Just back from a 10 night stay POR

[SGMCO]

We just returned from our stay at POR ( 9-15-9-23)
and was expecting the bus system to be worse than it turned out to be.
Sure there was plenty of people standing but it seemed to run smoothly.
As one bus would fill another bus would come in,
I did not think that it was bad at all. Everyone we ran into was very nice, even the CMs.
I saw more busses for POR than some other resorts because we were
eating at AKL one Evening and waited for 30 minites or more in DTD for a bus for that resort.
By then we had seen 3 POR busses come and go (this was in a heavy downpour rainstorm).
That night I wish that I was getting on the POR bus back to the resort, the poor people at AKL.
We also waited around 30 minites or more for a bus to the Contemporary Resort and
also saw several busses come and go for POR.
I think the Bus System worked very well compared to other resorts.
We loved POR and I think that because it is a resort that can accomedate larger Families
that may be why there are more people staying there.
Half the Bus was filled with small children and stollers.
We loved our Visit and will be returning there next September.
Whenever we had arrived at POR my DH thought we had upgraded to a Deluxe Resort
since we had stayed at CSR last year, he couldn't believe it was a MOD. DH really was impressed on the Beauty of POR.
It's all in your prospective.
Also whenever we were there POR did not share any busses with POFQ,
well not any busses we rode and we went everywhere.
I do not remember making any stops at POFQ, unless they were dropped off last.

 

[zaztooe]

If you want to stay at FQ, I wouldn't let the buses sway you from doing so. French Quarter is picked up first and dropped off first. So in the a.m., you won't have to worry, your one and only stop is first. At night, they don't always share but any resort, at park closing will have a packed stop and possible waits for other buses once the departing one is full. And at night, FQ is also dropped off first which is nice.

Not necessarily true!! We were at POR from the 12th to the 17th. Midafternoon on the 12th it took 45 minutes for a MK bus to arrive at the 2nd POR stop.......THere were 2 buses for each of the other parks.

As for FQ being 1st. That's laughable! I know it is true some of the time but on the 13th, the FQ stop seemed to be forgotten. We walked over from POR to have breakfast(my DH wanted Beniges(sp??). We tried, and I say tried, to get the bus from FQ to MK.......one never came for over an hour and y the time it did there we enough people waiting to get on for 2 buses. THat's with out factoring in the scooter that came up right before the bus finally arrived. It was horrible. There were 3 to 4 buses for each of the other parks come through and people were starting to get testy! One woman went up to a driver for a bus going to another park and told him there was a serious problem and he had no response. Just I'll let them know when I get to the next depot.

We couldn't get on the bus so we opted to go to Epcot and use the monorail system to get to MK. We went to the bus stop at 9:30 and didn't get to the MK until 11:30! What a terrible waste of the morning. Not to mention waiting in the heat, feeling like we were missing out on everything.

And don't even get me started on the Magical Express and bell services at POR......we lost a whole evening our 1st night!

Never Never again will we stay at POR. And we too are a family of 5 that doesn't have much choice. But we will be at Bonnet Creek with a rental car next time. We can save more than enough for a rental car by staying there!! Add to that it's brand new.

Just my 2 cents

 

[Amy&Dan]

Not necessarily true!! We were at POR from the 12th to the 17th. Midafternoon on the 12th it took 45 minutes for a MK bus to arrive at the 2nd POR stop.......THere were 2 buses for each of the other parks.

As for FQ being 1st. That's laughable! I know it is true some of the time but on the 13th, the FQ stop seemed to be forgotten. We walked over from POR to have breakfast(my DH wanted Beniges(sp??). We tried, and I say tried, to get the bus from FQ to MK.......one never came for over an hour and y the time it did there we enough people waiting to get on for 2 buses. THat's with out factoring in the scooter that came up right before the bus finally arrived. It was horrible. There were 3 to 4 buses for each of the other parks come through and people were starting to get testy! One woman went up to a driver for a bus going to another park and told him there was a serious problem and he had no response. Just I'll let them know when I get to the next depot.

We couldn't get on the bus so we opted to go to Epcot and use the monorail system to get to MK. We went to the bus stop at 9:30 and didn't get to the MK until 11:30! What a terrible waste of the morning. Not to mention waiting in the heat, feeling like we were missing out on everything.

And don't even get me started on the Magical Express and bell services at POR......we lost a whole evening our 1st night!

Never Never again will we stay at POR. And we too are a family of 5 that doesn't have much choice. But we will be at Bonnet Creek with a rental car next time. We can save more than enough for a rental car by staying there!! Add to that it's brand new.

