We recently stayed at Port Orleans Riverside at Walt Disney World for a week, and we found out they offered a morning yoga class a few days a week, totally free for resort guests! Angie decided to give it a try, I mean, Disney is pretty much a workout all by itself, so why not throw a little extra exercise into your trip, right? But she really wanted the experience, and Disney rooms aren’t exactly cheap, so may as well get what you pay for!

Angie: First off, I should mention that I have never taken an actual yoga class. I am very self conscious about my lack of athletic skill, so all my exercise is limited to dvd/streaming workout videos. (definitely not a sponsored post, but amazon prime has some amazing yoga options!) However, I do quite a bit of yoga at home, so I was very excited to find out there was a free morning class offered a few times a week at our resort. I tend to prefer yoga that is more cardio-inspired, I think it is called vinyasa yoga? The type of videos I gravitate to require a good knowledge of yoga poses, even when they are marked as being for beginners, because that style of yoga is very fast paced and designed to flow through quickly to get the heart rate up. But there are plenty of other styles of yoga, so with that in mind I figured a 30 minute class at Disney would most likely NOT require any yoga knowledge or skill with advanced poses, so I packed up my yoga pants and planned to get up early for a little sunrise session.

Currently yoga is offered on mon/wed/fri mornings from 7-7:30 am at Riverside, and there were signs out the afternoon before with information on where the class was, and it indicated that any (reasonable) age could participate. They cap attendance at 20, but my particular class only had about 6, and I walked by another morning and saw about 10-12 joining in that day. They provided really nice, thick yoga mats and towels too, and as best as I could tell the instructors are actual yoga instructors contracted by Disney from a local studio. The instructor had a mic and music, so it’s clear this isn’t something they just slap together to make it seem like something extra, it’s a legitimate bonus for those who want to take advantage of the class. As for the actual yoga, it was very easy, and was focused mostly on breathing and stretching. There were only 3 or 4 actual “yoga poses”, and the instructor did a great job of explaining the tougher poses and offering variations for the one pose that was challenging (tree pose) so everyone had an option for their own skill level. It was very easy and went at a relaxed pace, and really was suitable for just about any age. There was a bit of sitting and laying involved, and because the grass was wet we held class on the brick pavers, so it might not have been great for someone with back problems even with the cushy mat. However, I think most mornings they lay the mats on the grass, so that would probably be less of an issue.

Overall, I think the class was certainly worth getting up before everyone else, even with a full day of walking in the parks planned. I came back to the room ready to throw open the windows for all those sleepyheads and get our day started. In fact, I felt like the yoga refreshed me and gave me a boost for the day thanks to all that deep breathing and stretching! I would definitely do it again if they still offer it on our next trip, I think there are several resorts at Disney that offer a morning yoga class a few times a week. Who knows, maybe I’ll even have the confidence now to take more actual classes instead of videos and working out at home!