Just back - POR

[Shannon G]

Returned last night from a 5 night stay at POR with DD 7. Overall we had a great time. Some quick observations:

- Parks weren't too crowded, especially if you stuck around after the late afternoon/ early evening rain showers. After it rained on Sunday, we went back to MK and were able to ride the People Mover, Buzz Lightyear, Tomorrow Land Speedway, Winnie the Pooh and Snow White, all in less than 2hours. Earlier that day we were able to eat lunch at Crystal Palace without an ADR.

- Room: I surprised DD with a Royal Guest Room. She liked the room, and I'm glad we did stayed in one once, but I don't think I'd pay extra for it again - I think that $$ would be better spent on a preferred room for better location.

- DD loved the main pool at POR, and the staff did a great job with the games in the afternoons.

- We had a couple of really great moments: (1) DD got chosen to ring the dinner bell at the Hoop Dee Doo, and we got the best seat in the house - front & center of the stage. (2) As we were headed out of Disney Studios on Tuesday, a Cast Member asked DD if she wanted to meet a couple of characters without any line. She took us to a secluded spot (near guest services, kind of behind that last giftshop before you get to the exit) where she called out Piglet & Donald to visit with DD with no one else around. Very cool.

A few negatives:

- I think the values have much better food courts - particularly the variety in the grab & go area

- Be careful with the hair wraps! DD got a hair wrap at the resort, and just a couple of days later I had to remove it, as I noticed that it must have been done too tight, and was literally ripping her hair out! I did get a refund when I went back & explained what happened, but she now has a bald spot about the size of a raisin on the top of her head! I felt bad for her, as she had been really excited about showing it to her friends at school, but after we took it out she was (understandably) afraid to get it re-done.

- Not all of the arcades have games that give tickets that can be redeemed for prizes. We went to the arcade at the Contemporary before dinner at Chef Mickey's, and DD earned some tickets (which get saved on your arcade card). She still had points left to play with, so we figured we'd visit the arcade at POR one evening and then redeem all of her tickets at once, but when we did we noticed that the games there don't give tickets, and there is no counter to redeem the tickets there. While we were at the Poly our last evening we stopped in their arcade - no tickets there either. We ended up hopping on the monorail and going back to the arcade at CR so that she could cash in her tickets.

 

[tiger4me2]

Thanks for your trip report Sound as if you all had fun. Sorry about your DDs hair wrap. Now I know not to get one !

 

[Paradise18]

We enjoyed POR last year. Ouch about DDs hairwrap!!! I get my DDs hair wrapped at AK. The same girl has done it three times now and there hasn't been any issues. Planning to get it done again on our next trip. That may be a place to go if your DD wants to try again someday.

 

[Gorechick]

What category RR did you book and where did you end up?

 

[disadventurer]

Could you describe what the food court was like at Riverside? What was it about it that you didn't like? We are going in July and would appreciate any info. you would be willing to share!

 

[Shannon G]

I just booked a standard view RGR, and requested Oak Manor which we got. The RGRs are only in Oak Manor & Parterre Place, and Oak Manor is a bit closer to the main pool (though there is a quiet pool located in between Parterre Place and Oak Manor).

I'm not sure I can pinpoint exactly what was missing from the food court, but it was smaller than the food courts at the value resorts. The grab and go area was smaller - I recall the values having a fairly large refrigerator section with a variety of drinks, fruit& veggies, salads, desserts, etc, as well as self-serve baked goods. The refrigerator section at POR was definitely smaller. If you look at the menus for the values vs POR on the Dis, you can see how much more variety there is at the value food courts. It's obvious if you look at pictures of the respective food courts as well.

 

[*Fantasia*]

I'm not sure I can pinpoint exactly what was missing from the food court, but it was smaller than the food courts at the value resorts. The grab and go area was smaller - I recall the values having a fairly large refrigerator section with a variety of drinks, fruit& veggies, salads, desserts, etc, as well as self-serve baked goods. The refrigerator section at POR was definitely smaller. If you look at the menus for the values vs POR on the Dis, you can see how much more variety there is at the value food courts. It's obvious if you look at pictures of the respective food courts as well.

I agree.. At POFQ and POR (when we went swimming there, we also ate at food court), I noticed that both resorts seem to have slightly less varieties than the value resorts. The grab and go area seems bigger at the value resort. Though we wish there would have the same varieties as the value, we still love POFQ. I know you can only get beignets at POFQ (not sure at POR).

 

[ARAITHEL]

I have stayed at both POR and ASMo...as far as the food court, we didn't' "miss" anything when I\we stayed at POR. We just grab a muffin or doughnut in the morning and proceed to the parks. We don't spend a lot of time in the food courts, so the "grab and go" section is not on our "to do" list. I do, also, think that if you are on the regular Disney Dining plan, you get PLENTY of food with the meals that are provided in the plan. I almost never feel the need to have more "grab and go." This is from an adult traveling with a pre-teen perspective.

On the other hand, if you are traveling with smaller children, I can see how the "grab and go" section would be more of an issue as they tend to snack more and want to eat at odd times...

Figured I'd add my two cents just because I didn't think there was that much difference, but I have heard this complaint before on other threads about the difference between value, mod, and deluxe food courts.

