POR never again (LONG)

[GOOFYFREEK]

Well just got back from 2 days at WDW. Nothing was available at Value resorts so we decided to try a Mod out. Well we stayed at POR 1722 was are room.

We arrived around 930 am saturday morning and wanted to check in. We knew we couldnt get to the room, but wanted the room keys to charge. Well Myra checked us in and she was about the most unpleasant woman I met. But that was just the start of it. We decided to eat breakfast at Boatwrights. Where told it would be 20 min wait. But would could see table that where empty and there was only 3 other couples standing there. Well 30 minutes goes by and still havent buzzed us. Yet we still see several empty tables. Well finally we get buzzed and seated. We where told are waitress was Christina. Well 4-5 minutes go by and nobody comes. Then finally a waitress comes by says ill be back in just one second. We find out this is Christina and this is her first day solo YAAAAAAAAH US!!!. We order the coffee and are food all at once. She brings a cup of coffee but no creamer and proceeds to disapear. Another 5 minutes goes by and she pops out. We where not the only ones looking for her. The gues that where ready to leave when we got there still handn't received there bill and they where looking for her too. Finally are food came. I had Bannana stuffed french toast and DM had Blueprint omlet. The food was absolutly wonderful. But once again we're done eating and Christina is no where to be found. Well needless to say it was 20 minutes from the time I finished eating till we left.

Went to the parks came back to the hotel around 430 to get to are room. Told it wasn't ready. So they changed us to rooms 1722. So they have to give us new keys. Well once again another CM that was just so miserable I wondered why she was there. No smile not cheerful no nothing. Get to the room and I was like this room smells funny. But thought maybe it was me. So didnt worry about it. Went to DTD then MGM then Epcot for illuminations. We get back around 11:30. Walk in the room and there is that smell again. I ask DM this time you smell that. She said she did too. So well called front desk they send someone out. And they just said its probably from the room being closed up and the Heater running. We could change rooms. But by then its 1230am and im wore out ready for bed. So heck with it. Get up next morning and walk toward the window to see how it looked outside and the floor feels wet. I start walking aorund more and more and it is. The entire carpet is wet. Well I was glad we only stayed one night. We informed the front desk.

About the room itself. It seemed the same size as the Value resorts. The TV was smaller and there was no counter space in the bathroom sink area. So only thing I could see benificial too the place was it had a sit down restaurant. I could easily see how you could get lost in this resort. Took us a couple of walking across grass sections to find are room again at night. And heard a couple say it took them 45 minutes to find there room last night.

We ate at Boatwrights again cause I wanted to try the Sweat Potatoe Pancakes. Man Once again there food was awsome. They sat us right away. 8 am in the morning. NO waitress came by. Another waitress heard us talking and came over and got us coffee after we had been there for a little bit. 5 Min approx. Are's shows and take order and was out in no time.

I know I sound picky but im not. I am a very easy going person. But I own a restaurant and know if I treated customers like that they would never be seen again. Sorry for being long just wanted a little place to vent. We will either go value again or probably wont go at all.

 

[TomD]

Sorry you had a bad experience. We are going to be there in 19 days. I will report back on how our stay there was

 

[GOOFYFREEK]

I hope your trip is much more pleasurable. Just keep that room # in mind 1722

 

[n2mm]

That is too bad things went so badly. It can put a real damper on your trip. We've had good trips and bad trips so completely understand. I use to love Dixie Landing, but, like you, over the years we've come to the conclusion that the moderates are not worth the money. We choose values and deluxes. We choose values during the spring and fall when we are there for 12-15 days each trip and regular season rates are in. We choose deluxes during value season (Jan/Sep/Dec) because the rates are so good.

I also agree with you about the comparison. The last time we stayed at Dixie Landing (POR) we said the price difference was not worth it to us. We never used the boat to DTD (we used our rental car), we never used their teenie, tiny hot tub, and the rooms' air conditioning and heating systems are so dated they often leak and smell of mold/mildew. We do enjoy Boatwrights and visit for breakfast often (again, rental car). And what's with that tiny TV, when you get a huge 27in TV at Pop, plus a bigger safe! And their food court leaves something to be desired (gotta love the food courts at the Value resorts).

