Disney's PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE RESORT Information & Questions

[andrewilley]

Hi all! We are coming in a night early and staying off site. I was thinking of renting a car for that night to drive us from airport to off site hotel, then from off site hotel to POR. However, I’m not really sure if there is a close rental car return anywhere near POR.
We’d like to ditch the car after arrival as we will rely on Disney bus transportation. Does anyone know of the closest car rental return to POR?
Thanks in advance!

You could ditch at the Car Care Center and then go to the MK, at the Dolphin Hotel and walk to Epcot or Studios, or several hotels along Hotel Plaza Boulevard and walk to Disney Springs. Info from https://www.portorleans.org/transportation.php:

Major car rental companies located within Walt Disney World (easiest for access from Port Orleans first):

• Dollar Rent-a-Car: Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Disney Springs Resort, Hotel Plaza Boulevard. Very convenient from Port Orleans, just a few minutes walk from the Disney Springs ferry dock.
• Avis: Hilton Hotel, Hotel Plaza Boulevard, also a short walk from the Disney Springs ferry dock.
• Enterprise: B Resort and Spa, further down Hotel Plaza Boulevard, or Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort.
• National Car Rental: Disney Car Care Center near to the Magic Kingdom parking lot, or the Dolphin Resort Hotel near Epcot, or the Buena Vista Palace Hotel in the Bonnet Creek Resort area.
• Alamo: Disney Car Care Center near to the Magic Kingdom parking lot, the Dolphin Resort Hotel near Epcot, or the Buena Vista Palace Hotel in the Bonnet Creek Resort area.
• Hertz: Hilton Hotel in the Bonnet Creek Resort area.

Make sure Disney don't charge you an overnight fee for parking at Port Orleans, as you will only be dropping off there.

Andre

 

[Carolynleanne]

Has anyone seen the Halloween Rapid Refill mugs at POR or POFQ yet?

I was there the 6-9th and they had them.

 

[Bkdavis]

Well all I can say is mine was perfect, but obviously I didn't look in all of them... If you are unhappy when you first see your room, ask to be moved.

Andre

Just wanted to echo this for anyone that was like me and got a little nervous about the old rooms reading this thread. We got a garden view room in Magnolia Bend that was refurbished and it is fantastic. Very clean and modern. We stayed at Caribbean Beach a few years back and this room is better in every way.

 

[Dug720]

Has anyone tried to fax a room request to POR recently? I have been trying yesterday and today using the fax # at the beginning of this thread and keep getting no answer. I even double checked the # with Andre's site. I wonder if the fax# has changed.
Update: I called and the fax # is correct. The CM said it could take a while to connect but 2 days??? and it doesn't redial, just hangs up. Oh well, guess I'll take my chances and hope for Disney magic!

Touring Plans is no longer faxing requests - they are emailing them. (And no, no one other than whoever handles emailing them in at TP and Len have them). They were specifically requested to not fax, so my guess is they are phasing out the faxing.

 

[andrewilley]

Touring Plans is no longer faxing requests - they are emailing them. (And no, no one other than whoever handles emailing them in at TP and Len have them). They were specifically requested to not fax, so my guess is they are phasing out the faxing.

There is no intention (at present) to open that email address up to the wider public, it is just something that is being trialled. Disney gets so many automated faxes from TP, which are all completely computer-generated anyway, that it seemed like a good idea to rationalise the system to cut out the paper.

In fact, Len and I were planning to meet during my last trip anyway, so I introduced him to one of the resort room inventory managers (who is now working at Central Inventory Management) and we all had a good chat about the whole process. There are longer-term plans to try to improve Online Checkin's functionality with regard to requests, as the feeling is that if that system could be made to work more as guests would want it (or, indeed just to make it work at all at times ) then direct faxing would become obsolete anyway (well, more so than faxing is already).

Andre

 

[Dug720]

There is no intention (at present) to open that email address up to the wider public, it is just something that is being trialled. Disney gets so many automated faxes from TP, which are all completely computer-generated anyway, that it seemed like a good idea to rationalise the system to cut out the paper.

In fact, Len and I were planning to meet during my last trip anyway, so I introduced him to one of the resort room inventory managers (who is now working at Central Inventory Management) and we all had a good chat about the whole process. There are longer-term plans to try to improve Online Checkin's functionality with regard to requests, as the feeling is that if that system could be made to work more as guests would want it (or, indeed just to make it work at all at times ) then direct faxing would become obsolete anyway (well, more so than faxing is already).

Andre

I did not mean that the email should be given to anyone other than those at TP it had been given to.

 

[keahgirl8]

There is no intention (at present) to open that email address up to the wider public, it is just something that is being trialled. Disney gets so many automated faxes from TP, which are all completely computer-generated anyway, that it seemed like a good idea to rationalise the system to cut out the paper.

In fact, Len and I were planning to meet during my last trip anyway, so I introduced him to one of the resort room inventory managers (who is now working at Central Inventory Management) and we all had a good chat about the whole process. There are longer-term plans to try to improve Online Checkin's functionality with regard to requests, as the feeling is that if that system could be made to work more as guests would want it (or, indeed just to make it work at all at times ) then direct faxing would become obsolete anyway (well, more so than faxing is already).

Andre

Thanks for that info. I've always wondered when that was going to be phased out, since no one really faxes anything anymore.

