my honest review of Port Orleans Riverside

[dansdad]

I was under the impression that the POFQ busses and the POR busses were the same and stop at both resorts?

Sometimes, not always.

 

[OnceUponATime15]

I was under the impression that the POFQ busses and the POR busses were the same and stop at both resorts?

We've stayed at both POR & POFQ a few times.. POFQ has it's own bus most of the time. The only time I've experienced sharing was mid day or at quieter times on the route. Otherwise it's 2 separate routes.

 

[Vaughn4380]

Sometimes, not always.

We've stayed at both POR & POFQ a few times.. POFQ has it's own bus most of the time. The only time I've experienced sharing was mid day or at quieter times on the route. Otherwise it's 2 separate routes.

Thank you both, even I learned something new today.

 

[ALD85]

As per the title says. I'm here right now, Wednesday 14th May. Ok here we go. The resort is clean and quite pretty. We (wife, 2 children) are staying in a Royal room pool view. They are nice, would I pay extra again? No. Check in on Saturday was really not great. The lady that checked us in didn't explain anything to us. Nothing about the dining plan, she mentioned nothing about the $100 gift we had been given by booking with Disney UK, she mentioned nothing about the memory maker package We had paid extra for in April. We are still trying to figure all of this out for ourselves. It seems We have to go to Downtown Disney to claim the 100$, not sure where yet but that's all front desk could tell mE. Re the memory maker. I've no idea how to action this. Front desk tell me I have to do this in the park. Unfortunately, we've had three days of photos taken so far sonic hope they are all linked to the magicband. We are using Disney quick service dining plan, the first time we have done this. To be honest. It's confusing what you get for the package and it seems the serving staff also get confused quite easily. Whilst on this subject. (I know I'm probably going to get flamed for this view) virtually every member of the staff we have talked to within the dining Hall have been nothing but sharp, short and rude. In the three days of being here, I've been tutted at and she shook her head because the lady serving me didn't understand my English. I've had a chap on the check out say, "I should have told him I was DDP before he started ", my answer "you should have asked ". I've had one checkout guy literally ignore my wife when she pointed out that he had charged us for 2 snacks to many.. she counted them our for him. He ignored her and still put through to many snacks. The final straw was last night. I took my two children to get ice creams and I asked the lady what flavours were in the tubs. She rolled off a list of ice cream, most of which I couldn't understand what she had said as she spoke so fast. She didn't even point to the tubs as she spoke, so even if I did understand her, I still wouldn't know which was which. I asked her three times to repeat it, eventually I gave up and had vanilla. The Oak building where we are located is one of the closest to the food hall but even this is a fair distance away to just nip over and get a drink. I'd hate to be staying in some of the other buildings further away. To be brutally honest, we stayed at the All star movies resort last year. We found that resort, better than this. We used to love the ability to get our breakfast and go and sit by the pool in the mornings. You can't do that here as the pool is just too far away from the main building, plus 99% of the chairs there are lie low and have no tables. All in all. We aren't impressed with POR. Sorry if anyone is about to come here but if you like similar things to us, and you have time to change. I would suggest you do.

The main pool is very close to the main building. Probably closer than walking back to your room with your food..

 

[HardShell]

Interesting thread to me. We will be at POR soon, our second time there.

We weren't crazy about it the last time (Jan. before last), but we chalked that up to (1) being on the 2nd floor with no elevator and the twins still in a stroller and (2) our building being so far away from both the buses and dining hall. The room itself was fine and the service was good.

Well the girls aren't in a stroller any more and I booked a preferred room this time (should be closer, I understand), so we are giving it a 2nd chance and we'll see how it goes.

(FTR, we are a family of five... if there were only four of us, we would be in a value resort every time as we had very good experiences with them until the twins turned old enough to "count.")

