Disney World Port Orleans Riverside Run

Disney World Port Orleans Riverside Run

Just returned from a quick trip to Orlando.  Actually trip was revolved around my nephews football game that happened to take place in Daytona Beach this week, but the Disney portion was sort of an addition.  We spent a day at the Magic Kingdom and a day at Epcot.  Still love me some Disney!

Anyhow, we stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside.  Great little resort that used to called Dixie Landings back in the day.  Perfect little layout, and each building is somewhat spread out and away from each other.  All set in a bayou setting.  In fact, the section we were in is called the Alligator Bayou.  This shot kind of gives you the feel of the environment with big, thick trees.

There are actually two sections to this property.  The Alligator Bayou and the Magnolia Bend.  The Magnolia Bend section is pretty nice too, with a southern plantation feel.

This set up also has a great set up if you are a runner.  If you do the inner pathway around the island, you are looking at roughly .7 miles.  If you take the full loop, heading toward Port Orleans French Quarter, you are looking at 1.7 miles.  A couple loops and you are good to go!

This first shot is a look down the river from the intersection sign above.

From here, you run through the last couple buildings of Alligator Bayou, and on into the Magnolia Bend section.  Once you enter the Magnolia Bend, you start to see some of the beautiful plantation style buildings.

From here, you keep on heading down the river, and come across some pretty bridges.

There's a bridge in the far distance, but this is more of a shot of the grass lined river, and tall trees.
Once you get in about the middle of the Magnolia Bend area, you can look across the river and see the main lobby and boat dock area of Port Orleans Riverside.

We'll make our way around and get a better look soon.
A little further down the river you come across a pretty bridge that leads you towards the French Quarter area.

Now you'll be getting into the Port Orleans French Quarter.  This is a completely separate resort, but it is joined by this running trail.
Here is a shot of the pool slide at the French Quarter resort.

King Triton looking down over us.

From here, you run about another quarter mile or so and turn around. Instead of going back over the bridge, you continue forward and head into the Riverside lobby/boat dock area.

It can get a little congested here, so be careful of kids running around, strollers, etc.  It is a Disney resort, so there are plenty of those.
Continue on around the river and you come into the actual dock area.  This is a wood planked portion of the run with a great water wheel on one side.

This make for a nice little change of scenery for a few minutes.  Once you make it through a few curves and turns, you end up back on the regular running path.  I forgot to mention that the path is a nice flat, easy on the feet, cobblestone type of path.  Easy to run on with the Vibram 5Fingers.

I completed 2 full laps for about 3.5 miles.  It was a nice cool morning with no humidity to speak of yet.  It was also pretty windy as Hurricane Sandy was blowing on by us off the coast.
As I was heading back to my room, I came across this little guy waiting to greet me.  Must be a relative of Jiminy.

Of course, to finish off a nice run, we headed out for a little dinner that evening.  Weird, but this was the only picture I had of our meals.  This was from Cookes of Dublin at Downtown Disney.  Fun little Irish pub style restaurant.

For everyone else, it was either fish n chips, or the breaded hamburger special.  I opted for a green salad and some fries.  And of course a big cold Guiness to wash it down.  When in Rome...I guess!

Happy running!