Our 7 night stay at POR last week (LONG)

[Luv2Roam]

POR was our third on-site stay. The first being CSR; second was ASMo; third was POR.
We were the least impressed with POR. It was okay. If it had not been for the terrible bus service, I would rate it higher.
POR wasn't perfect, or horrible. For our stay (May 25 - June 1, last week - 2 adults)
Cheers:
* Beautiful, shady and well maintained grounds
* Well stocked bakery, no matter what time of day
* Boats to Downtown
* Quiet
* Nice gift store
* Nice, convenient laundry facility
* Friendly CM's
* Prompt housekeeping service
Jeers:
* Terrible bus service. I could write a long post on just the lack of bus service at POR, and mention
how unorganized and chaotic it was. The only plus is eventually you will reach your destination.
* Our room was clean only if you aren't observant and don't look close.
* Postage stamp size hot tub. As DH said, most people have larger ones in their backyards. (Not us, we have none. ) He passed on using it.
* Un-organization includes the Check-In area.
* Guest Services hours not long enough to be helpful for guests

Even check-in had a plus and a minus:
Our flight into MCO was two hours late. Due to this, we only had time at POR to check-in and
leave without seeing the room.
Our driver left us off at the main lobby, so we took our luggage with us into the lobby. Some guests were standing (chatting) right in front of the signs showing guests the waiting lines. We walked up to an empty window only to be chased away. Had we not been in such a hurry it would have sunk in our brains what the roped area was for.
A CM pointed where we should go. (No one waiting between the ropes, except for the guests
chatting, blocking the entrance we needed.)
As they moved, we went through the ropes and a few seconds later were called over by a CM who swiftly checked us in. Very efficient, fast and nice.
We asked about our luggage and were told to go outside and drop it off.
So outside we went to the little hut right outside the door. (Valet service? Forget what they called it.) He directed us over to the luggage area.
There a CM was standing doing nothing among a large group of people. (Guessing everyone was waiting for a Mears bus to pick them up.)
We asked about dropping off our luggage, we had already checked in, yada, yada, yada. He told us to go back to the hut we just came from.
We said, they directed us here. We were told, "No, you have to go over there." (After all, this guy was SO busy doing nothing anyway.)
So back we go to the hut and tell that CM what just happened. He was frustrated and said, No you have to go to the luggage area! But he said he would call them and make THEM come over and get our luggage and take care of it. He didn't even have a receipt luggage tag to give us. He just made up one. (Not real comforting.)
Then we ran to the bus area and waited about 10 minutes for the DTD bus. And little did we know that would be the shortest and easiest bus wait during our stay there.

The first impression of entering our room (LATE at night) was it was as the pictures showed, pretty much what I expected.
The room assignor had given me all my room requirements. We were in Magnolia Terrace, corner room, etc.
A plus to this mansion room was privacy and quiet. The windows had blinds and curtains. We were on the backside, but near the quiet pool.
I put my suitcase on the floor and noticed what looked like cola or pop splattered up on the
wall, and probably had been there awhile. Once I see something like that, without thinking I start looking a little closer.
The places in the room that are used often (bed, sinks, toilet, TV, mirrors) were all clean. After that the place needed a good scrubbing down. Things you don't notice all at once, but as the days wear on.
The bathroom and shower/tub floors had obviously not been deep down cleaned in a long time. (I have seen much cleaner bathroom floor corners in public restrooms.)
There was a small peeling of the toilet area wallpaper. Once my eyes followed it up, I couldn't help but see dark mold/mildew streaks.
The toilet and sink areas each had a small vent, covered by thick louvers. Those were layered with dust. They looked like dust bunny condos.
Had we checked-in earlier in the day, if I was a clean freak, pickier person, spent a lot of time in the room, or had a little one crawling around, I would have asked for a different (cleaner) room.
DH and I are in our room approx 10 - 12 hours and mostly to sleep and shower.
I called housekeeping to bring up a coffee maker. They told me the coffee maker was free, but I had to pay for the coffee. Okay, fine.
They promptly brought it up. I get the coffee maker and two packs of coffee. No cups, no sugar, no whitener, no strirrer. Just a coffee maker and two coffee packets.