 

[pjmjsj]

- Room: I surprised DD with a Royal Guest Room. She liked the room, and I'm glad we did stayed in one once, but I don't think I'd pay extra for it again - I think that $$ would be better spent on a preferred room for better location.



Hi there, I am thinking of staying at POR for our October trip and was going to request a royal room in oak manor. Did it seem like oak manor was far from the main pool, food court, etc? Thanks!

 

[Shannon G]

I have stayed at both POR and ASMo...as far as the food court, we didn't' "miss" anything when I\we stayed at POR. We just grab a muffin or doughnut in the morning and proceed to the parks. We don't spend a lot of time in the food courts, so the "grab and go" section is not on our "to do" list. I do, also, think that if you are on the regular Disney Dining plan, you get PLENTY of food with the meals that are provided in the plan. I almost never feel the need to have more "grab and go." This is from an adult traveling with a pre-teen perspective.

On the other hand, if you are traveling with smaller children, I can see how the "grab and go" section would be more of an issue as they tend to snack more and want to eat at odd times...

Figured I'd add my two cents just because I didn't think there was that much difference, but I have heard this complaint before on other threads about the difference between value, mod, and deluxe food courts.

Agreed - it all depends on how you tend to eat. I was there with DD7, so we do tend to use quick service and grab & go options a lot. I just think the values have more variety of choices, which might be important if you're going to be eating there alot (we were not on the dining plan). Looking at the Disney resorts, the assumption seems to be that, the higher the resort level, the less people are going to use quick service dining at the resorts. While the values don't have table service restaurants, they have the best food courts. At the other end of the spectrum, the deluxe resorts have multiple table service options, but much more limited counter service, and the moderates fall somewhere in the middle.

 

[Shannon G]

- Room: I surprised DD with a Royal Guest Room. She liked the room, and I'm glad we did stayed in one once, but I don't think I'd pay extra for it again - I think that $$ would be better spent on a preferred room for better location.



Hi there, I am thinking of staying at POR for our October trip and was going to request a royal room in oak manor. Did it seem like oak manor was far from the main pool, food court, etc? Thanks!

It really wasn't very far to the main pool or food court, but it's not as close as some of the AB buildings. From our room, the pool was probably about a 5 minute walk, and the food court was just a bit further. My point was just that, now that we've done an RGR, if I had to choose between the "fancier" decor in the room versus a closer location for the same money, I'd go with location, since we spend very little time in the room anyway.

 

[kaleighmariesmom]

do you have any pictures of the room? I am dying to see REAL pictures and not the Disney issued ones. Was it magical????

 

[maciemouse]

Was the lobby refurbishment a mess? Did it only affect check in?

 

[Shannon G]

I have a few pictures of the room on my phone, but have not yet uploaded them to my computer - I'll try to do that tonight & post them.

I noticed the refurbishment, but didn't think it was a mess or that it had much impact. It was only in the check-in area, so that the space in front of the check in counter was narrower. The only time we even went in that area was to check in, so it really didn't have any impact on our stay.

 

[nkereina]

Could you describe what the food court was like at Riverside? What was it about it that you didn't like? We are going in July and would appreciate any info. you would be willing to share!

I'm surprised to read that OP wasn't fond of the POR food court. IMO, it's one of the best on property and I know many others agree. However, I am always more interested in the stations than the grab and go type stuff. The create your own pasta station is my favorite and there is always ample seating. We found POFQ to be too small and crowded.

 

[JessicaW1234]

What bus stop did you use from Oak Manor? If you used the East stop, did you ever use it in the morning? Was it the last stop? Was it ever full?
I'm worried to stay at por after pofq b/c I have heard the bus is not as direct.

 

[Shannon G]

I'm surprised to read that OP wasn't fond of the POR food court. IMO, it's one of the best on property and I know many others agree. However, I am always more interested in the stations than the grab and go type stuff. The create your own pasta station is my favorite and there is always ample seating. We found POFQ to be too small and crowded.

It's not that I wasn't fond of it (and I agree - the create your own pasta is great) - I was simply pointing out that both the food court itself and the grab & go had significantly less variety than the food courts at the value resorts.

We got on the bus at the East Depot. We had a car, and only used the bus a couple of times, but when we did we had no problem getting a seat. The last stop was the stop near the main building, so we were not the last stop.

 

[pjmjsj]

It's not that I wasn't fond of it (and I agree - the create your own pasta is great) - I was simply pointing out that both the food court itself and the grab & go had significantly less variety than the food courts at the value resorts.

We got on the bus at the East Depot. We had a car, and only used the bus a couple of times, but when we did we had no problem getting a seat. The last stop was the stop near the main building, so we were not the last stop.

Thanks for posting about the bus stop. Great info!

 

[tinkermommyof3]

Could you describe what the food court was like at Riverside? What was it about it that you didn't like? We are going in July and would appreciate any info. you would be willing to share!

We stayed at POR once. Loved the food court. Had so much variety. Could not compare to Value resort as we never stayed value. All I can say is that we wish the Deluxe resorts we stay at had a food court as great as POR--that would be perfect!!

 

[Mariep26]

Thanks for the report. We are considering POR for our March trip. It is good info on the food court because we liked the food court at ASMo and used the grab n go section frequently. What you noted about the resort category and the food court is so true... If/when we stay Deluxe, I bet that will be a big negative for me since I do like the food court set up. Thanks again for the report!