Por...as's......i'll Stick To As

[2ndvice]

Just got back from a 2weeks stay at POR. Stayed in the Acardian Mansion..Nice room..great housekeeper who made things for the kids ea day in the room..HOWEVER!.. Did not see a big enough difference for the xtra money as opposed to staying at the ASMU....anyone else feel this way?

 

[tinagirl]

Did you use the amenities? Did you use the boat to DD, or did you swim at the island?

To me, part of the reason that we love POR (besides just the lush vegitation, and beauty of it all) is the ease of use for other "things to do."

We like being able to rent water mice, we love renting surreys and taking them around. We also just like the vibe. We do also eat at Boatwrights at least once.

I personally have never had a problem with the all stars (although other members of my family are another story), but I must admit that if the price range is similar, and there is room in my budget, I will always choose that Aligator Bayou section of POR over any value (or any other Mod, in fact).

So for me, it is worth it. But then again, we always make long trips of at least 8 - 10 days, so we understand that for other families going for 4 - 5 days, doing a ton of park time, it may just not make sense to pay for a resort you won't use. I also understand that kids like All stars because of how everything looks.

Anywhoo
Everywhere is great to me.

~Tina

 

[jaguar9748]

We stay at POR for the ambience. Of course, my kids are older and not thrilled with the architecture at the All Stars. We love just about everything at POR - the food court, Boatwrights, the store, the 6 pools, the fishin' hole, the beauty of the resort, boats to DD, and so on. In fact, we love it so much we'll be there in 2 days...!

 

[CamColt]

I agree 2ndvice! We have stayed at DXL 2x and then ASMO once. Although we really enjoyed our stays at DXL, after staying at ASMO, I would have a hard time going back to DXL. The only thing I prefer there is the piano player in the lounge.

 

[Luv2Roam]

We stayed in January at ASMo (first time there). And in May stayed at POR (first time also).
ASMo blew POR out of the water in every catagory but the laundry facilities and bakery, for our experience.
Almost everything was much better at ASMo than POR, from service to room cleanliness.
Our ASMo trip was SO MUCH BETTER than POR in bus service, CM's, room cleanliness/service, value, etc.
I can't wait to return to an AS. I don't care if I return to POR.

 

[n2mm]

I love both and also have a hard time deciding between the 2. Bottom line for me. I will NEVER stay at the All Stars in the summer again. Did that last year and never again. I stay at the All Stars in the Spring and Fall and move up to a moderates (always Dixie) in the summer. If you want to know why you can PM me, I'd prefer not to say in this forum. I also like to stay at a Delux in value season....see it all balances out!

 

[smjj]

Thats why WDW has so many different themed and priced resorts. To allow for different taste. What blows one person away is what turns another off completely. Just another reason we like to switch and try different resorts..smjj

 

[Hawk]

I couldn't have said it any better SMJJ!

 

[Dopey Sharon]

smjj...very well said! I've stayed at Dixie Landings, ASMO and ASMU. I couldn't wait to stay at DL...everyone LOVED it soooo much! Well, the place is HUGE (the first night we had to stay in a bayou room...got lost going back to the room!) and the bus service was horrible. I won't be going back there. We are staying at ASMU in November!

 

[inaminute]

My experience with AS Sports was such that I'll NEVER stay there again. Thank goodness it was only one night.

The front desk staff was brusque--I could live with that, everyone has a bad day. Of course our room wasn't ready when we got there, so we called later and got our room number. Went to the foodcourt to grab a quick bite. About the only thing availalbe was the pasta as the grill was broken. We left and went to the parks.

We didn't get to our room until around 11:00 p.m. and I had to use the facilities. The bathroom in our room was filthy--seriously. Looked down, there was urine on the toilet seat--gross! Fortunately, we were moving to our DVC "home" the next day and I had my Lysol with me, so I was able to clean the toilet myself. I would normally have called housekeeping to do it, but when you gotta go... In addition, the bathroom floor had hair all over the place and noticeable dust in the corners. It was the most disgusting bathroom I have EVER experienced in any hotel.

About the only thing I was impressed with were the bell-staff. They stored our luggage for us, and all of the bell staff that helped us were the epitome of Disney. Our luggage was in our room when we came back and they were right there the next morning to take the luggage away!

I don't care how many wonderful stories I hear about this place...I will NEVER stay there again. I don't care how cheap it is.

I've stayed at all the moderates, except CSR (where we'll be in November) and have no problem with any of them--at least they're always clean. They're my second choice when I've used up all my points from DVC and need another trip to the world.

 

[susy]

We had a wonderful two night stay at ASMo in Jan.
Everything was perfect! I am used to more room amenities (I would normally not stay in a value hotel offsite), but found that it served its purpose.

We had another wonderful stay at CBR in May. I agree that the difference in price is a bit much TO ME, because I didn't use the sit-down rest, water mice, hairdryer, coffeemaker, iron, or pool slide. We actually liked our quiet pool better. The room was very nice and we had great housekeeping in both places. It would not keep me away from the mods, though.

I do have the goal to stay at all the WDW resorts!

Yeah, 32 days till AKL!

 

[TwinMom7]

PO - Riverside must be doing something right - we're returning this week for our 4th visit.

In all of our stays, we've NEVER had transportation problems, cleanliness problems, etc.

I guess I'm glad that not everyone likes it there, otherwise we'd never get a room!

I now that there are several deluxe resorts I'd still like to try, but as long as I can get a moderate for $94 per night, I'll never stay at an All Star. We enjoyed at CRB last summer, but still like PO-R better.

Just our family's opinion.....

 

[2ndvice]

I quess I was expecting more for the money at POR as opposed to ASMU...I thought the room would at least have one of those hairdryers built into the wall or one of those 4cup coffeemakers. The room had everything the ASMU had, nothing different. The grounds were beautiful and I did like the boat to DD. Other than that, I saw no difference.

 

[TwinMom7]

Actually, there is a difference in the rooms....in the size. The All Star resort rooms are 260 square feet and the rooms at PO-Riverside are 314. Now, when you get 4 persons in a room that 54 square feet makes quite a difference.

The addition of the trundle bed at PO-Riverside is also a nice extra - especially if you're traveling with 3 children. At an All Star resort, you would be forced to have 2 rooms to accomodate any more than 4 persons.

As for hair dryers....you're not missing much. We stayed at the YC and I swear the hair dryer in our room must have only been 500 watts. The poor little thing took FOREVER to dry my hair. Luckily, I had still packed my own hair dryer or I think I'd still be there!

As long as I can get PO-Riverside for roughly $25 per night more than an ALL-Star, I'll definately take it for the additional room size, trundle bed, sit down restaurant, a total of 7 pools, a large arcade, comfortable piano bar, etc.