 

[Maggie Lizer]

We stayed in Alligator Bayou this past week, in Building 35. We were told at the Registration Desk that it was "much closer than it looked." She lied. We trekked off with our map and walked and walked and walked with our carryons all the way to the back of the place. She told us we were on the 1st floor, and as I'd asked for an accessible room, I figured we'd be fine. There is one ramp for the building - all the way in the back. Every other corner of the building had steps only. The buses were PACKED, even at what I thought were odd hours. I can only imagine how many people would be on them at peak season. The main building design is lovely, but for me - never again. Too many other little disappointments along the way regarding the food court, etc. I realize many people love this resort - now there is one less person out there vying for reservations.

We were put in building 35, too, and felt the same as you about how far it was. She said we were close to the bus depot, which would be true if there was a linear path between the two, but all the pathways there were so twisty and turny. And, the cherry on the sundae, was the fact that the quiet pool near us was apparently the designated "smoking pool" with a smoking section right at the steps where little kids would get in. Bravo, resort planners, for that brilliant move! Luckily, we only encountered smokers there once and we were on our way out anyway.

I'll go back to CBR or "slum it" at a Value next time.

 

[goofy4tink]

You really should try POFQ. I agree about the buses when it comes to POR, but POFQ is the first stop on the PO run and there's only the one stop, so you are guaranteed a seat, and should the bus be full after that stop, they immediately go on to the park and skip POR. It's also the first stop on the way back, which is great. And it only takes a few minutes to get to anywhere in the resort, which is great with little kids. And I've NEVER had a rude CM all 5x I've been there, including workers at the Front Desk, the gift shop, the restaurant or the pool. And the refurbished rooms are awesome (the old ones were a little gaudy).

Can you guess that I love POFQ?

Ahhh, yes, the never ending POFQ vs POR debate.... We love POR while dd's boyfriend is a staunch POFQ supporter. They have some very heated debates!!! Kind of funny to listen to!

Hi all. Just a quick update.

Today has been magical. Not sure what's changed, perhaps my jetlag is less.. but anyway. The weather has been stunning and we have all just seemed to settle in...

I have to say, the POR is extremely beautiful. The colours set against the deep blue sky today, looked, unreal.

ALL cms have been great today, including the one that hadn't performed well over the last two days.

Thanks again all.. I know sometimes it's not nice to see negatives written about a resort you love. I will say to anyone coming to stay here.. I'd ask for a room in Oak building (yes I know they are royal rooms and I said before they are not worth the extra money. Ignore me, they are, purely for location)

I'm so glad things are going better now. Sometimes it doesn't take much to set us off...especially when were tired and hungry!!! And we all do tend to have such high expectations for our WDW stays!!!
Hope the rest of your stay is great!

The POR Army has arrived!!!

Every resort has it's fans as well as detractors.....why would anyone be surprised when fans of a resort come to a post that says the resort isn't all that and a bag of chips? Sometimes a person can actually give some insights into a situation, or give advice as to how best to resolve an issue for the OP. No one came along saying 'Oh man, you are such an idiot for having issues with such a perfect resort!'

 

[bumbershoot]

Op I'm so glad you are feeling better about things! Jetlag is just a beast and can color everything. Add the exhaustion to CMs acting poorly, etc, and it can turn things into a rotten time. But if you know that the mentioned cm was acting rudely, if it wasn't just perception, please do mention it to someone.

The POR Army has arrived!!!

I feel like you aren't reading what the fans of POR are saying.

And yes, its on you to tell the person what you are paying with. QSDP, DDP, DP, Platinum DP, Cash, Charge, Tables in Wonderland, DVC Discount, AP discount, etc.... The cashiers would take double the time if they rand through the gambit of possible paying choices with each customer.

Fwiw that hasn't been my experience. I'm not sure I've ever gotten to a cashier who hasn't asked at the outset if I was on a dining plan. There's no list of plans to run through; they say "are you on the dining plan?" And so far I've said "no but I have the TIW or AP" (whichever is relevant to that meal) and we go from there. I truly don't think they've ever not asked me. Before ringing me up.

 

[snorkelyn]

Interesting thread to me. We will be at POR soon, our second time there.

We weren't crazy about it the last time (Jan. before last), but we chalked that up to (1) being on the 2nd floor with no elevator and the twins still in a stroller and (2) our building being so far away from both the buses and dining hall. The room itself was fine and the service was good.

