Resort Thread Disney's PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE Resort

[ncc1701]

I'm new here! It's me, my husband and 7 year-old son. (My MIL may be joining us but booking a separate room, which she would try to get as close to our room as possible.) I've only stayed at Pop Century, which was fine but we wanted to try a moderate. I was planning to stay at Coronado Springs, but the free dining rooms were limited and we didn't want to stay in a preferred room which was the only thing available. Then on whim we booked a garden view room at Port Orleans Riverside. Now I'm feeling nervous about the choice and wondering if we made a mistake. I'm worried that the transportation, which we thought wasn't great at Pop, is going to be even worse at POR. Can I get peoples' opinions as to how the bus transportation is? I'm also worried that the dining options are too limited - the table service is only available at dinner time, and the QS cafeteria seems more limited than the values. (My husband has celiac disease which is also something we have to take into consideration.) Any encouragement (or discouragement) on staying here would be appreciated!

We have stayed at POFQ but any resort is going to have mixed reviews regarding buses. I can tell you that during "rush hours" POR does not share with POFQ for Epcot, DHS and DAK. Last 2 trips all MK buses no matter the time of day were seperate. As far as food you can walk up to POFQ to use their food court and the boat ride (or bus) to Disney Springs gives you more options.If you are spending resort time you can also use POFQ's pool ( we spend our afternoon at the pool so we go up to POR 1 or 2 times for a change of scenery )

 

[JerseyGirl]

$6.69 per case.

Thanks...better to buy this way than water bottles individually. Someone told me you could get a case at the Hess Station by Downtown Disney but I don't think it's worth the hassle just to save a buck or two.

 

[andrewilley]

Someone else said that earlier in this thread, so I'm not sure where this misinformation is coming from.

Most likely another nugget of useful advice from the Disney Reservation Center. I guess their staff turnover must be pretty large so they can't all know everything about everywhere - but if they don't know something for sure they should really check their facts before misadvising guests rather than guessing.

Andre

 

[MegMouseketeer]

We are booked in a standard room in POR for the end of September. We are having our TA request adjoining/close rooms with my mom and sister in Alligator Bayou. I was hoping to also request a building close to the lobby. On the map, building 16 and 17 look like my best bets that are not preferred buildings. Thoughts? Decent plan?

 

[CCostner]

Where are King rooms typically located?

 

[Jadyreen1282]

We are booked in a standard room in POR for the end of September. We are having our TA request adjoining/close rooms with my mom and sister in Alligator Bayou. I was hoping to also request a building close to the lobby. On the map, building 16 and 17 look like my best bets that are not preferred buildings. Thoughts? Decent plan?

Uh, why didn't you just book preferred?

 

[Mom of Jack 2009]

I booked a garden room but I was hoping for a room in the Mansion area. Are most of the garden views in the AB?

 

[AngiTN]

Most likely another nugget of useful advice from the Disney Reservation Center. I guess their staff turnover must be pretty large so they can't all know everything about everywhere - but if they don't know something for sure they should really check their facts before misadvising guests rather than guessing.

Andre

The best I've heard in a long time was the person who posted that they were told on the phone that they could walk from TTC to MK

 

[RustManFan]

Have to cancel my long planned trip to WDW Nov-Dec 2016. I am not happy about circumstances beyond my control... but I will be staying at POR in 2017 without fail!!

 

[Wood Nymph]

Where are King rooms typically located?

The king rooms are looked in all of the buildings except the two buildings that have the Royal Rooms. There is a room location chart on Andre's website which shows where all the different room types are located in each building. We have booked a king room twice, one trip last summer and one trip coming up in June, so I've done a lot of searching to see where the king rooms are located. Typically, there are anywhere from two to four king rooms in each building in Alligator Bayou and more than that in the mansion buildings

http://www.portorleans.org/

 

[MegMouseketeer]

Uh, why didn't you just book preferred?

Because standard is cheaper and buildings 16/17 appear to be close enough to the lobby, but are not preferred buildings. I am sorry your misread my comment. I am not asking to get INTO a preferred building, I am asking which buildings are the closest that are NOT preferred.

 

[princessemsmom]

When we are there in a few weeks we have family members coming at different times. One of them is my father who will be driving over for a long weekend. When I looked at his reservation in my MDE - it said Rack Rate - Garden View...was not sure why he did not book as a FL resident - but, that is a different problem haha...we are staying in a RR so I decided I would call today and see if I could pay the difference to upgrade his room to a RR so we would have a better chance of getting rooms together.

And the are completely booked and there are 0 rooms available!!! Royal or not! Which explains why he did not get a FL resident rate, etc because he took what was available!

I have to say I was shocked - I don't remember this the last few years - but ok!!

We actually check in a few days before he is, so I am going to ask at the front desk again - in hopes of a cancellation. Obviously we will still be at same hotel and it will be great - other members booked early enough to have a RR.

 

[AngiTN]

When we are there in a few weeks we have family members coming at different times. One of them is my father who will be driving over for a long weekend. When I looked at his reservation in my MDE - it said Rack Rate - Garden View...was not sure why he did not book as a FL resident - but, that is a different problem haha...we are staying in a RR so I decided I would call today and see if I could pay the difference to upgrade his room to a RR so we would have a better chance of getting rooms together.

