Just back from a 10 night stay POR

[binky]

We're planning a trip to WDW in 2008 and was thinking about Port Orleans. The reviews seem good with the exception of the bus system. What would be a good building location for catching the bus in the morning?

I would advise you to use the West Depot - which would be near AB 24, 25, 34, & 35. We were in AB25, which was a short walk. The West Depot was nearly empty, very quiet, no lines, and we never waited more than 5-10 minutes for a bus. We always got a seat on the way to the parks, and the West Depot was always the first stop at POR when we were there, with the Main Depot being last. If you don't get a room near the West Depot, I would use whichever outlying depot was nearest the room. I would avoid the Main Depot.

 

[DRRluvsWDW]

binky-
Glad to hear some good news about buses @ POR.
When were you there?

 

[binky]

binky-
Glad to hear some good news about buses @ POR.
When were you there?

We were there in May 2006, including Memorial Day weekend, so it was a pretty busy time. I know the parks were crowded! We got to the depot by 8:00 or earlier each morning and there would only be maybe 1 or 2 other families waiting at the depot with us. The bus was empty when it picked us up, so we had our pick of seats. We'd get to the parks about 30 minutes before opening, so we were able to do the big attractions before the lines got too long.

If we left the park after closing, we did have to wait in lines for the bus to get back to POR, but the buses pulled up one after another, and we usually got on the 2nd one if we didn't make it onto the 1st one. We usually had to stand, but it wasn't a problem for us since our kids were 18 and 21! We gave up our seat if we had one to others who needed it more.

My main advice is this: get up and out to the parks early and use the outlying depots!

 

[Amy&Dan]

I agree, I posted that on another thread. September being free dining month has been popular for WDW. I'm sure that sharing buses is a problem for any resort that does it when the resorts are crowded. That's why I try to stay at the resorts that don't share. One less thing to worry about while on vacation.

I agree. I have to say, that the bus sharing thing for me is just a pain in the rear at any resort. Our stay at Boardwalk awhile back was aggravating because of the bus sharing. It drove me nuts. Even though the really large resorts (SSR, Pop, CBR, CSR) have a large number of people, I have never had a problem with those buses. I know POFQ is smaller, but not small enough to just easily include that number of guests with POR's for bus sharing.

I also agree that this isn't always a problem. Our first stay we only shared one time in a week. Our next was whole different story. And it was xmas week so that made no sense to me whatsoever.

Don't know what the solution is, but they need to fine one! I still love POR, its benefits so far outweigh any negatives. All resorts have some negatives, Por's imho is the bus sharing.

 

[DONALD38]

On to the part about someone not doing their homework at WDW/POR. Messages were given that the POR/FQ boats were not going to be running due to a special event that was being held on 9/15. Well that night we had dinner at Cape May at Beach Club. It you have not tried Cape May you don't know what your missing if your a clam lover. We took a bus from the Beach Club back to DTD to get a bus back to POR. When we arrived at the DTD Marketplace bus depot the POR/FQ depot was lined up down the pathway to marketplace. We waited for buses again for over an hour. If the WDW knew that the boats were not running why didn't they make sure extra buses were scheduled for the depots at DTD? So when the bus came to pick us up everyone was packed on the bus, you know that extra close feeling? Well with not room to spare do you know the driver still went to the Pleasure Island Depot to see if anyone was waiting there. When the driver made the turn to Pleasure Island, people started asking what is this guy thinking!
Needless to say another night of waiting for buses and not returning back to POR for hours.

Another thing that happened that did not make sence was when we were going to AK in the early morning for Donald's Breakfastsaurus. We got on a bus at POR that was labled for AK/Blizzard Beach. mind you it was 7:50 am. The driver still made a stop at Blizzard Beach when it doesn't open until 10:00 am.

Don't get me wrong we loved everything about the resort but the bus thing. other's are right that by now this bus situation at POR/FQ should of been corrected. We found this busing situation worse that when we stayed at the value resorts.

 

[jess20k]

In 2006 when we stayed at POR the bus service was horrible!!! There were lots of people at the stops and when a bus would pull up it was already mostly full of guests from POFQ. We usually had to either wait longer for another bus, or stand in a busload of people, which was not fun!

However, this past Feb. we did stay at POFQ and the bus service was fine. It really helped that the bus stops there first. I felt bad for the POR guests, because I was in their shoes the previous year. I will never stay at POR again until they get their own bus service.

 

[hansel1]

For future reference, could posters be more specific about the time of year they stayed at POR? If you say 2005 or 2006 that could mean anytime of the year and we all know some times are worse than others.

For example christmas week, all the busses are packed at all resorts. Mid to late january there are many near empty busses (with the exception of park opening or closing).

 

[cvjw]

We just returned from a stay at POFQ. We were there from 9/14-9/23. I have probably stayed at this resort 6 or 7 times and never seen the bus situation for Riverside like it was that week. When leaving the MK two different nights, the line for Riverside was wound all thru its que, and stretched all the way down to the line for the first bus (PORS has the last bus que). Not only was their line horrific, but the people waiting in line were very testy. The que for POFQ was directly across from the PORS que, and people would yell at you that you were breaking in line as you passed them on the way to your bus stop. I was so glad that we did not have to get in that awful line.

