Just back from POR......... Any questions??

[mariamard]

We just returned from 8 days at POR. I liked this resort, but as with any resort there were pros and cons.

We stayed in Alligator Bayou, building 26. Room 2617.Far away from food court, lobby, etc.. But beautiful. I liked our corner room with the extra windows. The room was in excellent condition. I dont think that its been rehabbed yet. But, it looked and smelled fresh and clean. Mousekeeping was AWESOME. Maria was our mousekeeper for most of the week and would set up the kids stuffed animals at the window, or on the bed with a blanket over them(as if they were napping )and she was there every morning as we left. The bugs were very bad near pool and paths. Even with Off on, we all came home with some awful bug bites. The mosqiutos looked like they were on steroids.
The food court had some great selections for all meals. The lines in the AM were terrible. They only had 2-3 registers open each morning instead of opening more, we all waited in line for 15 minutes each day to pay. By the time we sat down, our food was cold. Thats really my only complaint about the food court. The prices were ok but the pizzas, pastas, salads, burgers were all good. Awesome meatloaf and mashed potatoes!!!There were decent kid meals, too. Mac n cheese, pasta.My very picky 5 year old loved it..Ill fill you in on more later......the baby just woke up!!! Any questions??

 

[mariamard]

we liked the pools. The main pool was nice, but very crowded. We liked POFQ's better. Nice water slide and never crowded. The boat ride to Downtown Disney was soooo nice and relaxing . We went twice and loved the boatride instead of the bus. We had some trouble with the busses. We waited 40 minutes on Tue AM at the west depot for a MK bus. All the other theme parks busses came thru 3-4 times each brfore another mk bus did. I understand that its MK, and the popular time in summer, etc. but 40 minutes? The next day, we waited 35 minutes to go to MK at 6 pm at night at the main depot. We finally said forget it and got on the Epcot bus then took the monorail. The driver said that was a "bad day for the disney transportation system". I am not sure what that meant, but no big deal. Coming home from each park each night on the bus, it was great. There was always a bus waiting and if not, it would never be more than 5 minutes. The transportaion at Disney is great. They do a great job of keeping things running smoothly.
The parks were hot and packed(of course!). But fun!The fast passes were great and everyone(CMs) were nice and cheerful despite the heat.
The mansions were being revamped and the big Seeley mattress semis were pulling in the day we were leaving. The manion section was soooooo pretty with the manicured lawns and flowers. I kind of wish we stayed on that side.It was so bright and sunny over there compared to the shade of the bayou. Im not complaining, though.
For those staying at the FQ, you are in for a treat!The rehab left the property looking beautiful!It looks like a brand new property.The buildings are all painted in pretty colors and the grounds are immaculate. They have a nice food court too, but, with no wait. The pool was nice. My dd loved it. The baby pool was clean and near the shade.
POR was soooo big and spread out. I would stay here again, but request a building closer to the main building. We like to use the mugs and its such a pain in the rear to walk 10-15 minutes for a cup of coffee in the morning and then again at night. IMO , of course. Any questions?

Maria

 

[HelloChum]

Thanks for the info Mariamard!

We will be staying in POR AB 10/1-10/10. We were last there in 6/2003 while they were renovating FQ. My kids were disappointed not to be able to try out FQ pool then. Just curious, to get to FQ pool, did you just take DTD boat? Also, any renovations going on in AB??

Many Thanks....

HelloChum

 

[Stini228]

Glad ya had a good time, POR is my favorite resort

 

[TN Traveler]

Hi Maria,

We stayed at POR 5/30-6/4 in AB bldg 28. We also had a corner unit on the bottom floor and really liked it. We arrived at the resort around 10 am so of course our room wasn't ready yet. I thought it took a while to check in but was ok b/c they had 5 or 6 windows open so I know they were trying. We went on over to MK and stayed until it closed. We were incredibly exhausted when we got back and had to find our room and then unload everything. Took awhile to find our room and at first I didn't like it at all. However, after we figured our way around everywhere we really liked it. Loved the ducks, squirrels and rabbits everywhere!!

We thought the food in the food court was excellent. My DDs ages 4 & 8 had pizzas while DD 13 and I had pasta -- both very good. DH had roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and other veggies. He said all was very good too. We're not much on bkft so was great to have the pastries & cereals for kids and I as well as lge bkft for DH.

We never made it over to the main pool b/c we would stay in the parks until they closed and by the time we got back to the resort, had something to eat, it was really late and we were too tired to do anything else! Kids did enjoy the quiet pool near our unit.

Transportation was very good majority of the time. We always walked over to the main depot instead of the West depot. Out of 6 mornings we had to stand up 2 times which wasn't too bad. I had heard alot of stories of how people had to stand up all the time riding back and forth so was expecting the worse. Don't think we ever had to wait more than 15 mins heading out to the parks and I KNOW we didn't coming back to the resort.

Altho our room was always clean and well kept when we came back from the Parks, we never rec'd an animal made from a towel or anything else extra special. B/c I didn't know to expect it, I didn't think anything of it until I came home and read about it on the msg boards. Wonder why some decorate the rooms and some don't?

Overall I was very, very happy w/our accommodations and would certainly stay at POR again. I wish we had more time to enjoy the resort but since it was our first vist to WDW we wanted maximum time in the Parks. Glad you had a good time too.

