Port Orleans Riverside FAQ thread - Royally Refurbished for 2011

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My family of 5 will be there August 20th through August 27th. We cannot wait!

Almost 10 years ago, my wife and I stayed at POFQ for our honeymoon, and loved it! This will be our first time staying at POR. With Disney being anti-family of 5 (pretty much my only complaint of them), we pretty much had no choice but to stay here (not that it is a bad thing).

I do have a question related to POR. When I was at POFQ, the one thing that stood out with POR, and probably the reason I never stayed there since, was the bus service. POFQ was always the first to be picked up and the first to be dropped off, meaning the bus had a very high tendency to be packed, meaning you would be standing if you stayed at POR. This is not an issue for me personally, but I would like for my wife and kids (ages 7, 5, and 3) to be able to sit. Is this really as bad of an issue as I remember it?
 
I have to say for the prices they charge and the food you get, I would consider it very high for a moderate resort.

I ate there two years ago and got the filet medallions with the chedder mashed potatos. There were three of them and perfectly cooked, as I like it medium.

This past year I did it again and they were well done and down to about the size of a half dollar. It was on a bed of what they referred to as "adult macaroni and cheese, which was actually somewhat good. I sent them back and they did re-cook them to medium well, but it wasn't that great. No veg, no salad, nothing.

However, the pecan pie is to die for, but you can also get it over at the bakery on some nights. So overall, it just wasn't worth it to me for the price.

Pecan Pie is my fav, I'll have to look for it in the bakery.

I haven't tried Boatwrights, our first night we usually hop on the boat to DTD and eat at WPE.
 
My family of 5 will be there August 20th through August 27th. We cannot wait!

Almost 10 years ago, my wife and I stayed at POFQ for our honeymoon, and loved it! This will be our first time staying at POR. With Disney being anti-family of 5 (pretty much my only complaint of them), we pretty much had no choice but to stay here (not that it is a bad thing).

I do have a question related to POR. When I was at POFQ, the one thing that stood out with POR, and probably the reason I never stayed there since, was the bus service. POFQ was always the first to be picked up and the first to be dropped off, meaning the bus had a very high tendency to be packed, meaning you would be standing if you stayed at POR. This is not an issue for me personally, but I would like for my wife and kids (ages 7, 5, and 3) to be able to sit. Is this really as bad of an issue as I remember it?

We go in Aug too. We stay in the mansion section, so usually go to that bus depot, and never found it crowded in the mornings. The main bus stop is always packed, so we avoid it.hk the bus service is pretty decent in Riverside. Sometimes hard to figure out though, because sometimes we're the last bus stop, and bus heads straight to parks, and sometimes it makes a stop at main Depot :confused3 in the morning.
 


I am curious; are there any activities for tweens and teens at the resort?

Do they have campfires at the fire pit daily? Or a couple of times a week? Do they cook s'mores there?

How long is Muddy Rivers bar open in the evening in the summer? I know that the pool bar at CBR is open until at least 12 midnight, because we've gotten drinks there in the past.
 
The campfires are only during the winter months, sorry.

The pool bar is officially open until 9.30pm, but I've known it open later if there is demand. Not usually as late as midnight though.

Andre
 
IMG_1200-1.jpg
 


Is this the correct thread to post about a bad experience at Port Orleans Riverside? I want to make sure I am posting in the correct thread. We just returned an hour ago (We left early.) and it wasn't the best week...
 
I'd post a trip report with your comments regarding POR and other aspects of your vacation. Sorry it wasn't the best for you:sad2:
 
After you check in at the Main Bldg. is there an internal bus or does Bell Svc. help get you to your room? At CBR you can do either, so I thought I'd ask. You know you have to ask all these questions as they come up when you stay at a new resort. ;)
 
