POR Alternative

[dledger]

We are in the very early stages of planning our 2022 trip. It’s my dh, myself and ds who would be 3.5 at the time of the trip. We have stayed most often at POR and with them being closed into the unknown, wondering what everyone is booking as their second choice. I know obviously if it becomes available we can always switch, but looking to make a game plan. I’ve stayed at CBR a while ago, dh and I have also stayed at BC pre kid. We are also still considering renting points. So, favorite POR alternatives? Reasons why? Thanks!

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

Our family is in the exact same situation! POR just feels like "Home" to us. We've tried several other resorts, but they just don't compare to POR.
We went out on a limb and rented points for OKW and WOW!, I'm so conflicted now. We LOVED it.

For some reason OKW doesn't get as much attention, because people say it's an older resort, our room was perfect in every way. Plus, it's the only resort that the studios have two queen beds, instead of one queen and a pull down queen. I'm sorry, but I will not be paying premium prices to stay at a studio at Riveria that only has one queen pull down :/

OKW is side by side with Port Orleans, so the proximity to Disney Springs and the parks is the same. There are several leisure pools spread through out the resort with free laundy rooms at the pools. At least one of the leisure pools has a snack bar/drink bar. The buses were just fine for us. Lots of ppl bring bikes, or can rent them. The Hospitality House has a gift shop with small grocery items, an open air bar, a quick service and seated dining just like POR

 

[winterwhite]

My husband loves POR but we recently did a stay (pre-Covid but not by much) at Pop Century. We hadn’t been for awhile, but it was actually great now that the skyliner exists. We like resorts with alternative transportation and spent a lot of time riding the POR boats around - so this was a nice substitute, and the food options were really great with a 4 year old and a picky husband. Bonus it was a LOT cheaper. We would probably stay again.

 

[Stacybaeasm]

If you are renting points - OKW is the way to go. Same area and a lovely resort. Usually, OKW and POFQ are my go tos. However, I am hesitant to rent points right now because they are generally non-refundable. So, I have discovered POP and AOA. I never thought I would stay Value but I have done a stay at each and LOVED the skyliner access. Plus it was super easy to get to other places for Food. One night we rode the skyliner to Riviera for dinner. Just my two cents. I went from NEVER a value to this is actually pretty cool.

 

[dledger]

If you are renting points - OKW is the way to go. Same area and a lovely resort. Usually, OKW and POFQ are my go tos. However, I am hesitant to rent points right now because they are generally non-refundable. So, I have discovered POP and AOA. I never thought I would stay Value but I have done a stay at each and LOVED the skyliner access. Plus it was super easy to get to other places for Food. One night we rode the skyliner to Riviera for dinner. Just my two cents. I went from NEVER a value to this is actually pretty cool.

We are definitely hesitant to rent at this time but, we haven’t taken it completely off the table. I have a feeling it won’t be the route we take but I never say never. We are typically rope droppers - do you have any feelings on skyliner in regards to that? I see mixed reviews about getting to the parks early AM. I love the look of AoA but not so much the price tag.

 

[dledger]

Our family is in the exact same situation! POR just feels like "Home" to us. We've tried several other resorts, but they just don't compare to POR.
We went out on a limb and rented points for OKW and WOW!, I'm so conflicted now. We LOVED it.

For some reason OKW doesn't get as much attention, because people say it's an older resort, our room was perfect in every way. Plus, it's the only resort that the studios have two queen beds, instead of one queen and a pull down queen. I'm sorry, but I will not be paying premium prices to stay at a studio at Riveria that only has one queen pull down :/

OKW is side by side with Port Orleans, so the proximity to Disney Springs and the parks is the same. There are several leisure pools spread through out the resort with free laundy rooms at the pools. At least one of the leisure pools has a snack bar/drink bar. The buses were just fine for us. Lots of ppl bring bikes, or can rent them. The Hospitality House has a gift shop with small grocery items, an open air bar, a quick service and seated dining just like POR

We have friends that love OKW. Its not too far off our radar. I’m not looking for fancy, I know what we get at Disney. But I just like that homey feel of POR. And I agree, the pull down beds just don’t really appeal to me. Maybe my kid, but not me.

 

[Lumpy1106]

with the 3.5 yo - gotta go AoA! We are a family of 5 with older kids, usually go POR, but we tried CBR when POR wasn't a choice and hated it. It just felt dated and it took forever to get anywhere on property. They moved us to AoA and we loved it! The BBB will be good for your DS - it has a zero-entry side and a splash pad. No slide but he's too young for that anyway. It also has a large walk-through Lion King area, plus Cars and Little Mermaid themed areas. We loved the food court - maybe the best QS in WDW. We thought the buses would be bad but they were great too. Add to that the Skyliner and if you really want a change of scenery POP is right across the water (or you could take the Skyliner to CBR too).

