It's The Port Orleans FAQ Thread!!!

[rkmassa]

Another vote for Magnolia Terrace. The bridge right by the mansion made the trip to the main pool and food court so quick. We have stayed there twice, and we continue to request that one.

 

[sarha]

Thank you for the map and for affirming that Magnolia Terrace is a good location.
Do you know what kind of shape the rooms are, have they been refurbished lately?
Also, has anyone stayed in buildings that used to be smoking allowed. If so, can you tell me if you noticed any smoking smell? My DD is allergic to smoke.

 

[quiltymom]

We stayed in Parterre Place, the "wing" building that's closest to Oak Manor. It took us 5 minutes to walk anywhere, more if the kids were dragging or if we stopped to look at something. We were in the back (garden view) and were very close to the quiet pool, where the laundry was.

Our walk to the main bus stop wasn't bad (it was the only one we used) - we just crossed the closest bridge and walked in front of the main building.

 

[susan0326]

On our next trip, we will be checking in earlier than our normal 3:00 - 6:00 pm. Hopefully, it will be around 10:00 am. I know the room won't be ready, but we want to go ahead and get our tickets, etc. Has anyone here ever checked in early at POR? Do we take our luggage in and they will deliver it automatically to our room or do we have to call back? Something I read said you have to call back to see if your room is ready.

Also, last year we took the new Daniel Webster Western Beltway (SR 429) off of I-75 to skip the whole I-4 adventure. It was really awesome and took you right in the back side of Animal Kingdom at the Western Way exit. It saved about 30 minutes of travel time and we got beautiful views of the various Disney icons along the way (Mt Everest, Tree of Life, Epcot ball, etc.)

I was planning on taking this way again and mapquest shows another exit off 429 that takes you to 535 > Winter Garden Vineland Rd > Vista Blvd to Bonnet Creek. It looks like an even shorter route because you come into POR from the top instead of going further down and cutting across. Has anyone used either of these routes off of 429?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Dizneydaz]

We stayed in Bldg. 14, first floor, corner room (2 windows!) facing the lake. Great Location to food court and pool. Easy parking for rental vehicle which we took to all parks.

 

[lucky978]

Just arrived home from our 7 night stay at Riverside (2/19-2/26). We loved the resort. It was beautiful. I had originally requested to stay in the mansions as we had previously stayed in Aligator Bayou and didn't like it.

When I checked in on 2/19 around 10:30pm I was given room 1844 - building 18 in Aligator Bayou. I asked to be moved to a room in the mansions section and was told that we could move the next day if we wanted, but they were not able to change my room assignment that night. I decided we would try it and see what we thought before deciding.

We arrived at building 18 and realized we were only 2 bldgs away from the "main" building where the foodcourt/lobby/store is and very close to the bus stop. We loved our location. In fact, after wandering around the resort for a bit one day I've decided that although the mansions look beautiful, I think it would have been too far for us. We really liked the convenience of bldg. 18.

Our trip was great, with the exception of DH getting sick and not being able to participate in everything we had planned. I think he caught something on the plane on the flight down and just hasn't been able to kick it yet. He has a doctors appt. at 4:15pm today. Poor guy.

Here is what we did:

Day 1 - Magic Kingdom/Epcot (lunch at Crystal Palace - dinner in "Mexico" counter service)
Day 2 - Busch Gardens
Day 3 - Discovery Cove (dinner at Spoodles)
Day 4 - Relax day - breakfast at O'Hana's boat to DTD (dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express)
Day 5 - Epcot/Magic Kingdom (luch in UK at Epcot - dinner at Casey's in MK)
Day 6 - Typhoon Lagoon
Day 7 - Fly home

Mousekeeping was great - CastMembers were great - pool was warm - weather was great. My only one complaint would be the night we left Epcot after the fireworks - the line for the POR bus was HUGE (much bigger than the other resort busses). I don't understand why. We waited about 10 minutes and no bus showed up. We figured we had about 1 1/2 wait before we got on the bus. We ended up taking a cab which was $14 (plus tip). Money well spent. That was our only issue the entire trip.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I found this thread to be a great source of information in planning my trip and would be glad to answer any questions.

