French Quarter vs Riverside

[emilyindisney]

My sister and I are already planning our 2014 trip for the Princess half! We know we want to go moderate and want to give PO a try. So, know we're done to the decision of FQ vs RS. Any thoughts? Has anyone stayed at both that can compare? Thanks!

 

[ReluctantDisaholic]

We've stayed at POFQ twice and POR once (will be twice after next month). We loved both of them but liked POR a bit more. We found there was a bit more to do (we rented surrey bikes, a boat, saw YeeHaw Bob, etc). We like POFQ's small size, but didn't find the walking at POR to be that much more.

We would stay at either one happily, but POR is our favourite of the 2.

 

[emilyindisney]

We've stayed at POFQ twice and POR once (will be twice after next month). We loved both of them but liked POR a bit more. We found there was a bit more to do (we rented surrey bikes, a boat, saw YeeHaw Bob, etc). We like POFQ's small size, but didn't find the walking at POR to be that much more.

We would stay at either one happily, but POR is our favourite of the 2.

Thanks for the response! Did you find any difference in the bus transportation? Was one better than the other? Or were they about the same?

 

[jhryb]

I prefer the POR. It is nice to have the table service dining and I like the pool at the riverside better. I find the slide at the POFQ to be a bit cheesy looking.
I also prefer the grounds at the POR over the POFQ.

 

[Flyerfan]

We've stayed at both but our fav is Riverside. We love strolling the grounds and walking along the river down to POFQ. Both offer the boat to DTD, which is a great option to the buses and the theming is great at either one. If you like a more compact resort, POFQ is for you. If you like to do a lot of walking, POR is best.

 

[emilyindisney]

Thanks for the continued imput!

Can someone can confirm that there are hot tubs are both resort?

 

[ReluctantDisaholic]

Yes to the hot tubs.

We didn't find buses to be bad at either resort - although I feel like we stood more on the POR ones (we went to POR at March Break time though, and end of January/early Feb for POFQ so there was quite a difference in crowds). Waits were pretty short for both.

 

[JennyDrake]

I have stayed at both more than once. POR has a better food court with more variety. FQ food court is smaller and has a much more limted menu. Loved having extra "quiet" pools at POR. With that said, _I_ give the edge to FQ. LOVE the small size, quaint, more laid back feel.

 

[I Love Pluto]

It is a short walk from FQ to Riverside. You can use any of their pools, food court, store, bikes, etc - just walk over.

We like POR best because we like the Alligator Bayou section. Others will tell you the Mansion section is better. Still others will tell you to stay at French
Quarter due to its smaller size.

We feel that it really doesn't matter which section we are in. We like all 3 Port Orleans sections for different reasons.

 

[emilyindisney]

Thanks to everyone for the input!

We're planning on going for the Princess half. Has anyone stayed during that time that can comment on crowds/travel time from those resorts? I know it'll be busy everywhere so I don't know that it will really make a difference.

 

[mamabug70]

I have stayed at both. POFQ twice and POR once. We loved POFQ. It's quieter, smaller, and even though as one poster said the slide is cheesier, my DD13 liked the pool at FQ better because it was less crowded. There is more to do at POR though. I would say if you are looking for pretty, peaceful, and quiet then stay at POFQ. If you want more activity, don't mind larger crowds, and plan on eating at your resort, then stay at POR.

 

[mommy2mb]

We have stayed at both resorts, and really liked both. However I did prefer POFQ, We really liked the smaller size of the resort. Also was nice just having the 1 bus stop instead of having to go around entire resort for pick-ups and drop offs. I know sometimes the resorts do share buses, but on our trip in April 2011 we didn't have too. We did think that the food court at POR was better and more selection.

 

[Disneylvr]

I have stayed in and love both resorts....tough choice. I enjoy the theme, room size/decor equally at each resort. So instead I will just focus on what I like better at each resort.

POFQ
We prefer the smaller size and we don't have to reserve preferred location because all rooms are pretty close to the food court, etc...

