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

[ShesAPirate]

Maybe we will run into each other!
I noticed you booked flights, are you flying out of Newark?
Did you get a good rate?

I think we are renting a car and driving, but if we could get a great rate I might be able to talk DH into flying!

We are staying from 2/3 - 2/9 - what are your dates?

2/3 - 2/8. Yes, we're flying out of Newark. Two RT tickets on United came to $399.60. Pretty decent. I'd seen a total of $360 about a month ago and wish I'd jumped on it then, but other than that, the price I got seems to be about average. 400 bucks is well worth not spending the money on gas -- or the tremendous amount of TIME in the car, ugh

 

[andrewilley]

I'll update the existing mansion building plans into the same format shortly, to maintain a consistent style.

Now done, all of the buildings at Port Orleans (Alligator Bayou, Magnolia Bend and French Quarter) are now listed in detail, clickable from the main maps.

Which bus stop would you recommend?

If you're near to the northern end of Oak Manor, or the parking lot side of the buildings, it might be worth trying the East Depot stop. Otherwise I'd stick with the South Depot (it's actually quite a short walk across the bridge). Give both a try and see how you get on (and coming back, get off at whichever stop is dropped off first, to save yourself some time).

We stayed there from Dec. 25 - 30. POR was awesome! We had four rooms, two and two connected, first floor, two were corner rooms, right by the pool, short walk to bus depot and a little bit of a longer walk to main lobby, bigger pool, cafeteria, etc., but I didn't mind as I loved seeing parts of the resort on our walk.
We had our Christmas dinner at Boatright's. It was delicious! My fiance (we got engaged during our stay at POR!), and I went on a carriage ride and purchased one for my brother and sister-in-law for her birthday. Fiance says this was the highlight of his trip! There were a couple of nights that we ate in the cafeteria, prices were not horrible, and food was good!... I can't say enough good things about POR. We loved it and will be back, hopefully for a honeymoon!

I'm glad you had such a lovely time, and you found time to experience the what the resort has to offer too - which would have been a good deal less hectic than the parks at times I guess. Congratulations to you and your fiancé on your engagement - and now the wedding and honeymoon planning can commence!

I absolutely do not, under any circumstance, want a AB room Totally not our style, at all. I really want to stay in the Magnolia Terrace building - right now our reservation has us with a Garden view - what are my odds for the end of October?

Garden View rooms are in both AB and the mansion buildings, so it's possible you could be put in either. However if you make your request known in advance, and fax 3-5 days before you go explaining your reasons, hopefully you'll get a little Port Orleans pixie dust coming your way. Especially at the end of October which shouldn't be too high occupancy rates.

Andre-I just checked your website with the room numbers, and did not realize how small the buildings were. We paid for preferred and was going to request building 14 a river view, but didn't realize just how few rooms there were per section!

The Alligator Bayou lodges in particular are actually quite small - only 64 rooms, 32 rooms per floor. The overviews tend to make them look more complicated than they really are - which is basically just 4 square blocks with 8 rooms back-to-back on each floor; the four blocks are just shuffled around a bit for each building.

Andre

 

[Caseystigger]

I hope people will find it useful once it's done, as we get a lot of questions on the subject here.

Andre

We LOVE it! So much more info all right in one place. Keep up the great work! Will be down there in 2 weeks so if you need anything let me know.

 

[ShesAPirate]

As I hinted here a few days ago, I've been a busy bunny over the Christmas break, and have finally managed to complete all of the remaining room layout plans for Alligator Bayou for my site, to accompany the Magnolia Bend mansion building plans which have been on there for a few years. This has been a very regularly requested resource, so I hope people will find it useful.

So as a New Year's present here are the first few (preferred) buildings as an example...

I won't paste all sixteen in here, but the rest can be found via hotlinks on the map at www.portorleans.org/alligator-bayou.php.

The process involved cross-referencing quite a lot of photos and other research material (Google Earth helped with the locations of stairways, etc) and trying to spot the errors in some basic plan information that I'd been sent a while ago. I think it's now fully accurate, but if anyone spots any errors please let me know.

I'll update the existing mansion building plans into the same format shortly, to maintain a consistent style.

Andre

This is amazing, and so is your website. Thank you so much!

I hesitate to ask because you've provided so much information already, but do you happen to know which room #s are the King bed rooms? Just trying to get an idea where we might be.

Thanks again!

 

[PeanutButterMom]

Garden View rooms are in both AB and the mansion buildings, so it's possible you could be put in either. However if you make your request known in advance, and fax 3-5 days before you go explaining your reasons, hopefully you'll get a little Port Orleans pixie dust coming your way. Especially at the end of October which shouldn't be too high occupancy rates.
Andre

thank you SOOOOOOO much! Your site is really great, and these threads are awesome! I can't wait to stay at Port Orleans!

