POFQ v Riverside

[MCB]

Thinking about doing a short stay this Oct. We are a family of 6 - so we would need two rooms. We have stayed at WL the last couple of times down to the world. Thinking of mixing it up. Could anyone out there give me the pros/cons of FQ v Riverside?

Thanks in advance...

 

[SGMCO]

We've stayed at both FQ and RS and prefer RS better but both are nice. We've stayed at RS 2 times and like their Food court because it has better food and more choices. Love the landscaping, pool (but you can use either of the pools at PQ and RS) at RS better. I love the Mansions, the look and feel. As for staying at either of the Port Orleans resorts, I like the location of them to DTD and being able to take the boat shuttle to DTD.

 

[Tpiejg]

POR has a ts restaurant and fun show in the lounge wed. through Sat. It is much bigger than FQ so unless you book a preferred room you could be doing a lot more walking then you would at FQ to get tothe main building and pool. They both have the boat to dtd. the boat picks up at POR first then at FQ so sometimes it can be full before it gets to FQ, which can mean a longer wait. on the other hand, the buses are sometimes shared and they pick up at FQ first then go to POR so the wait can be longer at POR. Although I have found both situations to be rare. My family likes POR better. we love the grounds especially in the AB section. they are lush amd shady. We also like the choices in POR food court, and there more choices than FQ. They ate both great resorts, just depends on what you are looking for.

 

[expeditioneverestgrl]

Riverside is much better. The pools and food court are both awesome!!! I love them and the Downtown Disney location is extra nice in case you wanna do some shopping!

 

[cecamut]

My family and I have stayed at both FQ and RS and our "hands down" favorite is FQ by far! RS is nice - nothing really wrong - but it's too big of a resort. You have to walk for ever to get to any where. We prefer the feel and environment of FQ - it's much smaller - no matter what building you stay in, it's not a far walk to any where. It's true that RS has a restaurant to sit down and have a nice meal, where as FQ does not, but if staying at FQ, you can always go up one night/afternoon to Boatrights in RS to enjoy a nice meal.

Have fun no matter which resort you stay at! Have a magical stay!!

Charlie

 

[dminnie]

We like POR better. Look at a map. Not everything there is a big walk and your going to walk a lot at Disney anyways. You can use the pools at either one, but we liked the pools better at por. The main pool there is nicer, with a better slide and fq doesn't have any quiet pools. POR also has a TS restaurant and most of the other resort amenities are there ( such as pick up for the carriage ride, fishing). Both are recently renovated, with POR more recently.

 

[smidgy]

there is only one pool at FQ, so it gets kinda crowded and full of kids. and the slide is only good for little kids.

but! the hot tub is set way apart from the pool, whereas at POR the hot tup is adjacent to the pool...therby more kids jum[p in and out of it, splashing around etc. so the hot tub at FQ is better.

POR had yeeha bob, but FQ has the scat cat club (with a jazz band.)

the pickup and drop off for the horse and carriage ride is at POR, the you hardly see it at all. it walks THROUGH FQ, so you see and hear it.

 

[Majordis]

My family and I have stayed at both FQ and RS and our "hands down" favorite is FQ by far! RS is nice - nothing really wrong - but it's too big of a resort. You have to walk for ever to get to any where. We prefer the feel and environment of FQ - it's much smaller - no matter what building you stay in, it's not a far walk to any where. It's true that RS has a restaurant to sit down and have a nice meal, where as FQ does not, but if staying at FQ, you can always go up one night/afternoon to Boatrights in RS to enjoy a nice meal.

Have fun no matter which resort you stay at! Have a magical stay!!

Charlie

This

 

[wiigirl]

Riverside is much better. The pools and food court are both awesome!!! I love them and the Downtown Disney location is extra nice in case you wanna do some shopping!

 

[NC Disney Fan]

Here is my thought. I was in the same situation and asked the same questions. It will be our first year at the moderates and our choice was POR or POFQ. I asked this question and you really get the range of pros and cons. But when we made our final decision this is what we considered. First. POR is a beautiful resort and the mansions seem gorgeous. However, unless you pay for them or get a room request granted, you may end up in the other bulidings that look just like the FQ buildings. Since we couldn't afford an upgrade above garden view, we were afraid we would end up in those typical buildings, not the mansions. If this were the case, we had to look at the pros of FQ. The distance and comments on how quiet it was won us over. We had more options to request quiet rooms in our price range. And while we are not opposed to walking, this just seemed like a better choice when we stumble in at 1 am after a long day at the parks.

