Port Orleans Riverside! Thoughts and opinions!

[melissarose]

Hey all! I am new to this forum and I am really excited and hoping everyone can help me pass the 125 days until my trip! I will be staying at POR from February 2-8, 2013. This is my second trip to Disney, but first time staying on the property and first time at all of the parks! (previously went to MK and HS with a group of friends). I am sooooo excited because I've been dreaming of the complete Disney experience since I was like 2. I am now 25.

Anyways, I was hoping those of you who have stayed at POR (recently or in the past!) could share your thoughts, likes, dislikes, etc. about the hotel. I THINK I picked the right moderate resort, but I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts. It will be just me and my boyfriend (we are 25) so I hope this will be a great resort for us.

ANY info, thoughts, pics would be appreciated

Thanks everyone. 125 days to go!

 

[siskaren]

Check out this thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2999316

And this one:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1730158

 

[zy144622]

I stayed 15 years ago when it was still Dixie Landings. Loved it so much we are taking the kids on our first family trip feb 3-9!!! I loved how quiet a beautiful the property was and the boat is a major bonus!!!

 

[melissarose]

Another quick question. I have heard people complain about a LONG walk from some sections to the main lobby. Realistically, how long can the walk be from the farthest section back to the lobby/food court area. Ten minutes doesn't seem like a long walk to me, but a lot of people having been commenting on some building being soooo far.

 

[Tricia's mom]

We just stayed there in April. It was our 3rd time staying @ PO, twice at riverside once at FQ. We do prefer FQ because it is smaller.
We like riverside too.. We have stayed in Alligator Bayou once and last time in Magnolia in one of the princess suites.

The pools are great. I like the counter service at FQ better. They have beignets.
Its also wonderful to take the boat to to DTD. Riverside has the smaller quite pools which is very nice. They main pool can get very loud. They play lots of games for the kids.


The other great thing about riverside is Bob the piano player in the evenings he's soo much fun. Its a good time in the evening with a drink. Don't miss him.

Was not to fond of the sit down restaurant at RS, FQ doesn't have one. RS is going through a renovation which is wonderful.

I think these resorts are a great value for your money. The themeing is top notch. They also have boats to rent at the marina and horse and carriage rides in the evening.
Bring some bug spray for the evening ( your going in Feb.. I think you will be fine)
Have a wonderful time.. It is a great resort !

 

[Tricia's mom]

For some it can be a long walk.... But after walking the parks all day its not bad.. a bit of a pain in the @$$ to walk back to some of the rooms if you forget something.. But your young. No worse than some of the other resorts. Actually the walk from Alligator bayou is really nice to the main house in the evening.. really nice. it's almost like your actually in the bayou.

 

[Amy&Dan]

We have had three wonderful stays at POR and its our favorite WDW resort (and we have stayed at many).

We love the grounds, the pools, boat to DTD, foodcourt (best on property in our opinion), the live entertainment offered in the lounge as well as nearby at POFQ's lounge (that one is Elliot Dyson who plays Jazz and he is amazing in a whole different way than Bob Jackson at POR). Having POFQ very nearby is great, we enjoy their food court, grounds and as I said above their lounge.

As far as location, we have stayed in bldg 37 which is one of the "far out" buildings at POR in the Alligator Bayou section. Next trip we were again in Alligator Bayou but in the closest building to the food court in Bldg. 14 (which is now preferred) and in the Magnolia Building (#85) in the Mansions section.

We loved all three locations. Being in the more remote area was nice, it was quiet, peaceful and the walk was less than ten minutes to the food court. We had a quiet pool right near our building as well as a bus stop. Being close to the main area was also nice for the food court and being right across the bridge from Ol Man Island/pool when we were in Magnolia was also nice.

I don't find the walking at POR to be bad at all. We enjoy a resort that has lots of ground and pools so to us its worth it to be in a resort that is spread out.

If this is a worry for you, paying for preferred will solve your problem. You will for sure be in an Alligator Bayou. But I think for a young couple like you, you will be fine regardless of location!

Here is a website I love: www.portorleans.org

It is completely dedicated to the Port Orleans resorts, has thousands of photos and a lot of valuable information.

Here is a link to a video that shows the grounds, pool, rooms, food court, lobby and gift shop. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUJCDK58ots

We love this resort and even though our last stay was two weeks, we weren't ready to go home! We love all the moderate resorts and are very excited for our upcoming stay at CSR, but just typing my thoughts on POR in this post makes me a little sad we aren't staying there!

 

[emilyann415]

I stayed at RS in June and LOVED it! We stayed in a princess room. SO magical.....very Disney! Our room wasn't the closest and we had about 5-10 minute walk but it's SO beautiful that it never bothered me. We have always stayed in deluxe resorts but were with family that wanted to spend a bit less. I think I liked our room BETTER than our deluxe rooms in the past. The theming is amazing, food court has TONS of options. Never had to wait for more than 5-10 minutes for a bus. Spend some time reading about the resort with the link a PP has above and I watched YouTube videos to make sure it was were I wanted to stay. Have a GREAT time.

