Advice please, July & Port Orleans Riverside

[burt]

Hi everyone

Well we did our first ever Disney visit this year and absolutley loved every second of it, so much so that when we sat down to discuss next years holiday with the kids they were only intrested in Going back to disney seems nothing else compares!!! anyway after they spent about 2 minutes persuading mom and dad it was a good idea, we started to price up different things. We have friends who have already booked up to stay on international drive in july but we did say last year we would like to try a disney property. there are 5 of us so we are a bit limited to where we can stay but we found a suitable room at port orleans riverside - so the advice we are looking for is -

Has anyone any experience of Port orleans riverside and if so what did you think of it ( bearing in mind we have 3 children) and also what is the weather and crowds like first 2 weeks july

any advice much appreciated

burt

 

[stevechase]

Hi there

I am afraid I cant help you at the moment, other than to say I have read a lot about it (PO Riverside) and it looks great. We have 3 kids and are stuck as to where to stay on site (other than the cabins that are massive prices)

We fly out 11/07/07 for 3 weeks at POR in a room that takes 2 ads and 3 kids. With virgin it has cost us £4050.00. We have to add tickets on and that but needed to book early.

By the way, West Midlands here too, Stourbridge? andy where near?

Cheers

Steve

 

[carolfoy]

I stayed at POFQ this year and loved it, the whole theming is very relaxing and genteel, but with the usual top class Disney service. The only gripe I'd have if I'd stayed at Riverside is that the busses tend to pick up and drop first at french quarter so riverside passengers were usually the ones standing. having said that at busy times they do have seperate busses for Riverside and french quarter so it may be fine.

 

[burt]

Thanks for the replies, spent about 2 hours last night reading up about POR and it gets the odd bad review but generally people seem to think its pretty good.

Steve - 3 weeks you lucky man we can only ever do 2 weeks because there is no way i can be away from work for 3 weeks at a time - I used to live in Stourbridge Steve but saw the light and im in Kingswinford now!!!! so not far at all.

Anybody been in july who can give a guide to crowd levels and weather? we went Easter last year weather was perfect but it was really busy

Burt

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Cannot advise regarding your accomodation as we have never stayed there.

Weather and crowds? To be perfectly honest, and bearing in mind we are restricted to summer months too - July is extremely hot with temperatures soaring in the mid to high 90s, generally it is pretty busy too.

Sorry , not helping am I - anytime to go to Florida is a good time, but July ideally would not be anyone's choice of when to go.
Take it easy around the parks, get there early have a break for lunch etc and plan plenty of rest days too as touring the parks can be hard work in the summer.

 

[Goofyish]

We have stayed at POR twice and so far it's our favourite Disney Resort

ALthough it's a large resort it never seems crowded. The landscaping is lovely and the contrast between the mansions section and the bayou sections make it interesting. We prefer the bayou section.

The quiet pools are very nice for an afternoon rest and dip

Food court has good choice and if you avoid main meal times shouldn't be crowded.

July is hot and crowd levels are high. Is there any chance of moving to the end of August? The local schools return mid-August so crowds are a little lower.

 

[angel659]

Hi

July is very busy. Expect soaring temperatures. When we went the weather was extremely around 38-39. The rides were about 2 hours for popular rides and 1 hour at least for the smaller rides. Admittedly this was back in 98 when they did not have the fast pass facility. However, we love October. Weather is perfect and the crowd level is small/medium when we went.

Also can you change it to the last two weeks of August. You will be able to get the DDP. This could save you alot of money or September? I dont know if you can have DDP in July We have never looked at that time of year again.

I am not saying its unbearable, but just to warn you its very hot. Take regular breaks and drink plenty. Try to nip back to the hotel for a swim and go back to the park in the evening. The bonus with peak times is the opening hours.

I am sure you will have fun.

 

[jns]

POR is lovely , this is our favourite resort

some of the dulaxe resorts will sleep 5 as well ,
We are a family of 5 as well and have stayed here with no problems and are going back again with only 4 this time

you will be in bayou sections as the manions only sleep 4
the fifth bed is a rollaway bed which is kept under the bed , fine for a small child ,
Check out this link http://www.allearsnet.com/acc/faq_dxl.htm

enjoy the planning
we are the same nothing else compares with Disney

 

[burt]

Thanks for all the replies its much appreciated. We did consider going a bit later and getting the Dining plan but we have family going early July and they have already booked and we found last year it was good when there were a few of us so that when certain people wanted to do certain things there was always an adult to look after the kids who didnt want to do certain rides (if you know what i mean!!!)

