Is it worth spending more to stay at Port Orleans Riverside rather than Pop Century?

[DisneyWorldbuff]

They both look nice(never been to Pop though). We've stayed at POR and thought that it was great! Pools are pretty important to us because we always go when the weather is warm.I would pick POR if just for the pool. My daughter absolutely loves pool slides!

 

[trekker93]

Pop's refurb turned the rooms really nice. I prefer the pools at Pop over POR. The food is basically the same. The buses are better at Pop - one stop.

 

[KangaFan]

Someone smarter than me once posted that if you do the math--a week at a moderate like POFQ works out to be the same as half week at a value and half week at a deluxe. We're doing this for our trip at the end of the month. We're staying at POP for the first 3 nights since those will be our go go go park days and all we need is a bed and an occasional meal and then switching to AKL for the last 2 nights when we'll have more down time and be able to take advantage of all the amazing amenities.

Good luck & I'm sure you'll have a great time whatever you decide!

 

[downsouthca]

I took my first stay at WDW at POR in December and we loved it. We had a no-park day in our last trip and loved walking.swimming.boat rides at POR. What a relaxing/recharge day !

 

[msachs88]

Love Port Orleans and ended up there as a fluke due to a pool rehab at Carribean Beach. We stay in the Bayou section and there is nothing like the food court, quiet pools steps from your room, and the convenient bus stops. I will admit that the walk at the end of the night at epcot to the Port orleans bus stop does stink!!

 

[msgoofy]

We've stayed at both.

The way we look at it is we only are really at the resort to lay our head on a pillow. We are busy most of the other time, so we're happy with Pop Century. We've stayed there five times and will be back in September.

Have fun wherever you decide to stay!

 

[allstar]

We are planning a trip to WDW September 14-25, 2011. Is it worth it to spend more to stay at the Port Orleans Riverside rather than the Pop Century in a prefered room?

Thanks everyone for your advice!!!!! We have decided to stay at POR!!!! The room is a little bigger and with double sinks, food court is nice, there is transportation by boat to downtown disney and we are hoping that they have renovations done with queen size beds in the rooms before we ariive!!!!

 

[aubriee]

Thanks everyone for your advice!!!!! We have decided to stay at POR!!!! The room is a little bigger and with double sinks, food court is nice, there is transportation by boat to downtown disney and we are hoping that they have renovations done with queen size beds in the rooms before we ariive!!!!

Good choice! I had said in my previous post that I was planning a trip for basically your same dates and was planning on staying at one of the PO resorts. Well, yesterday I decided to move my trip back by a week so will be arriving on Sept 24th, in order to catch the beginning of the Food & Wine Festival. I booked at POFQ though. Can't wait! You guys have a great trip and if you make it down to POFQ save me some bignets!

 

[reking96]

I have been asking myself the same exact question. Today, I finally decided. I booked POR! I am going solo (meeting friends who are staying at the Poly), but I just think for the slight difference in price, staying at POR is well worth it. I am so excited. Sept can't come soon enough. =)

 

[Amy&Dan]

Is it worth the extra money to you? Would you rather spend the money somewhere else?

Both Pop and POR have great food courts. Both have wonderful rooms with great views. Both have wonderful theming. Pop edges out on bus service, because they don't share with another resort; POR shares with POFQ.

Is it worth it to have a fridge in the room that is included in the cost?

Do you like the idea of having DTD close to your resort?

Do you like the idea of having entertainment in the lounge a few nights out of the week?

Do you like having a table restaurant as well as the other restaurants at the resorts that are just a water taxi away from POR?

They are both wonderful resorts, but POR does have some wonderful amentities. Depending on the difference in cost, is it worth it to get the extras I have listed above?

This is my thoughts exactly!

I will tell you that POR is my favorite moderate, Pop is my favorite value. I have stayed at POR twice, Pop five times now. Its hard to compare them since they are so different!

I will say that anytime I can swing the moderate I do it. We spend time at our resort swimming and relaxing regardless of level, and have spent many wonderful afternoons and evenings at the value pools. But I do have to say, the moderates really do make you feel away from it all. I love the quiet pools at the moderates, POR in particular. The quiet pools at Pop are okay, but there is no tree shade whereas the quiet pools at POR are surrounded by lush foilage and so nice. The main pool at POR has an awesome slide, waterfall type things and its one of our favorite pool areas. Again, more shade and ambiance than the Pop pool.

I think the food courts at both are the best on property, but do give the edge to POR's, namely for the bakery, the pasta bowls and the fact it has more seating. Pop's always feels crowded, POR's gets packed too, but it can handle the crowds way better.

The room is a tad bigger at POR, it has two sinks but to me the difference is in the landscaping, the sit down restaurant, pool amenities and feel and I love having an indoor lounge with entertainment.

Also, you are going at a hot time of year, you'll love the shaded walkways and pool areas at POR. Even on the hottest day, it feels much cooler thanks to all the tree shade.

You can't make a bad choice but unless that difference in price causes you stress or worry, go for the moderate, I think the price difference is worth it in that you get a lot more for your money.

ETA: I see you made your choice! I think you'll be happy. And don't forget that as a POR guest, you can use the pool over at French Quarter too. Be sure and go over there to the Scat Cat's Lounge, its a lot of fun too. Have a great trip!