Don't get me wrong, we loved Dixie Landing in it's hey-day. But after about 20 visits or so to POR, we choose a value over a moderate any day. Our trip this weekend is at the BWI, and in January 8 days at WL. But in May we'll be happily at Pop Century for 15 days.

 

[chobie]

Thanks for that report. I just changed my reservation from POR to POP. I decided that I would rather put the money toward staying at the Poly sometime, which is my dream resort. Besides my children love POP and we're going the first week of January when we get the good rates and when hopefully park attendance is way down. so we are not planning on being in the room much. We stayed off property last week with the in-laws for Thanksgiving and the parks were so crowded we could barley move.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Sorry to hear about your room and grumpy castmembers.

 

[TaurusSES_Sport]

The only moderate I stay in is Coronado Springs, and we only get the junior suites. They are priced right and if your staying at a moderate I would go there!

 

[Limmer]

I just have to post a positive here. We have stayed at POR twice and love it. I am sorry you had grumpy CM's. We found everybody to be cheerful and very helpful. Sit-down restaurants do take much longer to eat in than counter service but we find that is part of the attraction. It is nice to have some time to unwind and relax after the fast pace of the parks. (Love the prime rib at Boatwright's)
We have only stayed on Mansions side so I can't comment on your room but I thought that everything had been rehabbed recently, no? Maybe only Mansions? Finding a wet floor would severely irritate me. Our room did have a very wide ledge over the sinks though the sinks themselves were pedestal. That gave us lots of room for toothbrushes, toiletries etc.
While it is a large resort, we loved walking around at night. It was one of our favourite times. POR has such beautiful landscaping.
Sorry you didn't love it like we did.

 

[ufgator]

I'm sorry you had a bad time. I've stayed at POR a couple of times and loved it.

 

[TDC Nala]

Just so readers will know about the room size, POR rooms are about 314 square feet and value rooms are about 260 square feet.

Caribbean Beach is the only moderate with bigger standard rooms. Theirs are about 340 sq. ft.

I like Pop Century, myself.

 

[tinkerbee]

Sorry to hear things didn't go so well. I love POR and have never had a problem there. The castmembers are some of the nicest I have met. Being it was Christinas' first day by herself I would cut her some slack I bet it can be really nerve racking for a new person.

I think it's worth the extra to stay at POR but maybe it's just me. It's a beautiful resort.

 

[yecats]

Sorry to see it wasn't to your liking but at least you were only there one night with the wet rug (what's up with that). Anyway I have to admit my stay there last Nov. for 8 days was the complete opposite and I had a wonderful time and didn't meet one bad CM (maybe the management has changed since then). Anyway this year I stayed at CSR and met several people who got lost walking around the resort so your not alone. It took my mother 45 minutes to find her way from the parking lot (about 150 feet) back to our room. Anyway to each is own.

 

[luvdzny]

Since you are a restaurant owner yourself I would think that you would understand "new servers." I am sure that you have hired unexperienced servers at your restaurant. I would think that you would be a little more understanding. Also just because there are empty tables that doesn't mean that they should be seating everyone waiting. They have to fill the tables based on the servers available, it doesn't do any good to seat people if there is not a server that can take care of them. I am sorry to hear that you had a bad experience.

 

[kajohn]

While I didn't have a bad time, I was a little disapointed with our stay at POR this past Thanksgiving week.

This was my first time staying on property since 1990, so I was very excited. The staff at check in was not very friendly at all. They were adequate at doing their job, but definetly not what I had expected from Disney. I don't know how their computers work, but after each person they checked in they would spend two or three minutes typing in the computer and/or conversing with another CM before they would motion for the next person in line. It just seemed frustrating that they would be wasting time when there was a line.

