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

[Missytara]

Originally Posted by siskaren

Actually, I would say that 90 minutes is from the time the plane lands until you get to your resort; at least when other people have stated 90 minutes, I believe they've indicated that they're counting from landing to arriving at the resort.

Actually, the rule of thumb is 70 to 90 minutes after deboarding; it totally depends on where you are in the plane and how full the plane is, how long it takes to get off the plane.

So for those of us who post on the Transportation board, we always say "from deboarding", because that is the most accurate.

[hollygolitely93]

Hi! We are under 40 days!!! First time staying at POR in ROYAL ROOMS...three of them for our party of 10!

My questions is about the boat transportation to DTD.

We have reservations at T-REX. on the DTD map their looks to be three docks...market place, West Side and the middle one (forgot the name)...are those docks part of the POR boat transportation. If so can we have them drop us off at any of them and pick up at any of them? My mom has mobility issues...enough to rent an EVC in parks but she doesn't rent off sight as she can get around fine enough when not doing 10 miles a day in a park...but anything I can do to keep her walking limited will be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Venomhatch]

Originally Posted by Lisadaa2

We will be there in 19 days . This is our first time at POR! I can't wait to see all the great things I have read about. We are hoping to get AB rooms. If we do has anyone had a child fall out of the Murphy bed? I figured my 9 year old would sleep in it but now my 5DD wants to and she sleeps all over the place.

How many are staying with you family? Because those area tend to be more for the families of 5. Unless you book preferred category. Those rooms have been in operation since Dec/Jan of this new year and no one has reported a child falling off that we know of.

[Gorechick]

The stops are all part of the boat route to DTD from POR. In August, our driver didn't stop at one of the docks, I think Marketplace, and we had to get off at WestSide. We stayed in a RR too, hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

[Venomhatch]

Originally Posted by hollygolitely93

Hi! We are under 40 days!!! First time staying at POR in ROYAL ROOMS...three of them for our party of 10!

My questions is about the boat transportation to DTD.

We have reservations at T-REX. on the DTD map their looks to be three docks...market place, West Side and the middle one (forgot the name)...are those docks part of the POR boat transportation. If so can we have them drop us off at any of them and pick up at any of them? My mom has mobility issues...enough to rent an EVC in parks but she doesn't rent off sight as she can get around fine enough when not doing 10 miles a day in a park...but anything I can do to keep her walking limited will be appreciated.

Thanks!

The boat from POR and POFQ only docks at one dock over by Rain Forest Cafe. To get over to other docks there in the lagoon, you will have to take a different boat to get there. But the good news is you can switch boats right there on the same dock they drop of at from the resorts.

[hollygolitely93]

Originally Posted by Venomhatch

The boat from POR and POFQ only docks at one dock over by Rain Forest Cafe. To get over to other docks there in the lagoon, you will have to take a different boat to get there. But the good news is you can switch boats right there on the same dock they drop of at from the resorts.

Great thanks. One more question...what size are the boats? We are a party of ten...will we have any issues?

[Venomhatch]

Originally Posted by hollygolitely93

Great thanks. One more question...what size are the boats? We are a party of ten...will we have any issues?

No problem. Id say you could maybe fit 54 people on board fully loaded. There is an area that seats can fold up and you can get a powered scooter or wheel chair in there also. As to if a boat is loaded pretty good already as you are trying to board boats come under 15 minutes from each other. Depends largely on if someone holds up the boat or asks the CM a question while at dock. But they have a lot of boats making that circuit at all of the docks.

[Butterflygirl35]

Checking in on Friday for last minute. I am hoping someone could help me with a few questions.... (First time POR)

We are in Royal Room - Are these in a good location? Are they far from pool?

Busses - we are driving up - How are the busses, should we rely on our car? or is bussing to MK decent?

What is your best tip or must see?

TIA!!!

[Lisadaa2]

Originally Posted by Venomhatch

How many are staying with you family? Because those area tend to be more for the families of 5. Unless you book preferred category. Those rooms have been in operation since Dec/Jan of this new year and no one has reported a child falling off that we know of.

There are 4 of us that's why I said hoping. I requested building 16 and I'm crossing my fingers! I may send a fax like others but we'll see. I am more concerned with my mother getting a room close to the main building and on the first floor because she has bad knees. My requests aren't as important as hers. As far as my daughter falling out, I may put some pillows on the floor. She falls out of bed at home and gets up and says "I'm ok". So I'm sure she'll be fine. Thank you!!

[Venomhatch]

Originally Posted by Butterflygirl35

Checking in on Friday for last minute. I am hoping someone could help me with a few questions.... (First time POR)

We are in Royal Room - Are these in a good location? Are they far from pool?

Busses - we are driving up - How are the busses, should we rely on our car? or is bussing to MK decent?

What is your best tip or must see?

TIA!!!

Well if you look at the pic below the Royal Rooms are in the two buildings in red and there is a "quiet" pool between them. Just basically a smaller pool circled in yellow. Now there is a bigger pool on the island in the middle of the resort and even has a slide and kiddie wading pool, hot tub, etc. That is circled in yellow also.

I wouldn't rely on the car. But surely it is an option. Transportation from Disney is free and they have a pretty good schedule. Sometimes it can be trying but the south depot by my preference and many others I know on here swear by this, you will have a better chance getting a seat at that bus stop.

Picture borrowed from www.PortOrleans.org

[Meesh201]

We just returned from a 5 day stay at POR in a river view RGR and were put in Oak Manor. Our family of 4 had a connecting room with my mom and brother. The connecting rooms were requested on our reservation ahead of time, I did not do online check-in or fax a request. My mom's room was also a corner room and they loved the extra light and added garden view.