 

[pmdeve]

I do not think this was mentioned, but POR will be getting a major refurb with queen beds. It is suppose to start right after POFQ is finished (currently rumored for May).
POP is our favorite value but whenever possible and the $ is not that big of a difference we will always try to stay at a MOD. We also add the extra cost of a fridge to POPs cost, because we always use it with 2 little ones.
If you do not spend any time at the resorts, then POP is a perfect fit, but if you do spend some time at the resort and like the extra ammenities then yes, it has been worth it for us.

We love PO. What are the planned renovations? Queen size beds will be great.

 

[bwolfe]

I would say yes...our last experience at POP was not great. I know that some folks love that resort, but it's just not for us.

 

[KELLY]

We are upgrading tonight from pop to POFQ. The last time we stayed at POFQ we had some issues with our room. But everything else was fine. So we are headed back there instead of pop. Plus last year at pop Dh pefers a more peaceful resort. But there is nothing wrong with pop either. Just a personal prefrence.

 

[aubriee]

We love PO. What are the planned renovations? Queen size beds will be great.

They are currently renovating the rooms at POFQ and once they are through at POFQ (around the end of April) they are supposed to start over at PORS. At POFQ they are getting new carpet, new queen size beds, new bedspreads, new curtains, wall borders, dressers, flat screen TVs, new sinks, and new tubs and shower curtains. I'd assume that PORS is getting the same, There has been some talk about possible theme rooms (Princess or Haunted Mansion) over at PORS, but no one knows yet. There is a picture somewhere here on the DIS that someone posted of a mocked up Princess themed room.

We are upgrading tonight from pop to POFQ. The last time we stayed at POFQ we had some issues with our room. But everything else was fine. So we are headed back there instead of pop. Plus last year at pop Dh pefers a more peaceful resort. But there is nothing wrong with pop either. Just a personal prefrence.

see above: POFQ rooms are currently undergoing a rehab. Buildings 7 and 6 are completed and they have now started on Building 4, I believe.

 

[Nik's Mom]

We have stayed at POR and Pop.

We stayed at POR for our honeymoon and really loved the resort. It's a boat ride away from DTD. There is a restaurant right on the hotel grounds. The food court was clean and not nearly as crowded as Pop. You can rent bikes or just stroll around the resort. They also have a carriage ride. Plus, you have access to POFQ, which is just a short walk away. At the time we stayed at POR, we did not have any children, so we really appreciated the calm beauty of POR.

We stayed at Pop with our 2 sons. While we enjoyed Pop, we did find it loud and very crowded. The food court was a mad-house. But the room was clean, and the grounds were neat. There wasn't much to offer other than swimming and the food court though.

If you plan on spending most of your time in the parks, then there is nothing wrong with Pop. We would stay there again. But if you are looking for a more relaxed atmosphere and more offerings at your resort, then you will probably prefer POR or POFQ.

 

[KELLY]

They are currently renovating the rooms at POFQ and once they are through at POFQ (around the end of April) they are supposed to start over at PORS. At POFQ they are getting new carpet, new queen size beds, new bedspreads, dressers, flat screen TVs, new sinks, and new tubs and shower curtains. I'd assume that PORS is getting the same, There has been some talk about possible theme rooms (Princess or Haunted Mansion) over at PORS, but no one knows yet. There is a picture somewhere here on the DIS that someone posted of a mocked up Princess themed room.



see above: POFQ rooms are currently undergoing a rehab. Buildings 7 and 6 are completed and they have now started on Building 4, I believe.

Thanks that is exactly why we are going back! It really it our favorite mod but we haven't tried CBR. But our room last time was just not aceptable to me. I didn't complain but it could have been cleaned better.

 

[FirestoneRocks]

I would say yes, that it is worth spending the extra money. The amenities that POR offers are outstanding, compared to POP. Enjoy your vacation!

 

[Huff]

I currently am booked at POP for early June for 10 nights. It would cost us about $360 more to change to a moderate such as POR. While I'd love to stay there I'm not sure thats the best use of $360 for us. Thats a chunk of change that could be used for other things around WDW. We spend very little time at the rooms although this trip may see us using the pools a bit more so may have to think about it.

 

[aubriee]

I currently am booked at POP for early June for 10 nights. It would cost us about $360 more to change to a moderate such as POR. While I'd love to stay there I'm not sure thats the best use of $360 for us. Thats a chunk of change that could be used for other things around WDW. We spend very little time at the rooms although this trip may see us using the pools a bit more so may have to think about it.

If you happen to get a refurbed room, then for that $360.00 you are getting a bigger room that has recently been remodeled, queen size beds, ceiling fans, refridgerator, double sinks, nicer landscaping, boat to DTD, covered bus stops with benches, much nicer pool with slide and hot tub, TS restaurant at PORS, and probably a quieter, more laid back, relaxed feeling resort. I also love the big shade trees around the PO resorts. They just make PO feel so much cooler than the other resorts. You can never tell what kind of neighbors you'll have, but I've never heard my neighbors at POFQ or PORS, whereas Pop always seems just sooo busy, loud, and frantic. Plus usually the moderate bus stops are closer to the park entrances than Pop. It always seems like Pop is the very last bus stop coming out of the parks at night.

I travel solo to WDW several times a year and even on my solo visits it's worth the small difference in price to be in a more serene feeling resort. I'd pay extra just for the covered bus stops, ceiling fans, fridge, and boat to DTD though.

 

[MickeyNicki]

For us it is totally worth it...the rooms are nicer, bigger, better location, better food court, overall a much better stay at a mod over a value any day