Battle of the Mods- the POR vs CB smackdown challenge

[MissElizabeth]

Help me pick a winner!

We had hoped to book at POFQ but they didn't have rooms available on our check in day and we didn't want to do a split stay. There are four of us, my DH and I, and our 4 and 6 year old son and daughter.

Right now we are booked at POR. I'm considering changing the reservation to Caribbean Beach.

On one hand if there's a chance we'd get a refurbed room, queen beds would be nice.

On the other, the kiddie pool- if I understand the photos correctly- at CB has slides and my kids would love it.

What would you do? For people that have been to either one, how was the bus service? The pools? The food courts?

At either resort which buildings should I ask for for good proximity to the mail bldg, pool and bus stop?

Helllllp!

 

[Disneyhenry]

POFQ pool has a slide too

 

[Pluto6]

My wife and 2 kiddos have stayed at both of these resorts. We actually stayed in the Bayou section of POR in 2007 and in a Pirate room at CB last year. If given the choice I would choose POR over CB. A big plus for us was being able to take the boat to Downtown Disney. I would say the foodcourt at POR was a bit better than the CB one too. The pool at CB was a little better but I dont think it was enough to sway me to stay there again.
The horse carriage rides at POR were unique too. Bus service was comparable at either resort. The CB kiddie pool was nice but VERY crowded and not open that late. We had building 3034 at POR and it was a little far from the main building but very quite. The Pirate section of CB is quite a walk from the main building but has internal resort bus service so not really an issue. One of the plusses of staying at POR is its close to POFQ so you can use the facilities there too. ( Be sure to try the beignets at breakfast AWESOME!!) Both had excellant playgrounds as well. All in all POR had more of that "Disney Magic". Hope this helps and have a great trip

 

[shell8558]

My family has stayed at both resorts and we love POR !! Hands down. We stayed in the pirate themed room last year at CBR, and while the rooms where nice the resort was too big for us. We did not like having to drive our car to the pool area/ food court. While at Riverside, we loved the boat to DD and we also found the food court to be much better. We also enjoyed the carriage rides!! My kids - age 11 & 9, like the pools at both resorts, but we did find the POR pool less crowed. (In fact we are 58 days away from our trip to POR) Good luck!

 

[JerseyJanice]

Help me pick a winner!

We had hoped to book at POFQ but they didn't have rooms available on our check in day and we didn't want to do a split stay. There are four of us, my DH and I, and our 4 and 6 year old son and daughter.

Right now we are booked at POR. I'm considering changing the reservation to Caribbean Beach.

On one hand if there's a chance we'd get a refurbed room, queen beds would be nice.

On the other, the kiddie pool- if I understand the photos correctly- at CB has slides and my kids would love it.

What would you do? For people that have been to either one, how was the bus service? The pools? The food courts?

At either resort which buildings should I ask for for good proximity to the mail bldg, pool and bus stop?

Helllllp!

I'm sure someone will correct if I am wrong, but the only mods where you can get queen beds are Coronado Springs and POFQ, if you get a refurbished room.

I'm pretty sure both POR and CBR have double beds.

Aside from that, I personally wouldn't even consider staying at CBR without a car. It's gigantic! POR isn't small, but it's much more manageable for walkers and bus users than CBR.

All the moderate resorts have slides. The slide at POFQ is small and great for the ages of your kids (not so much when you have teens). Your 5 yo can go on it by herself if she's a swimmer, and the little one could ride on your lap. As a PP said, you can use all the facilities at FQ if you're staying in Riverside.

 

[rie'smom]

I'm sure someone will correct if I am wrong, but the only mods where you can get queen beds are Coronado Springs and POFQ, if you get a refurbished room.

I'm pretty sure both POR and CBR have double beds.

Aside from that, I personally wouldn't even consider staying at CBR without a car. It's gigantic! POR isn't small, but it's much more manageable for walkers and bus users than CBR.

All the moderate resorts have slides. The slide at POFQ is small and great for the ages of your kids (not so much when you have teens). Your 5 yo can go on it by herself if she's a swimmer, and the little one could ride on your lap. As a PP said, you can use all the facilities at FQ if you're staying in Riverside.

Correct

 

[tinkerbell310]

POR! The foodcourt is better and so are the busses. I agree the pool at CBR is better, but like POR better overall!

 

[moniqueelaine]

I have only stayed at CBR..We really enjoyed it, however, we also felt that size of the resort is just sometimes overwhelming esp. when you come back from the park and are tired..We are planning to go back 2012..I am not sure if we are gonna do a mod or a delux we kind of want to stay at the Beach Club

 

[MissElizabeth]

I understood from the CM on the phone when we made our reservation that POR is also being refurbed and that they would be getting queen beds in the referb. Am I misinformed?

You guys are pretty convincing... I think I will stick with POR. I just keep looking at pictures of that awesome kiddie pool and waffling...

 

[JerseyJanice]

I understood from the CM on the phone when we made our reservation that POR is also being refurbed and that they would be getting queen beds in the referb. Am I misinformed?

You guys are pretty convincing... I think I will stick with POR. I just keep looking at pictures of that awesome kiddie pool and waffling...

It's FQ that's currently getting a refurb. I'm sure there are plans to refurb Riverside in the future, but when, I have no idea.

