We\u2019ve just come off the cruise ship and we\u2019re punchy happy as we enter into the off-white lobby of Port Orleans \u2013 Riverside Resort. It\u2019s around 10am and the check out\/early check in people are filling up the lines to speak to the Cast Members behind the counter. SharkBoy leaves me in line to visit the loo and I notice that I\u2019m standing behind a woman of about 70 years.<\/p>\n

She keeps looking back at her husband, resting comfortably on a couch in the lobby. <\/p>\n

\u201cSheldon! Sheldon!!\u201d she calls out, to no avail. Sheldon doesn\u2019t look over.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s talking to that beautiful young woman,\u201d I joke.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe can have him! After 55 years I need a break.\u201d<\/p>\n

We chat and she\u2019s like us, but in reverse: Disney World first then off on a looong cruise. She was lovely and beamed brightly when SharkBoy joined us. \u201cYou young kids\u2026\u201d she said as she eyed us both.<\/p>\n

The line grew and true to Disney customer service, 3 new Cast Members come out from the back to take on the surge of people. Our turn next. We wind up with a shift supervisor Cast Member named Ally. <\/p>\n

\u201cHi Ally!\u201d SharkBoy starts, \u201cWe\u2019re hoping that our reservation request is intact. We\u2019d like Alligator Bayou, water view\u2026\u201d He\u2019s excited. Bursting.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh no. Not Alligator Bayou for just two people\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Back in December, Disney did something to their reservation system that wound up losing a lot of room \u201crequests\u201d information. We didn\u2019t call in after hearing this, deciding that we were arriving early enough in the morning to put in our request, and wait the day with our luggage in the car, if need be.
\nSharkBoy really wanted to be in the block of rooms called Alligator Bayou.<\/p>\n

Riverside is basically shaped like a big \u201cO\u201d. The outside of the \u201cO\u201d is where all the room buildings are with the main lobby situated at the south end of the \u201cO\u201d. The actual \u201cO\u201d itself is a river that surrounds an island. The island holds a large pool area and beautiful landscaping \u2013 it\u2019s all very beautiful.<\/p>\n

Alligator Bayou is sort of at 10:00 on the \u201cO\u201d, close to the north bus depot and near a bridge over to the pool. The building itself is sprawling and has lots of waterview rooms, which we wanted. <\/p>\n

Back to the Cast Member\u2026<\/p>\n

SharkBoy doesn\u2019t bat an eyelash. He starts to chant in a rumba beat and does a white-guy, running man kind of dance: \u201cAlli-gay-tor Bay-YOU! Alli-gay-tor Bay-YOU!\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Ally and I are in shock. Ally\u2019s eyes go down to her monitor.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlli-gay-tor Bay-YOU! Alli-gay-tor Bay-YOU!\u201d<\/p>\n

Her fingers fly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s helpful\u2026\u201d I start.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlli-gay-tor Bay-YOU! Alli-gay-tor Bay-YOU!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026we can hold our luggage in our car\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlli-gay-tor Bay-YOU! Alli-gay-tor Bay-YOU!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026and come back much later.\u201d I offer.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlli-gay-tor Bay-YOU! Alli-gay-tor Bay-YOU!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I have something\u2026\u201d Ally says, punching keys and smirking.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlli-gay-tor Bay-YOU! Alli-gayt\u2014YAY!!\u201d<\/p>\n

When we got to the room, much later in the day, it was perfect. <\/p>\n

I have to remember this next time I\u2019m asking for a seat on a plane.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve just come off the cruise ship and we\u2019re punchy happy as we enter into the off-white lobby of Port Orleans \u2013 Riverside Resort. It\u2019s around 10am and the check out\/early check in people are filling up the lines to speak to the Cast Members behind the counter. SharkBoy leaves me in line to visit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":430,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[20,23,1963],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9WjY-1Xb","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deadrobot.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7513"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deadrobot.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deadrobot.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deadrobot.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/430"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deadrobot.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.deadrobot.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7513\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deadrobot.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deadrobot.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deadrobot.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}