And the are completely booked and there are 0 rooms available!!! Royal or not! Which explains why he did not get a FL resident rate, etc because he took what was available!

I have to say I was shocked - I don't remember this the last few years - but ok!!

We actually check in a few days before he is, so I am going to ask at the front desk again - in hopes of a cancellation. Obviously we will still be at same hotel and it will be great - other members booked early enough to have a RR.

I've found that POR is booked, or extremely limited availability, almost every time I look to book a room there. So I'm not one bit surprised he found limited availability.
We check have just a 5 night stay and I couldn't even find 1 room for 5 nights, I have to book standard for 1 night and then move the next.
POR is running very high occupancy for at least a year, which is why they are pretty much left out of promos any more.

 

[keahgirl8]

Thanks...better to buy this way than water bottles individually. Someone told me you could get a case at the Hess Station by Downtown Disney but I don't think it's worth the hassle just to save a buck or two.

I actually order water (along with fruit and various things) from Garden Grocer.

Most likely another nugget of useful advice from the Disney Reservation Center. I guess their staff turnover must be pretty large so they can't all know everything about everywhere - but if they don't know something for sure they should really check their facts before misadvising guests rather than guessing.

Andre

Exactly! If you don't know, just say so. I have no problem waiting while they ask.

We are booked in a standard room in POR for the end of September. We are having our TA request adjoining/close rooms with my mom and sister in Alligator Bayou. I was hoping to also request a building close to the lobby. On the map, building 16 and 17 look like my best bets that are not preferred buildings. Thoughts? Decent plan?

Because standard is cheaper and buildings 16/17 appear to be close enough to the lobby, but are not preferred buildings. I am sorry your misread my comment. I am not asking to get INTO a preferred building, I am asking which buildings are the closest that are NOT preferred.

I figured that was the reason! Preferred is pretty expensive if you don't have a discount. Your best bet will probably be to ask for exactly what you want, rather than building numbers. That way, if something isn't available, they can get it as close as possible.

 

[awalker1015]

So we are going back to POR 10/1-10/8 with another family. We are both families of 4 and this is a first for us traveling with anyone besides our immediate family. If we want to attempt to have rooms close (not adjoining just hopefully same building) what is our best bet? Fax our requests together and reference each other's reservation number? We plan to request AB as we have 3 boys who I don't think will love the mansions.

TIA!

 

[princessemsmom]

I've found that POR is booked, or extremely limited availability, almost every time I look to book a room there. So I'm not one bit surprised he found limited availability.
We check have just a 5 night stay and I couldn't even find 1 room for 5 nights, I have to book standard for 1 night and then move the next.
POR is running very high occupancy for at least a year, which is why they are pretty much left out of promos any more.

This will be our 4th year in a row during same time and this is the first time we have had this issue. However - it is ok - we will still be at Disney!

 

[kjmmdisney]

Looking to book Port Orleans Riverside Jan 2017- marathon week. Getting anxious to book- are there any disadvantages to placing a room only reservation by phone now as opposed to waiting until the online booking/packages are available come june/july? I am aware the quoted price will be based on 2016 rates, will be adjusted later, plus the deposit will go up after new rates released. Any other concerns if I hold a spot now? Don't want to miss out on a room. Thanks in advance!

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Because standard is cheaper and buildings 16/17 appear to be close enough to the lobby, but are not preferred buildings. I am sorry your misread my comment. I am not asking to get INTO a preferred building, I am asking which buildings are the closest that are NOT preferred.

Gotcha. Sometimes it's better not to roll the dice on room requests though. It's better to know you are going to be happy with your location. We always book pool view because we like the quiet pools. We are never disappointed with our room because we book what we want. At that point we can request AB and get that. If you go requesting AB and Corner room and first floor and close to the lobby and near an ice machine and near a washer you really risk getting nothing you want.

I hope you score. I've been on the budget end on planning and hate it. We finally just said lets go when we can afford to book the actual room we want, not roll the dice on requests and be done with it.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We always book pool view because we like the quiet pools. We are never disappointed with our room because we book what we want.

We had booked a king room when we were there last August and it had a great pool view. We were just about the closest room to the quiet pool. The pool was very quiet and usually had very few swimmers. Have you ever had any problems with noisy people swimming at night? We would love another pool view room, we have a king booked, but would hate to get a noisy location.

 

[Sue M]

Looking to book Port Orleans Riverside Jan 2017- marathon week. Getting anxious to book- are there any disadvantages to placing a room only reservation by phone now as opposed to waiting until the online booking/packages are available come june/july? I am aware the quoted price will be based on 2016 rates, will be adjusted later, plus the deposit will go up after new rates released. Any other concerns if I hold a spot now? Don't want to miss out on a room. Thanks in advance!

If you're ok with paying rack rate, no disadvantage to booking early, except prob un necessary. If you want a package but book room only, when packages are able to be booked, reservations will have to cancel your room only and rebook it as a package.
If you are looking for a discount, booking early is a disadvantage. Disney only releases discounts on rooms/resorts that need booking. If a resort is mostly booked up, it will be excluded from discounts. So booking early will go against you.