Our ride from the airport wasn't too bad and before we knew it, we were checking in. We completed online check-in prior to our arrival but still needed to update Lauren's Magic Band with her own credit card and pin number.
After we checked-in, it was time to find our room. Now we've been to Riverside before and I knew it was a large resort, but we had no idea what we were in for. Remember at this point I'm about 15 weeks pregnant. I have a rolling suitcase and a carry-on bag. They gave us our map and directions and we head out. After going in circles, and becoming thoroughly exhausted, we finally find out building.
We are on the 2nd floor so we start our search for an elevator...until we discover that many buildings at Riverside have NO elevator. A great learning experience for both of us, but being pregnant and limited in what I can lift, I can't get my stuff upstairs. We call the Front Desk in hopes of being moved, but they send a bellman instead. We finally got settled in and actually had a pretty great location although I think it took us the entire trip to finally remember where our room was!
I have a few Instagram shots of the area outside our room. This is one of my favorite resorts because it's just so gorgeous!!
The room was great, we actually had a room for 5 in the Bayou section, complete with fold out trundle. We were super close to the West Depot bus stop and not far from the main pool and lobby.
We love the Mansion side of the resort too (probably a little better)! The gardens are so pretty!
We didn't rent a car this trip so we used the buses exclusively. With one minor exception, everything went very smoothly and the buses showed up in a timely manner. There are several bus stops at Riverside and when the buses arrive, they rotate which is their first stop. This makes it fair for all guests (meaning they don't always stop at bus stop #1 first).
The one time we had trouble was our night out. We were headed to the California Grill for dinner. The most direct route would have been a bus to the Magic Kingdom, then a simple monorail ride to the Contemporary. Since it was a Christmas party night, the bus was pretty packed so we hopped on the next EPCOT bus, which was fairly empty. Once we arrived at EPCOT we hopped on the monorail over to the TTC (Ticket and Transportation Center). Then it would have been as simple as to hop on the resort monorail....except the resort monorail was down. Disney was providing bus transportation as a back up but we knew since it was stopping at all 3 resorts, we'd NEVER make it. We ended up snagging a cab and all in all it was a bad experience. Other than that little snafu, the buses were great!
We loved the Riverside Mill food court. We had a couple of great breakfasts there and it was very convenient. Also if you have a chance to see Yee Ha Bob over at the Riverside Roost, don't miss him! We've caught him before and he's amazing!!
Overall I loved this resort as usual. My only qualm was the size of the resort, especially being pregnant. Port Orleans French Quarter would probably have been a better option because they have such similar amenities and there is just one bus stop. I would recommend this resort in a heartbeat and wouldn't hesitate to stay here again!!
No comments:
Post a Comment