Back from our 9 day stay at POR- Any questions?

[pirates4]

We just returned from POR with free dining- Had a great time. If you have any questions maybe I can help with some.

 

[Minsmom]

We'll be staying there in November on our first Disney vacation. Which part did you stay in? Any tips for us first timers? I will be bringing my own coffee to make a strong pot in the morning. What kind of filters does the in room coffee maker use?
Thanks

 

[pirates4]

We stayed in location 39 room #4- I picked this because it was close to the north depot which was never too crowded. Most of the time it was the second stop in the morning but was one of the last at night. We went to the main entrance depot one day and it was packed. This location you will also not get a parking lot view. Building 39 also had a really nice pool that was open until midnight but the bell hop said 24hrs. as for the coffee machine- there was one in the room-A small one. We did not use it but i did notice they did give you coffee with it. It looks like the regular paper filter. Also there was small coffee cups. It might have been at most a 10 minute walk to the food but we usually at at the parks.

 

[pirates4]

We had a great time at this resort the kids loved the pool near our room and also oldman island pool. We took the boat a lot to downtown disney which was a lovely ride. That stops running at 11:30pm from downtown disney and after that you can take the bus back. Bring comfy shoes!! thats a must.

 

[FinallyDisney]

We're also going for our 1st time in November but are staying at the sister resort POFQ. I appreciate the positive review as I have read mixed reviews recently. One poster wrote how filthy the rooms were and that neither resort had a resort "feel". Did you use the racers or take a carriage ride? We plan on trying the pools at both resorts and I think my boys 9 & 11 will love the pool at POR. Thanks again

 

[CaipiraBob]

We just returned from POR with free dining- Had a great time. If you have any questions maybe I can help with some.

Glad you had a good time!

Could you please tell us about what parks you hit on what days, the times and what the crowds were like?

 

[pirates4]

We're also going for our 1st time in November but are staying at the sister resort POFQ. I appreciate the positive review as I have read mixed reviews recently. One poster wrote how filthy the rooms were and that neither resort had a resort "feel". Did you use the racers or take a carriage ride? We plan on trying the pools at both resorts and I think my boys 9 & 11 will love the pool at POR. Thanks again

Our boys are also 9 and 11 and they loved the pools. I think they would have been happy just staying at the pools all day. Our room was very clean-I have been to some dirty hotels before and i thought this was very clean or even one of the cleanest.. The beds were comfortable and I think they changed the sheets every two days. Our mousekeeper left us 6 towel animals during our stay and aranged them differently every day in our window(that was very cute). As for resort feel - It was nice - It felt very sucluded because of all the trees which made it very shady and all the pathways. As for port Orleans french quarter (we road past it on the boat to downtown disney) The resort is very open with not too many trees-I feel it is not as cozy as riverside-but thats my opinion. The pool at french quarter looked like a lot of fun. We did rent the sea racers on the last day at riverside-I dont think french quarter has them. They were a lot of fun we went all the way to downtown disney with them. Some people on this site say they are faster at other resorts but it was fine for us. I did with they went a little faster though.

 

[pirates4]

Glad you had a good time!

Could you please tell us about what parks you hit on what days, the times and what the crowds were like?

As for the parks we went at the start of free dining- We went to the parks early morning and the crowds were fine- later in afternoon it got crowded. We never waited more that 20 minutes for a ride and if it was longer we did not wait and came back another time. We used fastpass a lot and that was awsome. The only time I felt the crowds were out of control was at magic kingdom for the EMH late night-The lines and waits were so long. We went on maybe two rides and decided to leave. At epcot one night (Sunday) before closing we went on test track three times in a row with no waits- We went early to parks took a brake at the pool and then went back. I think maybe the wekends at magic kingdom are busy because everyone usually starts there vacation at that time and might be the first park they go to.

 

[GoingtoDisney]

We are heading there the end of October. I had my heart set on the Poly or the BC, but it was not to be this time. We stayed at the POFQ last time and wanted to try something different so we are going with POR.

Do you know what room or building requests would be best if we want to be close to the main pool and the bus stop? I think the POFQ pool is good for little kids, but my oldest is now almost 10. What do you think of the POR main pool for older kids? TIA!

 

[LuvIt]

Pirates4 - your timing and offer to give feedback is great! We're heading to WDW with a 7 year old son in mid-October for the first time and are staying at POR. Sounds like you had a great time and I'm jealous of your free dining! I've got questions!!!!
Do rooms have a hair dryer and fridge?
How long did it take to get on searacer from POR to DTD lake and back? (We're thinking of renting and I'm wondering how long is needed). Do you recall how early or late you can rent? (we'd rent before or after going to a parkfor the day)
Did you eat at POR at all? How was food? Favorite meals during your trip?
Good to hear pools are open late! Were they crowded? Are towels provided at the pools or do you need to bring from room?
Anything you wish you would have packed and brought along in hindsight?
Was EPCOT crowded with the Food & Wine Festival going on?
What was the best thing to use your dining snack credits on?

 

[simonkodousek]

How was the food court? Was there a good selection for breakfast?

Thanks!

 

[pirates4]

We are heading there the end of October. I had my heart set on the Poly or the BC, but it was not to be this time. We stayed at the POFQ last time and wanted to try something different so we are going with POR.

Do you know what room or building requests would be best if we want to be close to the main pool and the bus stop? I think the POFQ pool is good for little kids, but my oldest is now almost 10. What do you think of the POR main pool for older kids? TIA!

