It's The Port Orleans FAQ Thread!!!

[GPALANGE]

Subscribing

 

[freakylick]

I'll throw a question in. We're visiting Riverside in December and plan to drive through the night (10 hour drive). Our dd is 3 so driving through the night is the best option. I'm guessing we'll arrive around 6am or so.

Has anyone been able to check in early? Or is Disney stuck on the 4pm check in rule? We have never driven before so I'm trying to figure out the logistics.

Never had this situation myself...not for another couple weeks anyway. But what you can do is this...

That early in the morning, I doubt that they have any rooms ready (unless they are under capacity and it things have been pretty busy, so don't plan on getting into a room). You can go to the front desk and register. They will give you a room key and whatever else you should be getting. They won't tell you the room # though. At that point, you can try to go grab breakfast somewhere, then head to a park, or whatever else you want to do that day. Then call back during the day to the front desk and when your room is ready, they will give you your room number and you can head straight to your room. Considering your situation, when you register, tell them your situation (drove through the night, want a shower, relax, etc...) at the front desk and see what is the earliest that they can have a room ready for you. Maybe if they know your situation, they will try to get a room ready for you while you go eat breakfast or something. From everything that I have been told, people can frequently get into rooms before 4pm...but exactly how early is just a guess.

We are going to be checking in early too, but not from traveling all night..we will be offsite the night before, so we will just register and head to a park for the day.

Hope that helps..Good luck to you and enjoy your trip.

 

[shellynn24]

I have so many questions, where to start? I would love to stay in a room at POR with a trundle bed because I am going with a friend and we can't share a bed. There will be my DD in bed with me, my DS hopefully in a trundle and my friend and her DS in a crib. How many buildings have the trundles and which one is the best. The view is of no concern to me, neither is traffic or noise (Army family, we are not picky!) I would like to be close to transportation and the food court. My friend says she doesn't like the look of the AB rooms from the pics on Allears, but I would love to see more pics of the renovated rooms to make a decision. I'm sorry this is so long, I have never been to POR before and need info. TIA!

 

[pamluvsdisney]

We just got back last night from POR. We stayed in AB bldg 15 and it was very convenient I thought. Bldg 14 would be a little closer to Food Court. Neither one is far though. Both are the closest bldgs to the main bus stop (South Depot). It is the 1st pickup at POR and 1st drop off at POR. SOme buses go to POFQ before POR though. We never had any problems with POR buses though.

My daughter who is almost 4 slept fine in the trundle bed. It is smaller than a twin size but plenty big for my DD4.
HTH. Sorry I didn't do a good job with photos this time.
Pam

 

[aesalsa]

Hi all!

I'm going to see if I can convince DH into a 5 day trip in early, mid December. I've never booked a package before, but the Fall Discount packages look tempting.

I got a quote for POR, 5 nights, 5 Day Park Hoppers, for about $995, tax inluded, through DU.

If we can go, I'd like to stay in one of the Mansions, non-smoking. Are there some better than others? What would you recommend? I'd like to be near a bus stop since I'll be almost 6 months pregnant by then.

Thanks for an info any of you can give me!

PS. I'd like to fit in one last WDW trip sans a baby/child. . .it will be a totally different experience after that!

 

[Mickey's Sister]

My son, DSIS & I are going to be at POR early December. (Still won't be a WL Vet ) We're hoping for Magnolia Terrace. Did you see the photos of the walkway leading to the gazebo? Looks like they decorate the gazebo with poinsettias at Christmas time. Can't wait!!! I'm so glad you made out O.K. through Katrina! You had many DIS-ers worried about you. Congrats too on your expectations! How exciting for you and your husband!

Jessica

 

[aesalsa]

My son, DSIS & I are going to be at POR early December. (Still won't be a WL Vet ) We're hoping for Magnolia Terrace. Did you see the photos of the walkway leading to the gazebo? Looks like they decorate the gazebo with poinsettias at Christmas time. Can't wait!!! I'm so glad you made out O.K. through Katrina! You had many DIS-ers worried about you. Congrats too on your expectations! How exciting for you and your husband!

Jessica

Thanks so much, Jessica! No, I haven't seen any pictures of POR. I did stay at WL in Feb. 2005, and we LOVED it !!!! I hope you can stay there one day.

My neighbors stayed at POR with their daughter and grandchildren last Thanksgiving, and they had nothing but wonderful things to say about the resort. I hope we can go. . .it would be nice to take a vacation after all the storm stress!

 

[Minerva]

I just booked POR for our last night. We'll only be there long enough to sleep and look around a little in the morning before leaving but I'm still excited about it. I want to surprise my kids who think we're staying at Pop that night. I thought it would be neat if when we left the parks that night we went to DTD and caught the boat to POR. I can always find a reason to have to go to DTD <g> and then I'll just suggest we take the boat to POR to see what it looks like then go from there to Pop and surprise them with checking in while we're looking around. How late do the boats run from DTD?

 

[Disneynutbsv]

subscribing

 

[freakylick]

Never had this situation myself...not for another couple weeks anyway. But what you can do is this...

snip...

Just wanted to add to my earlier comments...