We tipped mousekeeping a few dollars a day. We don't expect extras, we just tip hoping for better service.
Glad we didn't expect extras, because we didn't get any. One day I had to call housekeeping again because I had used our room tissues and we didn't get replenishments. One day we didn't get a shower floor mat, but I didn't bother calling for one.
Nothing major certainly. But certainly no over and above service. So in this case, the tips didn't seem to matter one way or another.

The bus service, I won't go deeply in. All I can say is I hope those going to POR soon will fare
better. The service is very bad, chaotic and unorganized. I hate to think what it is like now that FQ is open. Glad we left when we did.
My main suggestion for anyone taking a POR bus, is make sure you have LOTS of down time scheduled if you need to be somewhere at a certain time. Double how long you think it will take, and double that again and you should be fine. Figure 1.5 hours from leaving your room to getting inside the park where you want to be, at least.

The store and food court CM's are very nice, as are all the CM's we met there. (Some may not be efficient, but they were nice.) We ate very little in the food court. Mostly bakery items and we split a breakfast.
The court was okay. The prices were reasonable, coffee not too good if you like strong or good
coffee. But coffee drinkers going to WDW know to expect (often weak) Nescafe.

The only other (stupid) situation we had was the last night of our stay (Friday). Once again because of bad transportation we reached our room later than planned.
We had a voice message from Guest Services that we had a Priority package at the front desk to pick up.
Confused, because we shouldn't have had anything, DH walked down to pick it up. (I had
some gifts sent from WS. So I thought maybe one was sent to POR, rather than mailed.)
An hour later DH comes back empty handed and in a surly mood. After standing in a long line with irate guests (waiting a long time to check-in) the front desk couldn't find the package. After several more minutes of searching (and him waiting) they find a package. Only it wasn't ours. Hope the poor guest who needed it that morning didn't really need it badly since it was 10 pm at night. Of course no compensation for DH for wasting an hour of his packing time with them.

The beds were very firm. DH likes hard beds and thouight it was comfy, I like mine softer. Just personal preference.

I can't say I would rush (or want) to stay at POR again. It was okay. Wasn't horrible. Wasn't
magical. Glad I didn't pay rack rate, otherwise I would not be happy.
I would only re-visit POR if I knew the bus service was better and I got a VERY good rate.
So far for us, ASMo has been the best resort. CSR second. POR on the bottom.
That was our experience. I'm sure others have had better. Others have had worse. But that was ours.

 

[Momto8]

Luv2Roam,
Thanks for your comments on your stay at POR. We leave in 19 days and will be staying at POR for 9 nights. We have the $94 rate.

We've stayed there before twice and am aware of the transportation problems. I know they've always shared with PORFQ, but it now sounds like it has gotten worse, and they don't have enough buses to handle the crowds. This has me concerned. We've stayed at CSR before, but both my DH and I weren't impressed with it, plus we have 5 and need the trundle bed. I've read from another poster that CSR will get you a rollaway for a 5th person, but when I call CRO, they tell me only 4 in a room. One thing I was happy about CSR was their bus service and their pool and slide are great.

It sounds like they need to do some heavy cleaning at POR and also maybe some renovation needs to be done there as well. I hope we don't have the problems with the bus service that you had, but maybe we might be driving more instead of taking the buses if we do. I would much rather stay at an Epcot resort as this is our favorite area, but finances this year prevent us from staying at a deluxe resort. We have 2 DDs getting married this year and we are trying to save our money.

Thanks again for your comments.

 

[Momto8]

I don't know what is wrong with my countdown clock. It says 49 days and it should be 19 days. It was correct before and I haven't changed my profile either. Is anyone having problems with their clocks?

 

[lvs_eeyore]

Momto8 I see your countdown timer correctly but you may not. Check the calender on your computer and make sure it is set for the correct month. My timer was messed up this morning and thats what was wrong with mine. Someone had changed my calender.

We just got back from POR about a week ago. It was nice and it was pretty but given a choice between there and CBR I would pick CBR in a heartbeat. The walk from the mansions was LONG as was the walk to the pool. I guess POR would have gone over better with us had we been in Alligator Bayou bld 14. I have fibromyalgia and the walking was too much after a day in the park. We ended up taking our CRV most of the time to go to the foodcourt. I would venture to guess that our walk from the mansions to the foodcourt was just as long as the walk from Trinidad South to the foodcourt at CBR. How people can say CBR is more spread out is beyond me.

The pool was nice but yes the hot tub was smaller than a lot of the other resorts and was constantly at capacity.

