Just returned from POR....loved it!

[sunkissed212]

Hi all! My boyfriend and I just returned early this morning from POR. We were there from Friday, 9/10-Tuesday 9/14. I can't even begin to tell you what a wonderful time we had!

We arrived at the resort at about 3:00pm on Friday. There were no lines at check in and before we knew it we were checked in and ready to go to the room. The CM actually asked at check in if I had a preference as to Magnolia Bend or Alligator Bayou. Since we had never been there before, I didn't voice a preference. We were put in Alligator Bayou in room 1839. Fabulous room. If I looked out the window I could see a bit of the Sassalouga River even though it was considered a standard room. We called a few days before arrival and requested a fridge since we had read on here that they had not been put in all of the rooms as of yet. Within 10 minutes of arriving in the room, our fridge was delivered. Perfect size for the two of us and our many bottles of water!

The first thing we did after unpacking a little was took a dip in the quiet pool behind building 18. What an awesome place. It's so cool to have so many pools to choose from. After swimming for a bit, we took a walk around the property to check out the other areas of the resort. It was so beautiful and very peaceful.

The hotel as well as the parks were pretty deserted. I'm not sure if that's normal for this time of year or if it was moreso because of all the action in the Atlantic but we saw several vacant rooms at the resort. Also, we were the only 2 people on busses most of the time. With the exception of the fireworks at Epcot on Saturday night, there was literally no one on our busses with us. We didn't wait in line for a single ride...fastpass? what's that? haha, they weren't even using them for most of the rides because the parks were so empty.

I didn't need to use PS at all either. We went out to dinner with my boyfriends sister and her boyfriend (who live in Orlando) on Sunday night. We had dinner at the Concourse Steakhouse in the Contemporary and walked right in....at 6:30pm!!! It was the best steak I think I've ever had and great service!

There's so much more to tell but I've got to get back to laundry...it's back to work tomorrow....take care all! I'll be back!

 

[zeke11]

Thanks for the report!

We will be staying at POR - next week.

How was the weather for you? Any after effects from Ivan? Rainy?

Kris

 

[momtolittlered]

Glad to here you had a great time. We'll arrive in Nov.. we've asked for a preferred room (magnolia terrace) What did you think of the mansions from the outside?

 

[enchantedpixiedust]

Thanks for posting - we'll be at POR Tuesday & had been wondering how the crowds were if the FW guests were still there.

 

[luvdisney14]

Glad you had a good time. Did you notice if they are starting to remodel the bayou section yet?

 

[sunkissed212]

Hi all!

Zeke11 - the weather was terrific! We had a daily 4:00pm rain shower/storm that lasted about 15-20 minutes or so and that was it! It was in the high 80's and sunny as can be!!

The humidity was high and that was the only downfall. BF and I had to go back to the resort around lunchtime to take a swim and then shower and put on fresh clean clothes before going back out to the parks but regardless of the weather, I usually like to take a midday break anyway.


momtolittlered-the mansions look very nice from the outside. Very "gone with the wind" like. Very pretty buildings and landscaping on both sides of the river. Lots of lush trees, and shrubery and cute little quiet places to sit and relax all over the resort.

enchantedpixiedust - as I said in the original post, it was very very quiet while we were there. I'd have to say the place was probably 1/2 empty at least! There were quite a few campers/motorhomes, etc in the parking lots but even with those, the lots were bare and not much foot traffic during the day either. We walked by the main pool on Friday afternoon and there were quite a few people in it but we went by both quiet pools on the bayou side and I think I counted 5 people between the two pools. We were pretty much alone for the entire trip. How nice!

luvdisney14 - I'm not sure exactly but back by the west depot and the north depot, the parking lots were completely empty and there were some semi truck trailers back there. I saw a few sandwich board type signs up and it looked (on Monday) like there were some people working back there so I would guess that those buildings were being remodeled while we were there. I don't know if my room was already remodled or not since it was my first time there. It was very nice and everything was in working order and very clean so it could have been maybe, I'm not sure what has been done already and what hasn't...how's that for helpful?

 

[luvdisney14]

Thank you for your response, at least now I know they are starting to redo the bayou section. I think they remodeled the pool area.

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

We have stayed at "Dixie Landings" (still like that name better) twice, one time in each section, and we LOVED it. The AB section was our first time onsite, so it still holds a special place in our hearts.