Mini review of recent PO Riverside stay

[boltfan]

We usually stay at POFQ but on our last trip it was unavailable for free dining, so we took POR. Other than the store, we didn't really care for it. Agree with the staff being non-disney. Never happy and sometimes stand-offish. Room was never cleaned thoroughly and no towel animals either. Very happy we got POFQ for our next trip!

 

[Mousemommy1]

We usually stay at POFQ but on our last trip it was unavailable for free dining, so we took POR. Other than the store, we didn't really care for it. Agree with the staff being non-disney. Never happy and sometimes stand-offish. Room was never cleaned thoroughly and no towel animals either. Very happy we got POFQ for our next trip!

I've had personal friends tell me the same thing about the staff at POR.
I wonder why?

 

[autismgoesdisney]

We usually stay at POFQ but on our last trip it was unavailable for free dining, so we took POR. Other than the store, we didn't really care for it. Agree with the staff being non-disney. Never happy and sometimes stand-offish. Room was never cleaned thoroughly and no towel animals either. Very happy we got POFQ for our next trip!

I've stayed here twice and I don't see it. I definitely see that we don't get conditioner in our room, yet everyone always has a big smile on their face to greet us! That is the one thing we do like!

 

[JohnO]

Stayed at POR for a week in January 2012. The CM's were fantastic, the room was kept clean. Had towel animals once:

 

[disneymom1229]

We got back from 8 nights at POR on thursday. This was our fourth stay and we loved it just as much as the first time. However, I have to agree with the OP on mousekeeping. They were just ok. I mean our rooms were straightened up, beds made, new towels. But no towels animals, not even any creative placement of the kids stuffed animals. Now I know that is not required, but we have had this in the past and the kids were disappointed when we would come back to the room and there was nothing.

We found most of the staff to be just as courteous as ever. Especially at check in and when we needed help at the concierge desk. There were cast members in the lobby that were greeting guests while they were in line and asking how they could help you and making sure you were waiting in the right line. I would say that the food court staff was not as efficient. Not much enthusiasm and the long lines at the ice cream counter and then messing up our sundae order just did not leave a lasting impression.

As far as bus service...We had days where we walked up and a bus pulled up at almost the same time. We always used the south depot and generally were able to get on and get a seat. That said there were a handful of times that we had to wait 20-25 minutes and there were some pretty packed buses!! But, I would say that that has to do with our timing more than the bus service. It is all about timing. The buses keep coming, whether you get there as it pulls up or pulls away makes the difference.

Would we stay here again? In a heartbeat!!! We love the theming, the grounds, the location and the pool!! We would love to try a deluxe resort, but next trip we may need two rooms. So, we will probably chose POR again. And we just cannot wait to get back!!

 

[scjo68]

We like POR and POFQ. Our first 5 trips, that's where we stayed. Our recent trip a week ago was back at POFQ after 3 years at Deluxes.

Funny you mentioned not getting your shampoo and soap replenished. We had that as well, at POFQ. We just left a note and they left plenty of toiletries then. Usually they automatically leave more stuff each day, (at every resort we've stayed in), so maybe this is a recent cost-cutting thing among Port Orleans.

No towel animals for us, either, but we didn't really care.

Bus service mostly fine. One day the bus service leaving MK was really crazy. Bus drivers were out of their buses, yelling, and our FQ bus left with no passengers, though people were waiting. Weird. Anyway, IME, buses to/from MK are always hit or miss, but our bus service to other parks has always been fine. We have been spoiled by 3 years at monorail resorts so have avoided MK buses for a while.

Food court: we always are at parks for rope drop. So we are done and out of the food court by 8:15 or so, and never run into crowds there. On the rare days that we are in the food courts at 9:00 or later, they are packed. THis has held true for all the resorts we've staed in.

Finally, CM attitude and Mousekeeping- I have seen no consistency within resorts. I have never been treated rudely. But some CM's are better than others, some mousekeepers go the extra mile, but I haven't had a "dirty" room. But I think this is hit or miss in every resort. I can honestly say that, with the exception of transportation, there was nothing less "magical" in our POR/FQ stays than our stays elswhere.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

So OP would you suggest movies or pop over por for someone who has only stayed wilderness lodge? If I am reading your post right I am thinking that we may be disappointed in riverside? We can't afford another trip to wilderness lodge but would like to stay onsite. I was looking at riverside or French quarter but perhaps movies or pop would be better and save $$$ too. What other moderates did you prefer out of curiosity?

My family stayed POR the first week of January this year, AND LOVED IT. I would never let a negative post/s keep me from staying at the resort of my choice. As other posters have written, everyone has differing opinions on what is a 'Magical' stay. And if what you read is true for one family doesn't mean it will happen to your family.

