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

[DisneyGuess]

So, we may have a car rental our 1st evening there. Instead of having groceries delivered, we may as well go get them ourselves. Where is the closest shopping place?
Also, where is the best car rental company to get our car from? I'm sure it will be returned before the actual office is open, so we'll need somewhere relatively easy to get back to POR. Any opinions?

 

[DanInMN]

I just faxed my request... we have booked a preferred room, and I am requesting a non-parking lot view, and a corner room would be nice too.

We arrive on Saturday 1/26. Only a 4 night stay, mostly to minimize the school days our foreign exchange student will miss, and partly to keep costs down. I have been working pretty much 7 days/week ever since our WDW trip last winter (I own a small business) and am ready for a full-immersion Disney break!

 

[Luvamouse]

A few questions about the boat rides:

-How long is the boat ride to DTD?

They say 20 minutes- maybe a bit shorter, but that seemed close.


-How often does a boat launch from POR to DTD (and from DTD to POR)?

We found that the boats came in more frequently than every 10 minutes.

-Do you ever have to wait for the next boat due to crowds?

We did not on the POR end. At DTD, we did have to wait for a second boat, but it was late in the evening-- near 11 p.m. and everyone was trying to catch the last boats back to the resorts. YMMV with crowds. When we had arrived at DTD there were literally no people waiting for the launch.


-Can you catch a glimpse of any of the other resorts (Saratoga Springs, Key West, Treehouse Villas) during the boat ride?

Yes, really pretty at night with the resorts lit up! Saratoga Springs and Tree House Villas. We did not go past OKW on the ride. That is another leg of the river.

-Is the boat ride worth it for sightseeing purposes only?

IMHO...Yes.


-Do they play music on the boat?

Yes, primarily bluegrass when we were there. I liked it.

-How long is the boat ride to/from French Quarter?

3 or 4 minutes?


-How often does this boat launch?

I have read here every 15 minutes, but in our experience, both New Year's Day and later in the week as crowds were lower, it was no more than 10 minutes apart.

Thanks for all the great information, everyone. Between this thread and portorleans.org I feel like I've already been there!

We arrived on January 1 and stayed at POR only 1 night. BUT, we were so thrilled with the boat ride to DTD that we came back to POR, walked around the resort and took the boat to DTD for dinner two additional nights. In fact, we were so pleased with it that we plan to stay at POR on our next trip. We have only stayed Deluxe, but between the theming and the boat to DTD, we decided POR may be our new favorite!

 

[Venomhatch]

A few questions about the boat rides:

-How long is the boat ride to DTD?
-How often does a boat launch from POR to DTD (and from DTD to POR)?
-Do you ever have to wait for the next boat due to crowds?
-Can you catch a glimpse of any of the other resorts (Saratoga Springs, Key West, Treehouse Villas) during the boat ride?
-Is the boat ride worth it for sightseeing purposes only?
-Do they play music on the boat?

-How long is the boat ride to/from French Quarter?
-How often does this boat launch?

Thanks for all the great information, everyone. Between this thread and portorleans.org I feel like I've already been there!

-How long is the boat ride to DTD?

Id say it could be between 15-25 mins off the top of my head because it does have to make a stop st POFQ even if there is no one on the dock. It still stops.

-How often does a boat launch from POR to DTD (and from DTD to POR)?

Id say best guess a boat is there every 15-20 mins.

-Do you ever have to wait for the next boat due to crowds?

Sometimes but usually only during peak season. I have only ever waited once because I there was a line and another because there was handicapped guests that I gave the spot up for.

-Can you catch a glimpse of any of the other resorts (Saratoga Springs, Key West, Treehouse Villas) during the boat ride?

Yes on SS and TV, but no on KW.

-Is the boat ride worth it for sightseeing purposes only?

Oh yes Day and Night it can be interesting! Lots of photo moments.

-Do they play music on the boat?

Some do I believe but most of the time the CMs navigating them are interacting with guests and what not.

-How long is the boat ride to/from French Quarter?

5 minutes if that.

-How often does this boat launch?

Maybe 10 minutes.

 

[Backstage_Gal]

A few questions about the boat rides:

-How long is the boat ride to DTD?
-How often does a boat launch from POR to DTD (and from DTD to POR)?
-Do you ever have to wait for the next boat due to crowds?
-Can you catch a glimpse of any of the other resorts (Saratoga Springs, Key West, Treehouse Villas) during the boat ride?
-Is the boat ride worth it for sightseeing purposes only?
-Do they play music on the boat?

-How long is the boat ride to/from French Quarter?
-How often does this boat launch?

Thanks for all the great information, everyone. Between this thread and portorleans.org I feel like I've already been there!

The official schedule is: from 11am-4PM every 20 minutes
from 4pm-11pm every 10 minutes

 

[Venomhatch]

The official schedule is: from 11am-4PM every 20 minutes
from 4pm-11pm every 10 minutes

See BSG I knew you were lurking and could offer them some good info. LOL hope your day is treating you well!

 

[Backstage_Gal]

See BSG I knew you were lurking and could offer them some good info. LOL hope your day is treating you well!

Thanks Venom. Any day I don't have to drive in to work is a good day
Just wish the weather were not so dang gloomy today. It looks like it wants to snow any minute, LOL.

 

[ReluctantDisaholic]

Woohoo - my reservation is mostly fixed! We're back where we're supposed to be at POR (45 days from today!).

The only thing still wrong is that they have us as standard view and we paid for garden but that can be fixed

Thanks for the pixie dust - it worked!

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Woohoo - my reservation is mostly fixed! We're back where we're supposed to be at POR (45 days from today!).

