We are considering changing our November reservations to a RR at POR.
My first question is: Does it still feel like Disney? We have only stayed at Pop and you can't help but feel the Disney vibe with all of the giant characters on the property. I don't want it to seem like just another hotel to my 9 & 11 year old.
How long is the walk from the RR to the bus? To the boat?
Where all does the boat go to? Is it just to DTD?
I haven't stayed at POP. The only value we have stayed at is Sports. Comparing a value to a RR though...
Only the values have that pure Disney vibe throughout the entire property IF by Disney vibe, you are referring to constantly being reminded of the Disney characters themselves. However, if you open up the idea of "Disney Vibe" to include the idea of over the top theming, then you would not be disappointed with a RR at POR. I don't know your other hotel experiences, but there is no way to think of POR as just another hotel.
It wouldn't a stretch to say that POR has the charm of Main St and Liberty Square in the MK in hotel form. Maybe even Frontierland...now that I think about it, the CM uniforms are somewhat reminiscent of the uniforms for those areas in MK. POR has GROUNDS. I have stayed at AKL, WL, BC, and ASSp...and of all these resorts...POR definitely has the MOST scenic grounds. If you stay in a RR, then the river will dominant your landscape. You always cross the river to get to the boat and other common areas of the resort. It is beyond picturesque in the way that only Disney can be, with the planning, design, and implementation occurring in a way that Disney excels at. And so, in this way...POR definitely feels like Disney to me.
We only took the bus one day. Because of the way we planned our morning, we went to the bus depot in front of the resort. We packed food from home and took that into the food court area to eat. Then we walked over to the bus depot. Oak Manor is very, VERY close to the boat. You walk over the bridge and around the corner and the first thing you come to in the common area is the boat marina. Walking at a leisurely pace, less than 5 minutes. And the main building is just beyond...so again, in reality, not a long walk at all. It may feel far...but I think that's the psychology of the river.
Coming home from the bus, we got off at the main depot again. I guess we could have stayed to the East depot, but we enjoyed the grounds. The East depot is close enough to Oak Manor...all the buildings have breezeways, so you just walk through all the different arms of the buildings...it's just through the parking lot, but I preferred to pass through the common areas and the grounds and over the river. The walk was shorter than the walk at BC! And WL! LOL.
The boat just goes to DTD.
The RR rooms have some Disney magic to them. The theming could almost be generic...navy and gold in color. The headboards are really pretty cool. I loved to hit it first thing in the morning when the blackout curtains were drawn and let the fireworks display shoot over my head. Silly, I know, but I loved it. There are photos of the princesses and shadow portraits of the princes. The border wall paper around the room has all the minor characters from the different movies in it...like Sebastian, the Cinderella mice, etc. It's a tone on tone design, so very subtle, but still...it's there.
I can tell you, from having stayed at ASSp most recently...I REALLY appreciated the features of the moderate room over the value. The dual sinks? The changing curtain? Queen beds!! Fridge!! I honestly can't remember all the details of the value...but these things were a major plus for us in moving up in the categories. Other simple things that I can't recall for a value/moderate comparison...the tub/shower has an extra ledge on the short side which makes a great place for storing all your bathing supplies. And I don't recall all the differences in storage, but I felt like the bathroom area had GREAT storage in the RR.
. I am happy to be back at POR, save over $1000 and use ME without having to lug our luggage around. Unfortunately, on 9/1 I could not get a preferred room with free dining (have a pin) because it was booked, so I had to book a standard room on 9/1 for $147 and will switch in the am to our preferred room. We are looking forward to our stay at POR.
)