 

[ellie&mattys mom]

We had blding 15 last year and this year we requested a specific mansions...to see the difference....from looking at the map it looks to be just as close just over the bridge. I hope !!!!

Thanks for the tip on the mattressess...when we were in AB last November we had to have them remove a boxspring that was broken...

 

[emmabelle]

Just curious did either of you guys (Mariamard and TNtraveler) have rooms with trundle beds and if so were you charged for them?

 

[beckmrk04]

I am so glad to hear a wonderful review (which POR usually gets)!! My fiance and I will be spending our honeymoon there and I am so excited to keep hearing all the wonderful things about POR because we have never been there. ANd thanks for the bug warning- I would never have thought of that!

 

[Jennytennis]

Mariamard---We just booked our stay this past Saturday night, for this upcoming Saturday through Wednesday. Leave it my husband to say, "Hey, lets go to Disney next week!". LOL I have 3 children, what building would you recommend for close proximity to the food court and pool(s)? I also would like to know, was there a trundle bed or pool out bed in your room? Thanks for the tip on the bugs, I will make sure that we have our spray with us!

 

[TN Traveler]

Emmabelle--About the trundle beds. Yes we had one and had no problem whatsoever w/it. DD age 12 1/2 slept on it. The intention was for DD age 4 to sleep on it but Heaven forbid the almost 13 and 8 yr old sleep together, look at each other or breathe the same air so oldest opted to sleep in the trundle. She's probably 5 ft, 5ft 1 or so and weighs 85 -90 lbs and had no problem at all. And yes, I did pay for it. I'm a travel agent and just won't cut corners or do anything sneaky. I know some folks have said they don't ask for a trundle for their 3rd child and buy their tickets seperate but I think that's wrong and won't do it. I did the full package w/transfers, on site room, trundle bed extra, and tickets. Probably cost me more than some but it's only $15 a night. For the peace of mind of not worrying like crazy that we wouldn't have the extra bed or would have been caught cheating, it was worth it. Call me chicken I guess!

 

[mariamard]

We did not get charged for the trundle-which was great!!It took me at least 5 days till I figured out where I was. That resort is all winding paths and HUGE!! I would recomend I think 17/18 in the bayou section or the first set of mansions(forgive me...I forgot the number of those buildings. We did take the boat to FQ for the pool and eatery. The walk I did one afternoon on the path-too hot. But very pretty!! Make sure you have a handful of quarters whenever you go to the main building--I forgot to mention they have duck food in a dispenser for .25 and they ate right out of your hands. The ducks that is . Everyday we fed them and we got some great pics of my 5 year old DD. I will download them as soon as I unpack and post some other pics for you guys when I unpack .
Oh, and on the bugs--I got back late Sat night and I still have MASSIVE bugbbites. bring more than off. How about a shield? Iam not kidding. These are huge!

 

[aprilgail2]

Originally posted by mariamard
Oh, and on the bugs--I got back late Sat night and I still have MASSIVE bugbbites. bring more than off. How about a shield? Iam not kidding. These are huge! [/QUOTE

oh boy this scares me now.....is it like that at all the resorts or does something at POR attract them?? We are booked in there in about 17 days and my daughter is allergic to mosquitos!! She wear citronella bracelets on her arms and legs and also gets covered with deep woods off but I am worried now. Once she gets bit by a mosquito in about 24-48 hours we end up either a thte ER or the Dr's office if they are open with her leg blown up and a bad case of cellulitis!! This has been a good summer so far at home, I have kept her inside in the evenings and she has only gotten it twice.....I am very worried about her getting bit there now!!

 

[emmabelle]

Thanks TNTraveler, I only have two children, but my 12 yr. daughter (she's short for her age 4'8", so I imagine she'd fit) and 14 yr son also can't share the same air so I was looking for alternatives. I really haven't decided if we should stay on property or off with a suite. I'd rather stay on. I'd have a better chance of getting my husband to go back at night after a break if we were on property. He's not the Disney freak that I am.

Aprilgal2 - I've never stay in Alligator Bayou, but I have been to Disney four times in July the last couple of years and have never been bitten. AB is themed to feel like you staying in the woods. I would look into different moderates if she's that allergic. I haven't got bitten in the parks or at CBR and we were out at night.

 

[Rikku]

mariamard

We were in POR AB the same dates you were it seems...same building (26...rm 2625) as well. It was our first time staying there and we loved it! We had a trundle which we didn't pay for, I was told there was no charge and I ended up sleeping on it! My two little ones, 2 years and 7 months, slept with my DW. I was comfortable on it actually more so than the normal beds.

We never had transportations issues and the only time we used the west depot was when returning from the parks. We only used the main pool one late evening and the rest of time was spent at the closest quiet pool which served its purpose well.

I know what you're saying about winding paths though. My MiL on two seperate occasions got lost trying to find our building!

The only other trouble we had was being charged for a room fridge we didn't ask for...but they credited us back without questions so I really couldn't complain.

All in all it was a great trip and we're already planing a return visit for the wife and I for our anniversary next year!

 

[sweetheart2576]

Was there a coffee pot in the room or can you request one?

 

[Rikku]

There are coffee pots in every room now.