Just back from POR & have questions

[StephMK]

Happy to answer any questions but have some of my own after our stay.

First of all, it's a beautiful resort! Gorgeous scenery, very quiet, stayed in AB on ground floor which was great for the stroller. The trundle worked great although definitely meant for smaller kids. My oldest took it over but her feet were hanging off the edge. I would have liked it if it popped up so it wouldn't be so close to the floor but she didn't mind. No idea if we had neighbors around us but never heard or saw anyone in our part of the building.

My question is about typical service for the hotel. We waited a looonnng time to check in Friday night w/a huge line waiting & only 4-5 people working at check in. I was told that was not normal but ended up sending hubby to feed the kids it took so long. No explanation from CM but quick checkin when I finally got up front.

Our flight got in at 7 pm - 1 hr late but got on ME, no problem. Didn't get bags til 11pm so note to others - pack bedtime stuff if you have an evening flight!

Anyway, each time I called front desk - it rang many, many times before someone picked up. I tried to find pool hours, looked in my folder where it said call entertainment for hours. Entertainment had nothing on computerized message & person I finally talked to gave me completely incorrect info on hours!

We bought some items to be sent to the room on Tuesday at 1pm, knowing we were checking out Wed 11 AM. CM at park said no problem. Can you see where I am going? Wed AM, no stuff. CM at store got slightly huffy, told me not to send stuff the day before check out, well... ok, but too late for this trip. She said the park CMs know nothing about it. Hmmm, well am I supposed to know when I am given incorrect info? Twice actually in 2 different stores. Anyway, I walked down to the general store & a very nice woman found them in the back for me, ready to go.

I had been told on check in that we could express check out since I gave a CC. I assumed we'd at least have a statement slid under our door before we left. I called, long wait again, & was told, nope we didn't need to come to the desk. So I've never gotten a statement to see what was charged to our room. We also never received instructions from ME about departure so I called about that too.

On a positive note, I talked to ME about departure as they had us leaving POR at 1pm & we had a CM ressie at 11:20. Asked & they were fine w/us changing our pick up to the Contemporary & gave us a 1:25 time. Worked great & made my day to take the kids there before we left & didn't have to rush back to POR.

All in all, the few issues had no effect on our trip, more of a puzzling - is it always this scattered here??? Curious if this is typical? Thanks!

 

[magicaldisney]

We have stayed at and will be staying again at this resort. Some people may not agree, but, YES we have also run into similar problems at this resort. The problems are never major, but definately annoying. Checking in has always been long lines when we have arrived.

We really like the variety that this resort has to offer so we continue to go back. Maybe that's how everyone feels so when people continue to return they don't realize they have any problems.

I'm sure you'll receive posts from people who have never had any problems there. At least I hope you do or it's worse than we think.

 

[nygrl]

we are going to POR next week and i am also arriving late... do you know why it was so crowded at check in so late... i f i understand you correct your flight didnt get in untill 7 so you must not have gotten to the hotel until about 8 so why such a long wait??? i was told by ME to pick up my own luggage and bring it with me on the bus being i am arriving late so we dont have that problem of waiting all night for luggage..was the ME bus crowded at that time??? i hope in spite of these things POR was a good choice.. we usually stay deluxe but are going with a large group this time and didnt have a choice... i hope we wont be dissapointed!!

 

[goofy4tink]

Sadly, I have to agree with you. I love POR. I have met some terrific CMs there, but I have also had the worst service, with attitude, there. THe CMs in the food court almost seem like you are bothering them to cash you out, some CMs at check-in are not very knowledgable...I actually know more than they do!! But, I did have one terrific check-in CM in June. Wish I could remember her name. And the luggage assistence people were wonderful...very helpful since I had some luggage issues (my stuff didn't get transferred from BCV) There is a lot of room for improvement in their attitudes at POR.
As far as the package pick-up goes...I have always been asked when I am checking out when I buy something and then want to have it sent to the resort. I never send anything back to the resort if I am leaving in less than 36 hrs. Sorry you had an issue with that. CMs do seem to give conflicting info at times. Makes our experiences less than magical!!!

 

[LorieR]

Have had a wait at check in all three times at POR, but I have arrived around noon - early check-in - so really can't complain. The worst was when we went in December 2001 when Pop Warner was checking in. Everyone had multiple rooms to check in and it took forever.