We just got back and we arrived on Saturday (10/22) at about 7:45 am for check-in. We were told that they had plenty of rooms ready for check-in and we were in our room by 8 am and off to Epcot by 8:30. I don’t know if we just got lucky that they had rooms already available, but I thought I would update you with our experience.

 

[shellynn24]

We just got back back this week from a 10 night stay at POR. All I have to say is OMG, I love POR! It was so wooded and secluded. We live in the desert and just loved to see green things for a change We were in AB Bldg 25. It was far enough away to feel like we had the resort to ourselves yet still within a couple minutes walk to any where else in the resort (we are military women and have a tendency to walk fast, keep that in mind when I say a couple of min). I was sad to leave such a wonderful place but I was gald to be going back to my house! I'd be happy to answer any questions.
Okay, I have to edit to add that this is post 100!!

 

[kimbac3]

We are staying offsite this year but we would like to stay onsite next year. We were considering 2 rooms at all stars or Pop but then I found out about the trundle beds here. Do you think it would be too tight in the room with me, Dh, DD14, DS11, DD8 (ages they will be next year) ? My soon to be 8yr old is little..heck so is my soon to be 11 yr old!! I'm just worried there won't be enough room for all our stuff - for 10 days.
Anyone have any thoughts about this?
Thanks in advance,
Kimba aw:

 

[mikkiwikki]

Ok serious question here.

Can i at POR General store get supplies for breakfasts & snacks to keep in the frige or would I be better off stopping at GOODINGS (or using their online form to order food) Im guessing the answer will be POR supplies expensive....

ALSO is it possible to buy an umbrella stroller in the General store at POR?????

Thanks

 

[freakylick]

kimbac3…as much as I hate to deter anyone from staying at this wonderful resort, I think you may want to try your alternate plans. I stayed in the room with just my wife and I…we like to spread out a little and found this room to be just the right size. The rooms have a 4 drawer entertainment/dresser unit. A small shelf with 4 hooks and another shelf in the bathroom that had some extra supplies (towels, blankets, coffee). Additionally there is a decent size table with two chairs and a small bench. That’s all that you have for storage/shelf space. Other than that, it is the two beds and the trundle. With the trundle stored, you only have one bed to store things underneath. When the trundle is out, there is little room for movement. On top of all of that, you only have one shower for your entire family. I am not saying that staying here with 5 people is impossible, but with 2 adults and 3 slightly older kids, it will be very cramped and could get frustrating.

Mikkiwikki…I am not sure what you mean by breakfast supplies, but I don’t specifically recall seeing them. I do remember a very small refrigerated section and a small “pharmacy” section…everything in those sections was grossly overpriced, but that will be the case at all resorts. There was definitely some candy and snack items though. There is also a small selection of snacks at the food court (chips, Mickey rice treats, danishes, etc...). If you have a vehicle and can get to a grocery store, I would try that option. I don’t think they had stroller umbrella’s.

 

[kmkja1]

We are staying offsite this year but we would like to stay onsite next year. We were considering 2 rooms at all stars or Pop but then I found out about the trundle beds here. Do you think it would be too tight in the room with me, Dh, DD14, DS11, DD8 (ages they will be next year) ? My soon to be 8yr old is little..heck so is my soon to be 11 yr old!! I'm just worried there won't be enough room for all our stuff - for 10 days.
Anyone have any thoughts about this?
Thanks in advance,
Kimba aw:

We stayed with DD9, DS8 & DD7 for 8 days and we were fine. There is not much extra room and you do have to schedule shower time but it was not a problem. It depends on what you want out of your room. Most of the time we were in the room we were asleep.

 

[kimbac3]

Ok --- so here's a question. I'm planning on visiting this resort when we go in a few weeks (eat in the food court,look around,just check it out some). Do you think they would let me view one of the rooms with the trundle bed? If I asked really nice at guest services. Like a quick tour type of thing. That would be the best idea. I'd hate to get there and have everyone getting on each others nerves..and toes!
What do you think?
Kimba aw:

 

[kmkja1]

Not to sure, someone else might know. I'm sure you can call down there and ask them. If you are anything like us you will spend the majority of your time out of the room. Good Luck!

 

[freakylick]

kimbac3…
I am not sure that they would do that for you. I don’t think the folks at guest services can leave their posts like that for that amount of time, so they would have to call someone from maintenance/grounds or housekeeping to show you a room and that just seems a little far-fetched. But who knows, they do go out of their way to please customers, so it certainly couldn’t hurt to ask…the worst that can happen is they say no.

Another idea, if you have the courage to do this, is to ask a guest if they would let you see their room….maybe ask someone on the bus ride over to the resort. Or another possibility would be to just walk the grounds of the AB section and if you stumble upon a maintenance person or housekeeper that is in a room, you can just ask them if you could peak into a room (hopefully they don’t let you into an occupied room, but rather show you a room that is vacant at the time.) Good luck and enjoy your trip.

 

[mikkiwikki]

Beds movable?

Heres my question - I plan on having DS sleep in one of the double beds.
He is accustomed to his bed being pushed up next to wall. I thought I might try this...but then thought...are the beds movable?

Think Alligator Bayou.

Thanks for any ideas.

 

[mikkiwikki]

bump!