Port Orleans Riverside FAQ thread --- 2012, Part Three --- NOW FULL / CLOSED

[Venomhatch]

I agree. A reason like that should make it a priority, as far as I'm concerned. Most people (like me!) request the first floor to avoid hauling luggage and kids up the stairs or elevators, so your reason sounds much more valid!

Maybe someone will know - when you call to have a CM add requests, can they put notes about your requests on the reservation? Or would it be better to fax something in writing to the resort (is this still done?)?

Yes the faxing is still done at this resort.

 

[andrewilley]

Ever wondered why the Riverside Alligator Bayou lodges are numbered as they are, starting at 14, and then missing out numbers like 20-23, 30-33, etc?



Well have you?



It was so they didn't clash with the room numbering scheme at French Quarter (which even then was Dixie Landing's sister resort) with room/floor numbering like 11xx, 12xx, 13xx, 21xx, 22xx, 23xx, etc. And that's also why the mansion buildings start at 80 too, because French Quarter used up to 71xx, 72xx, 73xx.


(c) UselessChristmasFacts'R'Us.

Andre

 

[danicaca]

Ever wondered why the Riverside Alligator Bayou lodges are numbered as they are, starting at 14, and then missing out numbers like 20-23, 30-33, etc?

Well have you?

It was so they didn't clash with the room numbering scheme at French Quarter (which even then was Dixie Landing's sister resort) with room/floor numbering like 11xx, 12xx, 13xx, 21xx, 22xx, 23xx, etc. And that's also why the mansion buildings start at 80 too, because French Quarter used up to 71xx, 72xx, 73xx.

(c) UselessChristmasFacts'R'Us.

Andre

Actually, my husband and I were just wondering this the other day, when one of our friends was telling us which building we want to be in,and we were looking at the map...thanks!

 

[snykymom]

Well, the specific building would be the first to go off my wish list. My son has autism, and when he is having sensory problems, he jumps. It somehow makes him feel better. As you can imagine, if we aren't on the first floor it is very stressful! Just trying to get him distracted and to be quiet is really hard. At 4, and being mostly non-verbal, he doesn't understand why at home he can do it, but not there.

I can see how it must be so hard for the people who assign rooms to make everyone happy and have it all work out. Sheesh, just getting it all organized for when a room is available or not, and the days people are arriving must be difficult.

Have you contacted the Guests with Disabilities desk? They may be able to help you, and make this more than a simple "request."

 

[boocake]

I have seen some info on other threads that the bus service at POR is not very good. I'm going in January with my 5 year old (just him and myself), and I am so nervous about this for some reason. I think once we are inside the parks, the waiting for rides and stuff will be tolerable, but I am nervous about him waiting in the mornings to get on the bus (the anticipation of getting to the park itself) and whether or not he'll be able to deal. I know kids do this stuff ALL the time, but I've never done Disney transportation so I'm just overly nervous I guess.

Is it true that bus service at other resorts tends to be better with less waiting?

 

[Mom2six]

Thank you everyone for the advice about the room requests!

 

[Mom2six]

I have seen some info on other threads that the bus service at POR is not very good. I'm going in January with my 5 year old (just him and myself), and I am so nervous about this for some reason. I think once we are inside the parks, the waiting for rides and stuff will be tolerable, but I am nervous about him waiting in the mornings to get on the bus (the anticipation of getting to the park itself) and whether or not he'll be able to deal. I know kids do this stuff ALL the time, but I've never done Disney transportation so I'm just overly nervous I guess.

Is it true that bus service at other resorts tends to be better with less waiting?

I don't really use the buses, but from what I have read all resorts have problems with bus service at times. Each person has a different experience based on whether they arrive right when the bus is coming or just after it left! I've read negative comments about buses for all the resorts, as well as positive ones. So I don't think that POR is any worse than any other resort.

It can be so hard for little kids to wait! Do you have a touring plan or will you be flexible at the parks? If you have a touring plan, you can use that time to talk about your schedule and give him a few options. If you are going to be flexible, ask him the things he wants to do at the park. Maybe by discussing the visit, it will feel more like it has begun. Also, to distract my impatient children, I let them play games on my phone while we wait. The Disney Apps have some trivia questions about Disney movies which could be fun to do while waiting for the bus.
And definitely prepare him ahead of time - talk about how it may be a long wait for the bus, but it will come and you will go to the park. Knowing ahead of time that there will be waiting can be helpful.