Have not found CMs at registers at food court to be unfriendly at all. CMs in Fulton's General Store have always been friendly and helpful. When I wanted to check my park tickets at Guest Relations, though, I did get a CM who seemed like she did not want to be bothered and came up with incorrect information and asked her to recheck them.

Love the resort and are going back for our 30th Anniversary in November. Can't wait! Obviously we love it there!!

Lorie

 

[StephMK]

We loved it there too & the issues aren't big enough to prevent me from going back. The CMs at the food court & general store were nice, just that one had a slight attitude. They were busy when I went down there though.

As far as check in, with ME especially, you'd think they'd have a general idea of how many people & when to expect them & plan accordingly. Who knows, maybe people called off. In any case, there was a long line at 9 pm with a long line behind me once I made it up front. THe CM was sweet & friendly.

The ME bus was not crowded at all, maybe 5 other parties of people? Definitely lots of empty rows.

 

[ls1222]

We just got back too from POR and yes we had similiar problems. Checkin was long as they had only 3 people working. I later was told that we could do the "airline check in" w/o our luggage so after I haul myself up there, I was told we needed to have all our luggage there!! We love this resort and would stay there again but I was disappointed with the lack of "service". Our bell hop thanked us for staying as he said the hotel was at 20% occupancy (this was as of 9/18). Again, these issues are not big enough to make me not go back or effect our trip but I can see where your coming from!!

 

[3princesses4us]

Maybe we just got lucky, but we had almost no problems whatsoever. We did check in around 1 p.m. on a Wednesday but we were second in line and waited about 30 seconds. The cruise desk person was so kind she even called us a cab so we could make Shula's on time for our reservation! The only weird part was when we went to pick up the only park package we had delivered. I was told that since it was a picture (taken of us on Test Track), that would come in last as pictures were always the last to be delivered. Why this is I have no idea but it did show up later. The concierge person even got us last minute ADR's for Garden Grill's character lunch the night before but I think that had more to do with the fact that it was extremely unbusy the week we went. In fact, until the last day I never spoke to anyone working there. We also did not receive a final statement. I just assumed it was because we didn't charge anything. Here's hoping I'm not surprised when my cc statement comes in! Oh! The ME people did have my flight time wrong so I had to call them to correct that the final morning but no problems after I called. All in all, smooth, but keep in mind we went earlier this month when it was one of the slowest weeks of the year...


September '05 POR- our 10th anniversary!
fall '06 looking seriously at the WL & maybe early Dec!

 

[DDBB]

I'll be there in a couple of weeks and was curious about check in. Our problem is that we'll be arriving REALLY early in the AM (we plan to drive from Tampa and do Epcot the same day). MY question is will we be able to check in as early as 7:30? I don't mind if we don't physically have the room that early, just want to get my key/id for tix and use their transportation to epcot. What do you think... is it possible, will it take forever, and will we need to leave 1/2 hr. earlier than expected?

Thanks!
ddbb

 

[GoN2WDW]

We stayed there for a week in July over 4th of July and didn't run into any problems or lines. As a matter of fact I went into the General Store looking for Saltines for my daughter who was sick and the CM took me right over to the food court and went in the back and brought me out a bag of cracker packs and said "Here you go, I hope she feels better soon!" Like any of the resorts, some times you hit good days and some times you don't!

 

[michelewdw]

DDBB, We stayed a POR last December and arrived at about 9am. While our room was not ready they provided us with keys for our room and a phone number to call to find out if our room was ready. That worked great because we to planned on heading to a park and upon returning there was no stopping at the front dest we just headed straight to our room.

Michele

 

[goofy4tink]

Checking in early is often preferable to checking in later!!! Sure, you might not get your room, but the lines are not nearly as long. And the earlier it is, sometimes the more pleasant people are.
I will say that until you have checked out of a resort that was almost completely full, with most of those people trying to leave at the same time..well, you just haven't lived!!! When we left POR on June 26, it seems that all the Pampered Chef people there were leaving at the same time!!! Man, it was crazy!!! The pool guy that came for our luggage that morning was frazzled. He said he had been working since 3 a.m.!!! But, he had a great attitude. Evidently Pampered Chef was having some kind of reward convention trip the same time we were there. I couldn't figure out why I kept seeing all these PC teeshirts everywhere. And a lot of those families were at POR!!! Housekeeping was most likely out straight trying to get all those rooms ready to turn over!!!!