Just my 2 cents

Okay, let me clarify what I was saying, since you have quoted me and given the impression I don't know what I am talking about.

I said it should not take longer than 20 minutes to reach a park once the BUS HAS LEFT THE LAST STOP. Not that it won't ever take longer than 20 minutes to wait for a bus, then get to the park. Yeah, you can definitely wait 45 minutes at the stop to get on a bus, and you can do that at any resort. Its a crapshoot. And I know its frustrating. In my experience in eight onsite trips its been rare that I have waiten longer than 20 minutes, but it has happened. They say buses come every 20 minutes, which is not 100% since mixups clearly do happen.

As for being "laughable" that POFQ is picked up first, that's just a fact. When the two Port Orleans resorts share buses, POFQ is always picked up and dropped off first. The day you waited, that had nothing to do with whether or not POFQ was being picked up first. But rather that POFQ was not being picked up in a reasonable time for the park you were wanting to go to. It may have been that POR was also full of guests waiting to go to the MK, or maybe they got their own bus and weren't waiting. There is never any set way to figure out when they will share or not share.

I am sorry you had such a lousy experience. But I think you got unlucky and that your problem was not as much of an issue with bus sharing (which is what this theard is addressing) as with your overall WDW resort experience. It happens unfortunately, I hope you enjoy your trip more. I guess there is no where to go but up!

 

[7nqb00]

That's terrible and sounds like a horrible bus situation.

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm going to be very curious to see what happens when free dining ends. I really think there are so many more people at WDW because of the free dining. Now, you would think that Disney would put more staff on, but that's not always the case.
I've stayed at POR three times to date. One time FQ wasn't even open. No stopping there, which was nice. All I can say is that if you are using one of the outer bus stops, and you can't get a seat, then walk over to the main stop...you will be more likely to get seated when using that stop. That's what we do...unless our room is waaay to the rear of the resort, which it has been in the past.
Buy more buses, hire more drivers? Well, I guess they could. But, it would have to be paid for somehow...so, either park passes or room rates will go up. Also, it's only at specific times that this is an issue....before park opening and then at park closing. If you plan accordingly, you can get the best use out of the buses, but you may find yourself standing around, waiting for the park to open for longer than usual. Those that hop on early buses get seats. But, if you wait until 45 mins before the park opens, then you are going to find crowded buses. At park closing? Either hang out at the park for an extra half hour or so, or leave half an hour before the park closes for the night.
Convenient? No, probably not, but it does work.
I still think that Disney does an incredible job moving a huge number of people, all over that area, in a timely fashion.

 

[LovintheLodge]

We plan on renting a car and will probably only use buses for MK and take the boat to DTD. Anywhere else in the "world", we will drive.

I think that's a great idea. You can find some great rates. We rented a car for our trip in Aug/Sep 2005 and stayed at the WL. We always took the boat or bus to MK (best bet since they take you directly to the entrance and not the TTC). A car is also a great option when dining at other resorts in WDW since there's no direct resort to resort buses, and travel time is reduced since you don't need to transfer between buses. We also spent 2 days at US/IOA. I know many people don't want to drive while on vacation and I can totally understand, but having this flexibility worked out great for my family.

 

[SGMCO]

I still think that it is funny how we were there at the same time at OP
9-15 thru 9-23 and did not find the busses to be bad.
It's all in your outlook!
We were able to get to our destination and back in good time
with no problems.

 

[mickeymousemom]

As I said before, we've stayed at POR the last few years and never had a problem with the bus stops(not enough to gripe about anyway).

To each his own, but to us, staying onsite and driving is sacrilege. Riding the busses and monorail is all part of the Disney experience for us and I wouldn't have it any other way!!

 

[wweman]

Sorry that your experience with the buses was terrible. We didn't have that bad a time with the transportation during our stay last year.

 

[tcp0421]

I was also there Sept 10-18. Yes at times the buses were crowded, but not anymore crowded then ASMO last year. This year we had to stand once at night coming back from Magic Kingdom at closing. Last yeat there was a few times we had to stand. I do think it would be better if POR and FQ had seperate buses. I think it is a pain when coming back from the parks to stop at FQ. All we wanted to do is just get back to our to crash. POR is a awsome resort, very, very pretty!

 

[annabelle26]

I was also there Sept 10-18. Yes at times the buses were crowded, but not anymore crowded then ASMO last year. This year we had to stand once at night coming back from Magic Kingdom at closing. Last yeat there was a few times we had to stand. I do think it would be better if POR and FQ had seperate buses. I think it is a pain when coming back from the parks to stop at FQ. All we wanted to do is just get back to our to crash. POR is a awsome resort, very, very pretty!