I can understand why you'd want the kiddie pool at CBR, but the deal breaker for me is the boat to/from Downtown Disney. That is such a nice feature! And the pool in Riverside is not too shabby. You can fish there too.

 

[calngavinsmom]

I understood from the CM on the phone when we made our reservation that POR is also being refurbed and that they would be getting queen beds in the referb. Am I misinformed?

You guys are pretty convincing... I think I will stick with POR. I just keep looking at pictures of that awesome kiddie pool and waffling...

You are right about the refurb(complete with queen beds!)......POR is supposed to start sometime soon (check out the update on March 12th)
http://www.portorleans.org/rehab.php

I agree with the others....POR is BEAUTIFUL! My kids(5&8) loved the pool and slide. My dh and I like the pool area too lots of sunny OR shady area to lounge in. The foodcourt is yummy, the rooms are cozy(kids loved the trundle bed and the beds made from logs lol), boat to DTD is really cool too. Everything is an easy walk here, some find it large, but we really enjoyed the shady, meandering pathways. The cms were all very helpful and friendly and went out of their way to make you feel welcome.

I could go on all night, but I think that the fact that my dh, who was adamant that we take a break from Disney,(after 5 straight years) booked a return trip to POR for our anniversary next year less than 24 hrs after leaving there, sums up how impressive this resort is.

Have fun

 

[BriarRabbit]

We just read about the refurbished rooms today and were able to switch our May trip from CBR to POFQ!

 

[Lillian Gracey]

POR should be getting their rooms refurbished soon after POFQ is done, which should be any day now. By the looks of your ticker, quite a few of the buildings should be refurbished already so you can always request to stay in a room that is refurbished.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

I have done both (as well as CSR). Either one is a fine choice, but personally I would pick POR over CBR. The service was much better at POR, CBR was okay but nothing exceptional. CMs at CBR seemed mildly annoyed when I asked them anything. if you Loved the boat to Downtown Disney, felt like a "deluxe" perk. I didn't like how there were so many bus stops around CBR. It took more time getting around the resort picking everyone up than it did to actually get to a park. I personally don't like how the check in and food court are seperate, but that's a personal preference. And this is really nitpicky, but I didn't like how you could see POP from CBR. Ruined the "atmosphere" IMO.

We always use the quiet pools anyway, so for us the pools are a non-issue. Maybe when our kids are bigger and have more of an opinion that will change. But I like being able to relax by the pool and feel like I have it all to myself.

 

[kaffinito]

I understood from the CM on the phone when we made our reservation that POR is also being refurbed and that they would be getting queen beds in the referb. Am I misinformed?

The refurb of POR starts this month and will include queen beds.

You are right about the refurb(complete with queen beds!)......POR is supposed to start sometime soon (check out the update on March 12th)
http://www.portorleans.org/rehab.php

I agree with the others....POR is BEAUTIFUL! My kids(5&8) loved the pool and slide. My dh and I like the pool area too lots of sunny OR shady area to lounge in. The foodcourt is yummy, the rooms are cozy(kids loved the trundle bed and the beds made from logs lol), boat to DTD is really cool too. Everything is an easy walk here, some find it large, but we really enjoyed the shady, meandering pathways. The cms were all very helpful and friendly and went out of their way to make you feel welcome.

I love POR too.

 

[Disneyfreak616]

You've probably already decided this, but I would stick with POR as well. I LOVE the Port Orleans resorts.

 

[epcotprincess]

I do not care for Port Orleans at all, with the exception of Ol' Man Island. The rooms badly need to be refurbished and are showing a lot of wear and tear. The food court is alright but nothing special, and I am still sad they stopped serving breakfast at Boatwright's.

So between POR and CBR I'd probably take CBR, but in all honesty, CSR is the best moderate IMO. Recently refurbed, amazing pool, best value for a cs credit in all of WDW at the Pepper Market. If asked to pick a mod, CSR would be my no-brainer choice.

 

[Lillian Gracey]

I do not care for Port Orleans at all, with the exception of Ol' Man Island. The rooms badly need to be refurbished and are showing a lot of wear and tear. The food court is alright but nothing special, and I am still sad they stopped serving breakfast at Boatwright's.

So between POR and CBR I'd probably take CBR, but in all honesty, CSR is the best moderate IMO. Recently refurbed, amazing pool, best value for a cs credit in all of WDW at the Pepper Market. If asked to pick a mod, CSR would be my no-brainer choice.

Like previous posters have said, the POFQ refurbishment should be done any day now and POR will be worked on right after that. So it's already being worked on.

 

[Belle83]

I think Caribbean Beach would be more fun for kids. PO is beautiful (well at least FQ is, have not been to Riverside but it looks pretty too). I wanted to stay at Riverside for our upcoming trip but I think we'll actually get a better deal at the Dolphin and I can't turn that down.

When I first stayed at Caribbean Beach, I was 14 and I loved the little boats you could rent. The main pool at CBR looks fun for kids and is a little more 'themed' than the one at POFQ, plus there are other pools all over the property. I think kids would also like the little island that has all the birds at CBR.

The point about all the bus stops at CBR is true though..that's kinda tough.

I don't think you can go wrong with either one though. The slide at POFQ might better for the age of your kids, and I bet they'd like the boat ride.

 

[MissElizabeth]

We did decide today to stick with POR, thanks in part to most of the advice on this thread. Thanks all!!!