Help please: Port Orleans Riverside or Caribbean Beach Resort?

[Sarafinah]

Hi everyone-

Please give me your thoughts on POR vs. CBR for travel in March. We have three school-aged children and will be a party of five. I would try for a preferred room. I'm considering a split stay between AoA and one of these resorts OR just staying the whole time at one of the three.

Thanks so much in advance!

 

[mickeynut1]

Hi everyone-

Please give me your thoughts on POR vs. CBR for travel in March. We have three school-aged children and will be a party of five. I would try for a preferred room. I'm considering a split stay between AoA and one of these resorts OR just staying the whole time at one of the three.

Thanks so much in advance!

First I wanted to say welcome to the Dis

Out of your choices we've only stayed at CBR and loved everything about it! The grounds were beautiful, the pool was great with a fun pirate theme, the food court had plenty of variety, and the transportation was quick and efficient (even with the internal bus stops). Since CBR is centrally located, it didn't take more than maybe 10 minutes to get to any theme park, water park, or DTD. With that said, POR looks like a nice resort and gets a lot of great reviews. We prefer to stay put once we check in, so my choice would be one resort the whole time at either CBR or POR. Good luck.

 

[IheartRapunzel]

Port Orleans is my favorite Disney resort! It's beautiful and has lots to offer. I love the boat rides to dtd. It's very relaxing. I stayed at this resort last March and loved every minute.

 

[IheartRapunzel]

Also I'm not sure if your children are boys or girls but if you happen to have girls I'm sure they would love the princess rooms at port Orleans!!

 

[HopperFan]

What specific school age? Boys or Girls? Is swimming in themed pool a priority for you?
Any or all would surely affect my suggestion in this case.

 

[Dug720]

I'm a CBR fan myself. Peaceful, beautiful resort with a tropical feel throughout the resort. Plus the rooms were redone last year, so they're still pretty fresh.

With 5 kids, I don't think the Royal Rooms at POR would be an option - I believe that only the Bayou section at POR. I know it's the themeing and strictly a matter of taste on my part, but those rooms just look so junky to me. I get it's supposed to be rustic, but...

 

[Calee]

I was struggling with this decision myself. We too are a family of 5. I decided on CBR because the whole place has been recently renovated. At POR, the area that the family of 5 rooms are in seems to be kind of far away, and not refurbbed in a long time. The CBR pool/splash pad also appealed to my kids more. That said, we haven't been to either, so this decision was made based on what I've read, I have not experienced it for myself!

Oh-and are you talking about going this March? Because the main pool at POR is closed for refurbishment then I believe, if that is a factor for you.

 

[LSLS]

Love Port Orleans. It will be a bit smaller, and more relaxing to me (less people on busses and such). At CB, you may need to take a bus to get to your room from the food court or checkin. That said, CBR is really nice too. The CBR pool is much better in my opinion, so if you are doing a lot of pool time, I would go CBR. If not, I would go Port Orleans. That said, don't fret too much over the decision. Both are really nice hotels and you will enjoy your stay at either one.

 

[Ensusieasm]

Hi everyone-

Please give me your thoughts on POR vs. CBR for travel in March. We have three school-aged children and will be a party of five. I would try for a preferred room. I'm considering a split stay between AoA and one of these resorts OR just staying the whole time at one of the three.

Thanks so much in advance!

Normally I would say POR, but the feature pool is closed for refurb right now and most likely won't be open for your March trip.

 

[hulk51382]

We've stayed at both and enjoyed both of them. Overall we like CBR better...especially for kids. They have an amazing pool and the renovated rooms are really nice. We are trying CSR this year and my kids are pretty bummed that we aren't doing CBR for a 5th time. Hopefully they will like it just as much.

 

[Skullcrusher]

POR is your best bet unless you like wait times for busses up to 40ish minutes. CBR is known for its bus system being slow. POR has a relaxing atmosphere whereas CBR is bit more active. The biggest reason I would suggest CBR would be if you prefer palm trees and brightly colored apartments.

 

[ejgonz2]

Did CBR in September with my family of five - three kids 5 and under. We liked CBR.

Did AOA the year before and LOVED it.

 

[Adam6952]

Hi everyone-

Please give me your thoughts on POR vs. CBR for travel in March. We have three school-aged children and will be a party of five. I would try for a preferred room. I'm considering a split stay between AoA and one of these resorts OR just staying the whole time at one of the three.

Thanks so much in advance!

Riverside hands down for every reason you could think of! Caribbean isn't as nice...and twice as many internal bus stops. I've been to both resorts.. Riverside twice since 2013 and Caribbean once in August... Never again. I'd rather go pop.

 

[Sleepingbeauty101]

I have only stayed at POR. One time in a royal room and the second time in a regular rom in the mansion side. I love POR because after a long hot day at the parks it's quiet, peaceful and relaxing. The people there are friendly and helpful. We are going back in 2017, and I would like to stay here again yet I would like to try a new place.

 

[uccats97]

I've stayed at all 3 and liked all 3. AoA is more expensive but has better bus service and is a lot more condensed as far as the resort layout. Suites have 2 bathrooms and a bedroom for added privacy. The movie theming is adorable and Disney is definitely everywhere. POR is Louisiana themed and Alligator Bayou is rustic for sure. The busing isn't too bad, there is boat service to DS and POFQ. You can swim in the pools at POFQ when staying at POR too. CBR is tropical themed, the most spread out and worst busing. The rooms are pretty much the same as POR. I've returned to AoA and am returning to POR. Not sure if I will stay at CBR again.

 

[Sarafinah]

Thanks all- we booked at AoA and CBR because there was nothing left with military rate at PORS- maybe next time! PORS does look special in its own right. Thanks for all the input!

 

[Bree]

We had zero bussing issues during our CBR stay. Crappy bus service can happen at every resort. I had awful bussing last year at Poly, WL, CSR & POP.

 

[Dug720]

We had zero bussing issues during our CBR stay. Crappy bus service can happen at every resort. I had awful bussing last year at Poly, WL, CSR & POP.

Exactly!! Granted it was over Thanksgiving several years ago that we did our one and only POR stay, but I remember having bussing issues there.

And as far as what @Sleepingbeauty101 said about POR being "quiet, peaceful and relaxing" and "people friendly and helpful", in my experience the exact same can be said for CBR 100%.

 

[lala5176]

We have stayed at POR in a Royal Room and also at CBR. Both resorts are very nice and the grounds are beautiful. The zero entry pool and Pirate splash area at CBR are great. My kids really liked that. I personally preferred Riverside. We had great service and no transportation issues. I also liked that we could walk over to the French quarter if we wanted to. No real issues at CBR either but didn't really care for all the internal bus stops. I'd definitely ask for a preferred room there as our room was quite a trek to the food court and pool. Also we prefer to stay put in one resort but have done a split stay and it really is not too difficult to pull off. Whatever you decide have a great time!

 

[BebopBaloo]

POR is beautiful! If it were possible to live on Disney Property (at a resort, not crazy $$$$$$ Golden Oak) I would live at Riverside. The only qualm is that our buses were always packed to the gills, but I think that's a problem at other resorts too.