DISNEY ' S PORT ORLEANS RESORT - RIVERSIDE
A Return to Nature
I
quietly tiptoe into the room , exhausted from an after-hours event at Magic Kingdom and ready to start the nightly routine .
“ Don ’ t let Banyan out without a leash ,” my mostly asleep husband mumbles from bed . “ She knows there are bunnies out there .”
True to his word , when I slip the lead on my black-and-tan coonhound , there are no fewer than three — three — bunnies in the bushes right outside our door . Banyan ’ s nose goes into overdrive , but I , firmly holding that leash , sip on the end-of-night cabernet , wave to the bunnies , and smile at the waning gibbous moon that envelops the otherwise black sky .
If Disney ’ s Port Orleans Resort - Riverside had Disney Vacation Club Villas , I ’ d be hard-pressed not to buy into them . For me , it ’ s the most magical place at the Most Magical Place on Earth . As a Florida travel writer , I journey to some pretty amazing places . Write about snorkeling in the Dry Tortugas ? Spend Near Year ’ s Eve under the stars on a Florida island ? Watch the moon rise at a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel in Central Florida ?
OK , OK , you got me . One of those things is not like the others . In my Florida history and travel writers circles , a visit to Walt Disney World isn ’ t quite the same as kayaking in the Everglades or hiking a cypress dome in Big Cypress National Preserve .
Riverside emphasizes the South ' s natural beauty . PHOTO BY LAURIE SAPP