Our tickets arrived on the 24th July and we flew out on August 13th - so the tickets came roughly 2 weeks before we left
Hi Scou
You will love POR, it's a lovely resort and once you have stayed on site you won't want to stay off site again
The landscaping around the Bayou and Mansion is lovely. Even though it's a big resort it never feels crowded.
The food court is really good, with plenty of choice and if you buy the refillable mugs (aprox. $10 each), you can have as much soda, coffee and hot chocolate as you want, whenever you want
The quiet pools are lovely to relax in the afternoons after a morning in the parks.
The boat to Downtown Disney is also a great relaxing ride.
We had no problem with the Disney bus transportation - although I would always go to the main (south) bus depot (close to the main building).
We had building 14 in the Bayou section and it was ideal for the food court, reception and the bus depot.