I had a friend who has stayed in both and gave POR the edge however, this was after she got the mac daddy upgrade to a Royal room in the mansion. Again, if I could know that that kind of luck would happen for me, I would have booked POR. But we finally decided on POFQ and know that we can use the facilities, including pools at POR if we want. Hopefully we will get the best of both worlds.
That's just our thought process. Good luck. It is almost unnerving to make a decision as you can just imagine the lamentation when you arrive and realize you made the wrong decision! I am hoping that is not the case for us and for you as well!

 

[starrysky]

I have stayed at both but preferred FQ. It's a small peaceful resort and ok it's not got a TS but its a short walk to RS or you can take the boat to DTD. We tend to eat our TS meals in the parks or other resorts.
We also liked the one bus stop as opposed to the 4 at riverside made coming home from the parks much faster as the riverside buses could take a while to get back to the one closest to your room or a long walk.
The only advantage to us at POR was the quiet pool but then that could be full of kids as well so it was not always quiet.

Overall it depends on what you want but either way you really can't go wrong.

 

[Shaden]

RS is nice - nothing really wrong - but it's too big of a resort. You have to walk for ever to get to any where. We prefer the feel and environment of FQ - it's much smaller - no matter what building you stay in, it's not a far walk to any where.

This is the most frustrating thing I see posted again and again about RS vs FQ because its complete bullcrap.

FACT: There are buildings in FQ that are farther away from everything then buildings in RS.

FACT: The walking distances for every where in RS are posted on portorleans.org

The LONGEST POSSIBLE walk, is 800 yards. And that's picking the two farthest possible locators and using them.

Walks are as SHORT as 55 yards.

Average walks between points are in the 200-400 yard range.

Unless you have a disability, a 200 - 400 yard walk, should not be anything that concerns you. Seriously, you are at WDW, you should be expecting to walk 5-10 MILES a day.

Its True that FQ IS smaller and walking distances are generally shorter, but to use this as a reason not to stay at RS, without the reason of disability or other complicating factors, is just sad.

RS and FQ are both wonderful resorts, but you should base it on your taste of resort. They really do have very different feels to them, heck ALigator bayou vs the Mansions section have a significantly different vibe in RS.

Personally I don't like the fact that FQ is SO compact, too many rooms shoved into too tight a space. I DO like the look of the rooms in FQ however. I do NOT like the décor outside at FQ, all the mardi gras, the clowns and the alligators ... just weird and not my cup of tea.

The grounds at RS to my taste are much more appealing. There is a little more walking to be done, but that can also be appealing, with the beautiful landscaping and views to be enjoyed, and the fact that you aren't cramped in to the resort. A much more open and free flowing feeling. I was worried about the décor in the Mansions section, it looked a little "old" for us, but it is much more appealing in person. We enjoyed it fully.

All in all, I say just pick whichever appeals to you most in pictures.

 

[MickeyEars]

After 3 stays at Riverside we have decided to give French Quarter a try next trip. We are very excited to be trying something new!!! I'm looking forward to it's compact size.

Carla

 

[RysMomma]

We are going with Riverside next year. We were torn between the two ourselves, but ultimately decided on Riverside because we stayed at FQ years ago.

 

[smidgy]

However, unless you pay for them or get a room request granted, you may end up in the other bulidings that look just like the FQ buildings. )

the "other" buidlings you speak of are the Alligator bayou buildings, and look nothing like the French Quarter buildings.

the decor is totally different. the french quarter building coloring and the rod iron rails look like New Orleans.

the Alligator Bayou seciton of the POR, resort are a bit more rustic. and as you get further away from the food court, the decor changes to a bit more rustic..

the decor around the FQ buildings is either courtyard, with some flowers, or cobblestone streets.
amongst the Aligator Bayou buildings are some really pretty swamplike landscaping, pools, etc. the Magnolia Bend section of POR (mansion), seems a bit more
stately", also a bit more "barren".

