Oh, my! Read this POR review!

[epcotfan]

The Trip Advisor report is Total BS.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I honestly have to question the validity of this story.

I've stayed at POR several times (during bug season even!) and never had anything less than a wonderful experience.

My guess is that these people went expecting all kinds of free swag because of their engagement and are probably bitter that they didn't get any.

 

[MickiMouth]

Just wanted to chime in to say we have stayed at POR twice and the FQ once and never had any problems at all. We went twice in Aug. and once in June. We loved both resorts but POR is my favorite. We have also stayed at CBR and AKL and honestly have no complaints about any of them.

 

[Skroops]

The party was the bugs' department. It sounds like they messed up the banner they tried to make with the towels.
Edited: 500th Post, yipee.
Also wanted to add, "This place sucks, oh, and we just got engaged. Now give me some candy."

You are so funny!! Just reading through these posts, and I laughed out loud!

I stayed at POFQ before the rennovations, and we were so impressed! It is a very nice hotel, and the grounds are so gorgeous. Whoever wrote that bad review was definately looking for freebies. That makes me sad about this society.
Go to PO! It is beautiful and you won't regret it!

Are love bugs the same as lady bugs? At Epcot in the spring they have a lady bug release during the flower show. Kids love to release them out of the little match box WDW has them in. They are an intentional part of WDW landscaping!

 

[Stitch Inside]

Quoted from FloridaEnvironment.com

"Love Bugs are small flies that are in the process of mating when they swarm over the roads. So usually there are two individuals: the large one is the female and the small one is the male. The female usually gets her way and she drags the male around with her."

Entomologist John Jackman is at Texas A & M University -- where they have equal experience with Love Bugs (John Jackman, Professor and Extension Entomologist, Texas A & M University)...

"They're quite seasonal. They do occur early in the spring here for a few weeks while the adults are out in a mating flight. And we may see another mating flight later in the fall of the year."

And while the seasonality of the nuisance flies might be good news, the bad news might be in what's to come (Koehler) ...

"Usually the one in May is not as big an emergence. We don't have as many Love Bugs coming out in May as we do in September."

They don't bite, they just get in the way. Here's a link to a picture. http://www.floridaenvironment.com/programs/fe00508.htm

 

[jmsvss]

Personally, I don't care for the TripAdvisor site. I have never found them to be very accurate - its almost a conspiracy because, strangely, the sponsors seem to be rated very well.
I think www.epinions.com offers a well-balanced review, especially when you are able to add the information from great boards like this one.

I wouldn't worry. This site is much more credible than anything you'll read in TripAdvisor.

 

[Skroops]

I totally was confusing love bugs with lady bugs! That was really nice of you to include the link. Well, they aren't as cute as lady bugs! Oh well, at least they don't bite!

 

[BamaBelle & Beast]

We stayed at POR in May 2004 and loved it. We are staying there again this May.

 

[smjj]

I am sure the moderators of this site will agree that there are some who post threads just to get a reactions and if that means making something up or completely blowing an inncident completely out of perportions so be it. I also understand there have been a few here that supposely have been caught. Having said that, I too have stayed at POR as well as many Disney resorts. I have seen no more bugs than is to be expected living in a area like central Florida. I for one think the OP got ahold of a thread that was made up by someone...smjj

 

[3disAddicts]

Had to throw in my 2 cents as well. Find this story hard to believe as well. After having stayed at OKW 2 bedroom villa for our first visit, DH and I didn't think we would ever be satisfied with less. Needless to say, we LOVED POR We stayed in Alligator Bayou section, and though it was a bit "tired" looking, we found it to be quite magical nevertheless. We are quite looking forward to our upcoming April visit there as well.

 

[gatormouse]

Somebody is pulling somebody's leg here. Fire ants, bugs (roaches?), blood on the towels, broken bed....Way too many complaints to be real. No response to complaints? Not a chance. I just find the whole "review" to be bogus from beginning to end. We have stayed at POR many times, and although we have encountered rude CM's from time to time, and our rooms may have been ready a little later than normal once or twice, we have never noticed the first "bug" of any kind inside the room, or found the room anything less than spotless, ever! We love this hotel and plan to be back in June!

