Fishing Activities at Walt Disney World Port Orleans Riverside

We had a family reunion in July where all of our seven children, and our three grandchildren spent a week with us in Orlando.

Not having the money to pay for all fifteen of us to do the parks, we had to find new things to do.

Besides, who wants to do the parks when it's in the mid 90s and level 9 crowds?  Having once done that already, that's something I promised I would never do again.

 Doing Orlando in the middle of July is not easy!  The main reason for this is the weather.  If your going to do something outside, it either needs to involve water, like the waterparks or the beach, and it needs to be scheduled in the mornings and later evenings due to the afternoon/early evening monsoons that come through everyday.

Fishing at the Port Orleans Riverside docks seemed like the perfect activity because you have to get their early to be able to catch anything, and because it's early, you don't fry, and you miss the rain.

Welllll...... in theory it's a great idea, but moving 15 bodies from one place to another is quite an undertaking.  We actually didn't get there until 9:00 a.m.

We also actually knew that it was too late to catch anything, but I wanted to go through the experience anyway so I could give this report.

It took us an hour from door to door to get from our resort, Mystic Dunes in Celebration, to the Port Orleans Riverside resort.

 When we got to the gate, we told the attendant we were there to go fishing.  She checked our I.D. and then let us in to the parking lot.  She was very friendly and told us to go into the main lobby of the motel and ask a cast member for directions to the fishing site.

If you weren't going to go to Port Orleans for the fishing, just the atmosphere of this beautiful place makes for a nice outing.  I have very fond memories of just walking the grounds with my family, and I'm really mad that I didn't put in a decent sized SD card so that I could have the space to take high quality pictures on this trip.

I am definitely going back and soon, and when I do, I'll make sure to take decent photo equipment!

The grounds at Port Orleans Riverside are beautiful.  You don't feel like you are the middle of any civilization, but that you have traveled a distance to go relax at a beautiful Southern country location.  

The kids had fun before we even got to the fishing site.  There are a couple hammocks located near the fishing, and I have learned as a mother of six boys, when there's a hammock around, it's got to be tried out.

The signs in the area give you that Disney feel adding to the atmosphere.

It was about a 15 minute walk from the main hotel lobby to the fishing cabin which is located due north of the pool area and playground.

This sign tells all of the particulars, first poles out at 7:00 a.m, and last poles out at 1:15 p.m., but the fishing hole master will iterate and reiterate that fishing is an exercise in futility after 8:30 a.m.  

"Well, yes, sir, we know that but we don't care, we are here for the experience of the process and don't care if we don't pull in a ton of fish.  Thank you, but yes, we know the fish are full of your hotdog bait, and we are willing to take our chances." 

"No we are not stupid, we are making a conscious decision to do this just for the experience.  We know what we are doing."

"Yes, we know we're not going to catch anything.  Yes, we know we're throwing away our $30.  Actually, sir, we knew that before we left this morning. We are just doing this so we can say we did it.  Thank you very much.!"

Okay, friends, why have the last poles go out at 1:15 p.m. if your going to guilt the patrons if they come after 8:30 a.m.?  A simple explanation that the fish are probably not going to bite will suffice, or close the fishing at 9:00 a.m. and advertise it.

Sir ( I won't say his real name) the fishing cabin master gives us our detailed instructions on how not to fish at the Port Orleans Riverside.

Okay, so my pride got away with me, so I then began praying, "Please let us catch one fish, just to show Sir."  No sooner did I say, Amen when my oldest boy pulled out this humdinger!!!!!!" The Lord has a sense of humor, and it was the only fish caught the whole morning. Sometimes our prayers are answered in small ways, and sometimes they are answered in big ways.  This particular morning, my prayer was answered in small ways, but answered, nonetheless.

 Anyway, we did see a lot of pretty good sized bass in the pond, and they came up and looked at our hooks and saw those hooks baited with hotdogs, and they said, "Had those for breakfast this morning.  You expect us to eat that junk? "Where are the shiners?"

So, I recommend if you go dock fishing on Disney property after 7:00 a.m. bring something new for the bass.

Your own fishing equipment is allowed at the dock if you want to bring your own poles, but we tried the cane pole fishing.  I felt just like Tom Sawyer.

I wanted the grandchildren to have a fishing experience where they didn't have to wear a PFD.  This is the perfect set up, if you can get everyone there by 7:00 a.m.  This would be easier to do if we were staying at the Port Orleans Riverside, and for those of you who are, I would recommend it.

After our hour was up, which cost us a whopping $2.00 per person since we paid the price for two families, we took our "I told you so", from Sir and on our way back to the lobby, we found another hammock.

All in all, I'm very glad that we did the fishing activity because this is a very beautiful place on Disney property that I never knew existed.  The lobby atmosphere is very pleasant and reminiscent of a small train station in the early 1900s with period decor.

I think I will just mention here that even though the last poles go out at 1:15 p.m., you can fish with your own poles and bait anytime without a license, as long as you are allowed through the front gate, which I think, as long as you have a good I.D. and can explain your intentions, that shouldn't be a problem.

The grounds are the prettiest I have seen on Disney property, and it was just a great place to relax and take our time doing something non-stressful.

I recommend going just for the chance to get away from the main Disney hassle while still enjoying Disney quality and atmosphere.  This is definitely a place I'd like to stay over sometime.

It was unfortunate that I didn't have the better photo taking set up for the day, but I hope you can enjoy the remaining pictures that I took of the day below.......

The water at the fishing hole was clear and we could see the wildlife in the pond, like this turtle.

My nine year-old and his little two year-old niece.

My seventeen year-old can't contain his excitement as we wait for our fishing experience at the fishing hole cabin. Just kidding.  He always does this when we put a camera on him to be smart.

The beautiful grounds at Port Orleans Riverside

A cute smile from my five year-old grandson and his dad, patiently waiting for the fish that won't be biting since we got there so late.