 

[Lou-Ann]

I wonder why thry could not see the long wait for that resort and add more busses. Did you go to the front desk when you got back and ask??? They need to be aware of this problem so that it does not become a habit for them.

 

[HIHOmom]

Just arrived home from our 7 night stay at Riverside (2/19-2/26). We loved the resort. It was beautiful. I had originally requested to stay in the mansions as we had previously stayed in Aligator Bayou and didn't like it.

When I checked in on 2/19 around 10:30pm I was given room 1844 - building 18 in Aligator Bayou. I asked to be moved to a room in the mansions section and was told that we could move the next day if we wanted, but they were not able to change my room assignment that night. I decided we would try it and see what we thought before deciding.

We arrived at building 18 and realized we were only 2 bldgs away from the "main" building where the foodcourt/lobby/store is and very close to the bus stop. We loved our location. In fact, after wandering around the resort for a bit one day I've decided that although the mansions look beautiful, I think it would have been too far for us. We really liked the convenience of bldg. 18.

Our trip was great, with the exception of DH getting sick and not being able to participate in everything we had planned. I think he caught something on the plane on the flight down and just hasn't been able to kick it yet. He has a doctors appt. at 4:15pm today. Poor guy.

Here is what we did:

Day 1 - Magic Kingdom/Epcot (lunch at Crystal Palace - dinner in "Mexico" counter service)
Day 2 - Busch Gardens
Day 3 - Discovery Cove (dinner at Spoodles)
Day 4 - Relax day - breakfast at O'Hana's boat to DTD (dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express)
Day 5 - Epcot/Magic Kingdom (luch in UK at Epcot - dinner at Casey's in MK)
Day 6 - Typhoon Lagoon
Day 7 - Fly home

Mousekeeping was great - CastMembers were great - pool was warm - weather was great. My only one complaint would be the night we left Epcot after the fireworks - the line for the POR bus was HUGE (much bigger than the other resort busses). I don't understand why. We waited about 10 minutes and no bus showed up. We figured we had about 1 1/2 wait before we got on the bus. We ended up taking a cab which was $14 (plus tip). Money well spent. That was our only issue the entire trip.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I found this thread to be a great source of information in planning my trip and would be glad to answer any questions.

Too bad about the bus. That's probably the only one thing I'm a little worried about. I've heard some negative stories. Then again, I'll be in Disney and plan to not let anything take away from the magic. I'm glad you liked your room. I've actually requested either bldg. 18 or 14 in Alligator Bayou for our first family trip to WDW in May. I know there are no guarantees but we'll see what happens. Did you have a trundle bed?

 

[DisneyDad in PA]

I tried using the search feature to no avail. Just curious, is there a particular order that the bus follows for the bus stops?

 

[lucky978]

Too bad about the bus. That's probably the only one thing I'm a little worried about. I've heard some negative stories. Then again, I'll be in Disney and plan to not let anything take away from the magic. I'm glad you liked your room. I've actually requested either bldg. 18 or 14 in Alligator Bayou for our first family trip to WDW in May. I know there are no guarantees but we'll see what happens. Did you have a trundle bed?

Yes - we lucked out and had a trundle bed. I hadn't put that on my original room request, but since DH was sick - I was glad to have it. Nobody wanted to get too close to him...

 

[lucky978]

I wonder why thry could not see the long wait for that resort and add more busses. Did you go to the front desk when you got back and ask??? They need to be aware of this problem so that it does not become a habit for them.

Actually, the night we were checking into the hotel there was a couple in front of me that were there complaining about the bus situation. The man claimed he had wasted a total of 4 hrs. the entire day waiting for busses and was demanding to speak to the hotel manager. The woman at the desk was offering to have a transportation manager contact him in his room, to which he replied, "What is he going to do for me? I want the hotel manager to contact me so that I can get some compensation for my wasted time". Now, I thought this was a bit extreme. I mean - if you have a problem with transportation - wouldn't you want to speak to a transportation manager. I just brushed it of as him being a jerk looking for something free.