I accidently threw out my room card with my tray of food and had them cancel just my card while I was at Typhoon lagoon, which left my husbands to still charge with until we returned to the resort. When we got back to POR I went to the check in people again to get a new card and they issued me 5 new ones, one for each person in our room. This was a little confusing trying to figure out which ones were the good ones etc.

Then, the next day I had to check out and check back in due to two different reservations (we kept the same room). I had to get 5 new keys (which in this case I understood). We went straight to animal kingdom and found out our charging privelges didn't work, they messed them up somehow when I rechecked in. Luckily a very nice CM took 10 minutes on the phone to straighten it out, and luckily we still had our old cards, which the people at POR got to still work (we didn't bring much cash with us or a credit card since we planned on only using our resort ID for purchasing).

Back to the check in again that night where I got 5 more new cards for a total of 20 ID's for the week!

As for the room, I thought it was small, and I didn't think there was much room in the bathroom for our stuff, that little counter did not hold much at all! We were in building 26 in aligator bayou. I felt the walk was a bit much after walking in the parks all day.

The one part I did like is the food court. We only ate breakfasts there, but it was very fast and convient and easy to get around.

Although the resort is nice, I think I would prefer the deluxes. I thought the resort was just too big, the room too small, and the themeing was just not my thing. We are saving up to stay at CR next year. Even if I stay in a garden wing, I don't think the walk will be near as much.

Kelli

 

[sugermouse]

We have stayed at this resort twice and have never experienced a problem. We are returning for xmas. Unfortunately, the few people that actually post about their resort stay have some sort of complaint or bad experience. The reality is that the majority of guests have a magical stay. Nobody is perfect, including Disney. Fortunately, we have never had a problem while in WDW. However, don't get me started on Delta Airlines!

 

[Momto8]

Sorry you didn't enjoy your stay at POR and you had trouble with your room. I wouldn't like it either if the carpeting was wet.

POR is one of my favorite moderates. I love the theming and I think the landscpaing is just so pretty compared to the values.

We stayed there last summer in the Mansion section and our room was completely renovated. We also had a larger TV, I think it was 27". Maybe they haven't finished renovating AB and you got a room that was done yet. As for the bathrooms, they aren't as large as a deluxe, but either are the values. Not that I don't like the values or won't stay at one, but my preference are the moderates because of the amenities they offer over a value. Of course, we always get the AP discount when we stay at one. I would never pay rack rate.

 

[georgina]

However, don't get me started on Delta Airlines!

Ditto!

 

[Cris]

what most people don't understand is if they don't have enough waiters they are not going to seat all the tables.

 

[LorieR]

My DH and I stayed at POR for the third time 11/9 through 11/16 and had a wonderful time. DH hurt his back a week before we went so we ended up staying most of the time at the resort and only spent one day at the parks. We had the best time of all this trip!! The refurbished room in Oak Manor was great and were pleased to have the coffee maker and refrigerator! The quiet pool was beautiful and we spent quite a few days there (we had wonderful weather). Ate dinner at Boatwrights for the first time (had breakfast there only once before) and enjoyed the meal. Took the boat to DTD a few nights, sat on benches by the river and enjoyed the view, and all in all just enjoyed our beautiful surroundings. I guess we were lucky that we have very friendly CM's for our stay, although I do have to say that I had to say "what?" a few times at check-in! Must have had the same mumbler! All in all it was a great time and we are planning our fourth stay there in November 2005! Sorry you did not have such a great experience

 

[stevenpensacola]

We just returned from a stay at POR. We stayed in Building 24 (Alligator Bayou). This building had very recently undergone renovation. In fact, the wood furniture still had the new "woodsy" smell. The walk to the lobby/restaurant area was a little long, but the grounds were absolutely beautiful. The building behind of 24 was being renovated while we were there. They were replacing/repainting everything.

We had a shelf over the sinks which was more than adequate for our needs.
Room also had a mini-fridge! We did not use it, but the thought was nice. Size of tv doesn't really matter....you're only sitting 8 stinkin' feet from the screen (sorry).

Kid's loved Ol' man island.

We checked in at midnight....no lines to worry about!