Walkabout The World - A Disney Podcast - Disney's Port Orleans Resorts Walkabout

Episode Date: January 15, 2023

Hello Travelers! Join host Jeremy this week for a meandering walking tour of Disney's Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter resorts. Soak in some ambience of these wonderfully themed resorts and also, this is apparently also the water feature episode, because we sample a bunch of them - the audio, not the actual water - because that would be gross. Enjoy!   As always, use good listening devices as we always record in 4 channel surround sound. We hope you enjoy the episode and thanks so much for following along!    Look us up at @WalkaboutWDW on Instagram and drop us a note to say hi! Find our producer Josh also on Instagram at @TheSteele. Say hi to our west coast correspondent Ric at @opticaljedi. Lastly give a shout to our Orlando correspondent Pete at @neverlandlocal.   You can now also drop us at line at [e-mail]. Say hi, tell us how you found us, and give us some suggestions on things you'd love to hear.   Walkabout The World is a weekly Disney podcast, always recorded on property at Walt Disney World or Disneyland Resort with the simple goal of making you feel like you are in the middle of the magic. 

Hello travelers and welcome back to Walk About the World, a weekly audio journey through the parks and resorts of Walt Disney World here in Orlando, Florida on a particularly windy and cool 40 degree Florida morning. And today we're focusing more on the resort side than the park side. We are standing by the banks of the Sasagula River between Disney's Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter Resorts. We're going to do a walking tour of the resorts today. I have no idea what we'll pick up. I'm just going to wander around and have some fun. Enjoy the ambience of the resorts. Hey, here's your Sasagula River water taxi going by. You guys have done these, right? The water taxis? If you haven't, one of the best free attractions that you can do in Disney. And, incidentally, the ride from the Springs to the Riverside Resort is the longest water taxi ride that you can take.

So, without any further ado from me, let's go walk around and have some fun. Okay. so um um spirits Good. Good patience. Spirits. You got patience? You got patience? Patience. Patience. Patience. Always patience.

Always patience. Always patience. Always patience. Always patience. Always patience. Always patience. I'm going to go ahead and get my camera. Storbritannia Standing here on Revelers Row Right next to the pool Which has zero people in it Because it's 40 degrees

But it's beautiful There but it's beautiful the steam coming off the pool can you hear the wind? Here's the walkway, the gates to the pool entrance, and Mardi Gras right in in front of us which is a great little pool bar you and I are currently sitting at a table poolside right next to Mardi Gras, which has some bustling activity behind me as they get ready to open the bar.

They've actually got the heaters turned on. But the sun is warm. It's breezy, and this pool is lined with palms that look like date palms. I'm not sure if they are. But the palms are blowing in the crisp breeze. And the French Quarter ambience is playing and life is good.... Kampung Kampung Kampung Kampung Kampung ¦ Kampung Kampung so Standing at the corner of Neptune's Parade and Rue de Bega. That's not my pun, that's theirs. But I still enjoy it.

Heading away from the lobby. Down river, as it were. To explore a little area of the resort that I have not walked around in for a long time. And I have to tell you, the scent of beignets is strong in the air over here, and I really want some, but I'm not gonna, because I'm watching my sugars. But man, that's tempting. Okay, let's head over here towards Jazz Alley. There's a fountain over here we must visit because, as you know,

we do the water features. Let's go. This has got to be one of the most pleasant areas in both of these resorts. So we're right off of Rue de Blues and Pontchartrain Way, and there is a courtyard here with a fountain as you can hear. Circular courtyard. Beautiful fountain. It's ringed by southern magnolias and live oaks.

Oh man. That's a good time right there. Add the chicken and stir-fry. This is my kind of spot. If you are the high-octane go-go-go type of Disney visitor, and I don't blame you if you are the high octane go go go type of disney visitor and i don't blame you if you are because you know you have to get your money's worth and all that good stuff you may pass things by like this but i would encourage you not to when you're down here soak this stuff up too the resort is all around you here you can't see any of the outside world or the surrounding orlando area this was immersion before they did immersion

sun is coming down dappled through the trees across the fountain and it's one of these it's one of these water features that isn't just a bunch of white noise. It's got a very pleasant drip to it. Is that a thing? That fountain has a very pleasant drip. I don't know what I'm talking about.