This was our first on-site stay, so I just wanted to address some of the questions that I see on here frequently.

ME: We arrived at the airport around 8:30 am and there were not many people waiting for ME. Our bus had 1 other family and they were going to WL. We were dropped off first, so I think we were checked in and eating in the food court by 10 am.

Location: Our room was at the end of Oak Manor closest to the Island bridge. It made for more of a stroll to get over the bridge to the South depot and main building, but the walk was actually a little shorter than I had anticipated and it is just so pretty there that we didn't mind at all.

Coffee: the coffee makers do use the pod style (not k-cups), and we had ordered some senseo pods from amazon prior to the trip. They worked great and I also packed some flavored individual creamers and splenda which made it a little more like home.

Buses: We only went to MK this time, but the bus service was pretty good. I think it mostly depends on your expectations. We had previously stayed at an offsite hotel that had VERY limited bus service, so anything was going to be better than that. We never waited more than 10 minutes for an MK bus from the South depot. The wait for a returning bus was a little longer and we did end up taking the bus back to POFQ a couple of times and enjoyed the nice walk back (it was better than standing in line with a couple of fidgety kids!). The only time we noticed a real problem with the bus service was on Saturday night after the second parade. The line was ridiculous and the buses kept bypassing the POR line to get the value resorts. It didn't seem like there was really anyone in charge of directing the buses to the lines that had the most people. On a positive note, one really nice bus driver gave my son a pirate bandana and my daughter a pretty ring when we were the only ones on the bus and had been waiting through a shift change.

DTD Boat: The boat ride was pleasant and seemed to go by really quickly. We had lunch at T-Rex and it was a little bit of a walk for the kids, but we stopped at the Disney store and Lego store on the way to break it up. We also did the Phineas and Ferb experience and it was cute.

Pool: My daughter LOVED the pool and slide. We would have loved some extra time to use them more. She also tried the one at POFQ, but I think she liked POR better (the slide was faster).

Hammocks: Probably my favorite thing. While the kids and my husband napped in the room on our park days, I laid in the hammock and read my book. Soooo relaxing!

We enjoyed the movies on the lawn but missed out on the campfire and Bob's show. I used Kingdom Strollers and Garden Grocer and would definitely recommend them and use them again. Overall we loved this resort and will definitely stay here again. (OK so maybe this wasn't very brief after all, lol)

Thank you Andre! Your website and this thread made the planning so much better and everyone in our party had a great time and were thanking me for how smoothly everything went.

[Venomhatch]

Originally Posted by Lisadaa2

There are 4 of us that's why I said hoping. I requested building 16 and I'm crossing my fingers! I may send a fax like others but we'll see. I am more concerned with my mother getting a room close to the main building and on the first floor because she has bad knees. My requests aren't as important as hers. As far as my daughter falling out, I may put some pillows on the floor. She falls out of bed at home and gets up and says "I'm ok". So I'm sure she'll be fine. Thank you!!

I believe, not sure about this, but the preferred buildings like 14 are only 25$ more per night. Again, not sure about that. But it is literally only minute or two by foot. Here is a youtube video I did one year. My room was on the second floor though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8zEi...qNcpBU2MO-lIrQ

[Missytara]

Originally Posted by hollygolitely93

Hi! We are under 40 days!!! First time staying at POR in ROYAL ROOMS...three of them for our party of 10!

My questions is about the boat transportation to DTD.

We have reservations at T-REX. on the DTD map their looks to be three docks...market place, West Side and the middle one (forgot the name)...are those docks part of the POR boat transportation. If so can we have them drop us off at any of them and pick up at any of them? My mom has mobility issues...enough to rent an EVC in parks but she doesn't rent off sight as she can get around fine enough when not doing 10 miles a day in a park...but anything I can do to keep her walking limited will be appreciated.

Thanks!

POR stops at Marketplace; you transfer to the adjacent dock to get to Pleasure Island and then that dock has an adjacent dock to transfer you to West side. West side also goes to OKW, so make sure you get on the right water taxi.

[Missytara]

Originally Posted by Butterflygirl35

Checking in on Friday for last minute. I am hoping someone could help me with a few questions.... (First time POR)

We are in Royal Room - Are these in a good location? Are they far from pool?

Busses - we are driving up - How are the busses, should we rely on our car? or is bussing to MK decent?

What is your best tip or must see?

TIA!!!

POR and POFQ has a distinct advantage over most resorts, because of their proximity and transportation to DTD.

I always end my night at a resort and take the resort's bus to DTD. From the bus hub, you can look over and see the top of the volcano at RFC, which is adjacent to the water taxi dock.

From there, after 4 pm., the water taxis run every 10 minutes, so I have never waited long for one to come along to take me back. If you arrive after 10:50 pm or so, when the last water taxi leaves, then the buses from DTD run until 1:30 am or so. You just have to go all the way around the complex before you arrive at the resort.

[Caseystigger]

Am at POR in my Royal Guest Room writing to you now as I look out my river view at a staircase. Was kind of sad that I have to stand at either side of the window to see the river. They were very nice at the front desk though and change my room category down to water view which gave me a credit. Mousekeeping wasn't up to snuff when we first got in our room Sat but yesterday they redeemed themselves. My sister has the connecting room and it's a corner room...amazing view! Will post pictures when we get back.

Oh they are changing the door locks to RFID this week. We got a notice about it from mousekeeping yesterday.

Overall things are really going well. The resort is AMAZING! We got the building we requested thanks to prearrival info from this thread.

Everyone have a magical day!