Port Orleans Riverside Q&A Thread 2014 (Please read first post for FAQs!)

[Gracefulskinny]

Am I correct in remembering that front desk staff is not able to help set up a welcome gift in the room unless its through disney floral? Found some deals on some mouse ears and a stuffed mickey here at home and DH and I are thinking "Mickey" can leave them on the bed for her upon arrival.

 

[sktjcox]

It would be too much of a walk to make it practical for someone with even relatively minor mobility issues to walk between Alligator Bayou and the French Quarter bus stop - at least a 1,000 yard walk. Guests are usually pretty good at helping people with mobility issues find seating, and if a guest in a wheelchair needs to be loaded then the driver will move people away from the special reserved area for you. I really wouldn't worry to much about it. There are 27 River View rooms with two queen beds in the Magnolia Bend (non-Royal) mansion buildings. I'm not sure their category listings are 100% correct (they even had some Royal Rooms listed in Alligator Bayou #14 when I last looked). Andre

Can someone tell me if I booked a river view if it is possible to have a river view in a preferred room? My boys are really hoping for AB, and with the exception. Of the royal rooms which are special booking, river view all looks manageable to the main building. Thanks in advance!

 

[andrewilley]

Can someone tell me if I booked a river view if it is possible to have a river view in a preferred room? My boys are really hoping for AB, and with the exception. Of the royal rooms which are special booking, river view all looks manageable to the main building. Thanks in advance!

Yes, River View bookings can include river view rooms in buildings 14 or 27 (the 'preferred' buildings), although even building 38 isn't that long a walk, and the river view rooms in the two mansion buildings are quite close when walking across the island.

Andre

 

[sktjcox]

Yes, River View bookings can include river view rooms in buildings 14 or 27 (the 'preferred' buildings), although even building 38 isn't that long a walk, and the river view rooms in the two mansion buildings are quite close when walking across the island. Andre

Thanks Andre!

 

[Punchy]

Can we book a ride with Bell Services on our way out?
We'll have quite a bit of luggage and I have some physical disabilities. We're checking out at 4:00 am to catch the ME (I wish Disney didn't make us leave so early).

Thanks

ETA: We also have to drop off our stroller, which is a rental from a local company. I could drop it the night before but I suspect I'll need it at 4am for my sleepy 5 year-old.

 

[NokOnHarts]

Checking into POR 2nd week of Oct (6-11) and both Disney and Orbitz say no rooms available at both POR and POFQ. We booked a standard room and are a family of 4. What are the chances we'll be able to get AB with a full resort? I will be sending a fax request for the AB section but am I dreaming with it being full? Hoping the buses are manageable.

 

[andrewilley]

What are the chances we'll be able to get AB with a full resort? I will be sending a fax request for the AB section but am I dreaming with it being full?

Pretty good - there are a lot more rooms in the AB section than in the mansions, and they rarely get anywhere near to selling all of those rooms to families of five anyway.

Andre

 

[vbarry]

I have a few more questions before booking today. We are arriving Dec 27 to Jan 2 so a very busy week. We are DVC member so always stay Deluxe. It seems like POR kind of reminds me of OKW with a lot of bus stops and very spread out. I did like OKW but felt like every time the kids wanted to get something to eat or go to the pool we had to track a long ways to get to everything. When we stay at the WL or GF our girls normally will walk down and grab a snack etc on their own and we feel pretty comfortable with that. I did not feel that way at OKW. POFQ seems very compact and more like Poly or GF with all the separate buildings. I really like the POR theme much better but it seems POFQ may be a little more of what we are used to with easy access to everything and seems the transportation would be much better. Right now we can get a Royal Pool View room at POR or a Riverview room at POFQ. Will these resorts share buses during Christmas week? Do you think we are better off at POFQ because only one bus stop etc? If we stay in a Royal Room is it about the same walk as being at POFQ to the main area? All the preferred rooms are booked and they seem so much closer to the food court. Also at POR when you are walking to food court/main area are you crossing streets with a lot of bus traffic? This was one thing at OKW I did not like. We were close to the Hospitality House but there was a lot of bus traffic.

So...if anyone could help me decide...that would be great. POR seems to have a great themes... looks like it would be very pretty at Xmas but large with a lot of bus stops and a longer walk to food court, main building etc. POFQ...the theme is not really to my liking and really not sure about the pool area theme either. It kind of reminds me of the clown pool at Boardwalk. I guess if may be chilly and we won't use the pool anyways. The resort seems so much more compact and only one bus stop which is a huge plus!

Thanks for any info you may have to help me make this decision.

 

[andrewilley]

I have a few more questions before booking today./...

POR and POFQ buses sometimes share, but it varies by destination and time (MK always runs separate routes for example).

There are no roads to cross within POR (and POFQ come to that) for getting to/from any areas inside the resort, so don't worry about that.

The Royal Pool View rooms are actually pretty close to the main building, as they are all right next to a footbridge which crosses the river and goes directly to the main facilities area, but it is an outdoor walk of course. It's quite a pleasant walk in fact. I wouldn't let very young kids walk it alone, but 10-12 year olds walking together would be fine once they know they layout.