 

[Stacybaeasm]

We are definitely hesitant to rent at this time but, we haven’t taken it completely off the table. I have a feeling it won’t be the route we take but I never say never. We are typically rope droppers - do you have any feelings on skyliner in regards to that? I see mixed reviews about getting to the parks early AM. I love the look of AoA but not so much the price tag.

The only park I rope dropped on the Skyliner was Epcot. For my DHS days, I was in a vehicle with a friend. I have seen the lines and I would say you need to be in line for the skyliner about an hour before it starts running if you want to be at the front of the pack for DHS.

As far as AOA vs. Pop - I would go with Pop, unless you are doing a suite at AOA. The Cars suites are GREAT and close to where you want to be. The Little Mermaid Building is a hike. The buildings at Pop FEEL closer to the skyliner and the lobby building, especially once you discover that you can cut through the parking lot by the 80's building and get to the lobby, thereby cutting 5 minutes off your walking time. Boy did I feel dumb after I discovered that.

 

[branfam]

POFQ is my and my family's favorite resort. We have stayed at many different resorts from almost every value to almost every moderate and 3 different deluxes. I really like ASM. We stayed there on a quick Christmas trip because we had AP and just wanted to stay somewhere inexpensive. It is small like POFQ. It had one bus stop (we almost never shared and there is no sharing at the moment anyway). It has a food court (as opposed to deluxe resorts). It has a queue for bus lines (which is a bonus to us). The grounds are very nice. We love disney so we love the decor. The rooms are smaller but refurbished and nice. The big con to us is that there is no boat to Disney Springs. Otherwise we love it.

 

[LilyWDW]

We are also planning for 2022 (December) and keeping our fingers crossed for POFQ to reopen. If not, our backup is CBR. I allowed my friend to pick and she liked the look of it so I am going along for the ride. We can't afford to upgrade to a deluxe (though we did toy with the idea of Wilderness Lodge for a short time but it is just TOO much money) and the values don't appeal to me.

 

[tcherjen]

AoA has been our home, while POR and FQ is closed.
The minute it opens we are ready to go back. So many memories at PO for us.

 

[stindall]

We are also planning for 2022 (September) and our son will be turning 3 during our trip. We wanted POR and assume it'll be open but if not we'll be staying at POP. We chose POR because I've always wanted to stay there, my parents are coming with us as well and I know will be more into "down time" so a nicer resort, closer to shopping which my step mom loves, is ideal for this trip. However we usually stay POP and love it and 2 of our party will be staying at AOA so it just makes sense. (we don't want one room or we would do a suite at AOA).

 

[dledger]

POFQ is my and my family's favorite resort. We have stayed at many different resorts from almost every value to almost every moderate and 3 different deluxes. I really like ASM. We stayed there on a quick Christmas trip because we had AP and just wanted to stay somewhere inexpensive. It is small like POFQ. It had one bus stop (we almost never shared and there is no sharing at the moment anyway). It has a food court (as opposed to deluxe resorts). It has a queue for bus lines (which is a bonus to us). The grounds are very nice. We love disney so we love the decor. The rooms are smaller but refurbished and nice. The big con to us is that there is no boat to Disney Springs. Otherwise we love it.

that was my one draw back when we stayed at the beach club, there was no quick place to grab breakfast in the morning. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[dledger]

We are also planning for 2022 (September) and our son will be turning 3 during our trip. We wanted POR and assume it'll be open but if not we'll be staying at POP. We chose POR because I've always wanted to stay there, my parents are coming with us as well and I know will be more into "down time" so a nicer resort, closer to shopping which my step mom loves, is ideal for this trip. However we usually stay POP and love it and 2 of our party will be staying at AOA so it just makes sense. (we don't want one room or we would do a suite at AOA).

You will love POR if it’s open! We have had many magical trips there! Pop is definitely on my consideration list. Just so bummed about POR!

 

[nkereina]

Love POR, but we also love CBR and CSR. They are pretty comparable in terms of amenities, service, etc. The themes are very different. CBR also has the added bonus of the Skyliner, and CSR is more centrally located than POR making it faster to get around property. In the current environment with limited bus capacity, my choice would be CBR so you only have to deal with buses to 2 of the 4 parks.

 

[dledger]

Love POR, but we also love CBR and CSR. They are pretty comparable in terms of amenities, service, etc. The themes are very different. CBR also has the added bonus of the Skyliner, and CSR is more centrally located than POR making it faster to get around property. In the current environment with limited bus capacity, my choice would be CBR so you only have to deal with buses to 2 of the 4 parks.