 

[melissarose]

thanks so much everyone! your posts reassured me that i made the right decision. i just love the theming of POR so much, more than the other moderates (which of course all look beautiful too!). it seems a bit more disney, to me CSR looked more like a regular resort. anyways, i wasn't too worried about the walking but some people seemed to really find it to be a big problem, so i thought i'd get some more opinions! and a few people have commented about bus wait times, but since we are going in early february i'm hoping it won't be so crazy that we ever have to wait 40 mins for a bus at 7:30 am! (which someone said they did and that seems like a slight bummer so early in the morning!)

no matter what i am sure it will be a fantastic trip. i don't know how i am ever going to wait 125 days! i am sooooo excited!

 

[melissarose]

has anyone seen any rabbits or other small animals while staying here? i've heard a few people say there is some wildlife around!

 

[niffer5150]

If you are out late and are very quiet, there are armadillos. They leave little "holes" in the pine needles and leaf litter on the ground.

 

[Tinaphpc]

For some it can be a long walk..

 

[bluejasmine]

Honestly I've seen rabbits at almost every Disney resort!

ASMo, asmu, ss, poly, CBR, POR, pop

On the drive from poly to DTD we saw about 8 deer!

Wdw is full of wildlife!

 

[Missytara]

has anyone seen any rabbits or other small animals while staying here? i've heard a few people say there is some wildlife around!

Yes. You will see a lot of wildlife.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Lots of wildlife to be seen.

And while its not at POR per se, when you ride the bus from POR to Magic Kingdom, the drivers take a short cut by cutting over near Ft. Wildnerness. That road is really "in the wildnerness" and when we go over there, especially in the early evening when its just starting to get dark we see a ton of deer from the bus. POR is actually not far at all from Ft Wildnerness and that is a lovely route to take. I'll add that doesn't work when you drive from POR to MK in your own car, since you miss the whole turn off for the TTC/parking.

But yes, at the resort itself, lots of bunnies, armadillos and I have seen a few deer around POR during my stays. Lots of pretty birds too.

If I was a critter living at WDW, POR would be my pick to hang out at!

 

[yankebabie]

At POR now. Resort is beautiful. Recently finished a refurb. Boat to DTD is nice plus. About a 15 min ride and quite relaxing. We r in building 28 and about 5 min walk to food court. Food court great. Lots of choices. Also have main pool and quiet pools. Room all brand new. Double sinks wit counter top. Love it here!

 

[pepe of ohio]

We have done it back when it was Dixie Landings.... We were CR people for many years and thought we'd try it.... Now this was many years ago and upon arriving we're greatly disappointed in the overall size and location of our rooms.... Don't let anyone kid you, if your room is in the remotest part of the property, it is a huge poke to the food court, drink station and main pool from your room...and making a run to the drink station for a refill something you won't do a lot...

We had some issues in our room, mold throughout shower, which couldn't be reckoned with and they moved us to the YC.... Nice free upgrade but that ended our stay at now POR....we have just returned from our first time stay at POFQ, which we prefer over POR just on size alone, buses first stop over POR and the compactness of the grounds...we did walk over to Riverside once for a dinner, nice walk but still could not get interested in its size...maybe you'll do better but it is spread out...

 

[TeamBlack]

just returned Friday from a stay at riverside. be sure to try the -build your own pasta- in the food court. Very good and can feed 2 easy. Every morning we saw little brown bunnies munching on grass and a giant turtle in the river while crossing the bridge to get to the pool.
Tip: the most disapointing experience is the fishing.

 

[KristiKat]

We love POR! We stayed in Feb 2011 and going back Feb 2013. We were located in the Magnolia Bend area just around the corner from a quite pool. It was wonderful. The walk wasn't too bad, we enjoyed the walks. This was before renovations so I can't wait to stay there in 2013. We will be in a water view room next time so I'm looking foward to that as well. We don't care if we are in mansions or AB so no requests for us. We enjoyed the food court and loved the make your on pasta. The kids loved it also. It has just enough Disney theming for us without being in your face. We love it, hope you will too.

 

[KonaKaiTom]

We stayed at POR back in January and loved it. Which part are you staying in, Mansions or where we stayed - Alligator Bayou? Completely different themes but same beautiful location. Just fyi, I'm an early riser and on my morning run through POR and POFQ I saw plenty os wildlife and the grounds are spectatular.

I thought the food court was good, but the TS - Boatwrights wasn't impressive. The food was okay, but it didn't seem up to DisneyWorld TS standards. I'd suggest taking to boat to DTD and finding better and less $$$ food down there.

Anyhow, You've probably seen lots of people complaining that moderates have a long bus wait. I will agree with posters that refer to that as every other resorts line is shorter phenomenom -- I don't think we waited at any park, nor at POR for a bus any longer that 20 minutes and I know twice we had less than a 5 minute wait.

I think you will enjoy yourselves quite a bit, I will definitely stay at POR again.

Tom