I'm just enjoying myself. Okay. Okay, let's take off and see what else we can see with our ears. Thank you. um Nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama-nama- Oh! so yeah Since apparently we're doing a courtyard tour, there's another lovely courtyard here at the corner of Rue de Vega and Cakewalk with a nice fountain. It is festooned with dolphins, and I don't mean like the porpoise dolphin. I mean like the dolphins from like the old, um, the old mariner's maps, like the swan and dolphin looking thing. Quite pleasant. Once again, right off of Rue de Bega and LaSalle Street, there is another little courtyard. This time, with a rectangular stone fountain area,

decorated with frogs that are spitting water. This would be a nice area in which to book a room because everything here is inward facing. Nice sheltered courtyard with magnolia trees and crepe myrtles and the fountain in the middle. That would be super pleasant in the morning. Actually, it is pleasant in the morning because that's what time it is. It would be pleasant in the evening too. And it's right down the walkway

from all of the goodies near the lobby. 🎵🎵🎵 🎵🎵🎵 There goes another water taxi. We are standing on the wooden bridge that is just down the way from Port Orleans headed towards French Quarter. Sorry, from Riverside headed towards French Quarter. Going across from Riverside headed towards French Quarter. Going across

the bridge because, you know what, I never do. I don't know why. I kind of stay on the other side. And so, looking at the sign here to the right is Parterre Place, Magnolia Terrace, Oak Manor, and Acadian House to the left. Let's go.

And here we are at Parterre Place. One of the manor house looking resort areas. Not sure what else to call them. But it is a large U-shaped courtyard. Rooms on three sides. Looking out of the courtyard towards the Sasagula. On either side of us, we have rose gardens that are symmetrical, bordered by very nicely trimmed hedges that are reminiscent of English gardens,

and in the middle of the gardens is a stone, a rectangular stone fountain area, which is very nice. We are on the walkway right next to the Sasagula and directly across from where we are is the boat launch and lobby area here at Riverside. And I am going to duck into this courtyard area. I don't see a sign, so I'm not sure the name of this, but this is by far the most beautiful of the courtyards I've passed so far. Lush planting, lots of big live oaks, and in the middle is a very large grass area.

Instead of paved, it has brick-lined walkways around the courtyard. Again, U-shaped. And in the center is another fountain, which we have to visit because it's required. Yeah, okay, this is nice. So I've made it to the upper side of the U, as it were, and I'm looking back towards...

Oh, man, that is a nice view Looking back towards the river and You can see all of the lobby buildings in the distance You can see the bridge past the boat launch All right, let's walk up to the fountain area Circular fountain here. Here we are at the Magnolia Terrace section. And we are very near the pool. The lively pool, the one with all of the activities and whatnot. for Magnolia Terrace is a really nice little gazebo.

And it is a favorite place for Heather and I to come after work on occasion, sit by the river across from the boat launch and watch the world go by. Super nice if you're in the area. By the way, Riverside will almost always let you park. As a matter of fact, I think that might just be an always. So if you're in the area, swing by, roll up and say, hey, I'm going to the food court, which you should. It's a good one. And then head straight across by the pool to the other side. There's a gazebo.

And take a snack and maybe a coffee and just watch the boats go by and watch your stress fade away. Okay. We are here. At the corner. Actually, I don't even think these paths are named. But the sign points to the left and says Old Man Island. And that's where the pool area is. We could continue.

But I'm going to go across to the pool. We'll venture on from there. Let's go. Here we are by the pool. Lots of hustle and bustle over here. Looks like they're getting ready to open the pool and here we are passing Campfire on the Bayou area, held nightly. I haven't done that. We have arrived back where we started, near the lobby of Riverside. We're at the rear of the food court area and headed around past

the big water wheel here. The So so Well, here we are, back where we started, at Riverside Resort near the boat launch. And thanks for following along today on this morning, crisp for Florida, tour of these resorts. I really love them. I have to say after today, my overall impression though is French Quarter definitely wins, like by far. Just the vibe, the liveliness, the layout, everything is a little bit more my vibe than Riverside. But Riverside is beautiful, and it's also sprawling. You can walk a long way here, which I just did. The Alligator Bayou area is enormous.

There's just zero audio ambience out there, so didn't really record a lot. We appreciate you guys. As always, follow us on Instagram at walkaboutwdw. You can follow each of our hosts, me, Jeremy. You can follow at jeremy__hunt__fl. You can follow Josh at TheSteel with an E. Pete at Neverland Local.

And Rick at Optical Jedi. I want to ask you, wherever you listen, please give us a follow or a subscribe so that our episodes will show up in your feed weekly. And if you like what you hear, give us a good review. Write us a review on iTunes if you can. Give us a star rating on iTunes or Spotify or wherever else your podcatcher may lead you. We really appreciate it. Also drop us a note either on Instagram via direct message or via email at contact at walkabouttheworld.com. We'd love to hear from you. We always respond. Let us know how you found us, where and when you listen,

what episodes you like, what you would like us to record in the future. And if you do, we'll mention you if you want us to. It's a nice vibe here right now. Oh, thank you. With the river in the distance and the water taxis going by, I will leave you the way we always do, by saying there is a great, big, beautiful tomorrow out there. We will see you in one of those,

on another episode of Walk About the World. Bye, everybody. © transcript Emily Beynon