service were excellent. Last time I went was 2 and a half years ago and the menu hasn't changed, I even remember the dessert being the same, which is fine with me. The characters stopped at each table and took pics. Was a great time. Then we hopped on the monorail and headed to the MNSSHP.
Let me add that this was the best day of our trip. The party was awesome! We got there a little bit after 4, were given our bands and treat bags and proceeded to Space Mountain. A first for my kids. They went bananas for it. We headed through the park to Frontierland to Splash Mountain. There was no line. We went on twice. There were treat stations throughout the park. Some had long lines but were organized. Mostly candy but we also got an organic applesauce in one line.
Beware some restaurants are closed. On this night I believe Pecos Bills was open.
The park, main street, and the area in front of the castle had a spooky atmosphere at dusk. Lit up mickey pumpkins on the lampposts. We met up with friends there and every so often one of us would say "this is so cool". Lol. While they left, we stayed until the fireworks. It was spectacular! I wanted to cry. We caught the fireworks outside the front of main street railroad so we could exit to the buses right after. They have two pumpkins set up there and a photographer will take your pic looking down main street to the castle. We said lets take a family photo. It was right when the fireworks started and they showed up in the background with the castle!

Day 3-Back to Magic Kingdom. We wanted to be there earlier than 4 this time since we didn't do everything we wanted to at the party. There was a problem with our entry. It showed up blue and we were asked to go to guest services. We were there for over 20 minutes while it was cleared up. I think it had to do with the fact that I had two park tickets and a halloween ticket on our bands. IDK. We weren't the only ones though. The woman helping us said she saw that we missed our pirates fast pass because of the issue and would give us a new fast pass. When she was done she kindly gave us three FPs to use where we wanted. That was awesome. We ate at Pinocchios in Fantasyland. It was chaos. It took forever and my order was wrong. I just know not to go there anymore. It was way too crowded.
That day was so hot. We dipped into see Mickey, Daisy, Goofy and Donald near the Dumbo ride. It was a nice break from the heat since it was very cool inside while we waited for the kids to take pics with the characters. We ended the day with Fireworks and Tinkerball flying from the castle like old times. We ate hotdogs at Caseys and took the bus back.

Day 4-Animal Kingdom. I like to usually do MK on the last day but we already went two days in a row so wanted to change it up. Again it was extremely hot on this day. The kids were pouring water on their faces. I gave in and bought a 22 dollar water fan because it was so hot lol. So ridiculous. My son did Expedition Everest twice and it is his favorite now. We did the safari. Some of the animals were out and so close to our truck including several giraffes. It was very cool. We didn't spend the night at the park. We took the bus back and while everyone else went in the pool I packed for departure the following morning. We then went to Boatwright's. My jambalaya was great and so spicy. The cornbread was delicious. My husband had a steak and it was good too.

I would take a short trip again but would probably do the park hopper next time (though it didn't come with this package). I would also not take an early morning flight next time.
Chef Mickey is always worth it, would do it again.
MNSSHP was worth it, would do it again but I would like to try out the holidays at WDW first.
I would stay at Riverside again. I like the bus convenience and the option of bus or ferry to Disney Springs. There is a lively bar the River Roost and a large arcade for the kids. It is a quieter hotel than say a large value resort like Pop or All Star and is the nicer of the moderate hotels imo. It wasn't just families with children either, I saw quite a few couples who booked this resort.
Now, is there a support group for people returning from Disney? :eeyore:
 
Sounds like a great trip. We are taking our first short trip too, working around my daughter's college schedule. It is better than not going. Seems like you made the best of it and got to do a lot! Thanks for sharing!
 
Sounds like a great trip. We are taking our first short trip too, working around my daughter's college schedule. It is better than not going. Seems like you made the best of it and got to do a lot! Thanks for sharing!
Totally feel the same, it’s better than not going at all. :)
I hope you have a great time!
 



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