The foodcourt had very good food but I found it chaotic, too small for the amount of guests, and the staff wasn't always with it at the different stations. They did have a good selection and the food tasted very good. I especially liked the ribs.

The rooms were a little more run down than they should be. There was a lot of dinged furniture and a lot of stains on the carpet. CBR is much better in this department BUT they have all been refurbished recently.

The grounds were truely lovely though and relaxing.

Check in and check out were interesting. We originally had problems because I had booked two rooms under my name and my ILS got there first. That confused our checkin person to no end. Then when I asked if they were adjoining rooms I was told yes. I asked what their room number was and was told that she couldnt tell me! Once I reminded her that BOTH reservations were in my name she told me the number. Their room could have been to either the left or right of us so I needed to know the number. I was also told we had express checkout which we didn't. I called down and was told she didnt mark the card for express. I told them we were headed down to the foodcourt area to go fishing and could she have the bill ready. I was told NO because they didn't have the staff available for that but that they could DELIVER one to the room. Somehow that didnt make sense but whatever. We ended up having to come back to the room to pick up the bill.

Housekeeping left a bit to be desired too. We called down our first night rather late after coming home from the parks and asked for four extra pillows...dh needs three and I need one extra. We were told NO PROBLEM. Dh waited up for almost an hour and a half and they never came. We had thought the next morning that housekeeping would bring them but no such luck. We called again that night and explained what happened the night before. We were told NO PROBLEM. Oh they showed up with THREE PILLOWS and four towels!! We didn't ask for towels. Dh just gave up after that and slept with two extra pillows.

It is not a bad resort please don't get me wrong. It just wasn't for us. Everyones expectations vary. What is a very long walk for me might be a drop in the bucket for someone else etc..... I was trying to negotiate the foodcourt with two young kids....someone who doesnt have small children or any children might not find it as chaotic as I did. The oddities that happened to us might not happen to you. There are plenty of people who have had perfect trips to this resort. We didn't but you might.

 

[Momto8]

Thanks, lvs_eyeore! Sure enough, that was the problem with my clock. Someone changed my date on my computer. I don't know why I didn't think of something as simple as that. I'm constantly changing the date on my computer at work as I have to print reports for 2001 at times, but never change it at home, so how it got changed, I haven't the slightest idea.

After all the negative reports I'm hearing, I'm a little hesiitant about staying at POR.

I would really love to stay at CBR, especially since they were recently renovated. I know the rooms are bigger and I believe they have coffee makers also, which POR does not. We've also never stayed there and I like to try new resorts. But unfortunately, we need the trundle bed. We have 2 rooms reserved, with 4 in one (teenagers and young adults) and 2 adults and 3 kids in the other. It looks like we have no choice at this time but to stick with POR and hope for the best.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Luv2Roam]

Your comment about the Express Check Out brought up another thought too.
We had to leave our room before 6:45 to meet our driver at the front of POR.
I didn't think until then to see about when the put the bills on the doors. I thought we might have it by then, as I am pretty sure we did at CSR and ASMo. (And I think at CSR they even made sure we knew what time they distribute the final bills in case you have to leave early.)
We were rushed, so I stopped at the little hut again and told the CM I was literally on my way out, hadn't received the final bill and could he note that the need to mail it to me?
Apparently not. He just kept saying Don't Worry about it. They will drop off the bill at your room. And I kept repeating we would not be in our room -- we are leaving.
Finally I asked what would they do with the bill once it just keeps laying there?
Response: "Oh. Someone will find it."
(Hey. You are just doing nothing but leaning on the counter. Don't go out of your way or anything.)
The (YourRide) driver was so nice. He said go into the lobby. You have plenty of time. (Voice of reason)
And we did. We just had to wait a few minutes and the CM printed out a new one right away. (Again Guest Services wasn't open, but check-in area provided one.)
Lord only knows what happened to the final bill someone dropped off at the room.

 

[Luv2Roam]

And for anyone interested, I posted a thread on the transportation board including bus concerns at POR.
Good luck. Maybe future guests can figure out a way to beat their bus *system*.
I have always been an advocate of WDW bus service vs rental car. Any on-site stay like this POR stay would have me changing my mind.
There were times after several minutes of waiting that Iwould have opted for a txi rather than keep on waiting and get crammed into a bus.
DH thinks Disney has cut back on their number of buses and have instead opted to shove more guests onto the buses that are running.
Even the AS buses were much more plentiful in the parks than POR.
We watched Illuminations twice. It's DH's favorite. We didn't watch it any more than that because we knew with the POR bus system it would be 11:00 before we reached our room. After a long day, it's just not worth it.