This is actually very much the way I’m leaning currently, I just don’t know how I feel about the sky liner for rope dropping. I do like how CSR has that deluxe feel but still a smaller price tag than say AoA. So much to consider.

 

[nkereina]

This is actually very much the way I’m leaning currently, I just don’t know how I feel about the sky liner for rope dropping. I do like how CSR has that deluxe feel but still a smaller price tag than say AoA. So much to consider.

FWIW, CSR still has some dining options closed and who knows when they will re-open.

We stayed at CBR in October and used the Skyliner for rope drop for both DHS and Epcot. If you are the type that needs to be at the front of the pack waiting for the gates to open then its a bit more of a time commitment, but we are perfectly fine with arriving at the park within 5-10 minutes of opening, and the Skyliner was fine for that. We rope dropped DHS twice and Epcot once and managed to get everything we wanted to done with minimal waits in the park, and that was with us lining up at the Skyliner about 30 minutes prior to it starting. Now, its not as imperative to be inside DHS for ROTR boarding groups, so I would not be surprised if crowds were even a little more manageable. We did choose to Uber to MK (TTC) and AK to avoid the bus depots in the morning, because those crowds grew quickly and there are no formal queues at the bus depots so it looked like a confusing situation with potentially long waits. I think the same would be true at any resort with the bus capacities currently.

 

[dledger]

FWIW, CSR still has some dining options closed and who knows when they will re-open.

We stayed at CBR in October and used the Skyliner for rope drop for both DHS and Epcot. If you are the type that needs to be at the front of the pack waiting for the gates to open then its a bit more of a time commitment, but we are perfectly fine with arriving at the park within 5-10 minutes of opening, and the Skyliner was fine for that. We rope dropped DHS twice and Epcot once and managed to get everything we wanted to done with minimal waits in the park, and that was with us lining up at the Skyliner about 30 minutes prior to it starting. Now, its not as imperative to be inside DHS for ROTR boarding groups, so I would not be surprised if crowds were even a little more manageable. We did choose to Uber to MK (TTC) and AK to avoid the bus depots in the morning, because those crowds grew quickly and there are no formal queues at the bus depots so it looked like a confusing situation with potentially long waits. I think the same would be true at any resort with the bus capacities currently.

Those are all things weighing on my mind. The closed dining doesn’t really scare me much as I’m confident those will reopen in the year + before our trip. Not necessarily deal breakers either. Nice to have but we could manage.
The bus / skyliner / Uber is something I’m trying to get a handle on. We use strictly Disney transport. Magical express, Disney buses, monorail, Minnie vans... with the ending (temporary or otherwise) of Minnie vans and having a then 3.5 year old Uber isn’t really super appealing with the need for a car seat. we hate driving, but we may need a car since magical express will no longer be running and we don’t have alternatives. I don’t mind a line for buses but it seems like it may be a little bit of controlled chaos waiting for buses without a set line. I feel like this is my first trip all over again.

 

[nkereina]

Those are all things weighing on my mind. The closed dining doesn’t really scare me much as I’m confident those will reopen in the year + before our trip. Not necessarily deal breakers either. Nice to have but we could manage.
The bus / skyliner / Uber is something I’m trying to get a handle on. We use strictly Disney transport. Magical express, Disney buses, monorail, Minnie vans... with the ending (temporary or otherwise) of Minnie vans and having a then 3.5 year old Uber isn’t really super appealing with the need for a car seat. we hate driving, but we may need a car since magical express will no longer be running and we don’t have alternatives. I don’t mind a line for buses but it seems like it may be a little bit of controlled chaos waiting for buses without a set line. I feel like this is my first trip all over again.

If you're traveling in 2022, then its entirely possible bus capacities are increased by then too. In which case, the current pain points with the bus situation would be alleviated. If Uber was not an option for us, we would just take the extra time to use Disney transportation. We don't have kids, but renting a car would be a complete last resort for us. Not only does it add on the cost of the car rental, but the parking charges at the resort as well. But again, the Skyliner is a great option - we would much rather deal with the Skyliner situation at rope drop than deal with any bus for park opening.

The rumor mill says Minnie Van is done for good. I would not rely on that. If they do bring it back, it will be when attendance warrants it, which is questionable if that would happen by 2022.

As a side note, most (all?) of the dining options at CSR are third party operated. I would imagine they have less incentive to re-open, especially if attendance is still low. I would consider that as a potential factor, especially if WDW still has resorts closed by the end of the year.