We were also worried about hurricane season if we leave it until late august/early september

so next question is - what is weather like say last 2 weeks august and again what are crowds like ( I presume with the free dining that the parks will be very busy)

Maybe we could persuade friends to move there holiday back a few weeks although when they went in 2005 they were caught in the bad weather and were 3 days late getting home (hence they booked to go earlier this year)

Thanks again

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Personally I don't think August will be much different Burt, it will still be extremely hot.
Crowds wise is difficult to predict, generally over the years the first 2 weeks are still pretty crowded, a lot of the US schools go back much earlier than in the UK so you often find from mid. August onwards the crowds are fairly light.
However, Disney decided to introduce the DDP, the 'daft dining plan' as I call it which means ( or certainly meant this August) that crowds were much heavier than they usually are.

Sorry I think it will be pretty much the same as July, and I still am not helping am I?

 

[burt]

No Johnny your not helping but at least your trying lol !!! thanks m8

so lets say that the cost was not an issue and you could go anytime of year, when would you go with the two main factors being good weather and low crowds

 

[JohnnySharp2]

No Johnny your not helping but at least your trying lol !!! thanks m8

so lets say that the cost was not an issue and you could go anytime of year, when would you go with the two main factors being good weather and low crowds

I would go now, ie mid October through early November, ideal weather and manageable crowds, plus the Halloween festivities at Disney and Universal.

If not October then late April early May, ie missing Easter.

Problem you have is similar to ours, we have to go in summer because my wife is a teacher, son at school also - having been in August the past 2 years I can assure you that it is by no means easy with the heat , especially if you have children. It's just too hot.

The reason I call it the 'daft dining plan', is just a personal thing, Josh doesn't like eating out at all, and the one thing we used to be able to count on when we generally go (late August) is that the crowds are light - unfortunatley, certainly this year the DDP changed all that.
Touring the parks when it's hot is hard work, when it's hot and busy - in my opinion it ain't much fun.

 

[EvertonCJ]

We have stayed at POR for the last 2 summers and really enjoyed it. However busy the parks are it never seems to be crowded at POR, particularly by the quiet pools. We have been in July and in mid-August and I have not noticed any real differences in the queues. In July the American children are still on holiday, but when they go back to school in early August, Disney offered the free DDP to the Americans which meant the parks were still busy. We are going on August 12th, 2007. This means we get the free DDP, but can also fit in 19 days before our schools go back. By staying at the Coronado Springs with Virgin we also got 3 nights free. We normally get to the parks for opening and spend the morning on the rides. By 1pm we were normally back at POR by one of the pools. If you do want to eat in Disney do book well before you go on holiday as with the free DDP the restaurants do get full very quickly.

 

[Groovee]

We're going on the 5th July next year to POR. We liked it from the last time we were there as it was laid back, relaxing and we were pretty lucky with the buses and the board. Never been in July but we're now restricted to school hols due to my job.

 

[burt]

UPDATE!!!!!

ok thanks for your input folks and after a few hours deliberation we have had a slight change of plan and have decided to try for last 2 weeks august, we have spoken with virgin and TCD with not much joy but we have found a suitable room booking direct with disney which includes the dining plan, so my next mission is to find some reasonable flights and car hire at a reasonable cost and need to do it quickly before room is no longer available!!! so anyone any ideas of where to find these???? (Please) best quote so far is £3173.00 thats for direct flights manchester/sanford 18th aug 07 for 2 adults and 3 children. We wouldnt even mind doing split flights if it was a decent saving

 

[DisneyJo]

We did POR last August (11th) and loved it, the buses were never a problem and we didn't ever have to go to the french quarter on our bus! Have a good look at the map as it is quite a big resort and decide what your priorities are, we were right next to a bus stop but also only a few minutes walk to the food hall, also buy refillable mugs. The later part of our stay was definitely quieter and we managed to ride Soarin 3 times in just a few hours!!!!

We're going to CS next August (13th) with free dining, can't wait! Only chose this over POR for a change hope we like it as much as I've heard loads of reports that it's massive!

Hope this helps a little.

 

[burt]

Thanks for the info - we have decided POR it is, just trying to decide on exact dates at the moment but providing nephews exams have finished we are now thinking of perhaps june 23rd - 7th sept hopefully at least this way we only have july crowds to worry about for 2nd week, Anyone travelled to WDW in June - again any advice much appreciated