Well the girls aren't in a stroller any more and I booked a preferred room this time (should be closer, I understand), so we are giving it a 2nd chance and we'll see how it goes.

(FTR, we are a family of five... if there were only four of us, we would be in a value resort every time as we had very good experiences with them until the twins turned old enough to "count.")

We stayed at CSR and got a remote room before (farthest possible room to the main building). I really think your overall experience is greatly improved if you get a good room location. So the next time, we booked preferred at POR and feel we had the best location in the whole resort and LOVED it. We are also a family of 5, so values are not an option unless we book a suite or 2 regular rooms (which is more than POR).

 

[saskdw]

You people have no sense of humor.

 

[HardShell]

You people have no sense of humor.

The interwebs are serious business, donchaknow?

 

[Patrickprincess]

Be sure to write & express your feeling to Disney. Their email address is on the website & they do respond quite quickly.

We were just at POR this past Sunday & Monday & had absolutely no issues whatsoever. But then again we are used to this resort as we stayed there 4 times last year, but always in the Alligator Bayou section. We stayed in the Mansions this time.

We had a quiet pool right outside our room area, so utilized those tables for breakfast. Otherwise, we do use the tables at the Muddy River Pool bar to relax and people watch. We used the boat to DTD & the buses too with no issues. The food court is always mobbed. For breakfast if it's packed & I don't want to go back to the room to eat we go up into Boatrights area & sit as do alot of people. We had no issues with table cleanliness. The guys were really hopping Monday morning when we were in there.

Hope the rest of your vacation is magical & that it doesn't sour you on POR. It's really a beautiful resort and if you pick a room in the close in area it's great. There's also so much to do around the resort too with the carriage ride, movies, campfire & pool activities.

I stayed at POR in The Royal Guest Room and I had no issues. It was my birthday week. The mousekeeping made me a towel birthday cake. I was in building 85 backroom. I did not feel the walk to the lobby and bus stop was a hike. Yes the wait for the buses were a bit of a wait. Mousekeeping were wonderfull and did a great job keeping my room neat and pretty for the week. My shampoo and conditioner and soap were replished daily. Also my stuffed toys were allways on the bed waiting for me at the end of the day. I had dinner at Boatwrights and both the food and service was good. My carriage ride was the highlight of the night. . Not one cast member was rude or nasty to me. In fact on my last day the staff at POR helped me with several large boxes that I had to ship home. So I'm sorry that the poster had such a nasty time. I don't feel that the moderates are a waste. NOT EVERY ONE CAN AFFORD THE EXPESIVE RESORT

 

[Lmans77]

It isn't my favorite, because like PP, I think my opinion is based on that we were in the waaay back of Alligator Bayou too. It was just such a far walk to get to anything. I feel bad that I feel kinda "eh" about POR because otherwise, it is a lovely resort.

The other thing, is that live in SE Texas, visit LA often, so the theming isn't anything out of the ordinary to me.

If I do a large Mod again, I will definitely spring for a preferred room.

 

[LisaTC]

The POR Army has arrived!!!

http://youtu.be/Vna4AAC1bdE

You people have no sense of humor.

Do so!

 

[saskdw]

http://youtu.be/Vna4AAC1bdE



Do so!

 

[wuzzy6]

 

[uktivo]

I am on the clock... The original Poster should have the means to reach me if not they can PM me anytime and I will help sort this out asap!

Thank you so much for this offer of support.
I have to say.. we've fell in love with POR. This resort is just so beautiful that the little walk to the food hall has now become a pleasure. Like someone said earlier in this thread. We were tired, hungry, hot and we just so happened to encounter a rude CM. To update you on this, she is still being rude. Not just to us, but many other people. I'm not sure if she is being rude, doesn't understand English or is this her way of humour, I can't call it. But this thing when I asked for a spare dish to share some of my salad with one of my children, she just starred through me, no reply, no "sorry I didn't understand", nothing. I've seen her do exactly this with a Japanese woman, an American chap and two nights ago, with my Wife. My wife (red head, mess with her at your own risk) asked for a spare dish, this CM just starred at her, almost with an anger on her face. My wife knowing what I'd seen over the last week or so, was prepared. So instead of trying to be polite and asking or explaining again, just starred back and said nothing. The CM after what seemed to be 20/30 seconds, just didn't move her stare from directly in my wife's eyes, slowly put her hand on top of the dish, left it there for another 10/15 seconds, picked it up and gave it to my wife. Absolutely no conversation at all. It's just very weird what she is doing. Almost a power trip thing.

