Resort Thread Disney's PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE Resort

[KSR0330]

Thanks for that info, Andrew. I'm hoping to go Easter 2016. I know, high price time!

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm heading to POR in May...booked a Royal Room for my dd, her best friend and myself. I've been to POR many times, so pretty much know my way around. But, I haven't stayed in a Royal room before...nor have I stayed in the buildings that they are located in. Because we are there for just two nights, before our move to OKW, I wanted to get a room that provided fairly easy access. I know that the bus stops aren't very close nor is the main bldg/food court. I have a garden view booked. Are there any particular requests I should make that will get us a better location within the parameters of these buildings? The girls are 21, so it's not a case of them not being able to walk distances..in fact I assume they'll be walking around by themselves a lot while we're there. I just wasn't sure there were better areas to be in vs others. Higher floor, lower floor?

 

[~Tinkerella]

My son really wants to see his show! Will have to check it out.

Definitely see the show. We had read so many great things about it and saw it last May. Bob was totally phenominal ~ he visited with people before he started performing and I couldn't believe how he remembered everyone's names and where they were from ~ all night!!! He would pull people out of the audience to participate; it was such fun!!!!!

 

[~Tinkerella]

I was just looking at room prices on the WDW website, and they listed Royal Room river view price as slightly less than regular river view. Why would that be?

Two weeks ago I wanted to book at Garden View at POR and saw the rate. I didn't call until the next day to make the reservation and by then all that was available was a King Pool View at $28 more per night. I did book because we wanted POR and I didn't want to wait any longer. The very next day I went on-line again, and the Garden View was available so I re-booked. I recommend checking back frequently as the CM I spoke with said that rooms could open up at anytime due to cancellations.

 

[andrewilley]

Are there any particular requests I should make that will get us a better location within the parameters of these buildings?

Just let them know what you want rather than trying to second-guess what's available at the time - e.g. "a room as close as possible to the footbridge leading to the main building". There are some great Garden View rooms which fit that request in Parterre place, and a higher floor would mean no one above you, so that can be a bit quieter.

Andre

 

[buzznina]

I'm heading to POR in May...booked a Royal Room for my dd, her best friend and myself. I've been to POR many times, so pretty much know my way around. But, I haven't stayed in a Royal room before...nor have I stayed in the buildings that they are located in. Because we are there for just two nights, before our move to OKW, I wanted to get a room that provided fairly easy access. I know that the bus stops aren't very close nor is the main bldg/food court. I have a garden view booked. Are there any particular requests I should make that will get us a better location within the parameters of these buildings? The girls are 21, so it's not a case of them not being able to walk distances..in fact I assume they'll be walking around by themselves a lot while we're there. I just wasn't sure there were better areas to be in vs others. Higher floor, lower floor?

RR garden view is maybe only a 5 minute walk to everything. So you are pretty close to the bus stop and lobby/FC.

 

[goofy4tink]

Just let them know what you want rather than trying to second-guess what's available at the time - e.g. "a room as close as possible to the footbridge leading to the main building". There are some great Garden View rooms which fit that request in Parterre place, and a higher floor would mean no one above you, so that can be a bit quieter.

Andre

RR garden view is maybe only a 5 minute walk to everything. So you are pretty close to the bus stop and lobby/FC.

Thanks guys. I've been way back in bldg 35, so a 5 min walk is no big deal!!! Close to the footbridge works for me!!! Really looking forward to surprising the girls!!!
And buzznina....love your ticker!!!! Wish mine said 2 weeks vs 2 months!!!

 

[dcassetta]

I wanted to ask what people's experiences have been with bypassing check-in with an arrival before noon. How early have you gotten the text/email that your room is ready?

 

[andrewilley]

Thanks guys. I've been way back in bldg 35, so a 5 min walk is no big deal!!! Close to the footbridge works for me!!!

RR Pool view guarantees you a room close to the footbridge over to the main buildings, however RR Garden View does not. For example you could be in the very furthest room at the far end of Parterre Place. OK, not quite as far away as AB 35, but not very close either.