Andre

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I have a few more questions before booking today. We are arriving Dec 27 to Jan 2 so a very busy week. We are DVC member so always stay Deluxe. It seems like POR kind of reminds me of OKW with a lot of bus stops and very spread out. I did like OKW but felt like every time the kids wanted to get something to eat or go to the pool we had to track a long ways to get to everything. When we stay at the WL or GF our girls normally will walk down and grab a snack etc on their own and we feel pretty comfortable with that. I did not feel that way at OKW. POFQ seems very compact and more like Poly or GF with all the separate buildings. I really like the POR theme much better but it seems POFQ may be a little more of what we are used to with easy access to everything and seems the transportation would be much better. Right now we can get a Royal Pool View room at POR or a Riverview room at POFQ. Will these resorts share buses during Christmas week? Do you think we are better off at POFQ because only one bus stop etc? If we stay in a Royal Room is it about the same walk as being at POFQ to the main area? All the preferred rooms are booked and they seem so much closer to the food court. Also at POR when you are walking to food court/main area are you crossing streets with a lot of bus traffic? This was one thing at OKW I did not like. We were close to the Hospitality House but there was a lot of bus traffic. So...if anyone could help me decide...that would be great. POR seems to have a great themes... looks like it would be very pretty at Xmas but large with a lot of bus stops and a longer walk to food court, main building etc. POFQ...the theme is not really to my liking and really not sure about the pool area theme either. It kind of reminds me of the clown pool at Boardwalk. I guess if may be chilly and we won't use the pool anyways. The resort seems so much more compact and only one bus stop which is a huge plus! Thanks for any info you may have to help me make this decision.

We are here now at POR after always staying at WL before, and we love it. We booked preferred and that makes it a nice short walk to the lobby and food court from the room, much like WL. While you do have to be outside, there is no crossing streets and it is all along nice walkways. It is very comfortable.

Buses have been fine, and exactly as Andre described as far as stop order and occasional sharing between POR and POFQ. There are the four stops for POR but being in a preferred room we use the main South depot. Making the loop around the other three takes about 11 minutes, assuming there aren't huge crowds at any stop.

We are having a great time and want to thank Andre for sharing so much useful and accurate information.

 

[vbarry]

Thank you thank you!~ I am getting ready to book this moring! Another Xmas at Disney!

 

[NokOnHarts]

Pretty good - there are a lot more rooms in the AB section than in the mansions, and they rarely get anywhere near to selling all of those rooms to families of five anyway.

Andre

Thank you, Andre. Is the advice to still send the fax around 5-7 days before?

 

[andrewilley]

Thank you, Andre. Is the advice to still send the fax around 5-7 days before?

My usual advice is 3-5 days, if you fax beyond the 5 day mark they cannot adjust between booking categories to meet requests.

Andre

 

[scampagna6]

My usual advice is 3-5 days, if you fax beyond the 5 day mark they cannot adjust between booking categories to meet requests.

Andre

Andre if my 5 day mark for the Fax is on a Saturday would you suggest sending it on a Saturday or sending it 1 day ahead on the Friday? Or does it not make a difference if it is sent on a weekend?
TIA

 

[NokOnHarts]

My usual advice is 3-5 days, if you fax beyond the 5 day mark they cannot adjust between booking categories to meet requests.

Andre

OK, says in the fax thread 5-7 days but wasn't sure what is up-to-date. We'll already be at WDW in a different hotel but maybe I'll shoot for the 5 day mark then.

 

[andrewilley]

Andre if my 5 day mark for the Fax is on a Saturday would you suggest sending it on a Saturday or sending it 1 day ahead on the Friday?

My advice has always been 3-5 days, but Venomhatch suggested 5-7 days. I actually asked the Room Assignment Manager which was better a few weeks ago, and he said that more than 5 days will tend to get shelved until 5 days anyway, so it has more opportunity to get missed.

So send it on Saturday morning.

Andre

 

[NokOnHarts]

My advice has always been 3-5 days, but Venomhatch suggested 5-7 days. I actually asked the Room Assignment Manager which was better a few weeks ago, and he said that more than 5 days will tend to get shelved until 5 days anyway, so it has more opportunity to get missed.

So send it on Saturday morning.

Andre

OK thanks, good info

 

[scampagna6]

My advice has always been 3-5 days, but Venomhatch suggested 5-7 days. I actually asked the Room Assignment Manager which was better a few weeks ago, and he said that more than 5 days will tend to get shelved until 5 days anyway, so it has more opportunity to get missed.

So send it on Saturday morning.

Andre

Great Thanks Andre!

 

[erinkristen04]

Apologies in advance if this has already been answered or if this ought to be posted in a different thread...

We have an 8:40 pre-park opening ADR at the Magic Kingdom. I'm wondering how to best handle the transportation for this from POR. How early would yall suggest getting to the bus stop, and will MK buses be running fairly regularly by that time? Thanks in advance for any insight and suggestions!

 

[rteetz]

We stayed at POR in July and loved it now I'm staying at POR in January with my aunt, uncle, and grandparents. I will be participating in marathon weekend. All of the resorts have transportation to these events but does anyone know the bus schedule to the expo? Also anything else I should know about marathon weekend and staying at POR?