French Quater or Riverside

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

Which is better and Why?

 

[lovethattink]

It depends what you're looking for.

For quiet, closeness to food court, it's FQ

For restaurant, night time entertainment, fishing, it's POR

FQ has 1 theme pool

POR has 1 theme pool and 5 quiet pools.

 

[dbanzai]

I just switched from POR to POFQ, although I haven't stayed at either yet. It seems the bus stops at POFQ first, plus we like the smallness of it (walking can be an issue for my travel compadre). We had decided on POR originally because it seems to be a favorite here (or was six months ago when we planned our last trip), because of the restaurant (Boatwright's) and live music. But we plan to use the main pool extensively, and again the proximity made us think POFQ was better for our needs.

 

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

The bus stopping at FQ first is real plus for us. Thanks for the info. dbanzai, love your picture!!!

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

We're thinking of POFQ for a trip in Dec. with some newbies. Do they decorate very much there for the holidays, or is POR better at that time of year?

 

[indigoxtreme]

Also since they are sister resort you can use the facilities at either resort, pools etc

 

[cmm]

I had originally wanted POR last month, but it was booked during our travel period, so I took POFQ. I think I got lucky. The bus stops first at POFQ. Sometimes it did and sometimes it didn't go on to POR. I never could figure that out. POR seemed so spread out. POFQ was very quiet. We weren't interested in dining on site, so we didn't care about the lack of a sit-down restaurant. I would definitely go to POFQ again.

 

[YesYourMajesty]

We stayed in a King Bed Water View at POFQ for our honeymoon in 2003. We liked the intimate resort layout. The landscaping was beautiful. The boat to DD was a nice change of pace from the bus rides - very relaxing. The food court could be a bit crowded in the mornings, but we were there during Easter/Spring Break so I think every food place is busy at that time. The hotel staff was friendly. Housekeeping was very good and we got 4 or 5 towel animals during our stay. We enjoyed the pool, and the theming that surrounded it. If we were going to stay at a moderate again, we would stay at French Quarter.

We have not stayed at Riverside, so I couldnt advise you on that resort. But I can tell you that French Quarter more than met our expectations.

 

[EthansMom]

I've stayed at both and prefer POFQ for many of the reasons other posters have mentioned -- it's much smaller (5 min. walk at most from the bus stop to any room at POFQ), it has only 1 bus stop (POR has 4, I think), and the bus stops at POFQ first when stopping at both POFQ and POR. Also, my son really loved the themeing (lots of colors, whimsical alligators) of POFQ.

On the downside, the POFQ Food Court was lacking in variety of food and it could often take too long to get food (even during slow times). Also, POFQ does not have it's own sit-down restaurant. On days when we thought we might still be at POFQ come evening, I would stop at Guest Services in the POFQ lobby in the morning and make a PS for Boatwright's that evening. It's a nice 10 min. walk along the river to get to Boatwright's. But after getting to Boatwright's one evening with no PS and being told that they were full up for the rest of the night, I learned to make a PS.

With both resorts, the boat access to DTD was very nice. Especially loved going to DTD in the evening with the kids -- Earl of Sandwich and McDonald's were both good for quicker and less expensive meals. My son also enjoyed going to Goofy's Candy Store for a treat.

We'll be staying at POFQ again in Dec.

 

[lovethattink]

We're thinking of POFQ for a trip in Dec. with some newbies. Do they decorate very much there for the holidays, or is POR better at that time of year?

POFQ had a Christmas tree in the lobby. The food court wasn't really decorated, because it's already decorated with all the Mardi Gras stuff. In my opinion POR was more decorated last Christmas. Here's a pic of my children at the tree in the lobby of POR.

 

[BelleChick]

POR....I just like the theme of the place better....it's pretty!

 

[Stephiehun]

We are staying at POR for our honeymoon in October. My aunt and uncle, who go to Disney quite frequently and have also stayed at GF, BC, and WL, said that POR was the best Disney resort they stayed at.

 

[klofan]

I've seen both. There both nice, but choose RIVERSIDE!

 

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

Which one is more kid friendly?

 

[TINKTWINS]

My choice is FQ, I liked the quaintness of it. The rooms are bright and airy. I havent been in Magnolia bend yet, just Alligator Bayou.

I loved the food court in FQ. The shorter walks to the parking lot, pool and food court. We also had a water view room, it was SO SO SO quiet there. Considering it was April vacation, it wasnt as crowded feeling as POR, we did a split stay there a year ago. There was a huge difference in pool crowds and food court crowds in each resort. We could not get a chair at all in POR. Plus my twins had just turned 4 at that time, and having such a large pool area to focus on was nerve wracking. The smaller FQ worked better for me.

Oh and you MUST TRY THE Bignets(sp) Awesome!

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

lovethattink: The only other resort we've stayed in at Christmas time is the WL, do you think we'll be disappointed? Thanks for sharing the pic, that tree looks amazing! My dh's sister and her family will be joining us, and she's REALLY into decorating for Christmas....she starts her 50 trees (I'm not kidding!) in Oct., so I was really hoping for something moderately priced but nicely decorated. My dh likes the idea of the FQ because of it's small size, but during the time that we're going (Dec. 9-12) do you think that crowds and bus service will be an issue if we stay at the larger resort? Sorry to hijack the thread, but I've been trying for months to choose between these two as well!

 

[Jen D]

We haven't tried both but really enjoyed POFQ-- Great pool, nice manageable size, and great bus stop!

We didn't care for the food court and wish there was a restaurant. But I suppose we could have walked to Boatwright's.

Good luck with your choice.

 

[clutter]

My dd and I prefer POR. Don't know why, probably the theming. We stayed in POR in January, so the busses weren't an issue at all. We stayed at POFQ in June, so maybe we would have liked the busses less at POR then. my dd preferred the pool at POR< and we both liked the food court better.

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

Did you guys swim in January? My sister in law is from Iowa, so she'll probably think it's warm enough to swim, she's already been asking if the pools are heated. I told her they were, but the air around them is not, lol

 

[lovethattink]

lovethattink: The only other resort we've stayed in at Christmas time is the WL, do you think we'll be disappointed? Thanks for sharing the pic, that tree looks amazing! My dh's sister and her family will be joining us, and she's REALLY into decorating for Christmas....she starts her 50 trees (I'm not kidding!) in Oct., so I was really hoping for something moderately priced but nicely decorated. My dh likes the idea of the FQ because of it's small size, but during the time that we're going (Dec. 9-12) do you think that crowds and bus service will be an issue if we stay at the larger resort? Sorry to hijack the thread, but I've been trying for months to choose between these two as well!

I don't think you'll be disappointed in POR. Granted it's not a deluxe, but in my opinion it's the closest moderate to a deluxe. Since she loves decorations, be sure to take a day and visit as many resorts as you can. Especially beautiful in decorations are the GF and BC. I love the gingerbread displays. Epcot is the best park with Christmas decs.