Just booked Port Orleans Riverside

[JeanetteK]

Hi all I just booked POR for myself and my husband. Booked a river view room. I have no idea which building to request Any suggestions?

Booking this was totally a leap of faith based on all of the reviews and photos I've seen here. Last year was our first visit, and we stayed at Coronado Springs. We loved it there, thus the nervousness of booking POR. If you've loved a particular resort, how do you make yourself excited about staying at a new resort?

Anyway, we're so excited -- only 58 days to go If you can provide any suggestions for a nice room location for POR - River view room, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, help me calm my nerves and assure me that we have made a good decision about this resort. Thank you all

 

[Tpiejg]

My dh and I stayed at POR last Aug. we loved it. We loved it so much that we are booked again for this Aug. with the whole family. The grounds are beautiful, we loved the food court, and if you get a chance go see Yeehaw Bob in the lounge. He puts on a great show! We stayed in one of the preferred rooms which was wonderful. it was less than a minute walk to the main building. I think it was building 14. I highly recommended it. Have a great time you are gonna love it!

 

[elfling8]

Check out the POR thread - lots of good info on how to make room requests and what type of rooms are where:
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3063960

We are going there too for our first trip in April

 

[minnie mum]

If you have booked a river view room you will likely be in either Acadian House or Magnolia Terrace. The latter is closest to the main pool and dining facilities. Have a look at the map on the link:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/port-riverside.htm

I guess you could also be put in AB buildings 38 or 27, too. I'd still prefer Magnolia Terrace.

 

[JeanetteK]

Thanks for those links. I have checked (and re-checked) the POR resort thread. I seriously think I start to become brain dead at some point in all of the research before deciding where to stay. Between all the different resorts and the fact that I've looked at practically every single moderate resort building available, I'm afraid I'll request the Jamaica section or something idiotic in relation to POR. I do appreciate the responses and will look again at those maps. Thanks again

 

[Trollingforthimbles]

Two years ago we stayed at Coronado, this year we stayed at Riverside. We did not love Riverside, it looks (the Mansions section) exactly like a Jameson Inn. The pool area was a bust compared to CSR and I noticed nothing great about the grounds, they just looked like a country club.

I will get flamed I'm sure, because so many here adore POR. But my friends and I were not at all impressed with it. Keep in mind though, it didn't effect out trip at all because we spend so little time in the room. I think on our second or third day we had the "resort" conversation and all came to the agreement that it was just too Jameson Inn for us. Like I said, it didn't bother us, we were like "Oh, well... a different resort next time" and then went back to talking about the million other things we had to do.

We did find it to be more crowded than CSR, both the lobby, pool and general grounds. And like I said, there is always massive support for POR around here, but its just not for us.

Good luck with everything.

 

[DisneyWonderful]

Oh, boy. After lurking here for YEARS I just made an account to respond in another thread about POR. We have stayed in Wilderness Lodge, French Quarter, Coronado Springs, and JUST returned yesterday from a stay at POR -- and we were stunned that we did not like it very much. It was very crowded, the transportation was nothing but long lines and standing on almost every bus at every time of the day. Tons and tons of small children (ours are teens), a chaotic food service area, and as another poster here said, the "mansions" just have a tacky, worn-out look to them. We were in one of the "Princess" rooms in Oak Manor. It was a very nice room with comfy beds, nice flat screen TV, excellent climate control, but the grounds and outside look of the buildings is much more "motel" than "resort." If it is just you and your husband, I would absolutely recommend French Quarter over POR. It is very peaceful there and feels more elegant and…classy. That is just my opinion. I would also recommend CSR as being very resort-like and peaceful. Just my opinion. I know others love it at POR, but I would never return there, and this is the first Disney resort I have ever felt that way about.

 

[PKT531]

If u like calm, quiet and not much in your face Disney then you will like it.

I didn't like it at all and would choose a value over it I had too. French quarter, for us, was so much better.

I felt like it was the dullest place on earth and I have stayed at 7 different Disney resorts in the last 3 years. I won't stay there again

 

[ALD85]

POR is fantastic resort! Great choice!!

 

[ponyboy]

We stayed there this past December and it was okay. The kids liked the food court and the food was alright but the place wasn't super nice. It's the first time we've stayed at a moderate and I didn't really know what to expect and haven't toured all of the other resorts but I think we'll stick to the nicer places in the future. Also, there isn't much to do there.

