I always used to advise people to do a residential course, unless you have either restricted time or restricted money. Seems to make sense that it's going to be easier to study whilst following a structured program and surrounded by other people who are studying the same thing as you. At least that's the way I'd imagine it would be - I did distance learning because I didn't have the time to do the residential course, so I can't speak first-hand for residential courses.
But when I started saying that a few years ago, some people said they actually preferred distance learning, because they could go at their own pace - classroom study either goes too fast or too slow for them.
So I guess the answer is that it's very much a personal decision. If I had the choice I'd have done residential, but you have to choose whatever you're happiest with.
FFF
------------
PS - to answer your other question, I have no idea about Riverside, I have no personal experience of them. But, in general terms, it is possible to do the MCC together with your first type rating. Problem is, though, that most employers don't seem to be interested in applicants who don't have the MCC already, which makes sense really because why would they pay for you to do the MCC when there are other pilots with the same experience level who already have the MCC