If I skipped going to any of the resorts we have stayed at because of negative posts; I wouldn't have stayed at any of them.

I would go back to each and every resort that we have stayed at and recommend them to anyone that asks about them. Including the ones that didn't give us towel animals, or forgot to give us a pack of coffee of two, or found a scrap of paper or pen cap left behind from another guest. Which has happened as various resorts, BUT DIDN'T RUIN OUR STAY.

 

[LisaTC]

It was interesting to read the OP. We stayed there for the first time last October. Granted October probably isn't as busy as other times of the year. We had great mousekeeping with regard to cleanliness. She was literally our mousekeeper the whole week and I thought, doesn't she get a day off? She was very sweet to my daughter as she had lost a tooth one night and it bled on the pillowcase/sheets. She brought her an heavy duty bag to put ice in, just in case. Made her a special Halloween towel animal and checked back on her. We didn't get towel animals every day. Sometimes it was just the 3 circles of towels to outline a Mickey head, but cute. I think our toiletries were replenished reasonably. I tend to bring our own, somewhat, so I don't recall that specifically. I wondered if Mousekeeping had a large turnover because, let's face it, making/remaking all those beds, lugging a vacuum, etc can be physically tiring and I swear I saw the same ladies for more than 5-6 days in a row without a day off and I'd say the mean age of the ones I saw was 50? Curious. The front desk was really awesome to us. She did online check-in for us for boarding passes for our outbound flights and gave us a less traveled route back to the airport. It was speedy/low traffic. The bartenders were very friendly, too! We ate at Boatwrights and they really went out of their way for my DD's birthday (she had her pin on) they brought her balloons and tied them to her chair, brought her candle lit cake/dessert, can't remember. Sang to her. It was very sweet. We took the boat to DTD. Loved that, very convenient. BTW DH said Prime rib was really good there.

Food court...here's what I discovered. Having read so many reports (somewhat information overload) I generally garnered that the QS at POR was viewed as one of the better ones. We ate there ONLY at Bfast or a snack. We are early risers and wanted to be out of the resort by 8 ish. It wasn't too bad. Pretty quick through the line. However, in a mere 30-45 minutes on one of the days we lagged behind, it was a bit of pandemonium. The enormous amount of people was a bit eye opening. I kept thinking, where are all these people sleeping? POR is meandering and huge and because it is so spread out you don't necessarily grasp how many people are actually staying there until it's time to eat!

The gift shop was nice size, but I did notice what "appeared" to be uninterested employees there. I say appear because I know there was some ethnicity and didn't know how fluent they were in Americanized English. I found after talking a bit to them(I work in a lg University and have many foreign graduate students) and asking about their home (on their name tag) they were more likely to lighten up and appear more interested and Disney-esque, as it were. The best Disney CM's are at the parks, in my opinion.

I read the OP as "eh..it was ok, not horrible, not stellar, other places to stay." That is disappointing when that happens. You want it to be better than, "not horrible." Conversely, we really liked that it wasn't so Disney decorated. I picked it for the serenity because I knew the parks would be overload and we'd need a winding down place. It worked well for us. I cannot justify the deluxe prices, no matter how much I'd give my eye teeth to stay there!! We almost stayed at Wilderness and I would see how that would be a different experience than POR. When I walked into the GF for our ressie at Narcoose's, I thought, not this is beautiful! I'm a "noticer" as well. DH, not so much. I would notice some of the things the OP mentioned and he wouldn't see them if they fell on him. Some people are just more visual in that way. It bothers some, not others. I cannot stand to see a crooked picture! LOL

We're going back in Dec the week before Christmas. We may have a different experience. We did get a Royal room this time at a deal. We weren't in our room a whole lot, except to sleep. We had one resort day to relax and went swimming. Don't know if we'll be doing that in December, even though we're from Ohio and if it's 70 degrees out we go swimming!

I think POR is probably affected by time of year. Since it is so large, the less capacity, I'd think the better the service. I think we had the advantage being October

 

[FigmentChick]

I understand what the OP is saying, but our family really does love POR. We have only gotten one towel animal in all of our nights there (20 total). And as much as that is disappointing, it's not the end-all, be-all of our vacation to have that experience.

As to having a "non-Disney" feel. I kinda see that point, but it is supposed o be rustic and outdoorsy. We're okay with that.

The food court is beyond awesome (except for not opening before 7am for breakfast, but, again, we can live with that.....we're early risers). And our family loves the many quiet pools that are available.