POR
The variety of choices at the food court was better than POFQ. Not to say we didn't like it at FQ (we did) there is just more variety and better/larger seating area at POR since it is a larger resort.
The pools at POR are better. We like having the choice of either the themed pool or a quiet pool.
The gift shop at POR is bigger and better.

I can't comment on transportation as we always drive to the parks but we have used the boat to Downtown Disney at both resorts and we love having that option!

 

[princessallegra]

My sister and I are already planning our 2014 trip for the Princess half! We know we want to go moderate and want to give PO a try. So, know we're done to the decision of FQ vs RS. Any thoughts? Has anyone stayed at both that can compare? Thanks!

Congrats on the upcoming half! You are going to have the best time! We stayed at POR last year for the '2012 Princess. We honestly love the resort. The theming and landscaping is gorgeous and relaxing. It has a great food court and TS restaurant. It is very different from FQ. We stayed there once and it was just not for us. We would not stay there ever again. It is very small, which a lot of folks love, but we do not. For us it was just way too small and always felt crowded, especially the small food court. I really suggest looking up videos and trip reports from both places. Both resorts have a boat to dtd which is neat. Good luck with your training, and your planning!


Eta: we didn't feel the resort to be too crowded at all during the Princess weekend. The event busing was great. We were in Alligator bayou and we were right by the bus stop. POR was a host resort and POFQ was not, not sure what the host resorts will be next year. This year it seems like all the resorts are host resorts. Very different! There are supposedly 25,000+ runners this year compared to 19,500+ last year.

 

[shenaniganzz]

We haven't stayed at both but found the buses at POR to be a disaster - and this was not a busy time of year (early September). Definitely having only one stop at POFQ would influence my decision if relying on their transportation. Obviously others have had a different experience.

Conversely, we had zero problems at CSR but other people complained. I think it's luck of the draw, but your odds are probably improved with just one stop.

 

[Lizzybean]

We haven't stayed at both but found the buses at POR to be a disaster - and this was not a busy time of year (early September). Definitely having only one stop at POFQ would influence my decision if relying on their transportation. Obviously others have had a different experience.

Conversely, we had zero problems at CSR but other people complained. I think it's luck of the draw, but your odds are probably improved with just one stop.

We just got back from POR a week ago and also found the bussing disastrous. It was a nightmare. One morning at 10am we waited 33 minutes for a bus to MK and who knows how long the people already there waited. Buses were almost always full when they arrived at the south depot and we had to stand on nearly every bus we took. We finally started taking POFQ buses from the parks back to the resort and would grab something to eat there and then take the boat to POR or walk. It was faster and less stressful. We also preferred the food at FQ. Unfortunately we are a family of 5 so we can't stay there but we would LOVE to.

We loved the POR grounds and cast members but it was too spread out for us. I think the only way we could do it again is in a preferred building but even then I can't imagine dealing with the bussing (although timing is everything and perhaps we just kept hitting it at a bad time).

 

[disneycat321]

We've only stayed at POR, so I can't really compare the two, but we stayed in mid June (definitely a busy time of year!) and had no problem with the buses. Our bus stop was the East depot, which I believe is the last stop. It was kind of annoying having to go around the whole resort at night before our stop, but not that big of a deal. We never had to wait an extraordinarily long time, except when we left EPCOT right after Illuminations, but we expected that.

We personally like the theming much better at POR, but that's just personal preference.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

I've stayed at both and will be at POFQ again next month. I do like both, but prefer the smaller size and single bus stop at FQ. You can easily walk or take a boat or bus over to Riverside if you want to use any of their amenities, but it's nice to be able to quickly get to the bus stop or the food court in the mornings. I remember being at Riverside one year and we got the reusable mugs for coffee, but had breakfast in our room. So someone would have to walk over to the main building to get coffee (and we were really far away!), then walk back with the mugs so we could have coffee with our breakfast, and then we'd head over to the bus stop. Just felt like a lot of back and forth walking.

TP