We just returned (We left early.) from almost a week in Walt Disney World. In my almost 39 years, I've probably been to WDW 25 times, almost always staying on property. I know what to expect from WDW. This trip was a mess. Our room at POR was not even close to being clean. We stayed in the Bayou area. Upon arrival, I noticed several areas of the room that were dirty. I tried to deal with it, because I didn't want to be a complainer, but as the week went on and we discovered more filthy stuff, among other problems, I complained to the manager, Boris. Our ceiling fan had so much dust collected on it that I kept it on all week, just so I didn't have to look at the dust. The light fixtures and the corners of the ceiling in the sink area were also covered with thick dust. There was dust hanging from spots on the ceiling also. Our toilet only flushed about 30% of the time. That was lovely. Someone spilled some sort of dark beverage on the AC unit (who knows how long ago) and never bothered to clean it up. There was a large, dark stain on the floor right in front of the AC unit, along with stains all up the blinds that are over the unit. The outlets - well they were just bizarre. None of them would hold my outlet covers, which I thought was strange. When we tried to charge our cell phones overnight, we weren't able to get the charger plugged all the way into the wall. They would only go in about 2cm, and when we set them down, they unplugged themselves. The outlet in the bathroom area was the only one that we could plug something into, but we could only use one at a time. If we tried to use them both, the plug would reset itself and turn itself off. Even if the appliance/phone wasn't in use, it did it. (Example: the hairdryer couldn't be plugged in, even if it wasn't being used, when we were trying to charge our phones.) There was little to no internet signal from our room, although it seems like that happens every time we go to WDW. There was also a light bulb that was clearly out, in the sink area. No one bothered to change it while we were there. I was very disappointed in the hotel. Like I said, I wasn't going to say anything, but we kept discovering more and more. When I did finally speak to the manager, I was so upset, that I was in tears. He said the problems would be taken care of. The next day when we returned from the park, the toilet worked A LITTLE better and the fan had been cleaned - that's it.
The buses were a whole other issue. I guess POR must be the ghetto hotel or something because we could not get a bus to save our lives. I've been to WDW when it's been a lot busier and have never had the issues with the buses that I had this time. We'd see 3 or 4 buses at our bus stop going to other parks (the same park) before we'd see one bus going to our park on each particular day. And by the time the buses got to our stop, they'd already been to POFQ and the other POR bus stops, so they were usually full. We had 4 of our 5 kids with us, including a 2 year old, and a stroller, so standing wasn't a great option for us, although we did do it at times. Whenever we left a park where the POR and POFQ buses were separate, we'd wait 30-35 minutes for the POR bus. In that time, we'd usually see at least 3 buses go by for POFQ. (95% of the time, we just sucked it up and rode the FQ bus and walked to Riverside. And trust me, it was a LONG walk, esp when we'd been in the park for the day.) We took long breaks in the middle of the day to swim and do other stuff, so we had LOTS of experiences with the buses. When we left MK on Wednesday night, the line for the POR bus was so long, that it went past the bus stop for 2 other resorts at the MK bus depot!! It was crazy. The POFQ bus line had about 10 people in it, with a bus sitting there, so once again, we took that bus. Now I don't want people to think we didn't want to wait in line, because that is not the case. I have 5 children, so I know what patience is. The bus thing just got to be ridiculous. And it happened over and over again. We finally decided to drive into the park yesterday. One of the perks of staying on the property is the bus system, so not using it is a waste. We left today, 2 days earlier than we were supposed to leave. We still have unused tickets on our cards.
I am a HUGE fan of Disney. If I had it my way, we'd go 3x a year. Not anymore. I don't want to go back for SEVERAL YEARS. For the money that we spent there, the quality of our hotel and the service was very poor.
 
Current Alligator Bayou room:

POR-Room-AB1446-2008-5805_forum.jpg



Current Magnolia Bend mansion building room:

POR-Room-MB8571-2009-9348_forum.jpg



Coming 17 February 2012, new Royal Room:

POR-RoyalRoom-991823_forum.jpg

Thanks for the thread! We just got back from POR Magnolia Terrace and absolutely loved it!

I do have one question for the 2012 rooms, will all of them (mansions and alligator bayou rooms) be the "royal theme?" Thank you:)
 
We just returned (We left early.) from almost a week in Walt Disney World. In my almost 39 years, I've probably been to WDW 25 times, almost always staying on property. I know what to expect from WDW. This trip was a mess. Our room at POR was not even close to being clean. We stayed in the Bayou area. Upon arrival, I noticed several areas of the room that were dirty. I tried to deal with it, because I didn't want to be a complainer, but as the week went on and we discovered more filthy stuff, among other problems, I complained to the manager, Boris. Our ceiling fan had so much dust collected on it that I kept it on all week, just so I didn't have to look at the dust. The light fixtures and the corners of the ceiling in the sink area were also covered with thick dust. There was dust hanging from spots on the ceiling also. Our toilet only flushed about 30% of the time. That was lovely. Someone spilled some sort of dark beverage on the AC unit (who knows how long ago) and never bothered to clean it up. There was a large, dark stain on the floor right in front of the AC unit, along with stains all up the blinds that are over the unit. The outlets - well they were just bizarre. None of them would hold my outlet covers, which I thought was strange. When we tried to charge our cell phones overnight, we weren't able to get the charger plugged all the way into the wall. They would only go in about 2cm, and when we set them down, they unplugged themselves. The outlet in the bathroom area was the only one that we could plug something into, but we could only use one at a time. If we tried to use them both, the plug would reset itself and turn itself off. Even if the appliance/phone wasn't in use, it did it. (Example: the hairdryer couldn't be plugged in, even if it wasn't being used, when we were trying to charge our phones.) There was little to no internet signal from our room, although it seems like that happens every time we go to WDW. There was also a light bulb that was clearly out, in the sink area. No one bothered to change it while we were there. I was very disappointed in the hotel. Like I said, I wasn't going to say anything, but we kept discovering more and more. When I did finally speak to the manager, I was so upset, that I was in tears. He said the problems would be taken care of. The next day when we returned from the park, the toilet worked A LITTLE better and the fan had been cleaned - that's it.
The buses were a whole other issue. I guess POR must be the ghetto hotel or something because we could not get a bus to save our lives. I've been to WDW when it's been a lot busier and have never had the issues with the buses that I had this time. We'd see 3 or 4 buses at our bus stop going to other parks (the same park) before we'd see one bus going to our park on each particular day. And by the time the buses got to our stop, they'd already been to POFQ and the other POR bus stops, so they were usually full. We had 4 of our 5 kids with us, including a 2 year old, and a stroller, so standing wasn't a great option for us, although we did do it at times. Whenever we left a park where the POR and POFQ buses were separate, we'd wait 30-35 minutes for the POR bus. In that time, we'd usually see at least 3 buses go by for POFQ. (95% of the time, we just sucked it up and rode the FQ bus and walked to Riverside. And trust me, it was a LONG walk, esp when we'd been in the park for the day. We took long breaks in the middle of the day to swim and do other stuff, so we had LOTS of experiences with the buses. When we left MK on Wednesday night, the line for the POR bus was so long, that it went past the bus stop for 2 other resorts at the MK bus depot!! It was crazy. The POFQ bus line had about 10 people in it, with a bus sitting there, so once again, we took that bus. Now I don't want people to think we didn't want to wait in line, because that is not the case. I have 5 children, so I know what patience is. The bus thing just got to be ridiculous. And it happened over and over again. We finally decided to drive into the park yesterday. One of the perks of staying on the property is the bus system, so not using it is a waste. We left today, 2 days earlier than we were supposed to leave. We still have unused tickets on our cards.
I am a HUGE fan of Disney. If I had it my way, we'd go 3x a year. Not anymore. I don't want to go back for SEVERAL YEARS. For the money that we spent there, the quality of our hotel and the service was very poor.