 

[JennyDrake]

Had u ever stayed moderate or value before? Just wondering because a few ppl have told me that once u get the feel of deluxe it kinda spoils u
We check in POR on the 22 kinda worried

I have stayed at 3 deluxes, all the moderates (more than once) and all of the values (way more than once.) My next three trips (all in 2012) will be to value resorts. While I did enjoy the deluxes, for me it just was not worth the high price tag. Each and every resort has a bed, a bathroom, food and transportation--beyond that it is a matter of personal preference. In fact, my least favorite resort was a deluxe--and I tried it twice.

 

[JohnO]

I always find it interesting when people call resorts like POR and CSR "non Disney like". Is Main St USA "not Disney like?" because there are no oversized icons there. Is Tom sawyer island "not Disney like"? Because I haven't seen any oversized jack In the boxes at TSI either. POR was designed by Disney Imagineers and is VERY "Disney"

 

[Tink415]

Op, sorry POR didn't provide a stellar experience. POR is one of my favorite resorts, but I understand the things you're saying.

Oh, during meal time rush, any resort can be crazy. The quick serve places at the deluxes can be busy. Captain Cooks and WL can be particularly crazy and aggravating because of the layouts.

 

[rotlex]

I always find it interesting when people call resorts like POR and CSR "non Disney like". Is Main St USA "not Disney like?" because there are no oversized icons there. Is Tom sawyer island "not Disney like"? Because I haven't seen any oversized jack In the boxes at TSI either. POR was designed by Disney Imagineers and is VERY "Disney"

Lots of good responses here, and, again, I reiterate, I did enjoy the resort, but, having stayed at nearly all of them over the years, this was probably my least likely to return too.

Just wanted to make a note on the quote. Being "non Disney like" to me has nothing to do with large icons, oversized stuff etc. It has to do with the feeling the place gives me. The people, service, the overall "feel" if you will. Yes, the resort is beautifully designed in Disney tradition, and, again, I mentioned in my original post that I am probably not the norm on my feelings toward it. I'm sure every guest has a different experience, just as we have, at ALL the different resorts. From the Poly to POP. I like them all, but, for me and my family, some just feel like home more than others.

 

[KELLY]

Thanks for your honest review. We booked bounceback also. There was never a flyer in our room. But I knew the extension from previous years. We booked 2 weeks at pop again. We always have super nice staff. In fact this am on our way to ME at 500 am I think at least 5 CM said good morning to us.

 

[amycakes]

We just got back from a 10 day stay and we really enjoyed POR. We would stay there again.

The room way very clean when we arrived but mousekeeping was definitely lacking during our stay. I keep the room very tidy and we usually don't have them in everyday but on the days I did get them they did not do much.

We would dump our own garbage/used towels most mornings to the carts and they would leave us towels and shampoo etc. in a bag on the door when we returned. This was great.

After a couple days I would take the sign out and allow mousekeeping to enter and clean the room. All that was done was the towels and garbage. No wiping, dusting or vacuuming. We had inadvertently brought home some sand from Typhoon Lagoon and it remained on the carpet for the length of our stay. The children encountered a mousekeeper complaining about the room next to us saying she was "not cleaning that mess" and that she was leaving it for another housekeeper. I thought this was a little unprofessional. We did not complain.... it did not really cause us distress... just observations.

All the other staff at the resort were wonderful and we always found a seat in the foodcourt and the food was tasty. I recommend you get your dessert before you get your main meal as the lines are quite long at the dessert section. We liked the main pool and the kids liked the deeper quiet pools.

We liked the laid back feel to the resort after a busy day in the park.

Sadly, I would have to agree that mousekeeping was lacking.... but we definitely would go back!

 

[JohnO]

Lots of good responses here, and, again, I reiterate, I did enjoy the resort, but, having stayed at nearly all of them over the years, this was probably my least likely to return too.

Just wanted to make a note on the quote. Being "non Disney like" to me has nothing to do with large icons, oversized stuff etc. It has to do with the feeling the place gives me. The people, service, the overall "feel" if you will. Yes, the resort is beautifully designed in Disney tradition, and, again, I mentioned in my original post that I am probably not the norm on my feelings toward it. I'm sure every guest has a different experience, just as we have, at ALL the different resorts. From the Poly to POP. I like them all, but, for me and my family, some just feel like home more than others.

I see what you mean. My response was really more based as a general response to the aforementioned phrase. I've been reading it a lot lately about numerous resorts being not "Disney like."

 

[lady_hlh]

We stayed at POR the last week of August, the resort grounds were lovely and the food court was very good but the housekeeping was hit or miss. We got a bunch of towel animals but they would forget more towels or TP. We also never got the bounceback brochure from mousekeeping, we had friends who were staying at CSR who got one and gave it to us. I liked POR better than CSR, which is the only other mod that we've tried, but my DH and DD want to try a new deluxe next year. I would go back to POR if we needed to stay at a mod again or maybe I would try FQ, we took their bus twice and my DD really liked that resorts theme.