 

[ptrbryant]

I've been a member of the disboards for a few years and, while I've often asked questions, I also like to think I've helped out a number of WDW newbies along the way. I find the disboards to be invaluable!

I wanted to point out that I didn't begin this thread "just to get a reaction", nor did I make anything up. You can go to Trip Advisor.com and read the original review for yourself. As I said, our family has always stayed at WL on WDW trips and, for our budget, needed to try a MOD this time. I often check TripAdvisor before booking hotels for any trip...just to get a general consensus. When I read the one which I later posted here, I was truly shocked by what I read. I suppose I agree with others here that some exaggeration had to be involved...but, when you read from other posts, like eleanor's, that she had a problem with the same issues (though milder!), there could have been some truth to the TripAdvisor poster's complaints.

I've been greatly reassured by the majority of posts here and think there may have been a problem with some rooms before they were rehabbed, but that now, there shouldn't be any big problems at all. We're really looking forward to our upcoming trip when we'll be trying out both POR and Saratoga Springs Resort.

Karla B.

 

[Sammie]

I've been a member of the disboards for a few years and, while I've often asked questions, I also like to think I've helped out a number of WDW newbies along the way. I find the disboards to be invaluable!

I wanted to point out that I didn't begin this thread "just to get a reaction", nor did I make anything up. You can go to Trip Advisor.com and read the original review for yourself. As I said, our family has always stayed at WL on WDW trips and, for our budget, needed to try a MOD this time. I often check TripAdvisor before booking hotels for any trip...just to get a general consensus. When I read the one which I later posted here, I was truly shocked by what I read. I suppose I agree with others here that some exaggeration had to be involved...but, when you read from other posts, like eleanor's, that she had a problem with the same issues (though milder!), there could have been some truth to the TripAdvisor poster's complaints.

I've been greatly reassured by the majority of posts here and think there may have been a problem with some rooms before they were rehabbed, but that now, there shouldn't be any big problems at all. We're really looking forward to our upcoming trip when we'll be trying out both POR and Saratoga Springs Resort.

Karla B.

Most criticial reviews of any Disney resorts whether on TripAdvisor or here fall somewhere between fact and fiction.

That is the reason I take all of them with a grain of salt and can not believe the number of people who will doubt their own choice of resorts on the report of one person.

 

[SorcererDonald16]

Hi Karla. Personally, I took the posts to mean people were talking about the OP of the complaint making things up to cause a stir. Unfort., there are people who'll lie in order to get discounted rooms or what have you or are just bitter people who for some reason have nothing better to do with their life than make up false reports about a hotel.

All that aside, I've stayed at POR 2x, as my signature shows. Once in the Bayou section, once in the Mansions. I've never had a problem with bugs or anything like that at either place; in fact, I've always found that resort is cleaner than pretty much any hotel I've ever stayed at. Only problem we've EVER had at a Disney resort was this past trip to POR the front desk screwed up our room keys by printing out 100 (yes, you read that right, 100) copies of our room keys after the first set didn't work; this null-voided everything and our park hoppers were wiped off the cards... that and they called our room at 1am saying they had a new room available for us to move to since we said we hated the current one so much (never happened), and then they didn't listen when we said we never asked for a room change. Anyway, all of this was straightened out the next day (they gave us a discount on that night and fixed our keys/tickets), and was apparently caused by a CM who was in training. Bizarre yes, but mistakes happen at any hotel.

That being said, the only pest I've seen was a mouse running outside the rooms in the Bayou section in 98. And, no it wasn't Mickey. But with all the water that's right there, bugs, mice, etc. are to be expected to some extent. But I highly doubt that original report is 100% accurate, unless like others suggested, a door was left open for a really long time.

~Kelly