Construction of Riverside , then called Dixie Landings . © DISNEY
Pine trees are abundant in the Sunshine State . PHOTO BY ABBY RICHARDSON
Yehaa Bob is a highlight of a stay at Riverside . PHOTO BY ABBY RICHARDSON
Disney uses a blend of nonnative and native plants to re-create the look of natural Florida . Pictured : Fishtail fern ( native to Hawaii but not prolific in Florida ), saw palmetto , and Chinese sweetgum ( which grows well in Florida ' s marshlands , such as those found in Walt Disney World ' s less-developed areas ).
PHOTOS BY ABBY RICHARDSON
For me , though , the allure is not so different . I love the solitude of getting lost in the swamp ( yes , that ’ s happened — never go with me to a second location ) and the sound of my paddle as it pulls through the water of a mangrove tunnel , but I also love the magic of Disney . It ’ s all part of Florida ’ s charm , and it ’ s all amazing … but Port Orleans - Riverside has its own blend of enchantment : one part Disney and one part Florida .
I first stayed at Port Orleans in 1992 , when Riverside went by another name : Dixie Landings . I can ’ t swear as to the exact building , but based on what I remember ( lots of wrought iron ), I ’ d say I stayed in present-day Port Orleans - French Quarter , rather than Riverside . I didn ’ t stay there again until 2014 . In the intervening years , I stayed at all levels , from Disney ’ s Art of Animation Resort to Disney ’ s Polynesian Village Resort , but throughout the last couple of years , Port Orleans has become my Walt Disney World Resort Hotel of choice , for a few reasons .
YEHAA BOB There ’ s a man at Port Orleans - Riverside who can , with nothing more than a moment ’ s notice and a highly complex string instrument , make your soul sing . Yehaa Bob performs Wednesday through Sunday at the River Roost , a lounge at Riverside . His performances , while they have little to do with Mickey and Minnie and Pluto and Goofy , have a pixie dust much like the sort we expect elsewhere at Walt Disney World . It never fails to remind me of that April evening when my husband and I wandered through the streets of New Orleans and stumbled onto a wedding , and the band trumpet-marched us to Hotel Monteleone with its spontaneous , joyous marches . I can never quite capture that energy again — except when Yehaa Bob gets going and I can lose myself in the swamp music magic .
I am not a person who loves participative performances , but everything hits different at Disney . Yehaa Bob brings the magic in a way that makes me want to sing — which I do , much to my dining companions ’ dismay ( my musical talents lie with appreciating it ). On Sundays , Yehaa Bob has a sing-along that anyone anywhere in the world can join from Facebook , a throwback to the pandemic , when he couldn ’ t perform at Walt Disney World but his fans needed more Yehaa .