Author: Senior Diva
I have never been a fan of food courts. Especially when my children were young and I was on vacation.
My daughter has multiple food allergies so I was never able to just wait in one line in order for everyone to get what they wanted to eat.
In the early food court years, eating at a food court was nothing more, in my opinion, then eating buffet food (another one of my dislikes) made better by the fact that only the person serving the food was touching it instead of everyone else in the restaurant touching, breathing and moving it around! When on vacation, I wanted to sit down and have someone bring me my meal. I didn’t like having to locate a table that without fail always had to be wiped clean, stand in multiple lines, and then juggle an over-filled tray of food to serve my family.
As my children grew into teens and then adults and everyone waited in their own line to order their food, I am no longer as opposed to the food court concept.
I have never been a fan of food courts. Especially when my children were young and I was on vacation.
My daughter has multiple food allergies so I was never able to just wait in one line in order for everyone to get what they wanted to eat.
In the early food court years, eating at a food court was nothing more, in my opinion, then eating buffet food (another one of my dislikes) made better by the fact that only the person serving the food was touching it instead of everyone else in the restaurant touching, breathing and moving it around! When on vacation, I wanted to sit down and have someone bring me my meal. I didn’t like having to locate a table that without fail always had to be wiped clean, stand in multiple lines, and then juggle an over-filled tray of food to serve my family.
As my children grew into teens and then adults and everyone waited in their own line to order their food, I am no longer as opposed to the food court concept.
That being said, Disney has, over the years, perfected the food court, and the Riverside Mill Food Court at Disney’s PortOrleans Riverside Resort is one of the best.
Port Orleans Riverside is my favorite moderate resort at Walt Disney World. I stay there regularly and I have had the opportunity to experience the Riverside Mill Food Court at various times throughout the day.
The only negative I will share is that the floor plan design in the area of the food counters and cash registers really needs to be re-thought. I have only experienced this problem in the morning. Most visitors want to arrive at their destination for the day at park opening so the food courts tend to be at their busiest between their opening time and 8:30 a.m. During this busy time at Riverside Mill Food Court, the lines from the food counters tend to blend in with the lines of those waiting to pay for their meal and it seems as if you constantly hear a chorus of “excuse me please” being chanted.
Port Orleans Riverside is my favorite moderate resort at Walt Disney World. I stay there regularly and I have had the opportunity to experience the Riverside Mill Food Court at various times throughout the day.
The only negative I will share is that the floor plan design in the area of the food counters and cash registers really needs to be re-thought. I have only experienced this problem in the morning. Most visitors want to arrive at their destination for the day at park opening so the food courts tend to be at their busiest between their opening time and 8:30 a.m. During this busy time at Riverside Mill Food Court, the lines from the food counters tend to blend in with the lines of those waiting to pay for their meal and it seems as if you constantly hear a chorus of “excuse me please” being chanted.
The Riverside Mill Food Court serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and is open from 6 a.m. to midnight. Most meals and snack items can be purchased using a quick service credit or snack credit if you are using the Disney Dining Plan. If you are not using the dining plan, I find the prices to be extremely reasonable for a nice sized and good meal. When I am using the dining plan, I tend to purchase my breakfast, using my quick service credit for lunch. Breakfast at your resort food court is far less expensive to purchase then even a light lunch in one of the parks.
Both the regular and children’s menu for each meal is varied and you can easily find something for everyone in your group. You can get breakfast items through 10:30 or 11:00 a.m.; lunch items from 11:00 a.m. to slightly before closing and dinner specific items from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. I have always found the food here to be fresh and of a good quality. Any food item left in a warming tray is removed and refreshed when needed. Don’t forget that adults can order off the child’s menu and save a little money.
For breakfast you will find a variety of muffins and Danish ranging in price from $2.29 to $2.59; breakfast platters in varied sizes, waffles, pancakes, and cereals ranging in price from $3.29 to $8.00 for a Bounty Platter which can actually feed two people. The child’s portion of the same meals average around $4.
For lunch the Riverside Mill Food Court offers a wonderful array of items that includes a “Build Your Own Salad” station. They offer several deli-type sandwiches, burgers, pasta, chicken sandwiches, pizza, fish basket and more. There is a daily soup of the day as well as a wide variety of desserts, ice cream and cookies. Prices for lunch range from $5.79 for an 8 inch pizza to $10 for a very large roast beef sandwich or the “Build Your Own Salad” station which includes chicken or steak among the items you can add to your salad. Dessert prices start at around $2.69.
The dinner menu does not vary that much from the lunch menu. It is, after all, a food court. At dinner a sliced turkey or sliced roast beef dinner with vegetables and potatoes for $8.99 each are basically added to the lunch menu.
There is more than enough seating even at the busiest times and the tables are kept clean and usable at all times. There is also a small outdoor seating area for when the weather is nice. There is always a cast member walking around the dining area to be sure everything is in order. I have even had a cast member offer to re-fill my coffee for me so that I could continue to eat my breakfast without getting up for a re-fill.
The Riverside Mill Food Court is one I would highly recommend.
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