 

[livinlife25]

Does anyone know when the Christmas decorations will come down?

 

[andrewilley]

I hesitate to ask because you've provided so much information already, but do you happen to know which room #s are the King bed rooms? Just trying to get an idea where we might be.

Can I come back to you on that one, need to ask some questions first...

Andre

 

[Disney-Kim]

There are 45 official River View rooms in Alligator Bayou versus 27 in the non-Royal mansions, so the booking logic probably works the other way around. There are actually a lot more River View classed rooms in the Royal buildings (92 in fact) due to the configuration and orientation of the buildings. King Bed rooms are more evenly spread (54 in AB vs 40 in the regular mansions) and can include all view types, including the river. If I were you I'd go with a King Bed booking if that's what you ideally want, and request the mansion buildings.
Andre

looking at the map we thought the only AB river views could be in bldg 38...so are you saying the preferred rooms in AB are also part of the room pool??

thanks !

 

[Disney-Kim]

Does anyone have current pics of the AB room with a King bed?

thanks

 

[Venomhatch]

I am back from a day of house cleaning I will be answering all PMs here shortly!

 

[ShesAPirate]

Can I come back to you on that one, need to ask some questions first...

Andre

Absolutely! Thank you so very much!

 

[andrewilley]

looking at the map we thought the only AB river views could be in bldg 38...so are you saying the preferred rooms in AB are also part of the room pool??!

Any rooms with views of the river fall under the 'River View' category, even if they happen to be in buildings 14 or 27. The same applies to the King Bed rooms which can be found in buildings 14, 15, 18 and 27. (King Bed 'trumps' everything in fact, so King Bed rooms which overlook the river are still classed as King Bed). See my page on Port Orleans Room Locations for more details.

Does anyone have current pics of the AB room with a King bed?

Here you go. I've got a load of pics still to convert and upload, the AB King ones are in that batch:

Andre

 

[Venomhatch]

All Messages replied to.

Hey Andre, Site is looking great my friend. Should do some 3D buildings now, wink wink!!!

 

[andrewilley]

Should so some 3D building now, wink wink!!!

You can go off some people you know.

Actually, Google Earth's 3D Buildings mode isn't bad at all if you've got a fast enough PC, and it was very helpful in fine-tuning stuff like confirming the positions of stairways/etc. However their view of POFQ building 7 seems to have the end-facing room layout a bit mixed up (either that, or I've got it a bit mixed up anyway ). If they're right, it's the only building in the whole resort with a stairway directly in front of two guest-room windows.

Andre

 

[lucifie]

I was just looking at Andre's site and saw the 360 picture of an AB room and OMG, it looks small! I'm really getting worried. I thought it would be tight since there are 6 of us (including the 2 year old), but I don't see how we could get a pack n play in there and still be able to move. Not to mention, the closet area seems... lacking. We'll be there in less than 3 weeks. I chose POR because it was the least expensive option and this will be the only time we'll be able to stay there without having to get 2 rooms. Can a family of 6 (kids are 9, 7, 4 and 2) really fit?

 

[Venomhatch]

I was just looking at Andre's site and saw the 360 picture of an AB room and OMG, it looks small! I'm really getting worried. I thought it would be tight since there are 6 of us (including the 2 year old), but I don't see how we could get a pack n play in there and still be able to move. Not to mention, the closet area seems... lacking. We'll be there in less than 3 weeks. I chose POR because it was the least expensive option and this will be the only time we'll be able to stay there without having to get 2 rooms. Can a family of 6 (kids are 9, 7, 4 and 2) really fit?

Its not really that small it is two things. One if you have a mouse roll the wheel in the middle back a bit to zoom out. I promise you its not small at all!

 

[lucifie]

Its not really that small it is two things. One if you have a mouse roll the wheel in the middle back a bit to zoom out. I promise you its not small at all!

Whew! Thanks for the reassurance! I'll go take another look. POR looks great and I'm excited about staying there. It looks like a nice quiet resort away from the hustle and bustle of WDW a bit.

 

[lucifie]

Still looks small to me, but I'll trust the experts.

 

[Gorechick]

Hey Andre, Wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten about my project for you. We've had illness going though the house. I should get it done over the next few days. Seems like you've been super busy anyway. Talk to you soon!

 

[ShesAPirate]

Okay, if I'm reading correctly, Oak Manor and Parterre Place have now been completely converted to the new Royal Guest Room decor. And no RGRs have King beds, correct? So what does that leave, on the Magnolia Bend side, as far as King rooms go? What would be the closest to the food court?