 

[NC Disney Fan]

the "other" buidlings you speak of are the Alligator bayou buildings, and look nothing like the French Quarter buildings.

the decor is totally different. the french quarter building coloring and the rod iron rails look like New Orleans.

the Alligator Bayou seciton of the POR, resort are a bit more rustic. and as you get further away from the food court, the decor changes to a bit more rustic..

the decor around the FQ buildings is either courtyard, with some flowers, or cobblestone streets.
amongst the Aligator Bayou buildings are some really pretty swamplike landscaping, pools, etc. the Magnolia Bend section of POR (mansion), seems a bit more
stately", also a bit more "barren".

Sorry, what I meant is that the basic structure was similar in appearance, not the theming. (as would be the case in the AS movies vs AS Sport) I should have been more clear. But that was the reason we chose the way we did because it seemed like the mansions were great and unique but the alligator bayou was similar to the whole POFQ general building structure and that's what we probably would have ended up with has we stayed at POR. That's just our luck. . Thanks for clarifying that for the OP.

 

[smidgy]

Sorry, what I meant is that the basic structure was similar in appearance, not the theming. (as would be the case in the AS movies vs AS Sport) I should have been more clear. But that was the reason we chose the way we did because it seemed like the mansions were great and unique but the alligator bayou was similar to the whole POFQ general building structure and that's what we probably would have ended up with has we stayed at POR. That's just our luck. . Thanks for clarifying that for the OP.

true. the alligator bayou buildings and the FQ buildings are all 2 story.. the buildings at Carricean beach are also very similar in structure, and are the 2 story buildings in the Cabana section of Coronado SPrings.

I really wish they would make the Magnolia Bend or ALligator Bayou section bookable categories( I do beleive the suites at AOA (cars, lion king and nemo) are bookable categories.
same thing with Coroando.. you have no control if you will be casitas, cabanas, or ranchos

you could guarantee a "mansion" room if you book a Royal room. not only do I not want to pay the exttra money, I don't liek that decor anyway. we find it "garish".

I guess if you are a party of 5 and book at POR you are guaranteed an Alligator bayou room, hopefully that leaves more magnolia bend rooms for the rest of us..

 

[Shaden]

true. the alligator bayou buildings and the FQ buildings are all 2 story.. the buildings at Carricean beach are also very similar in structure, and are the 2 story buildings in the Cabana section of Coronado SPrings.

I really wish they would make the Magnolia Bend or ALligator Bayou section bookable categories( I do beleive the suites at AOA (cars, lion king and nemo) are bookable categories.
same thing with Coroando.. you have no control if you will be casitas, cabanas, or ranchos

you could guarantee a "mansion" room if you book a Royal room. not only do I not want to pay the exttra money, I don't liek that decor anyway. we find it "garish".

I guess if you are a party of 5 and book at POR you are guaranteed an Alligator bayou room, hopefully that leaves more magnolia bend rooms for the rest of us..

Couldnt agree with this more ... we booked a king room for our stay at POR and while we requested and were given a mansions room, we were SO NERVOUS until arrival, we had no interest in AB but could not ensure Mansions... it should be bookable.

Funny thing, our previous trip we booked through a TA at CSR and we were able to SELECT Cabanas ... or any section ... which is weird since through disney you cant. MAYBE our TA over sood the request nature of the selection .... but I dont think so, we booked king bed water view Cabanas ... I reme, ber having to look at a map to guess what we wanted ... we put in s3veral other requests and the resort had no record of them .. which was a huge issue and why we havent used the TA since ... but we were definitly given our choice of sections through our TA ...you would think disney would offer the same ...even if it was 50 bucks per booking ...

 

[smidgy]

and actually, you are nto even guaranteeda room at the resort you chose. (technically) you are only guaranteed a room on property. (it's in the fine print)

 

[Craigdarroch]

Definitely go with Riverside... more room at the FQ for us!!

Just kidding... honestly, we have stayed at both resorts more times than I can count and love them both for various reasons.

I would have to say we love the theming at FQ a bit more because it's quaint and pretty and makes you feel like you've just stepped into a Mary Poppins film (I know FQ isn't set in England, but that's really how we feel). Plus, it's simply stunning at night.

The Riverside is really lush and green and the hub area is gorgeous. I find the rooms in the mansion area a bit quieter than FQ and it's difficult to find a bad room location. We had a parking lot view one time that turned out to be our favourite spot in the resort, it was just so peaceful, close to one of the small pools, and just a walk over the bridge to the hub.

Go with your gut... you really can't go wrong