Anyway. I will try to get her name today so I can write a complaint. It's really something I don't wish to do, after all, it's my holiday.

 

[goofy4tink]

Thank you so much for this offer of support.
I have to say.. we've fell in love with POR. This resort is just so beautiful that the little walk to the food hall has now become a pleasure. Like someone said earlier in this thread. We were tired, hungry, hot and we just so happened to encounter a rude CM. To update you on this, she is still being rude. Not just to us, but many other people. I'm not sure if she is being rude, doesn't understand English or is this her way of humour, I can't call it. But this thing when I asked for a spare dish to share some of my salad with one of my children, she just starred through me, no reply, no "sorry I didn't understand", nothing. I've seen her do exactly this with a Japanese woman, an American chap and two nights ago, with my Wife. My wife (red head, mess with her at your own risk) asked for a spare dish, this CM just starred at her, almost with an anger on her face. My wife knowing what I'd seen over the last week or so, was prepared. So instead of trying to be polite and asking or explaining again, just starred back and said nothing. The CM after what seemed to be 20/30 seconds, just didn't move her stare from directly in my wife's eyes, slowly put her hand on top of the dish, left it there for another 10/15 seconds, picked it up and gave it to my wife. Absolutely no conversation at all. It's just very weird what she is doing. Almost a power trip thing.

Anyway. I will try to get her name today so I can write a complaint. It's really something I don't wish to do, after all, it's my holiday.

You really do need to get her name and speak to a manager about her. This is not the kind of behaviour that Disney expects from it's CMs!!! If you don't get satisfaction from the manager, be sure to write to Disney as soon as you get home. Be sure to have times, dates, and names at hand!!!
I do know that the only two times I have had to speak to someone about a CM, at the resort level, I was very disappointed in the results. I was told that if I truly needed to speak to a manager, I would have to waits about 30 mins...there just wasn't one available. I had an ADR to get to, so went on my way. But I sure did write to Disney about it. And I got a phone call from them about a week later. I was able to let them know about my experience, both with the housekeeper and the front desk response. Funny thing is that both times I have had an issue, it's been at AKL!!!

 

[katyjeka]

We've been traveling to WDW for years. We've noticed a decline in the magic on a couple of our last trips. It's hard not to compare previous stays..... The price as risen dramatically, as has everything. We are not big fans of the moderates, but enjoy CS. The one reason we continue to return to the world, they offer something for everyone. If one resort is not to your liking, there are many more to choose from. We had some pretty bad stays at Poly, and when your paying over $300 a night its kind of aggravating!!(We've have some great times at Poly as well) Until our girls are grown, and grandkids are in the mix we will continue to go. One thing I will give to Disney's credit. They handle most complaints well, and seem to really try to keep their guests happy. My only suggestion, if the resort does not suit you, ask to be moved to a different one immediately. They've done this for us on a couple of occasions. It never hurts to ask.

 

[HardShell]

Okay, I take back anything I may have said in defense of Riverside.

We are there now, having the worst experience traveling anywhere, let alone in all of our times staying in WDW.

After I find out whether our luggage (ALL of our luggage) was stolen or just lost (and I am praying VERY hard for the latter!) and whether or not they are going to somehow resolve our HDD res that we will now miss, and what they are going to do about the whole room fiasco, I will go into more detail.

Had a great late night in the MK last night (first day down here), but I saw the look on my wife's face just now and the tears in the kids' eyes and I just don't anticipate ANY more magic during this trip.

Regardless, Riverside is dead to me.