Resort Thread Disney's PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE Resort

[smidgy]

We are staying at POR and have reservations at HDDR on Sep 11 at 615. We will have a car. Would it be easier to drive to Ft. Wilderness then hop in the internal bus to Pioneer Hall? Or take a bus to MK, then boat over to Ft. Wilderness as I hear the boat drops off right by Pioneer Hall. Thoughts?

whle I agree with wood nymph that it woyuld be a hassle to drive to MK, then take a tram to ttc, etc. etc. you said you would be taking the reosrt bus to MK.. I think that would be the best. bus to MK, then walk over to the dock (it's right in the middle betweem the ttc ferry boat and the resort docks. take the boat to ft. wilderness. it does let you off right there! by pioneer hall. the internal bus sytem at Ft. wildreness is a pain.. just make sure you leave plenty time (hour and a half.) if you are erly,it's a pleasnt area to wait in you can order a beer at a counter service window.

 

[twoolle]

whle I agree with wood nymph that it woyuld be a hassle to drive to MK, then take a tram to ttc, etc. etc. you said you would be taking the reosrt bus to MK.. I think that would be the best. bus to MK, then walk over to the dock (it's right in the middle betweem the ttc ferry boat and the resort docks. take the boat to ft. wilderness. it does let you off right there! by pioneer hall. the internal bus sytem at Ft. wildreness is a pain.. just make sure you leave plenty time (hour and a half.) if you are erly,it's a pleasnt area to wait in you can order a beer at a counter service window.

This is the safer option too, since beer and wine are provided during the show. How bad are the lines after HDDR to board the boat back to MK? We will want to get kids back to bed for early EMH the next day.

 

[TDDisney]

Curious...will be at POR Dec. 17-23...Does Yeehaw Bob make his show "festive" with Christmas/holiday songs, or is it the typical show? Since we have seen him before, I know we will love it and have a great time regardless, but was just wondering. Thanks!

 

[Wood Nymph]

I have a question for all of you free dining experts out there. We will be at POR in ten days and plan to book the free dining BB for POR for June. We are very excited that it is available for a time when the kids are out of school in our area. Anyway, DH and I will each book a BB room, but we aren't 100% sure which family members will be joining us. Can we just book the room with two adults and add people later?

The other question is - my sister will be joining us on our BC reservation in October. The free dining BB should still be available and she wants to get a BB room at POR for the same dates as our BB. If by any chance POR is sold out for the FD BB, can DH give her his FD BB room and switch his reservation to a RO BB? He doesn't really need the free dining since we have AP's, but we are worried about free dining not being available when she tries to book in Oct.

I've thought of another question for the free dining experts - if you have an AP but have to buy park tickets in order to get free dining, how exactly do you apply the park tickets to the AP renewal? I don't want to lose my discount for renewing the AP, either.

Thanks

 

[twoolle]

I have a question for all of you free dining experts out there. We will be at POR in ten days and plan to book the free dining BB for POR for June. We are very excited that it is available for a time when the kids are out of school in our area. Anyway, DH and I will each book a BB room, but we aren't 100% sure which family members will be joining us. Can we just book the room with two adults and add people later?

The other question is - my sister will be joining us on our BC reservation in October. The free dining BB should still be available and she wants to get a BB room at POR for the same dates as our BB. If by any chance POR is sold out for the FD BB, can DH give her his FD BB room and switch his reservation to a RO BB? He doesn't really need the free dining since we have AP's, but we are worried about free dining not being available when she tries to book in Oct.

I've thought of another question for the free dining experts - if you have an AP but have to buy park tickets in order to get free dining, how exactly do you apply the park tickets to the AP renewal? I don't want to lose my discount for renewing the AP, either.

Thanks

When FD came out in spring my sister in law booked a room for her and her husband. A while after they were able to add our nephew to the reservation with no problem. So I believe you can add people on after! That's all I can answer.

 

[dansdad]

I have a question for all of you free dining experts out there. We will be at POR in ten days and plan to book the free dining BB for POR for June. We are very excited that it is available for a time when the kids are out of school in our area. Anyway, DH and I will each book a BB room, but we aren't 100% sure which family members will be joining us. Can we just book the room with two adults and add people later?

You will be able to add people later no problem.

The other question is - my sister will be joining us on our BC reservation in October. The free dining BB should still be available and she wants to get a BB room at POR for the same dates as our BB. If by any chance POR is sold out for the FD BB, can DH give her his FD BB room and switch his reservation to a RO BB? He doesn't really need the free dining since we have AP's, but we are worried about free dining not being available when she tries to book in Oct.

