Standard view at POR

[Tarheel girl 1975]

We're thinking about staying at POR on our next trip. For 2012, they seem to have added quite a few categories. Can someone clarify what a standard view room is? I thought maybe this meant parking lot view, but the Disney Website say "These rooms offer views of the Resort hotel, landscaping, courtyard, garden or bayou." So it it more luck of the draw? Is worth paying the little bit extra for a garden view room?

 

[dipity]

There definitely are parking lot view rooms, especially in the Magnolia Bend mansions. We've stayed in an Alligator Bayou 'standard' room a couple of times. There's more vegetation/landscaping blocking the parking lots in this part of the resort. We never ended up with a parking lot lot view.

As far as I can tell it's luck of the draw. If you have 5 people you'll always be in Alligator Bayou, otherwise you'll get either Alligator Bayou or Magnolia Bend at checkin - whatever is available.

It seems to me that 'preferred' is more about location and how close you are to the main building and primary bus stop. Our first stay we were about as far away as you could get. The next trip I'm pretty sure we were silently upgraded to a preferred room, right next to the main building. I enjoyed the close location but wouldn't pay more for it.

More info here:
http://allears.net/acc/faq_dxl.htm

 

[queendisney]

We're thinking about staying at POR on our next trip. Can someone clarify what a standard view room is. I thought maybe this meant parking lot view, but teh Disney Website say "These rooms offer views of the Resort hotel, landscaping, courtyard, garden or bayou." So it it more luck of the draw?

Yes standard view can be the above but I think they have been changing that recently so that a standard view will prob be the parking lot as they now have garden view, water view etc. To be honest at POR it doesn't really matter because unless you go outside your door (there are no balconies) you can't really see anything anyway out of the windows. We love this resort most of all and have been in all views and we have absolutely no pref to any of them, IMO its not worth paying more for a water view etc. Our only request ever is to not be near the elevator or stairs, infact as far away as poss, as so many people walk past all times of the day and night to get to their rooms. Its a fantastic resort, often voted very highly of all the resorts at WDW.

 

[Pookasaurus]

Our standard view at POR last year was of the wall next to the room with the ice machines

Honestly it didn't bother us though - with the way the rooms are set up (outside doors) and people walking by, we almost never had our blinds open much anyway the short times we were in the room. In my personal opinion I wouldn't pay for a view at a mod just because I don't see myself having the blinds open much if at all - I like a little more privacy! We loved POR and plan to stay again on a future trip, the view of the wall really had no impact on our trip or opinion of the resort

 

[nkereina]

It is luck of the draw. We had standard view last year and had a lovely room facing the courtyard outside of our mansion building so I'm not sure what garden view would be considered. Water view is just a view of a pool or fountain, while River view is a view of the river. Since there are no balconies or private patios off the rooms, I don't think it's worth it to pay to upgrade. Maybe river view but even still, there's no private balcony to enjoy it and there's still the walkway in between you. If you do get a room facing the parking lot, there's a good chance you'll be a few steps closer to a bus stop.

 

[disneyba]

There's a little more to conisder here than just the view you get with a standard room.

Two trips ago, we were in a parking lot view room at Magnolia Bend. While it was close to a bus stop, it was far from the food court area. For the first few mornings we had about ten buses lined up outside our room at 7 a.m. They were idling, spewing out that diesel exhaust, and making quite a racket for about an hour. Talking to the front desk folks, we learned it was a big convention group being transported here and there. Annoying.

This past February, we stayed at French Quarter, Building 7, in another parking lot view room. Around the corner from us was yet another bus staging area, this time for Disney buses. Not as bad as the POR situation, but still not great.

And one more thing...if the standard view rooms are now pretty well all parking lot, you will be pushed to the outer edge of the resort. Not so bad at the more compact FQ, but POR is a big place, and if walking to the main area is an issue for you...

I used to be fine with parking lot view at POR, but I'm not so sure now. FQ should still be okay, but even there, I am considering the upgrade to courtyard view for our upcoming trip.

 

[WantToGoNow]

We had a bldg 14 standard view room of a courtyard. It was the perfect location on the backside of bldg 14 and was a short walk to the main building, parking lot, busses and quiet pool. After hearing the dozen or so teenagers (POP Warner) in the quiet pool one evening while waiting for my laundry, I was so glad I didn't have one of those "water view" rooms right next to the pool.

 

[PrincessAli]

Long story as to why this happened, but last Thanksgiving Day we arrived at Disney ( we had reservations for a week later at Beach Club) without any ressies. Called reservations from the parkinglot of the Beach Club and much to our surprise we were able to get 7 nights at PO RIVERSIDE with a water view room ( pool view) go figure! We also walked into TONY'S at 5:00 that night with out a reservation and we were seated in five minutes. I thought Holidays were busy.

 

[rammh]

We had a bldg 14 standard view room of a courtyard. It was the perfect location on the backside of bldg 14 and was a short walk to the main building, parking lot, busses and quiet pool. After hearing the dozen or so teenagers (POP Warner) in the quiet pool one evening while waiting for my laundry, I was so glad I didn't have one of those "water view" rooms right next to the pool.

Building 14 is now a "preferred" location with a higher cost.