Building Recommendations POR Checking in March 24?

[Jhuff8181]

We are a party of five checking in March 24 at Disney's Port Orleans Riverside. Our plane arrives at 7:15 PM and we are using ME. This is our first time back to WDW in four years. We were DVC members for the 10 years before that and always stayed a OKW. So I need to know what you know about POR. What is the ideal building convenient to buses, dining, pools etc? Or at the very least what buildings should we avoid? I also need to know how and when to make requests. Should I use electronic check-in?

Thank you for your help.

 

[nkereina]

As a party of 5, you will be in the Alligator Bayou section of the resort. You can check out a map and see what buildings look best to you. The buildings closest to the main pool and food court will be preferred rooms, so you would have to upgrade to a preferred room for an upcharge if you want that. I wouldn't be concerned about the bus stops - I've found that there's always a bus stop close by since there are 4 of them.

 

[Jhuff8181]

Thank you nkereina. We have reserved a "Garden View" room. Would we have to upgrade from there?

 

[nkereina]

Thank you nkereina. We have reserved a "Garden View" room. Would we have to upgrade from there?

If you wanted to be in one of the preferred buildings, you would have to call and change your reservation to a preferred room which would be more money than a garden view. You can then add a request to your reservation for a garden view, but the view won't be guaranteed. You can't do it vice versa - book garden and request preferred - because the preferred category costs more than the garden view category. Frankly, I don't think the walk at POR is bad enough to warrant a preferred room unless you have small children or elderly people traveling with you. If you go to portorleans.org, that site can tell you which buildings are preferred buildings, and then you can look at a map and request a non-preferred building that will be in a good location for you.