Andre

 

[buzznina]

Thanks guys. I've been way back in bldg 35, so a 5 min walk is no big deal!!! Close to the footbridge works for me!!! Really looking forward to surprising the girls!!!
And buzznina....love your ticker!!!! Wish mine said 2 weeks vs 2 months!!!

Thanks, and we are getting excited. But your ticker has 2 trips on it, with one being DL We really enjoyed our time there last year, wish we could go back but not cost friendly
Good luck with your request, we have been very lucky getting our requests in the past. Like Andre said request room close to bridge.

 

[Hi Pluto]

I still have my eye on POR for Easter 2016, and would love to surprise DS with the AB room with the pull down murphy bed. You can book a king bed with the murphy bed, which would be perfect for our family of 3. But I noticed, if you book a king bed room, you don't have a choice of the view. Actually you have a choice of all the views. I don't want to pay more for the king bed if I get stuck with the view of the parking lot. How likely is this?

~Cari~

 

[andrewilley]

But I noticed, if you book a king bed room, you don't have a choice of the view. Actually you have a choice of all the views. I don't want to pay more for the king bed if I get stuck with the view of the parking lot. How likely is this?

It's quite possible without any requests being made, yes.

As you say, King Bed category rooms are located all around the resort, with lots of different view types. Of course on the other hand it's also possible you might get a fabulous river view - although that's maybe a bit less likely with an Alligator Bayou requirement (for three people in the room) as there aren't so many King Bed rooms overlooking the river in the AB section - just three in fact, as they are mostly in the mansion buildings.

Just follow the general advice on making requests, and keep your fingers crossed.

Andre

 

[goofy4tink]

RR Pool view guarantees you a room close to the footbridge over to the main buildings, however RR Garden View does not. For example you could be in the very furthest room at the far end of Parterre Place. OK, not quite as far away as AB 35, but not very close either.

Andre

No pool views available at this late date...and with us checking in around 7:30pm, I doubt we'll get a room close to anything!!! I'm just happy to be at POR again, with a RR booked for the girls! My dd will be thrilled to find that she can now buy a drink at River's Roost and watch Bob!!!!! But, I'll send a fax a few days prior and see what happens...you can never tell!!!

Thanks, and we are getting excited. But your ticker has 2 trips on it, with one being DL We really enjoyed our time there last year, wish we could go back but not cost friendly
Good luck with your request, we have been very lucky getting our requests in the past. Like Andre said request room close to bridge.

That trip is going to be awesome.....4 days in DL, then a week in WDW!!! A splurge to be sure but heck, you only go around once, right??!!!

 

[Luv2Run]

I wanted to ask what people's experiences have been with bypassing check-in with an arrival before noon. How early have you gotten the text/email that your room is ready?

I think it's really subjective to how crowded it is during the time of your stay. During our stay (02/19-02/25), we had the bypass check-in option. I did online check-in and faxed in a room request, both letting them know we'd be arriving at 10:30am. When we arrived (at 10:30am on the dot), I hadn't gotten the room ready text, so I went to the Online Check-In desk to pick up our vacation paperwork and activate our dining plan since our room wasn't ready yet and we were hungry for lunch. Not a big deal, we ate lunch at Riverside Mill and needed to go to the Princess Half Marathon Expo to pick up our race packets anyway. While on the bus back from the Expo, we got the room ready text at around noon, and went straight to our room once we got to the resort. Our luggage was there in the room waiting for us. I wasn't too put off by this, since technically check-in at 3pm, so we still were able to access our room 3 hours earlier than standard check-in time, plus it gave us time to check out the resort and post lovely pictures of the mansion to make our friends back home jealous (lol).

 

[kkendle]

Does anyone know how big the refridgerators are in the Royal rooms?

 

[andrewilley]

Does anyone know how big the refridgerators are in the Royal rooms?

The same size as in all the other rooms, about 2ft square.

Andre

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

I got an email that said my room was not ready, at my arrival time of 8:30. I received an email around noon saying my room was ready. It was very busy during my stay and we also faxed room requests, so I didn't ask to see if anything else was available upon arrival.

 

[Babsy]

Hello all!