 

[pooh6890]

I totally agree about the bus situation at POR. We have also stayed there and the CBR, would choose CBR over POR too. It's not that we didn't enjoy our stay there, just liked CBR better. Another point, unless we are doing a deluxe, we ALWAYS take our own luggage to our room......Allstars and the Mods with the available parking, it's just easier. Also agree with "don't look too close at the baseboard, walls and other areas". The toilets and sinks are clean, but that is about it. I think we should really demand more of the resorts instead of making excuses because it's Disney. For the prices they charge, even with a discount, we deserve better service. We go about 2-3 times a year and always have a really good time, but you really have to have a good outlook and overlook a lot.

 

[Luv2Roam]

pooh6890 - Agree.
Too bad the outside (grounds) were immaculate, but not inside.
I paid $104 a night, with tax. Which isn't too bad, esp for Disney property.
I have paid the same amount at other hotels in other cities and didn't have as nice of a room and no grounds to speak of.
So it wasn't bad. Just wasn't all I thought it would be. I would most likely not stay there again because the consistently bad bus service we experienced. But I read another post for someone who stayed the same time we did and they had no problems. Guess our timing was always off.
They just didn't have their act together (at all) in many ways that even ASMo did, from our personal experiences.

BTW -- for anyone -- we didn't stay to see Bob Jackson's entertainment. But saw him in his performances and lingered a little while. I can see why everyone loves him. He was great and quite an asset to POR. Great family entertainment!

 

[ophyllia]

For what it is worth I have stayed at Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge, Poly, and The Contemporary all a number of times and my new favorite is POR. So what we all can get from this is different people expect different things. My suggestion is for those people that have ressies for POR...go have fun. What one person experienced is definatly not what another person has experienced. When I am on vacation the last thing I do is stress over the small stuff. You are on vacation soak it up and have fun.
Momof8 you will have a splended time with your family and a coke spill on the carpet in no big deal....at least it isn't your carpet!

 

[nanalisa]

I leave for POR on Saturday. Thanks Ophyllia for your perspective, I was beginning to panic! I'm going to try to not stress either! I don't have to clean anything, cook anything or drive anything for 2 weeks. (But I do really hate to wait for buses )

 

[goofy4tink]

We've stayed at PO-R twice now. Once when it was DxL. I have to say that in '99 the rooms were cleaner and the bus service quicker. When there in Nov'01 the room wasn't quite up to snuff. The bathroom was a little grimey and the carpet needed shampooing. But, I know that they had cut back on help so fewer housekeepers were doing more rooms. The buses weren't awful but they certainly weren't speedy last time around!! We always had a wait of at least 20 minutes. Would we go to PO-R again?? Yes. I would have no problem with that. We are going down again but want to try both a value and a deluxe. Only trouble with that is.....don't think I'm going to want to go back to a mod. or a value after the Poly!!!! So, I say, all of you go to PO-R and have a good time. I wouldn't obsess over whether the carpet is clean enough unless you have a little one crawling on it. Although, like I said, if anyone from wdw is listening, it could use a shampooing!!!!

 

[LoriKay]

I was at Dixie Landings (sorry, it will always be DxL to me!) from 5/29-5/31 after 4 nights at AS Music. AS Music was adequate but I was glad to return to DxL for my 6th visit there. I was nervous after reading previous posts about DxL but I found my room to be clean and not worn, the CM's to be friendly, check in to be efficient, the food to be good, etc. I did not use the bus service this trip but have always used it in the past without problems. Luv2Roam...I wish I would have known you were there. I would have loved to have traded a Kansas Disney pin for a Nebraska....if you had any left! Omaha was home for 20 years......

 

[Momto8]

Thanks for all the replies. I decided I'm not going to worry about staying at POR. There's not too much I can do about it now anyways. I'm going to go with a positive attitude and hope for the best.

We stayed at POR twice when it was DXL too, and we loved it both times. LoriKay, I still have a hard time calling it anything else too.

I'm sure everything will be fine, even if the room isn't as clean as it should be. We will also try to catch the bus at the South depot as I think Ophyllia suggested on another thread.