Which room in Port Orleans Riverside?

[WDWFOREVER]

I am disabled, sometimes using a wheelchair, sometimes just crutches. I do not need a wheelchair to get around my home, or in a hotel room.

We have booked 3 weeks at Port Orleans Riverside in August 2010 through Virgin Holidays. I have just received my invoice which has requested a Ground Floor room for us. My question is: do we really need a ground floor room as I don't use the wheelchair inside?

I guess my main question is if you had the pick of a ground floor room or a higher floor, which would you choose? Is there any advantage with either? I should add that I have asked to be sited in Magnolia Bend, if at all possible.

Thanks in advance!

Jackie

 

[kaytieeldr]

If your room is in Magnolia Bend, you have no problem. If it ends up being on the Alligator Bayou side, those buildings don't have elevators - so yes, you would need to be on the first floor.

My absolute preferred location in any building with an elevator is the top floor. There's nobody walking (jumping) above you.

 

[scojos]

hello fellow brit
just to say we checked in to PORS last year for 2 weeks, and they were stunning, we arrived ds8 dd6 and myself on the ME - dh and eldest ds went to get car straight from airport, we were taking the mickey out of the receptionist, he was french and i was his first ever check in on hisown, as dh is french and the wholefamily is bilingual, we just had a joke... all of a sudden his face changed and he mumbled "i need to get the manager...oh god, theres a problem with my cc - dh has had an accident, you just imagine all sorts...
front of house manager comes over and takes me to another "check in" booth, im almost hyper ventilating by this time... WHATS THE MATTER???
he just smiles sweetly, you have requested a room in block 18 due to you having a disabled child? yes, is that wrong? no, he says, but we have blocked you a quieter "courtyard" room, a few 100m from the pool (i had stated the deep pressure helped our asd child on our reservation), the room next door to yours has been booked empty for the first few days of your stay so he can have some quiet time, and house keeping have cleaned the room using the claening produce you requested (ds is also severly asthmatic)
OMGi didnt know what to say, so he escorted me to ourt room
Disney magic?? probably, but also the most amzing experience of my life, what a kind wonderful thought, 15 mins of his time, made our 2 weeks magical.
i accept this may not be the norm, but all the staff at the PORS were amazing (especially the bar staff who kept feeding my dd 5 cocktail cherries (her fav!!)
oh, we never heard anyone above us either, though we did hear people walking back at night, it wasnt loud enough to "disturb" kwim?
hope you have an amzing holiday
tx

 

[WDWFOREVER]

Wow - that pixie dust really gets around! What a lovely, thoughtful thing for them to do. It must be so much harder to plan when you have a disabled child. Luckily, its only me to worry about - DH and DS are fighting fit! We haven't been to WDW since June 2005 so I want to make next year's holiday as special as possible. Hence, we have 3 weeks in POR - first time in a Disney hotel so we are all very excited! Haven't quite figured out how we are going to pay for it all are keep threatening to sell DS on EBay! Its so nice to hear Disney go that little bit further to make someone's stay so good.

Thanks for stopping by fellow brit!

Katieeldr: We have asked to stay somewhere in Magnolia Bend - hopefully Disney will be able to do that for us. Your comment about lack of noise higher up struck a chord as I don't sleep very well because of my problems anyway. So its looking more and more like a high floor request for us.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Jackie

 

[Selket]

We don't deal with a mobility issue but we have stayed in the ground floor rooms at POR and it was very nice - no problems with noise. I suppose you could be unlucky and get a dance troupe above you but generally the rooms are good. I bring a small portable "noise" machine which can help. I like the lower floor rooms generally and I tend to hear more noise from next door if anywhere.

I suppose the only issue with being on an upper floor (besides waiting on the elevator) is if you are able to evacuate in case of fire and use the stairs to go down. While it is so very unlikely to be an issue, you should always be able to get to safety. A friend and her family had a tragic outcome in a hotel fire while on vacation in Paris about 10 yrs ago (no mobility issues) and I always check where the exits are, that the doors are unlocked and whether the windows open, etc. It is a 5 minute thing - I don't obsess over it.

Have a great trip!

 

[scojos]

Wow - that pixie dust really gets around! What a lovely, thoughtful thing for them to do. It must be so much harder to plan when you have a disabled child. Luckily, its only me to worry about - DH and DS are fighting fit! We haven't been to WDW since June 2005 so I want to make next year's holiday as special as possible. Hence, we have 3 weeks in POR - first time in a Disney hotel so we are all very excited! Haven't quite figured out how we are going to pay for it all are keep threatening to sell DS on EBay! Its so nice to hear Disney go that little bit further to make someone's stay so good.

Thanks for stopping by fellow brit!

Katieeldr: We have asked to stay somewhere in Magnolia Bend - hopefully Disney will be able to do that for us. Your comment about lack of noise higher up struck a chord as I don't sleep very well because of my problems anyway. So its looking more and more like a high floor request for us.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Jackie

yes its hard to plan with a disabled child, especially one with hidden disabilities, just means everything has to be planned to the letter and i MUST spend hours on the DIS... very hard life

as for selling ds on ebay, if its viable, let me know, i might consider selling with arogant 12 yr old (who thinks its really not cool going to disney...again...im sure he is not my child
tx

 

[WDWFOREVER]

yes its hard to plan with a disabled child, especially one with hidden disabilities, just means everything has to be planned to the letter and i MUST spend hours on the DIS... very hard life

as for selling ds on ebay, if its viable, let me know, i might consider selling with arogant 12 yr old (who thinks its really not cool going to disney...again...im sure he is not my child
tx

Oh no!!! Get him DNA tested immediately! Thankfully, my soon to be 16 year old is as stupid as I am over Disney and probably wants to go even more than me - if that is at all possible!!

J. x

 

[scojos]

Oh no!!! Get him DNA tested immediately!

J. x

if he wasnt the spitting image of me i might!!
luckily my asd son and his sister are disney mad too, so he has to just go with the flow... dh likes (but not loves wdw) so 31/2 out of 5 is a good start
he did have a minor strop at the thought of having to go to the crystal palacebut when i said we could do bfast so he could have the puffed toast he calmed down, phew that was close