But again, POR is one of my favorite resorts. It was my first WDW resort and I most likely expect to have the same experiences that I had back then in '99. But, that isn't going to happen. For the most part, my time at POR have been wonderful. Can't wait to stay there again!!

 

[Huntava]

Glad to know about POR providing one past guest with a phone number to call and check if their room was ready, plus they were given a key. Family of 10 adults plus kids staying there in November, so this will help us since all of them but us will be flying in, and many will arrive early. Great info!

 

[StephMK]

In case anyone is reading this & planning to go in near future - we loved the West Depot for buses!! Only saw 1-2 other groups at a time & it was the first stop. Yes, we sat on the bus longer but the main depot was always crowded so we were happy to be on & settled.

We stayed in Bldg 28 & it seemed about an equal walk to the main bldg through the food ct. back door as the walk to the west station. Good location if you don't mind not being near a pool.

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

In case anyone is reading this & planning to go in near future - we loved the West Depot for buses!! Only saw 1-2 other groups at a time & it was the first stop. Yes, we sat on the bus longer but the main depot was always crowded so we were happy to be on & settled.

Hi, We will be at POR in Nov. Are you saying that the West Depot gets picked up before the bus stop in front of the lobby?

We stayed at POR in 1999. It was our first onsite stay, so I am nostalgic about it too and am looking forward to going back. I just don't remember all that much about it since it was a split stay.

About the statement that was supposed to be slipped under the door. We did not receive a statement from POLY either. I had to call when I got home and they mailed it out.

Thanks for the report.
Tink

 

[disneyjunkie]

In case anyone is reading this & planning to go in near future - we loved the West Depot for buses!! Only saw 1-2 other groups at a time & it was the first stop. Yes, we sat on the bus longer but the main depot was always crowded so we were happy to be on & settled.

We stayed in Bldg 28 & it seemed about an equal walk to the main bldg through the food ct. back door as the walk to the west station. Good location if you don't mind not being near a pool.

I'm thinking of staying at POR in April. Everything I've read says the first bus stop is near the check in area. The map I saw on All Ears has this area near AB building 14.

Since our trip is during Easter break, I really want a room close to the foodcourts and the first bus stop.

Should I request building 14 or request another area of the resort??

 

[BethC1952]

POR is our favorite resort (so far, anyway). We've never had any problems there at all, but we're just two adults who aren't at all fussy about things. As for the statement...it's always been hanging on our door knob by 6 AM on checkout day.

When we buy things, we never have them sent to the room if we're leaving within two days.

The only problem I've ever had with billing at WDW occurred last December at CBR. They were very nice (great resort, too), and the statement was on our doorknob on checkout day, however, they didn't charge my card until I finally called and asked them why (and that was several weeks after our return). They assured me that they had charged it on the morning that I checked out, but I use a debit card and it was very obvious that the money was still in my account! However, I noticed that they charged it within two days after that. Not a problem for me, because it's my "vacation and fun money" account, and I keep careful track of the money there.

Beth

 

[3princesses4us]

Yes, if you're staying in Alligator Bayou, building 14 is the most convienant to everything. It's also the most requested so be prepared to not get it. We went a few weeks ago during what I read was one of the least busy weeks of the year and still did not get building 14. 15 and 18 are very close by though. We got put in 18 and loved it. Just a few more steps and no smokers anywhere like I had read. The bus stops here are pretty busy though. And being it was the last stop sometimes we had to stand because it was so full already. Pick your poison! :0) I'd still try to request it!


September '05 POR- our 10th anniversary
fall '06 WL

 

[michelewdw]

We stayed in building 14 which is in Alligator Bayou. This building was the closest building to the food court and main building. The 1st bus stop was about a 1 minute walk. It was also relatively close to the main pool and there also was a quiet pool nearby. I honestly would say that nothing was far away from this location.

Michele

 

[stm61]

another vote for bldg 14! We loved it, it was close to the main bldg and a quiet pool, and ole man river pool was also close. It's the first bus stop but it goes to FQ first so you can still end up standing.

We were there 9/9 thru 9/17, actually checked out the 10th and back in the 15th. Check in after ME did take a little while, there were only about 3 cm's and a trainee. Check out both times was quick, as was checking in again on the 15th. Guess they cut back on cm's since the resort was pretty empty that week.