All resorts that share buses are in the same position, especially during a busy time of year. That's the issue.

 

[DONALD38]

Sorry it took so long to get back with a reply. This was our first stay at POR. Yes we read the good and the bad reports for this resort, but you don't know until you experience it for yourself. The grounds were very nice and our room was nice. We had a room in the mansions which was not a long hike to the front desk, general store, food court, pools and the bus stop.
The first day we checked out the POR and took a boat to DTD to catch a bus to AKL to eat at Boma. AKL and Boma was great as usual. We took a bus back to DTD Market Place. Then the bus back to POR. Let me say it's nice when the boats a running from DTD.

The next day is when the busses started getting rediculous. We were going to Epcot. When the bus showed up at POR South Depot the buses were already mostly full from POFQ guests. Now with POR South Depot filled with people going to Epcot, not many were going to fit. Also this is when the cutting in front of others thing was happening just to board the bus. I was happy to see though when my DW and 2 year old son boarded the bus that each trip there was another nice guest giving up their seat to allow them to sit. I always gave up a seat for a child or a mother and a child this whole trip. It was amazing the number of men and younger adults that don't give their seats and watch a child struggle to stand while a bus is in motion. Later we had reservations at the Cont. Resort for dinner. This was the first night for MNSSHP. We felt bad because it rained like cats and dogs for hours. We took a bus back to DTD to get a bus back to POR. Well the bus from Contemporary was leaking on both sides to where everyone was sitting away from the windows. At DTD Marketplace when we arrived, by the way it was still coming down hard, the bus station for POR was filled. There was a bus in front of it but it broke down filled with people. Due to this bus breaking down none of the other buses would pull forward to pick up people waiting. I assisted a handicaped person getting off the broken down bus with a umbrella when finally another bus pulled up along side of the broken one. Do you know people that were on the broken down bus did not get in the next bus because of people rushing to get on, leaving the handicap person waiting longer. Another man irritated as much as I was borrowed my umbrella to approach a bus waiting 35 feet away. In 4 iches of water this man walked to the bus 35 feet away to ask the driver to pull forward to pick peaple up. Do you know this driver would not open his door and treated this guy as if he going to busjack him. After over an hour and a half we finally returned back to our resort. I will be back with more trip news later.....

 

[Alicnwondrln]

i'm a deluxe girl but really would love to stay at pofq because it looks like such a cute fun resort, but i don't think i ever will due to the horrible bus situation. why can't disney give fq their own buses?

me to. We always stay deluxe but I would like to stay at POFQ the rooms look cute and the grounds very nice but the buses were an issue for us.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

Sorry it took so long to get back with a reply. This was our first stay at POR. Yes we read the good and the bad reports for this resort, but you don't know until you experience it for yourself. The grounds were very nice and our room was nice. We had a room in the mansions which was not a long hike to the front desk, general store, food court, pools and the bus stop.
The first day we checked out the POR and took a boat to DTD to catch a bus to AKL to eat at Boma. AKL and Boma was great as usual. We took a bus back to DTD Market Place. Then the bus back to POR. Let me say it's nice when the boats a running from DTD.

The next day is when the busses started getting rediculous. We were going to Epcot. When the bus showed up at POR South Depot the buses were already mostly full from POFQ guests. Now with POR South Depot filled with people going to Epcot, not many were going to fit. Also this is when the cutting in front of others thing was happening just to board the bus. I was happy to see though when my DW and 2 year old son boarded the bus that each trip there was another nice guest giving up their seat to allow them to sit. I always gave up a seat for a child or a mother and a child this whole trip. It was amazing the number of men and younger adults that don't give their seats and watch a child struggle to stand while a bus is in motion. Later we had reservations at the Cont. Resort for dinner. This was the first night for MNSSHP. We felt bad because it rained like cats and dogs for hours. We took a bus back to DTD to get a bus back to POR. Well the bus from Contemporary was leaking on both sides to where everyone was sitting away from the windows. At DTD Marketplace when we arrived, by the way it was still coming down hard, the bus station for POR was filled. There was a bus in front of it but it broke down filled with people. Due to this bus breaking down none of the other buses would pull forward to pick up people waiting. I assisted a handicaped person getting off the broken down bus with a umbrella when finally another bus pulled up along side of the broken one. Do you know people that were on the broken down bus did not get in the next bus because of people rushing to get on, leaving the handicap person waiting longer. Another man irritated as much as I was borrowed my umbrella to approach a bus waiting 35 feet away. In 4 iches of water this man walked to the bus 35 feet away to ask the driver to pull forward to pick peaple up. Do you know this driver would not open his door and treated this guy as if he going to busjack him. After over an hour and a half we finally returned back to our resort. I will be back with more trip news later.....

