OnlyWhnChasd
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2007
DH and I checked into POR on Wednesday, January 9th around 10:30am. Check in was really fast as there were only a few people in front of us. I would say we were in and out in about 10 minutes. I would gather this is not the norm though because every other morning there were long lines of people waiting to check in.
We ended up getting a courtyard view room in mansions building 85, Magnolia Terrance. This was really a great location as you just had to walk a few steps down the path and over the bridge to the main pool, lobby, restaurant, etc. I'd faxed it a loosely worded room request prior to departing so maybe they were honoring it? Hard to say but I appreciated the room and location!
Our room was very quiet and acceptably clean if you didn't look too close. It doesn't look like they clean the bases of the sinks or the floors very well if ever and the phone/alarm clock/hairdryer were all in need of a swipe with a clorox wipe before I would use them. DH lost his cell phone case and had to hunt around for it and commented that "It looks like Haunted Mansion around here." LOL The bedding was clean though (which is most important to me) and no bugs! The accomodations are very basic but really all you need. We didn't get any towel animals but it was just me and DH and we didn't really want them so it wasn't an issue.
We ate breakfast and dinner once at Boatwrights. Both were fair to good. DH really liked the Filet Mignon. We went to Rivers Roost one night to hear Bob the Piano Guy. He was a lot of fun and people really seemed to get into it. Unfortunately it seemed like he did the same show (more or less) every night so if you catch him once, you're probably good to go. The food court (I forget the name) had a lot of choices and seemed to move the crowds efficiently. DH and I ate breakfast there pretty much every day and usually stopped by for a snack later in the afternoon. Their chocolate chip cookies were really good!
As for the horror stories I heard about POR's bus system... well... they probably deserve the reputation. I will say that for the MOST part the buses ran quickly and smoothly but it was a case of "When they are good they are very, very good and when they are bad they are horrid." We went over to Epcot to catch Illuminations one night and when we came back out to catch the bus the line for PO was so long they'd had to set up the temporary barriers to handle the crowds. PO was the ONLY resort that was backed up like this. It took a good hour to get through the line and that was only after they clued up and started running double buses. Of note is that at the Magic Kingdom there are seperate buses for POR and POFQ. We also used the boat transport to DTD several times and it was great. A very relaxing trip and there always seems to be a boat ready to go.
The grounds of POR (and to be honest, Disney in general) looked a bit like the landscaping crew was on vacation. Lots of overgrown shrubs badly in need of a trim. This in no way detracted from the overall appearance though. POR is a lovely resort for strolling around, especially at night. We never got a chance to do the carriage rides but they were parked out near the back lobby every night. I'm pretty sure we could have walked up and gotten on if we had wanted to.
We never really used any of the pools but they looked very nice. We were going to try the hot tub one night but there were about 50,000 people wedged into it so we passed. It's a very small hot tub for a resort the size of POR! Or maybe it just looked small because there were so many people in it.
Staff-wise everyone was friendly and helpful. We were there for marathon weekend and when I hit the food court at 3:00am for a banana they were smiling so I think that says a lot. I'm not sure I could be smiley at 3:00am! In fact, I don't think I was.
I've only ever stayed deluxe before and I was really worried about downgrading to POR. I have to say though that while it definately isn't a deluxe, the bang for your buck is much higher. Overall we had a very nice stay.
If you have questions, feel free to ask!
We ended up getting a courtyard view room in mansions building 85, Magnolia Terrance. This was really a great location as you just had to walk a few steps down the path and over the bridge to the main pool, lobby, restaurant, etc. I'd faxed it a loosely worded room request prior to departing so maybe they were honoring it? Hard to say but I appreciated the room and location!
Our room was very quiet and acceptably clean if you didn't look too close. It doesn't look like they clean the bases of the sinks or the floors very well if ever and the phone/alarm clock/hairdryer were all in need of a swipe with a clorox wipe before I would use them. DH lost his cell phone case and had to hunt around for it and commented that "It looks like Haunted Mansion around here." LOL The bedding was clean though (which is most important to me) and no bugs! The accomodations are very basic but really all you need. We didn't get any towel animals but it was just me and DH and we didn't really want them so it wasn't an issue.
We ate breakfast and dinner once at Boatwrights. Both were fair to good. DH really liked the Filet Mignon. We went to Rivers Roost one night to hear Bob the Piano Guy. He was a lot of fun and people really seemed to get into it. Unfortunately it seemed like he did the same show (more or less) every night so if you catch him once, you're probably good to go. The food court (I forget the name) had a lot of choices and seemed to move the crowds efficiently. DH and I ate breakfast there pretty much every day and usually stopped by for a snack later in the afternoon. Their chocolate chip cookies were really good!
As for the horror stories I heard about POR's bus system... well... they probably deserve the reputation. I will say that for the MOST part the buses ran quickly and smoothly but it was a case of "When they are good they are very, very good and when they are bad they are horrid." We went over to Epcot to catch Illuminations one night and when we came back out to catch the bus the line for PO was so long they'd had to set up the temporary barriers to handle the crowds. PO was the ONLY resort that was backed up like this. It took a good hour to get through the line and that was only after they clued up and started running double buses. Of note is that at the Magic Kingdom there are seperate buses for POR and POFQ. We also used the boat transport to DTD several times and it was great. A very relaxing trip and there always seems to be a boat ready to go.
The grounds of POR (and to be honest, Disney in general) looked a bit like the landscaping crew was on vacation. Lots of overgrown shrubs badly in need of a trim. This in no way detracted from the overall appearance though. POR is a lovely resort for strolling around, especially at night. We never got a chance to do the carriage rides but they were parked out near the back lobby every night. I'm pretty sure we could have walked up and gotten on if we had wanted to.
We never really used any of the pools but they looked very nice. We were going to try the hot tub one night but there were about 50,000 people wedged into it so we passed. It's a very small hot tub for a resort the size of POR! Or maybe it just looked small because there were so many people in it.
Staff-wise everyone was friendly and helpful. We were there for marathon weekend and when I hit the food court at 3:00am for a banana they were smiling so I think that says a lot. I'm not sure I could be smiley at 3:00am! In fact, I don't think I was.
I've only ever stayed deluxe before and I was really worried about downgrading to POR. I have to say though that while it definately isn't a deluxe, the bang for your buck is much higher. Overall we had a very nice stay.
If you have questions, feel free to ask!
). We've stayed at all levels of resorts at WDW and DH loved this one the most, even above BC which is my favorite! I guess we'll have to battle this one out on the next trip 
Did you run in the marathon?
).