It didn't really affect our trip too much though. One thing I'm happy about is that we were close to the main building and the bus stop near the front, which is the first stop. Several times the bus would be full by the time we all got on and there was no room to pick up people from the stops at the back of the resort.

 

[jasonsk287]

I'll be staying at POR myself from March 9-15. It's my first time staying onsite, so I'm pretty excited- plus I've read so many good things about POR. You'll love it. The resort has two sections, Magnolia Bend (old Southern plantation style; buildings are decorated to look like mansions on the outside) and Alligator Bayou (a more rustic, rural Southern experience with more tropical greenery and decoration). I called Disney to request Alligator Bayou because I like the theming better and I read that it's the quieter of the two sections.

Check out portorleans.org. It's the single best resource online regarding POR and it helped me choose Alligator Bayou.

EDIT: I have read that the transportation on-site isn't that great. The resort has a helpful boat to Downtown Disney, but everything else is reached by bus. I will have a car so I'm not concerned about that, but you might be.

 

[Stitch123]

Interesting how the opinions differ. My mom and I stayed at the Magnolia section of POR in November and absolutely loved it. The grounds are just beautiful. I would go back there anytime.

 

[ALD85]

Interesting how the opinions differ. My mom and I stayed at the Magnolia section of POR in November and absolutely loved it. The grounds are just beautiful. I would go back there anytime.

I agree! Except we are AB people It's just so nice and peaceful there, gorgeous! Love the food court!

 

[Sue M]

We love POR, and we go back and forth between Deluxe stays and POR. We like the mansion section, either Acadian House or Magnolia Terrace. I request a location close to Old Man Island bridge. We've stayed in both mansions, and in either if you're close to Old Man Island bridge, you are close to main pool, food court & main building, and the North or East bus depot.

I find there's plenty to do here, with the boat to DTD, Marina to rent SeaRaycers, fishing hole, and evening entertainment in the lounge, and Horse & Carriage rides too. I don't understand people saying there's nothing to do here, cause I find there is more to do here then most of the resorts. POR & POFQ are the only ones that have evening entertainment.

It's a good thing WDW has many different resorts to suite everyone. Not everyone will like POR, just like not everyone will like CSR. When we were trying to decide which mod to stay at for a future stay, we toured both POR & CSR. For us, CSR just didn't wow us, and thought POR was much prettier.

 

[shoney]

POR was our first and only onsite resort.

I liked the resort itself. The food court was a zoo in the morning! Boatwrights was great. Bob in the lounge was fun. Grounds were pretty. Boat to DTD was nice. Enjoyed our horse and carriage ride.

Only disappointment was the actual room. We were in the mansion section. I was surprised that the towels and sheets were such poor quality. The mattresses weren't the best either. I expected a Hampton Inn type quality for the price. To me, it was not.

We weren't in the room much anyway.

 

[JeanetteK]

Thanks everyone for the responses -- good and not so good. I know we won't truly know until we experience it for ourselves, but I do appreciate the feedback. We just loved CSR, but I really wanted to try something different this year. My husband didn't care one way or the other and told me to decide. I'm sure we'll enjoy it -- the boats to DTD are what really drew me in (well besides the fact that it looks so serene and peaceful). We are both in our mid-40s with no children, so we're more into the quiet pools and places to just sit and enjoy a nice evening.

Thanks again, everyone!

 

[ponyboy]

I'm sure we'll enjoy it -- the boats to DTD are what really drew me in (well besides the fact that it looks so serene and peaceful). We are both in our mid-40s with no children, so we're more into the quiet pools and places to just sit and enjoy a nice evening.

Thanks again, everyone!

If serene and peaceful is what you're looking for then you should really enjoy it because those are two things that it most definitely is. Except like others have said, the food court. It can be a madhouse.

 

[tandj]

Stayed in a Royal Room near the pool. A person was leaf blowing at 7:30 in the morning waking my whole family up. She continued even after me yelling "We're sleeping!" twice. Was our only day to sleep in. Not magical!

 

[RoosMama]

I'm surprised at how many people seem not to like POR on this thread! Usually it seems like everyone's fav. Anyway, we loved Magnolia Terrace! Any of the mansion buildings are great. That said, I am from Alabama so southern architecture like that is like home to me. If you don't like that style, then perhaps POR isn't for you. but I hope you love your stay there!

 

[tcherjen]

We will be staying there in 18 days!! I can't wait!!!!!