 

[Missytara]

Little kids?????

I was at the marina at POR and two grown gentlemen sat for two to three minutes, complained about the wait for the next five minutes until the water taxi - as they said - FINALLY showed up.

Really. Seven minutes.......we have become a society of people have forgotten that quiet time is a great time to take in your surroundings and enjoy the ride. It is vacation.

 

[GATORinaZ28]

Little kids?????
Really. Seven minutes.......we have become a society of people have forgotten that quiet time is a great time to take in your surroundings and enjoy the ride. It is vacation.

That's it right there! Take in Disney and enjoy! I try to enjoy my time there regardless of what's is going on.

 

[boocake]

That's it right there! Take in Disney and enjoy! I try to enjoy my time there regardless of what's is going on.

I would 100% agree with this if it were just me, but 5 year olds are not exactly known for their ability to sit back and smell the roses...much less while waiting to go to DISNEYWORLD for the first time in their life...

 

[lovingeire]

I have seen some info on other threads that the bus service at POR is not very good. I'm going in January with my 5 year old (just him and myself), and I am so nervous about this for some reason. I think once we are inside the parks, the waiting for rides and stuff will be tolerable, but I am nervous about him waiting in the mornings to get on the bus (the anticipation of getting to the park itself) and whether or not he'll be able to deal. I know kids do this stuff ALL the time, but I've never done Disney transportation so I'm just overly nervous I guess.

Is it true that bus service at other resorts tends to be better with less waiting?

We only stayed one night at POR but found the bus service to be pretty decent! (We were at AoA for a week before this final night that I got free from work.) I would request a room near transportation. We were in Alligator bayou iChat near the east bus stop. It took us a minute to get there. We maybe waited 10 minutes to get on the bus to MK. (We checked in that morning and saw a bus go by as we were in the the parking lot unloading.) we had hardly any wait for our ride home from Epcot that night. Our location was far away from the lobby/quick service but convenient to buses at least!

Oh and I have a two year old who is very active & antsy and he was very good waiting on the buses!

 

[boocake]

We only stayed one night at POR but found the bus service to be pretty decent! (We were at AoA for a week before this final night that I got free from work.) I would request a room near transportation. We were in Alligator bayou iChat near the east bus stop. It took us a minute to get there. We maybe waited 10 minutes to get on the bus to MK. (We checked in that morning and saw a bus go by as we were in the the parking lot unloading.) we had hardly any wait for our ride home from Epcot that night. Our location was far away from the lobby/quick service but convenient to buses at least!

Oh and I have a two year old who is very active & antsy and he was very good waiting on the buses!

Thanks!! Very reassuring. I think it's a great idea to request a room near the busses!!

I have another question. I read somewhere else (and of course now I can't remember where) that it would be VERY difficult to make a 7:35AM reservation at Chef Mickey's from POR (or most of the resorts for that matter). Can anyone vouch for that? I'm leaning toward taking a cab that day anyway just because that's reaaaaaally early!

 

[ScoMar]

That's it right there! Take in Disney and enjoy! I try to enjoy my time there regardless of what's is going on.

I agree! Especially with so much bad going on in the world today! There has been so much sadness around us recently; a classmate of our high school age kids passed away, my aunt is very sick from going through chemo and radiation for lung cancer, the CT school shootings....I am ready to have some happy times with my family. I will have all the people effected by these tragedies in the back of my mind always, but am really looking forward to just being with family and taking it all in.

Thank you to all the wonderful people on this board for providing such helpful info about POR! I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

 

[lovingeire]

Thanks!! Very reassuring. I think it's a great idea to request a room near the busses!!

I have another question. I read somewhere else (and of course now I can't remember where) that it would be VERY difficult to make a 7:35AM reservation at Chef Mickey's from POR (or most of the resorts for that matter). Can anyone vouch for that? I'm leaning toward taking a cab that day anyway just because that's reaaaaaally early!