Kristie, I am sorry about your bad experience. I just returned from staying at POR in the Alligator Bayou as well (building 34) and my experience was good. The room was clean and only once did we have to wait for a bus more than 10 minutes (the one time it was 35 mins! and it was early in our 6 day stay and I was worried about the bus system- however, ever time since that, it was 10 minutes or less from any park or to any park).

You should have requested a change of room. I am sorry you had a bad stay.
 
After you check in at the Main Bldg. is there an internal bus or does Bell Svc. help get you to your room?

There is no internal bus service at POR as there are walking routes across the resort which CBR does not have due to its lake (although you could jump on a resort bus, and go round the three perimeter stops if you like). However bell services can take your bags to your room on their pargo carts - you might even be able to get a lift with them too.

I do have one question for the 2012 rooms, will all of them (mansions and alligator bayou rooms) be the "royal theme?" Thank you:)

No, the Royal Rooms will only be in Oak Manor and Parterre Place. The other two mansion buildings and all of Alligator Bayou will just get regular room refurbishments.

Andre
 
We left today, 2 days earlier than we were supposed to leave. We still have unused tickets on our cards.
I am a HUGE fan of Disney. If I had it my way, we'd go 3x a year. Not anymore. I don't want to go back for SEVERAL YEARS. For the money that we spent there, the quality of our hotel and the service was very poor.

Bummer-I'm so sorry you didn't have a great time (or even a good time). Did you have fun at the parks at all? I hope so. I really hope the disapointment from this trip dissipates quickly, so you can try to plan and enjoy future trips.

I really think you should write and speak to Disney about your stay-there is no call for dirty rooms, I don't care how much or little you pay, everyone is entitled to a clean resort room, no matter where you stay. Again, sorry and best wishes for future trips, Disney or otherwise.
 
Do we know what to expect from the Alligator Bayou refurbs? Also, is there a timeline for when they will be complete?
 
Hi basketlacey! We are from Kentucky too-Northern KY. We are heading to POR for the 1st time in late October and it looks like you will be there in November?

So I guess we are semi-hillbillies going to the bayou! We will be in AB b/c we are a family of 5-so the theme works for us really well. 'Cause you know people from KY don't wear shoes and all. I'm kidding, but seriously, when we are in the parks you would not believe how many que conversations we have with people that when we tell them we are from KY they look down at our feet and say, "But you're wearing shoes!," and "Is this your brother?," pointing to my DH.

We are driving, so a 15 hour flight. Do you guys drive or fly? Have a great trip and a fun POR stay! :earsboy:
 
Do we know what to expect from the Alligator Bayou refurbs? Also, is there a timeline for when they will be complete?

This is a tentative schedule I got from portorleans.org It looks like the Magnolia Bend refrubs will take place first. Other than the Royal Rooms, I'm not sure what the new rooms will look like at POR.

•Magnolia Bend, Acadian House: starts 26 June 2011, for approx. six weeks
•Magnolia Bend, Magnolia Terrace: starts 31 July 2011, for approx. six weeks
•Alligator Bayou, Lodges 36, 37, 38, 39: starts 25 October 2011, for approx. eight weeks
•Magnolia Bend, Oak Manor: starts 15 January 2012, for approx. five weeks [Royal Themed Rooms]
•Magnolia Bend, Parterre Place: starts 19 February 2012, for approx. five weeks [Royal Themed Rooms]
•Alligator Bayou, Lodges 24, 16, 17, 28: starts 3 April 2012, for approx. eight weeks
•Alligator Bayou, Lodges 14, 27, 18, 15: starts 8 May 2012, for approx. seven weeks
•Alligator Bayou, Lodges 25, 35, 26, 34: starts 5 June 2012, for approx. eight weeks
 
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