I have been told in the past that you cannot switch out the lead person on a reservation. You can switch other guests in and out no problem, but not the lead on the reservation. So I am not sure if this would work. But I was told this by 2 phone CMs and it's quite possible they both gave me bad information. So maybe somebody else has a different experience.

I've thought of another question for the free dining experts - if you have an AP but have to buy park tickets in order to get free dining, how exactly do you apply the park tickets to the AP renewal? I don't want to lose my discount for renewing the AP, either.

Thanks

You will have to use your tickets that were included with your FD package at least once to enter a park. Once you do that, you can then upgrade them to APs and just pay the difference.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Thanks for answering my questions.

I have been told in the past that you cannot switch out the lead person on a reservation. You can switch other guests in and out no problem, but not the lead on the reservation. So I am not sure if this would work. But I was told this by 2 phone CMs and it's quite possible they both gave me bad information. So maybe somebody else has a different experience.

That's too bad.

 

[smidgy]

This is the safer option too, since beer and wine are provided during the show. How bad are the lines after HDDR to board the boat back to MK? We will want to get kids back to bed for early EMH the next day.

not all of the guests take advantage of the alcohol drink options. and many that do only have one or two drinks. but why not take advantage of disney's free transportation?/ esp. since you will be traveling on roads you are not familiar with. ITA
the disney transportation people know when the hoop de doo shows let out and know that most of the guests will be taking the boat back to MK.. they have plenty boats available
the only time we had to wait was once during a thunderstorm.. boats were grounded, due to lightning.. you had a choice.. wait.. or take the internal Ft. wilderness bus system to the buses at the edge of the ft. wilderness campgrounds. we chose to wait.. it was about 45 minutes.

it could have been worse but we figured it was worth the wait. you never know.. you hedge your bets. I love the people who expect disney to know what the weather is going to do.. after all: "we paid a LOT of money for this trip!" lol

 

[mousefan73]

You will be able to add people later no problem.



I have been told in the past that you cannot switch out the lead person on a reservation. You can switch other guests in and out no problem, but not the lead on the reservation. So I am not sure if this would work. But I was told this by 2 phone CMs and it's quite possible they both gave me bad information. So maybe somebody else has a different experience.



You will have to use your tickets that were included with your FD package at least once to enter a park. Once you do that, you can then upgrade them to APs and just pay the difference.

So more things to Keep in mind...
you also cannot split up a BB offer. Last year we booked the BB offer for FD PoR.. We are usually 4 people but decided to add my DH as the fifth. so we booked POR as you can have 5 people. My "smart" idea ( NOT!!) was to book the BB with FD and then wait until fall RO comes out and book a second room under my DH name (the math is cheaper this way as we want dining and tix).. This way he gets the discounted room and can use his FD/we park tix from the BB.. THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE. You cannot have two reservations at the same time. and you cannot change the lead. I was told i would have to make a new reservation for him (and removing him from the BB offer) and of course he cannot take the BB offer with him.



We needed two rooms as 5 in one is too small ( we just booked the BB thinking we can always modify in this manner).. this left us with changing our BB offer for 5 us to from POR to CSR to a juniour suite ( 2 rooms and 2 baths). Other option would have been AOA or ASMu... so we did that.. ( you can change the BB offer to any resort/room type if there is availability, but only that ONE reservation number; no adding a res with same offer) THEN came the fall FD and RO specials .. So we came out the same by dropping DH to his own RO discount ressie with tix and then adding standad dining plan. There was PoR availability for both BB and RO so we switched back to our firs choice!!

thank God because we just didnt get used to the junior suite ideas at CSR and then came the announcement they were starting construction in the casistas section ( quiet pool closed etc) and that is where our suite was...

 

[Wood Nymph]

So more things to Keep in mind...
you also cannot split up a BB offer. Last year we booked the BB offer for FD PoR.. We are usually 4 people but decided to add my DH as the fifth. so we booked POR as you can have 5 people. My "smart" idea ( NOT!!) was to book the BB with FD and then wait until fall RO comes out and book a second room under my DH name (the math is cheaper this way as we want dining and tix).. This way he gets the discounted room and can use his FD/we park tix from the BB.. THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE. You cannot have two reservations at the same time. and you cannot change the lead. I was told i would have to make a new reservation for him (and removing him from the BB offer) and of course he cannot take the BB offer with him.