 

[mrsnj91]

We stayed at POR 8/26-9/3 and we didn't have much problem with the buses. Maybe it was because I was prepared? Maybe because I got my caffeine before boarding. LOL! Dunno. And we did the pick up/drop off at POFQ almost the whole stay. I do have to say we had that awful line cvjw was talking about at MK! It took up two stalls and wrapped around and out the cover. It was a mess. But we still only had a 45 min wait and I found most people around me quite nice. That does help. When you are hot and tired and carring a sleeping toddler, you don't want to be dealing with rude people. I guess we were lucky. I would stay there again myself. We had a great time.

BTW-I noticed the buses often made stops too when completely full or if no one was on the bus for that stop (like my family was on the bus alone with no other people once and they still stopped to drop off at all the stops )but I don't think they really have a say. I listened to the radio talk a few times and I think they have a route they have to follow. I guess they could call in to get an ok to bypass. Dunno. Some of our drivers of full buses would just sort of make a New York stop and keep going. I think they have to follow a route.

 

[jess20k]

For future reference, could posters be more specific about the time of year they stayed at POR? If you say 2005 or 2006 that could mean anytime of the year and we all know some times are worse than others.

For example christmas week, all the busses are packed at all resorts. Mid to late january there are many near empty busses (with the exception of park opening or closing).

When I was there in 2006, it was the first week of Feb. and it was slow at the parks, so for us, POR did have bad bus service and it was a slower time, and the parks were not full. Obviously it is hit or miss with their bus service. It is a shame, because the resort itself is very nice.

 

[SmallWorld71]

mrsnj91-
We were there the same week as you this year, the 1st week of free dining, and the bus service was fantastic! We never waited more than 10 min. except the night we stayed at MK for Spectro and Wishes and there was bottleneck everywhere, especially the monorail.

Also, while the bus does stop at POFQ 1st, it does not do this 1st thing in the morning. If you are going to the parks first thing in the morning, the order of stops is WEST, NORTH, EAST, SOUTH. The absolute worst stop to get on at POR in the morning is SOUTH because it is the LAST STOP and is full of POR guests, not POFQ. Of course it's going to head out after that stop. We got on every morning at the WEST depot and ALWAYS had a seat. (It doesn't always pay to be close to the main entrance.)
Mind you this is only true 1st thing in the morning. Although, we left the parks every day for a break between 1 and 3 and always had a seat and never waited long at all.

 

[binky]

mrsnj91-
We were there the same week as you this year, the 1st week of free dining, and the bus service was fantastic! We never waited more than 10 min. except the night we stayed at MK for Spectro and Wishes and there was bottleneck everywhere, especially the monorail.

Also, while the bus does stop at POFQ 1st, it does not do this 1st thing in the morning. If you are going to the parks first thing in the morning, the order of stops is WEST, NORTH, EAST, SOUTH. The absolute worst stop to get on at POR in the morning is SOUTH because it is the LAST STOP and is full of POR guests, not POFQ. Of course it's going to head out after that stop. We got on every morning at the WEST depot and ALWAYS had a seat. (It doesn't always pay to be close to the main entrance.)
Mind you this is only true 1st thing in the morning. Although, we left the parks every day for a break between 1 and 3 and always had a seat and never waited long at all.

Thanks SmallWorld for the clarification! We were at POR last year and used the West Depot, too. And just like you, we had no problems. I've advised people to use the West Depot (or other outlying ones) over the Main Depot, because it was the first stop every morning. I didn't realize it ran like that first thing in the morning only. We were always out early and got to the depot before 8:00, so it was always that way for us.

 

[Cindy B]

I stayed at POR Aug 26-29th. The resort was horrible-- from the horrific long check out line, to the bus lines that just went on forever. We were schedule to be at POR until hte 1st, but we hightailed it over to CSR... where they found room for us!

We will never ever do POR again.

 

[DRRluvsWDW]

Has anyone ever taken taxi to avoid the lines? Is this an option? How much $$$?

 

[SmallWorld71]

We only took a cab once, from POR to GF for dinner reservations. It was $15 plus tip.

 

[DRRluvsWDW]

We only took a cab once, from POR to GF for dinner reservations. It was $15 plus tip.

That isn't too bad if you just use the taxis occassionally. It is still less $ than a Deluxe and a good option for meal ressies or late nights at the park.

 

[KWgal]

Just back from a 7 day stay. Very disappointed in Port Orleans. Too spread out, paths poorly lit and very poorly marked. Very detached from staff. Bus stops too long. Last year we stayed at Pop Century - it beat POR hands down!

 

[Hawk]

We plan on renting a car and will probably only use buses for MK and take the boat to DTD. Anywhere else in the "world", we will drive.

Exactly!!

Tim/Hawk

 

[Buzz2001]

We only took a cab once, from POR to GF for dinner reservations. It was $15 plus tip.

Wow! I only paid $5.50 (plus tip) from the BC to CSR after doing an Illuminations cruise.

 

[villiansRus]

POR is further out so it is expected that taxi's would cost a bit more.