But to answer your question, no - we were so exhausted that day we didn't complain. We probably should have, though. But it was the only time we had a real long wait for any bus, so I didn't want to make a big stink about it. Maybe I'll shoot them a quick email.

 

[lucky978]

I tried using the search feature to no avail. Just curious, is there a particular order that the bus follows for the bus stops?

Most of the busses we got on started at the South stop, then went West, North and East. Same with the return trip.

Only once was it different, on the way home from Typhoon Lagoon and they went from West, North, East, POFQ and then South. Very strange.

 

[DisneyDad in PA]

Thanks Lucky!!

 

[minniekissedme]

On our next trip, we will be checking in earlier than our normal 3:00 - 6:00 pm. Hopefully, it will be around 10:00 am. I know the room won't be ready, but we want to go ahead and get our tickets, etc. Has anyone here ever checked in early at POR? Do we take our luggage in and they will deliver it automatically to our room or do we have to call back? Something I read said you have to call back to see if your room is ready.

We've been there twice (Jan and Feb) and arrived before noon each time. Our room was ready both times so I'd hold out hope that you get lucky. We've flown both times so had no control over luggage.

 

[minniekissedme]

My only one complaint would be the night we left Epcot after the fireworks - the line for the POR bus was HUGE (much bigger than the other resort busses). I don't understand why. We waited about 10 minutes and no bus showed up. We figured we had about 1 1/2 wait before we got on the bus. We ended up taking a cab which was $14 (plus tip). Money well spent. That was our only issue the entire trip.

I have to say during our stay, 2/2-2/9, we had the extra buses serving POR at all of the parks at closing. One nite POR was serviced by at least 8 buses before some of the other resorts saw one. I guess we got lucky and the "eye in the sky" had night vision goggles...

 

[Twilight Terror]

Actually, the night we were checking into the hotel there was a couple in front of me that were there complaining about the bus situation. The man claimed he had wasted a total of 4 hrs. the entire day waiting for busses and was demanding to speak to the hotel manager. The woman at the desk was offering to have a transportation manager contact him in his room, to which he replied, "What is he going to do for me? I want the hotel manager to contact me so that I can get some compensation for my wasted time". Now, I thought this was a bit extreme. I mean - if you have a problem with transportation - wouldn't you want to speak to a transportation manager. I just brushed it of as him being a jerk looking for something free.

He was so speaking to the wrong person. Every time we were waiting for a bus for Pop last year, there were at least 8 POR buses, so I'm not concerned! Not after waiting for Pop buses! But we had an issue with TL and Pop buses in that we were kept waiting in torrential rain for over 1hour and a half. When we got to the hotel, mum asked for the manager, and did sort of feel like she was being fobbed off by getting the transportation manager to call.

However, he did call about 30mins later, she explained the situation and he was very apologetic. He said he would investigate what happened, and would send 4 unlimited fastpasses for each of us over to the room. The best thing however, was the fact he gave us his personal office number and told us to call at any time during the rest of our vacation if the buses didn't turn up within a reasonable time. Funnily enough, the buses to TL were very regular the rest of our trip! So it does pay to make these matters known to the right people.

I know this is slightly off-topic, but to anyone that does have issues with the buses, get the hotel to contact the transportation manager and speak to them. They will investigate for you and try to sort things out for the next day.

 

[lucky978]

I know this is slightly off-topic, but to anyone that does have issues with the buses, get the hotel to contact the transportation manager and speak to them. They will investigate for you and try to sort things out for the next day.

Thank you so much! Great to know that they do take this stuff seriously!

 

[FunkyFunBuckets]

Hey was just wondering if anyone was going to POR at the end of sept ???

 

[howdyfrtx]

We are going Sept. 19-27....its seems far away.

 

[Mom2AAA's]

This will be our first time at POR, I thought I read something that said the grey path lead you to the pool/foodcourt ~ does anyone if that is true?