We needed two rooms as 5 in one is too small ( we just booked the BB thinking we can always modify in this manner).. this left us with changing our BB offer for 5 us to from POR to CSR to a juniour suite ( 2 rooms and 2 baths). Other option would have been AOA or ASMu... so we did that.. ( you can change the BB offer to any resort/room type if there is availability, but only that ONE reservation number; no adding a res with same offer) THEN came the fall FD and RO specials .. So we came out the same by dropping DH to his own RO discount ressie with tix and then adding standad dining plan. There was PoR availability for both BB and RO so we switched back to our firs choice!!

thank God because we just didnt get used to the junior suite ideas at CSR and then came the announcement they were starting construction in the casistas section ( quiet pool closed etc) and that is where our suite was...

Thank you for your very helpful story. That really helps to know how that works. Now I can plan our June trip a little better. It is funny how family members suddenly want to join your trip when they hear the words "free dining".

By the way - it is single digit dance day for us - 9 days!

We are checking in next Saturday, Aug 29th. I've never sent a fax request before. Would Monday be a good day to send the room request fax to them?

 

[Disfan1968]

Thank you for your very helpful story. That really helps to know how that works. Now I can plan our June trip a little better. It is funny how family members suddenly want to join your trip when they hear the words "free dining".

By the way - it is single digit dance day for us - 9 days!

We are checking in next Saturday, Aug 29th. I've never sent a fax request before. Would Monday be a good day to send the room request fax to them?

I checked in this Wednesday, had sent a fax to them last Friday, and got all my room requests!

Andre, if you are checking the board, hope that storm didn't trash your plans last night. That was a doozy and lasted a bit longer than usual! My family luckily did AK and so were mostly done for the day so no harm done here.

 

[andrewilley]

I checked in this Wednesday, had sent a fax to them last Friday, and got all my room requests!

Andre, if you are checking the board, hope that storm didn't trash your plans last night. That was a doozy and lasted a bit longer than usual! My family luckily did AK and so were mostly done for the day so no harm done here.

Glad you got your requests, we're in a lovely room too (river view in AB 14).

Yes, the weather was a bit damp last night wasn't it? Luckily we were back at resort before it really set in, and I drove our friends over to DTD last night for their Planet Hollywood meal (they'd have been drowned if going by bus!). We went resort-hopping over to Art of Animation for something to eat.

Andre

 

[916chipndale]

Returned early this morning from Riverside. Was in the back of building 38 in a corner room. I had requested 39 so close enough. I like the 39 and 38 area, away from the action but still not that bad of a walk since you just walk over Ol Man Island and close to the North Depot. The only thing I didn't like was that although the path to the North Depot was right in front of my room, there wasn't a walk way right to it, had to backtrack a little. Hard to explain but it was no big deal really.

Bus service was for the most part good, had 3 bad instances. About a 40 minute wait to Epcot one day, a DTD bus when the boat wasn't running and a 30 minute Magic Kingdom wait. The DTD bus was actually quite comical... the guy must have been new and he just didn't know how to work the scooter/wheelchair ramp. I guess he was too close to the curb or something and we ended up sitting at the East Depot for about 10-15 minutes. But as I always say bus service can be good or bad anywhere. Considering that I took the bus, I don't know about 25 times, 3 bad experiences is pretty good. Used the boat twice, once around 1 pm where I just missed the boat and had a 15 minute for the next one. Once at night around 1045 pm going back to Riverside and it was a Riverside only boat. This was August 14th so after the testing period... don't know if they are doing separate boats at night all the time now or just because it was a Friday night and I am pretty sure the boats had just started back up like 30 minutes prior.

Food court is still good, but definitely crowded during the morning. All in all, I enjoyed the Riverside again. Definitely a beautiful resort. Don't know when the next time I will be back to WDW will be (although I enjoyed Riverside my time in the parks wasn't as enjoyable) but when I do go back Riverside will be considered once again. Will try to post pictures later.

 

[Disfan1968]

Glad you got your requests, we're in a lovely room too (river view in AB 14).

Yes, the weather was a bit damp last night wasn't it? Luckily we were back at resort before it really set in, and I drove our friends over to DTD last night for their Planet Hollywood meal (they'd have been drowned if going by bus!). We went resort-hopping over to Art of Animation for something to eat.

Andre

AB building 16 for us! Hope you have a blast the rest of the way! We just finished our afternoon MK break back in our room, and are recharged and ready to go back for MSEP and Wishes!

