Port Orleans Riverside or Caribbean Beach Resort?

[donaldude]

For my family that's an easy decision. POR!

[Asc341]

I know that this is an old thread, but in case someone is puzzled with this dilemma now, I stayed at both the CBR and POR in 2012. In a nutshell, both my DF and I much preferred the POR; it seems newer, more lively and more easy to navigate, and the boat to DTD is a great feature!

As someone who has stayed in deluxe hotels (GF, CR BCR and the poly) I was SO impressed with POR and will likely stay there again. The rooms in POR feel new, and you can tell that great care has been taken to ensure their quality. The main area of the hotel is very lively, gorgeous at night, and to be honest, feels purely magical. The lobby transported us to an elegant and elaborate southern mansion, which was truly breathtaking to take in.

(I love CBR so it pains me to say this,) but the first thing we noticed when we got into the room was that it smelled funny. It had that old, musty smell to it, and it felt that way too. The smell dissipated within 24 hours, but still, the room lacked the brightness that one expects of the caribbean. Old Port Royale was fun and lively, but was missing that magic that POR had. IMO, the pool at CBR is better, but I didn't love it enough to convince me to stay there again. Overall, is seems that CBR could use a little restoration love.

To a certain extent, to compare the hotels one must split hairs; at the end of the day, they are both wonderful, and far better than most hotels outside of Disney!

[Sommery]

Hi We ended up doing CBR, and while we quite enjoyed it (especially the pool bar) we liked POR better as well. I can definitely agree with your assessment.

Also, they have updated the rooms at POR since we were there (2009), I believe. I hope to stay there again!

[Missytara]

I have stayed at both POR and CBR and much preferred POR for two big standout reasons. Being an architect, I noticed this right away.

The site layout for CBR is very elongated, making for some of the buildings to be extraordinarily far from the main building. POR is much rounder, therefore even through there are remote areas of the resort, it is not nearly as many rooms as CBR.

Second, at CBR, you are basically walking through the parking lot to get to your building from the bus stop - the entire walking distance. At POR, you are walking on the sidewalk next to the parking lot (not nearly as hot) and as soon as you hit the first building, you are walking in the shade under the overhang of the corridor above. Even through you may have to walk to another building, there is a lot more landscaping and shade. Much easier to walk back at the end of a warm day.

[elaw]

Originally Posted by buzznina

Our family actually likes walking around the resort, even after a long day at the parks, so the size of the resort is not an issue for us. It comes down to queen beds vs the full beds at CBR and we pick queen beds especially if we are paying about the same price. Plus the boat to DTD, Yeehaa Bob and being able to go to POFQ.

I'm with you! (about walking around the resort) ... even though it seems we're in the minority, and I can understand for those with little ones, we love taking long walks around the Moderates. POR is our favorite!

[LuvLDM]

I love POR, it is my favorite moderate.
It's a really beautiful resort, lush landscaping, recently renovated rooms, boat to DTD, great food court...etc.

I'm kind of neutral about CBR, I didn't dislike it but it didn't wow me either. The resort itself is lovely but the guest rooms were kind of bland. Food court & Shutters were mediocre IMO. CBR does have a fabulous pool, nicer than POR.
I found service & housekeeping to be good at both resorts.

[Luv4Dis]

My vote is for POR!!!! I have stayed there 2x, POFQ 1x, and CBR 1x. Honestly I didn't really care for CBR. The layout made everything feel so separate and far away. Yes, busses worked fine bc there are so many stops, but I felt like it was a hike to food court, pool, etc. overall it just felt too big for me. We went in September of 2011 w an infant and 2yr old so the layout mattered a lot for us and our excursions. Also I was not a big fan of their food court either. The pool was pretty awesome though....IMO probably their best feature!!!

I love POR theming and layout. I also think a boat to DTD is awesome!!!!! At night the resort is gorgeous and so fun to take a boat ride! I also enjoyed the entertainment in the lounge/bar as well. At the time we had our now 4yr old who was 1yr and it was very family friendly.

I honestly didn't "love" CBR and would probably choose a different moderate when we go next time.

[snykymom]

Originally Posted by Missytara

I have stayed at both POR and CBR and much preferred CBR for two big standout reasons. Being an architect, I noticed this right away.

The site layout for CBR is very elongated, making for some of the buildings to be extraordinarily far from the main building. POR is much rounder, therefore even through there are remote areas of the resort, it is not nearly as many rooms as CBR.

Second, at CBR, you are basically walking through the parking lot to get to your building from the bus stop - the entire walking distance. At POR, you are walking on the sidewalk next to the parking lot (not nearly as hot) and as soon as you hit the first building, you are walking in the shade under the overhang of the corridor above. Even through you may have to walk to another building, there is a lot more landscaping and shade. Much easier to walk back at the end of a warm day.

OK, I'm confused. Your comments seem to indicate that you would prefer POR, but you say that you actually preferred CBR? Or am I misreading something?

[Missytara]

Originally Posted by snykymom

OK, I'm confused. Your comments seem to indicate that you would prefer POR, but you say that you actually preferred CBR? Or am I misreading something?

Yep! I made a mistake! I fixed it. Thanks.

[Peanut]

I really have to go with POR. CBR was not a good choice for me. I thought I'd like it a lot more than I did. There's nothing particularly wrong with it, jut not my style I guess. I haven't seen the new pool, but I don't spend much time at the pools. In the end, you never really know until you see it for yourself.