 

[Jerry2]

Hi all! We are coming in a night early and staying off site. I was thinking of renting a car for that night to drive us from airport to off site hotel, then from off site hotel to POR. However, I’m not really sure if there is a close rental car return anywhere near POR.
We’d like to ditch the car after arrival as we will rely on Disney bus transportation. Does anyone know of the closest car rental return to POR?
Thanks in advance!

I've rented from the Car Care Center without issue. According to the WDW website they will take an Alamo or National return. It has a shuttle that I know will take you from your resort to the Care Care Center. I assume that it can bring you back to your resort too.

 

[KBoopaloo]

I arrived late last night and was delighted to open my door to a refurbished room in Acadian House. My last two stays have been in updated Bayou rooms so it was great to see what the renovations looks like on the mansions side.

The room has a layout I’ve never seen at POR with the entire bathroom behind a regular door (not a privacy curtain). There are rails by the toilet so my first thought was that it is an accessible room but there are no rails anywhere else and just a regular tub/shower combo (not a walk in). Is it a partially accessible room? At any rate, I actually really like this layout as it means everything is all in one bright, well lit bathroom rather than the usual value/mod tiny dark toilet/shower rooms. It makes the room feel a little more upscale.

Sorry the photos are sideways.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I arrived late last night and was delighted to open my door to a refurbished room in Acadian House. My last two stays have been in updated Bayou rooms so it was great to see what the renovations looks like on the mansions side.

The room has a layout I’ve never seen at POR with the entire bathroom behind a regular door (not a privacy curtain). There are rails by the toilet so my first thought was that it is an accessible room but there are no rails anywhere else and just a regular tub/shower combo (not a walk in). Is it a partially accessible room? At any rate, I actually really like this layout as it means everything is all in one bright, well lit bathroom rather than the usual value/mod tiny dark toilet/shower rooms. It makes the room feel a little more upscale.

Sorry the photos are sideways.

We had a bathroom that was laid out like this, except it had a roll in shower. Ours was a handicap accessible room at the Beach Club. I looked at some pictures of wheel chair accessible rooms with tub/showers at POR and they looked like what you have.

 

[Tammy A]

So excited. I just booked a trip here, King room, from December 11-19. It's just my boyfriend and I. We stayed here in the Royal Mansions in 2015 and loved it. We have stayed at the Poly, Coronado and Beach Club before but we loved this resort and it is our new favorite! Anybody know where a "King room" would put us, alligator bayou or mansions?

 

[Wood Nymph]

So excited. I just booked a trip here, King room, from December 11-19. It's just my boyfriend and I. We stayed here in the Royal Mansions in 2015 and loved it. We have stayed at the Poly, Coronado and Beach Club before but we loved this resort and it is our new favorite! Anybody know where a "King room" would put us, alligator bayou or mansions?

There are king rooms in both areas. We like to request a corner room when we book a king room. There are a lot of corner rooms that are king.

 

[andrewilley]

The room has a layout I’ve never seen at POR with the entire bathroom behind a regular door (not a privacy curtain). T

You are correct, that is an Accessible room. Some have tubs, some have walk-in showers.

Andre

 

[Tammy A]

There are king rooms in both areas. We like to request a corner room when we book a king room. There are a lot of corner rooms that are king.

Do u prefer the corner king rooms to king rooms on a higher floor? Is there an extra window in the corner rooms?

 

[tazbc18]

Does Riverside have the freestyle coke machines in Riverside Mill food court?

 

[Wood Nymph]

Do u prefer the corner king rooms to king rooms on a higher floor? Is there an extra window in the corner rooms?

There is an extra window in the corner rooms and they feel a little bigger. You also have only one neighbor instead of two in a corner room.

 

[McNs]

Does Riverside have the freestyle coke machines in Riverside Mill food court?

Nope just standard drinks. From memory there was diet (and/or zero), cherry and regular coke, root beer, hi c, lemonade, sprite, Fanta. I di hear freestyle machines are at French Quarter.

 

[Junior8]

Do u prefer the corner king rooms to king rooms on a higher floor? Is there an extra window in the corner rooms?

We had a corner king bed room on the first floor of Acadia House. Unfortunately, one side was facing a stairwell. When we go next year, I’ll ask for something on the second floor, hopefully a river view.

 

[Tammy A]

We had a corner king bed room on the first floor of Acadia House. Unfortunately, one side was facing a stairwell. When we go next year, I’ll ask for something on the second floor, hopefully a river view.

Thank you! Now that I think about it, I would prefer to be on a higher floor verses a corner room.

 

[OfCourseTheresAlwaysMyWay]

Just returned from a weeklong stay in one of the Royal Rooms. Wanted to add a positive POV since there's been a lot of negativity on here about Riverside, particularly in regards to room cleanliness.

Our room was super clean when we arrived and super clean throughout our stay. While it's clear that there's some wear and tear, that should be fixed when the Royal Room renovations come over the following months.

CMs throughout the resort were excellent.

My only complaint is about food. Boatwrights was the worst meal I've ever had on property and possibly one of the worst meals I've ever had period. The food court at both Riverside and French Quarter were meh at best. I was excited to try the new larger beignet stand for the first time, but thought the beignets were absolutely disgusting. Given the shape and size, they were more like gross zeppole than anything approaching a New Orleans beignet. Disappointing. Given the quick boat service to Disney Springs though, I can deal with the food being less than stellar.

All that to say, don't hesitate to book. The atmosphere really can't be beat and I felt it was very quiet and beautiful.