 

[Disfan1968]

Could've sworn Yeehaw Bob was going to be out all this week post surgery and yet there he is in River Roost doing his show. Do I have the wrong dates or is this guy just that dedicated?

 

[andrewilley]

Could've sworn Yeehaw Bob was going to be out all this week post surgery and yet there he is in River Roost doing his show. Do I have the wrong dates or is this guy just that dedicated?

Bob has now been cleared to return to work, and he's back at the River Roost tonight in fact. And yes, he is that dedicated.

Andre

 

[RustManFan]

Ask on restaurant thread!

 

[barbliny]

Just got back - Mansions 82 for us. We made no requests and did not do online check-in. I prefer to speak to the CMs at the front desk, and we were arriving early in the morning. We got to the front desk around 11:15. We had 3 rooms, I was checking in 2 of them and my sister would check-in to the 3rd room a little later in the day - originally one was in another building (I have no idea which one), but I mentioned that we preferred to be in the same building at the very least - it took a little bit of time and a phone call, but they were moved over to building 82 also. My 2 rooms were ready immediately - the 3rd was ready an hour later upon their arrival.

The location worked out well, our rooms were close to 3 different staircases, giving us easy access to the main walkway to the main pool, the quiet pool, and the north bus depot.

The buses - sometimes they worked great. But, in the mornings, prior to rope drop particularly they were a nightmare - they took forever to come, 30 minute waits were the norm, rather than the exception. And one of the most frustrating things was watching multiple buses for parks with later opening times come in multiples, while the buses for the EMH morning parks were nowhere to be found. The distance from the bus stops to the park entries seemed very far - particularly MK and Epcot - way farther walks than the other hotels we have used at Disney. They ran a lot of charter buses, particularly in the mornings, and those buses did not allow any standing (maybe a few people to keep groups intact) - which really lowered capacity. The north depot seemed like a pretty good bus stop - we were usually 2nd or 3rd stop depending on which way they went through the resort - so seats were often still available. The south depot seemed the most crowded and chaotic, when bus waits got very long there was a lot of jockeying and not so nice behavior I observed out the window. My daughter left from the south depot one morning after stopping at the concierge to add an option to her ticket. She said it was a near mutiny and a disaster getting on the AK/Blizzard Beach bus that had taken so long to get there - families arguing, the bus driver trying to get the BB people off the bus who rightfully were on it, so that he could avoid stopping there to save time.

The food court was good, but often overcrowded - especially in the morning. I would suggest to anyone getting the 'pasta bar' to ask that they not use too much oil - our bowls were very oily, but good otherwise. As a warning the pasta is the same price with or without a protein - a little unfair for vegetarians and those who just don't feel like having chicken, etc.

Housekeeping was great - we were always left with multiple extra soaps, shampoo, conditioner. The room was always clean when we would return for our afternoon break - often before 1:00.

The main pool was nice, tough getting a chair, but that's pretty much the case at most Disney pools in the afternoon. The activities coordinators at the pool really got the young children engaged and participating. My main beef is with the parents. Clearly it is stated all over the place that anyone under 12 should be monitored by their parent. Forget 12, I saw tons of kids who were way younger than that not being watched by their parents. There was a girl about 5 who could barely swim, in there by herself in the 5 foot area, as her father stood 30 feet away leaning against the fence by the locker rooms. She almost pulled her slightly older sister using a life-vest under. The lifeguards never said anything to any of the otherwise occupied parents or the under-aged children. My daughter is a certified lifeguard and she was appalled at the behavior and the lack of follow-through by the lifeguards. She said the lifeguards were not scanning the pool properly, the weren't doing a lot of things right - although to a casual observer they appeared to be watchful and performing tasks. She said that by not being willing to engage in uncomfortable conversations with parents they were putting many lives in danger. She was observing them and said they were spending too much time watching just a few kids in dire need of supervision and not scanning properly, and someone going 'down' could easily go unnoticed. Oh, and can we talk about the 7 year-old 'swimming' in the hot tub with goggles for a very long time? After that one day, it was the quiet pools for us.

 

[joe42]

Just received my resort conformation from Disney Destinations and super excited only 5 days away and they said I can bypass the front desk check-in. Super excited about this option. First time we are able to use this feature. First trip to POR but been to POFQ a few times.

 

[mickeygirl78]

Checking into POR in less than 3 weeks. I know the refillable mugs are the hotel scene. Anyone know what colors they have out right now at POR? My family is already trying to decide which ones we want.