If you want to be close to the main pool and bus stop I would pick building 14or 27- The main pool is in the center of it all. Check this for a map http://www.disneywebcontent.com/StaticFiles/DTA-Domestic/pdf/Resort Maps/PortOrleansRiverside.pdf
The main pool my kids loved but we ended up using the pool that was near our room (building 39). It was only maybe a 5-8 minute walk from our buliding to the main pool. The main pool had a great slide and a waterfall. The only thing was that it was crowded compared to the pool near our room. The main pool had towels to use. i think your kids would love the pool.

 

[pirates4]

Pirates4 - your timing and offer to give feedback is great! We're heading to WDW with a 7 year old son in mid-October for the first time and are staying at POR. Sounds like you had a great time and I'm jealous of your free dining! I've got questions!!!!
Do rooms have a hair dryer and fridge?
How long did it take to get on searacer from POR to DTD lake and back? (We're thinking of renting and I'm wondering how long is needed). Do you recall how early or late you can rent? (we'd rent before or after going to a parkfor the day)
Did you eat at POR at all? How was food? Favorite meals during your trip?
Good to hear pools are open late! Were they crowded? Are towels provided at the pools or do you need to bring from room?
Anything you wish you would have packed and brought along in hindsight?
Was EPCOT crowded with the Food & Wine Festival going on?
What was the best thing to use your dining snack credits on?

Yes the room has a hair dryer so leave yours at home. Yes it does have a fridge but does take some time for water bottle at room temp to get cold. We had to call the desk to have someone come look at it cause we didnt think it was working. the service guy came within 15 minutes and said it just takes time to cool things down. it does not have a freezer section. I used a food sevice to deliver cases of water and some snack and breakfast food yogurt, milk muffins to the room so we neded to put some of those in there.
The main pool provides towels but the other pools do not- you can either get towels from the main pool or just request them from maid service. as for packing I forgot my hair brush! And something you should pack and I thought I would not need it but i did. I think it was called moleskin? It was for foot blisters - Boy did we walk a lot.
We did not go when the food and wine was going on- I think it was getting ready to start. As for snack credits on the dining plan- we really did not use them too much. We were so full of eating with all the food you get on the plan. We did use our snack credits for breakfast in magic kingdom at the bakery on main street. Popcorn and icecream. The night before we were going to leave we had 4 snack credits left so I was n downtown disney and bought 4 family size boxes of cookies. As long as the snack is $4.00 or less it can be used as a snack.
The searacer you need at least 1 hour to go to downtown disney and back.
I hope this helped - excuse any spelling errors.
Did you book this with a travel agent??

 

[pirates4]

How was the food court? Was there a good selection for breakfast?

Thanks!

We only used the food court twice. Once for lunch and Once for breakfast the morning we were leaving. Both I thought were good. They have a good selection. We did eat at boatwrights for dinner one night- We were on the dining plan- we had steak and it was really good-much better than the Coral Reef in epcot.

 

[pirates4]

Fav. meals on our trip- Boatwrights at POR
Garden Grill - Epcot

I did not like SciFi at MGM- food was not that great

 

[GoingtoDisney]

If you want to be close to the main pool and bus stop I would pick building 14or 27- The main pool is in the center of it all. Check this for a map http://www.disneywebcontent.com/StaticFiles/DTA-Domestic/pdf/Resort Maps/PortOrleansRiverside.pdf
The main pool my kids loved but we ended up using the pool that was near our room (building 39). It was only maybe a 5-8 minute walk from our buliding to the main pool. The main pool had a great slide and a waterfall. The only thing was that it was crowded compared to the pool near our room. The main pool had towels to use. i think your kids would love the pool.

Thank you! I was looking at the map and trying to remember POR (we checked it out briefly on our last stay). Looks like 14 or 27 would be good. What about the bus stops? Any suggestions on which to use? Looks like the Main stop in front is the closest to these two buildings?

 

[CaipiraBob]

As for the parks we went at the start of free dining- We went to the parks early morning and the crowds were fine- later in afternoon it got crowded. We never waited more that 20 minutes for a ride and if it was longer we did not wait and came back another time. We used fastpass a lot and that was awsome. The only time I felt the crowds were out of control was at magic kingdom for the EMH late night-The lines and waits were so long. We went on maybe two rides and decided to leave. At epcot one night (Sunday) before closing we went on test track three times in a row with no waits- We went early to parks took a brake at the pool and then went back. I think maybe the wekends at magic kingdom are busy because everyone usually starts there vacation at that time and might be the first park they go to.

VERY USEFUL information!

Thank you for taking the time to detail this!

 

[pirates4]

Thank you! I was looking at the map and trying to remember POR (we checked it out briefly on our last stay). Looks like 14 or 27 would be good. What about the bus stops? Any suggestions on which to use? Looks like the Main stop in front is the closest to these two buildings?

Yes the main stop is the best to those two buildings. The only thing is that it was full of people waiting for a bus- a few times some people had to wait for a second bus to come. The buses usually come about every 20 minutes per park. Animal kingdom shares bus transportation with i think it was blizzard beach. I read before i left that the north depot was a good choice and i'm glad i went with that. It was about the second stop in the morning and one of the last at night. If you will use the food court a lot then pick 14-27 or something in that area. If you are not then i would go with somethng near 38-39 which is close to the north stop and to a great quiet pool.
But this is only my opinion