thats to bad

 

[Lilolvr]

Sorry it took so long to get back with a reply. This was our first stay at POR. Yes we read the good and the bad reports for this resort, but you don't know until you experience it for yourself. The grounds were very nice and our room was nice. We had a room in the mansions which was not a long hike to the front desk, general store, food court, pools and the bus stop.
The first day we checked out the POR and took a boat to DTD to catch a bus to AKL to eat at Boma. AKL and Boma was great as usual. We took a bus back to DTD Market Place. Then the bus back to POR. Let me say it's nice when the boats a running from DTD.

The next day is when the busses started getting rediculous. We were going to Epcot. When the bus showed up at POR South Depot the buses were already mostly full from POFQ guests. Now with POR South Depot filled with people going to Epcot, not many were going to fit. Also this is when the cutting in front of others thing was happening just to board the bus. I was happy to see though when my DW and 2 year old son boarded the bus that each trip there was another nice guest giving up their seat to allow them to sit. I always gave up a seat for a child or a mother and a child this whole trip. It was amazing the number of men and younger adults that don't give their seats and watch a child struggle to stand while a bus is in motion. Later we had reservations at the Cont. Resort for dinner. This was the first night for MNSSHP. We felt bad because it rained like cats and dogs for hours. We took a bus back to DTD to get a bus back to POR. Well the bus from Contemporary was leaking on both sides to where everyone was sitting away from the windows. At DTD Marketplace when we arrived, by the way it was still coming down hard, the bus station for POR was filled. There was a bus in front of it but it broke down filled with people. Due to this bus breaking down none of the other buses would pull forward to pick up people waiting. I assisted a handicaped person getting off the broken down bus with a umbrella when finally another bus pulled up along side of the broken one. Do you know people that were on the broken down bus did not get in the next bus because of people rushing to get on, leaving the handicap person waiting longer. Another man irritated as much as I was borrowed my umbrella to approach a bus waiting 35 feet away. In 4 iches of water this man walked to the bus 35 feet away to ask the driver to pull forward to pick peaple up. Do you know this driver would not open his door and treated this guy as if he going to busjack him. After over an hour and a half we finally returned back to our resort. I will be back with more trip news later.....

That's ridiculous!

 

[Lilolvr]

All resorts that share buses are in the same position, especially during a busy time of year. That's the issue.

I agree, I posted that on another thread. September being free dining month has been popular for WDW. I'm sure that sharing buses is a problem for any resort that does it when the resorts are crowded. That's why I try to stay at the resorts that don't share. One less thing to worry about while on vacation.

 

[DRRluvsWDW]

I'm staying at POFQ Oct 6 to 13...and I'm sooo looking forward to it. (I almost cried when it wasn't available, but was able to change my booking later on).

Anyways...I knew about the buses thing and that FQ gets picked up first, but it means longer on the bus itself. So any advice for fun ways to spend the time on the bus? Does anyone know approximately how long the ride is? It's just me and my boyfriend going (a gift to me )...and my first time EVER to Disney and I want every moment to be Disneyful. Any thoughts or ideas...?

Thanks

Write postcards, journal, review the plan for the day.

 

[Lilolvr]

Write postcards, journal, review the plan for the day.

Plan where you will have dinner and what you want to try. You can get menus on allearsnet.com.

 

[bosox57]

We're planning a trip to WDW in 2008 and was thinking about Port Orleans. The reviews seem good with the exception of the bus system. What would be a good building location for catching the bus in the morning?

 

[dparksfan]

In July 1993, we stayed at POR for our honeymoon (it's now POFQ I guess), and we were the first bus, then the bus would continue on to Dixie Landings (now Riverside), and the stops would be full, and we would either let on a couple people, or completely bypass the overflowing bus stop! My DH and I both thought that Riverside was a beautiful resort but would never stay there the way the bus was set up. POFQ was ALWAYS first! I don't get it. Disney fixes issues, why is this still after so many years an issue! I've been thinking of staying at Riverside for a few days before our cruise next year because I saw pics on these boards and I really like the looks of the place. But now I'm reading they haven't fixed the issue that I saw 14 years ago!!Why?