The only thing still wrong is that they have us as standard view and we paid for garden but that can be fixed

Thanks for the pixie dust - it worked!

Such fantastic news!!!!

 

[ChristineOH]

That's because lunch at BoG is counter service, not table service.

Yes, I've been reading up on this. The line gets very long very early (opens at 10:30) but that the line moves very quickly, and most people seem to be reporting that the wait is usually less than posted. Most people seem to say about 30 minutes until you order, and they don't seem to have a problem with part of your party holding a place in line.
We are going end of May and couldn't get an ADR either, but I think we will enjoy lunch more.

 

[Disneylvr]

So excited! This morning I noticed that preferred rooms became available for our dates with the spring promotion so we upgraded from the garden room we had booked. We really wanted a Bayou room for the first time (our 4 previous stays at POR have been mansion rooms which we love but wanted a change) and now it is guaranteed unless they are overbooked.

 

[nancy drew]

FWIW, for those talking about Be Our Guest, You can go in before they open for lunch and take photos. You can only see the foyer and main ballroom, but that was enough to satisfy my curiosity such that I didn't feel the need to stand in line for lunch. I realized I just wanted to see what the place looked like. I know we will be back many times, and we can eat there once the hype has died down. Just thought I'd share.

Now on to my own question:

What room type should I book??? We will be spending one night at POR and really won't be in the room much. However... it will be myself, my 2 kids, and my mom. I don't sleep well in a shared bed, but I will make do if needed. We will have a car, but might just use the bus system anyway. We have never stayed at POR before. Assuming the price difference doesn't exist (it does, but for one night the difference is so minor it doesn't matter) what room type would you book?

 

[siskaren]

The only way you could avoid sharing a bed with four people is in an AB room, which has a Murphy bed (so one child in the Murphy bed, the other with your mother in one of the queen beds, and you in the other.) You can guarantee getting an AB room by booking a preferred room since all preferred rooms at POR are in AB.

 

[ksromack]

Has anybody tried "Be our Guest Restaurant" yet? I tried making ADR for May and they are booked already.....

We ate there in December. Woke up at 5am to call when they opened up reservations for the first time! In my opinion, I would recommend the table service lunch over the dinner anyway! The slow simmered pork they have at lunch was one of the best things I ate on the trip and the green beans that came with it were superb! Warning.....be prepared to be in line at 10 am. They open up at 10:30 for lunch and that's exactly what we did. Believe me, you will be happy you did that. We were done before 11:30 and the line was all the way down by Little Mermaid ride at that point. At least when we went you could pick which room you wanted to eat in for lunch . Now if getting a picture with the Beast is important to you, you will have to get dinner ADRs as I believe that's the only time you can get pictures with him.

 

[oasispaul]

Luvamouse, Venomhatch & Backstage Girl:

Thanks for the quick & informative replies re: the boat rides & schedules!

 

[5mouseketeersforus]

Woohooooo!!!! Just talked to one of the most incredible CMs EVER on the reservation line. She was so helpful & such a joy to speak with. She knew her stuff and just made the whole experience so magical!

We changed our room only rez to the Stay/Play/Dine package and are staying in our Royal Rooms!!!!

I really thought we would have to give those up since they weren't avail on the website! But the CM managed to sprinkle pixie dust our way and we are now in a Garden View RGR.

Don't want to share details here - but it has been a rather difficult time since our little one arrived so this is AWESOME!!!

 

[Venomhatch]

Luvamouse, Venomhatch & Backstage Girl:

Thanks for the quick & informative replies re: the boat rides & schedules!

That's what makes this thread the best on here, lol! Informed Members/Guests!

 

[nancy drew]

The only way you could avoid sharing a bed with four people is in an AB room, which has a Murphy bed (so one child in the Murphy bed, the other with your mother in one of the queen beds, and you in the other.) You can guarantee getting an AB room by booking a preferred room since all preferred rooms at POR are in AB.

There is no option for preferred rooms, but I think the river view room description says some rooms have the murphy bed.

If the Royal Rooms are really that much more awesome than the regular rooms, I can suck it up and sleep with one of the kids for one night. But if the room really isn't that much better than a regular room, I think I'd prefer a regular room for cost purposes and the possibility of a murphy bed. So are the RR really that awesome?

 

[lucifie]

This thread has been busy the last days!

We just checked in at POR in AB. Thank you Venom!!! I faxed my room request on Friday and we got everything we asked for. We requested 1st floor as close as possible to the main building and said that we would like a corner room, but stressed it isn't as important as the first two requests. We got 1st floor, corner in bldg. 18. We booked Garden View and they put us in a preferred bldg! I was worried about space, but there's plenty of room for the 6 of us.

We drove down and stayed in a hotel with all 4 kids for the 1st time. It was a little rough at first but once they settled down it was fine.

Thank you to everyone! I haven't seen it in the daylight, but so far I'm very happy that we chose POR!

 

[Venomhatch]

This thread has been busy the last days!

We just checked in at POR in AB. Thank you Venom!!! I faxed my room request on Friday and we got everything we asked for. We requested 1st floor as close as possible to the main building and said that we would like a corner room, but stressed it isn't as important as the first two requests. We got 1st floor, corner in bldg. 18. We booked Garden View and they put us in a preferred bldg! I was worried about space, but there's plenty of room for the 6 of us.

We drove down and stayed in a hotel with all 4 kids for the 1st time. It was a little rough at first but once they settled down it was fine.

Thank you to everyone! I haven't seen it in the daylight, but so far I'm very happy that we chose POR!

Glad to hear Amy!!! Enjoy and hope you have a magical visit!