The only thing that I think could be problematic is when the buses start running. I old call POR and check on that. I thought they started running at 6, but I'm not sure what time they would make it to POR for the first pick up. We had 9:30am ressies at CM after checking in and had plenty of time to check out of AoA. Drive to POR, check in. U load some bags, wait for the bus to MK and walk over to Contemporary. It probably took about half an hour for the bus & walk to CR since we had to wait for a bus.

 

[Mom2six]

I would 100% agree with this if it were just me, but 5 year olds are not exactly known for their ability to sit back and smell the roses...much less while waiting to go to DISNEYWORLD for the first time in their life...

LOL. I love to sit back and enjoy the Disney atmosphere - but that's mostly after the kids are sleeping. They aren't much for sitting back when so full of excitement in the morning - now at the end of the long day, I can barely get them out of their seats/bed to go brush their teeth!

 

[vtownpatty]

For the most part, bus service was decent. We did discover on our last couple of days that bus service seemed faster from the depot near the front desk. Not sure if this is always the rule, but an idea to keep in mind...

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[MeggyK]

Heading to POR in 10 days with the kids as their Christmas surprise. So excited! I staying in a manor building alone for the Prinicess half marathon in Feb and stayed in POFQ with the kids in June.
This time we are trying the the Royal Rooms. We aren't arriving until late on Jan 1st. Probably will be about 9:30pm by the time we arrive. I'd love to send in a request for Oak Manor (to be slightly closer to the bus stops/main building). I realize that by checking in so late, we'll just be given whatever is left, but should I still try to make a request? Faxing seems to be the best option, correct?

Thanks in advance for any input. I love everything about Port Orleans. Can't wait to be there again!!

 

[cjsm&d]

Thanks!! Very reassuring. I think it's a great idea to request a room near the busses!!

I have another question. I read somewhere else (and of course now I can't remember where) that it would be VERY difficult to make a 7:35AM reservation at Chef Mickey's from POR (or most of the resorts for that matter). Can anyone vouch for that? I'm leaning toward taking a cab that day anyway just because that's reaaaaaally early!

Take a cab! We do Kona Cafe for breakfast once each trip right around that time. We always take a cab. Just makes it much less stressful IMO.

I hope that your going on your MK day because then it really works out nice, hopping on the monorail after breakfast.



As far as the bus service, we have not had any issues at eithe POR or POFQ, but we are in full vaca mode when we are there and do not mind a 10 minute wait (My DS never had a problem waiting for a bus, even when he was 4 or 5)

 

[Mom2six]

Heading to POR in 10 days with the kids as their Christmas surprise. So excited! I staying in a manor building alone for the Prinicess half marathon in Feb and stayed in POFQ with the kids in June.
This time we are trying the the Royal Rooms. We aren't arriving until late on Jan 1st. Probably will be about 9:30pm by the time we arrive. I'd love to send in a request for Oak Manor (to be slightly closer to the bus stops/main building). I realize that by checking in so late, we'll just be given whatever is left, but should I still try to make a request? Faxing seems to be the best option, correct?

Thanks in advance for any input. I love everything about Port Orleans. Can't wait to be there again!!

I don't know about faxing, but I wanted to say have a great trip. What an exciting Christmas surprise! The Royal Rooms look very cool - I love the faucets.

 

[andrewilley]

I'd love to send in a request for Oak Manor (to be slightly closer to the bus stops/main building). I realize that by checking in so late, we'll just be given whatever is left, but should I still try to make a request? Faxing seems to be the best option, correct?

Yes, that's the best option. I'd suggest making sure your request is in your original booking too first, and then fax the resort about 3-5 days before you arrive (and mention your late checkin time, and your concerns about room choices being gone by then). See www.portorleans.org/room-requests.php for more info.

The only thing that I think could be problematic is when the buses start running.

The first buses start at around 6:30am, and each park's full service starts about an hour before park opening. There are meant to be special buses which will get you to your character breakfasts, but honestly at that time of day (and given that you're going to be spending a good amount of $$$ on the meal anyway) I think I'd just get a taxi, should only be around $15 or so. Worth it just for the peace of mind.

Andre