just back from POR -ZERO transportation problems!

[glass slipper girl]

My family and I are just back from a week at POR. After reading all of the reports of awful transportation issues, I tried every day for 2 weeks to change ot POFQ. They had rack rate availability but no availability with the code we used. Had our plane not sat on the runway for 2 hours before takeoff making us late arriving and absolutely starving, I would have asked if we could switch at check in. As it was, everyone was starving so we just wanted to check in, get our DDP cards and EAT so we said we would try POR and ask to switch the next day if it was an issue. I'm happy to say it was NOT an issue. We were in Magnolia Terrace. We walked to the main bus stop in the mornings since "our" stop was the last in the POR loop. I can't recall a time where we wouldn't have been able to get on at "our" stop, but we may have had to stand if we had done that. As it was, we always had seats. We waited once for about 15 minutes for a bus but that was at the end of Evening EMH at Epcot so it was "mass exodus" time. We got there just as a bus was leaving. Two buses came about 15 minutes later and when they pulled away, the line was clear. Other than that, our longest wait was 7 minutes. We always had a seat, at park closing there were long lines at the parks to go back but most of the time 2 buses would pull up together so the lines emptied quickly. If they weren't together, they were just minutes apart and still cleared the lines.

I went expecting the worst and was pleasantly surprised!

Beyond transportation...the resort was lovely, the beds very comfy and cast members friendly. I'm a deluxe girl and DH is right there with me. This was our first stay at a moderate. We both left saying we'd do it again if need be. Right now with young kids (7, 5 and 1), the increased cost of a deluxe is worth it to us for the convenience but we wouldn't hesitate to stay at POR again! DH is 6'4" and I'm 5'11" so the full size bed thing is our biggest issue with a mod. DH has to sleep catty-corner or his feet hang off. We ended up bringing ready beds for our older kids to sleep on and we each had a bed to ourselves. The baby shared with one of us (we took turns sharing a bed with him). The ready bed thing worked out well for us. The kids slept on them and we just stood them in the corner during the day. Once DS(1) gets older, we'll need 2 rooms though. Even the trundle rooms would be too small for our family.

Overall, we were impressed with POR! I'm sure we'll be back again.

 

[Trekker]

Glad you had a great trip! Welcome home - Merry Christmas!

 

[Pumba's Dad]

We found the bus system to be much more manageable this time. It was a lot better then our trip in september.

My only problem this trip was I went to get an account standing to see how much DW and kids had spent and noticed a different room rate. When I asked, the CM said it was a holiday rate increase. So I showed them the booking sheet where it had the one rate the entire stay. Made resessies via CRO and I printed out the copy they sent me. Anyway after 30 minutes of verification I guess, they honored the standard rate I had.

I'll post some pictures later this evening.