Soooo, DH and I are looking for a moderate resort for this November. Due to the price of luxury resorts and some decisions regarding financing we have decided to go back to a moderate. The problem is deciding which one. Obviously, we are looking at my two favourites - CSR and POR! I have stayed at both but it's been a while. I keep waffling between the two. POR has the great boat to Downtown Disney and carriage rides, but CSR has an awesome pool, fitness centre and beautiful theming complete with hammocks on the beach!

It's just DH and me, retired seniors, taking it slow and easy with a lot of relaxing down time at the resort.

Please help me decide! Is there anything that I should know about in November such as cheerleader competitions that would be housed at either of these two resorts?

Thanks for any help. I love to hear everyone's opinions and experiences.

(I also posted this on the CSR thread. Hoping to get opinions from both sides of the fence! LOL)

 

[andrewilley]

It's been a bit quiet in these threads since the DISboards upgrade, so I thought I'd mention a thread that I've got going over on my site and on Facebook about all the things people miss from the past at the Port Orleans resorts, and what opportunities we'd like to see them take advantage of in the future. I thought it might be a nice idea to get some opinions here too, and see what creative concepts are out there regarding our favourite resorts.

So, assuming we are never going to be able to get the original Dixie Landings nomenclature back, here are a few more practical ideas that I came up with off the top of my head:

• Reopen Boatwright’s Dining Hall for breakfast. The Riverside Mill food court is a cattle market between 8am and 10am, so that would take some of the load off it and make more profit into the bargain – overall it’d be a win/win! I can't see much point in opening Boatwright's for lunch though.
• Add Rapid Fill refillable drinks mug dispensers to both of the feature pool areas. This would be a great guest benefit (I get asked about it regularly) but I suspect it might be an overall revenue loser for the pool bars. Selling the mugs at the pool bars would definitely go a long way towards offsetting any loss though.
• Repurpose the empty Bonfamille’s Café area at French Quarter. Now that the WDW test kitchen facility which was located there has apparently been moved off-site, I assume that the area will be investigated for bringing back into guest use. Of course I’d love to see it reopened as a restaurant, as all the infrastructure is still there and French Quarter is currently the only moderate without its own table-service location - maybe it could even be themed as "Tiana's Place" from Princess and the Frog? However if that is not considered viable then perhaps a gym/fitness center might be a good use for that space, providing an extra facility for guests from both Port Orleans resorts. Again, I do get quite a few queries about the availability of fitness facilities at Port Orleans.
• Return of watercraft rentals to the Riverside Marina. This would need third party involvement though, as the service was run by an outside company. Sadly I think it would be too much work to bring them back to POFQ too, as much of the dock infrastructure was taken away when the original service was shut down.
• Return of resort-specific merchandise would have been very high up on my list, so I’m really glad to see it’s starting to come back now. Apparel needs to be added though, and perhaps make the logo designs a bit more ‘interesting’ and themed (the current ‘Port Orleans’ wording looks more like someone’s Word Art attempt at a college football team poster).
• A minor thing, but reduce the volume of the pool party music as it can be quite intrusive and clashes with the theming - although at least it mostly occurs during the middle of the day.
• And finally, and perhaps a bit longer term, I’d love to see a walkable pathway from Port Orleans to Downtown Disney and the new Disney Springs area, in the same way that you can walk from the Epcot Resort area to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. In fact, almost all of the one-mile route is already guest-accessible via the paved footpaths beside the Lake Buena Vista Golf Course next to Old Key West, or alternatively using a longer route via the Treehouse Villas / Saratoga Springs to the east side of the river. So all it would take would be for a very short 130 yard footpath to be built between the southern end of French Quarter and the Disney Vacation Club Way road, and a short section of sidewalk added beside the Old Key West main entrance:
  
  

So, what other ideas have you got?

Andre

 

[Limes96]

Turning down the pool party music would be a big deal to my family. We avoid the main pool in the afternoons because of that loud intrusive music. Totally ruins the relaxing mood!

All those sound like great ideas to me! I had no idea it would only be a mile walk to Downtown!