POR- nightmare (8/26-29)

[Lilolvr]

My visit to POR was a nightmare--so bad that I actually switched resorts mid visit.

The highlights:

1) Waiting an hour to check in at 7:00 am Sunday morning 8/26 - the check in line extended from the front desk ALL THE WAY to Riverside Mill food court. The line was hundreds of people long and there were only 3 people working!

2) Transportation-- absolutely awful--Since Riverside and French Quarter was at capacity we stood the whole time at every bus. The lines exiting each park were nightmares-- one time (I think it was Monday evening) we had to wait for four buses. On Wednesday evening the Port Orleans bus line in Epcot extended from the queue to the locker rental/stroller rental area near the leave a legacy tiles.

3) The hotel staff seemed overworked and burdened. We asked for help regarding a move to another hotel and was told by the concierge that we can't do that. The concierge staff told us that the busses weren't supposed to be shared with French Quarter, but they were for the three days we were there. Every bus was a standing room only bus and was not relaxing in the least.

There are more details, but those were the biggies.

I know what you mean with the buses. I've experience it first hand as well. I haven't been back to POR in a while but I see it hasn't changed either.

 

[Lilolvr]

Could someone please inform me of a resort that doesn't have nightmare transportation after park closing? That's why I always linger a bit. It's either that or make sure I beat the crowd out. I prefer the first one though. It's always fun to stroll through the shops late at night.

It's not that other resorts don't have problems, its the extent of the problem that is at issue. I've been to other resorts that do not have nearly the problem POR/POFQ does at closing.

 

[bluefairy13]

I don't care if this is the kind of thing that happens only once in awhile at a resort, it's not acceptable ever when you consider for the money you probably paid. Thank you for the report. I think it's good to know.

I had a problem with something at POR once a few years ago with an error in a bill and it took a month to get it resolved. I was tearing my hair out because it just seemed like no one was listening to me. Someone told me that the management there is not the best of all the resorts.

 

[LvsTnk]

Right, there would only be three days a year, maximum, when hordes of Guests would likely be checking out-and-in first thing in the morning, aka 7 AM - and how badly this affected the check-in line would depend in large part on the resort size and style. POR would be more affected than POFQ; Pop would be more affected than any single All Star; ANY resort would be more affected than CSR if, as this year, that entire resort was reserved by a corporation for a conference


You can't magically create staff - if you have four people assigned to a given shift, and one of them doesn't work Sunday, you can't snap your fingers and make more appear. Even if you see the line has fifty people in it at 6:58, and you start calling your day staff to come in early, they're NOT right around the corner and they're likely not showered, dressed, fed, and ready to run out the door at that instant.

I am sure management realized well before 7am on Sunday morning that they were going to need more that 3 people to work...they were telling all those people to check out and in at the same time, Sunday in the am, start of free dining....sounds like a no brainer to me.

Are you saying that they only have 3 CM's that are ever scheduled to work Sunday mornings. They should have anticipated this fiasco weeks in advance.

Even if the situation occured at other resorts which people are suggesting it should have been anticipated by mangement.

My vacation time is extremely valuable to me, so this thread has taught me a good lesson about what to expect. Thanks again OP!

 

[Dallas_Lady]

As far as I understand, the long bus line and long waiting for check-in has happened everywhere, especially busy season. So if we conclude the story as "POR-nightmare", for me it is just same old complain on this board,
"I am not happy because IT DID NOT WORK AS I EXPECTED"

I agree. Long lines at check in, being short staffed can happen at any resort. It's not necessarily a POR exclusive issue. I hope this doesn't deter people from staying at POR.

Lastly, my guess why POR sells out is because it is the only Mod that can sleep 5, so lots of families choose it over two rooms at a Value or a more expensive room at a Deluxe.

Ah, I didn't think of that! That's a good point.

Could someone please inform me of a resort that doesn't have nightmare transportation after park closing? That's why I always linger a bit. It's either that or make sure I beat the crowd out. I prefer the first one though. It's always fun to stroll through the shops late at night.

At park closing, expect to wait in line or linger (which is what we do). Unless you are at the MK and are staying at one of the monorail resorts, and even then, expect to be on a crowded monorail with all the people trying to get back to the TTC.

 

[bluefairy13]

I am sure management realized well before 7am on Sunday morning that they were going to need more that 3 people to work...they were telling all those people to check out and in at the same time, Sunday in the am, start of free dining....sounds like a no brainer to me.

Are you saying that they only have 3 CM's that are ever scheduled to work Sunday mornings. They should have anticipated this fiasco weeks in advance.

Even if the situation occured at other resorts which people are suggesting it should have been anticipated by mangement.

My vacation time is extremely valuable to me, so this thread has taught me a good lesson about what to expect. Thanks again OP!

Not only that, but I think that Disney should be able to "magically create a staff". There should be employees to fill in in situations such as this.

I worked for a department store as a "floater" when I was in college, meaning that I went where I was needed and didn't have a specific department.

WDW is so very expensive and there are so many things they do well. I'm always surprised when they do something so wrong.

 

[kaytieeldr]

The difference is, bluefairy, that you were already in the store and assigned to a department as needed. If there is no staff IN the resort able to handle the Front Desk (not unusual at 7 AM, since it's RIGHT when the system rolls over to the next day), they truly can't magically produce said staff. They can't borrow it from another hotel - other hotels might be in the same straits, or might have just exactly the staff they need to handle the waiting Guests. Can we even be sure Management endorsed telling all split-reservation Guests to return at the same time?

The major problem with the buses is, you're putting Guests from over 3,000 rooms - most with up to four Guests, many with up to five - in the same buses. The closest situation to that is Pop Century, where they have 2,880 rooms,,, but only one bus stop. And chains, to control the queues. THAT'S something that would greatly benefit POR.

 

[Lilolvr]

The difference is, bluefairy, that you were already in the store and assigned to a department as needed. If there is no staff IN the resort able to handle the Front Desk (not unusual at 7 AM, since it's RIGHT when the system rolls over to the next day), they truly can't magically produce said staff. They can't borrow it from another hotel - other hotels might be in the same straits, or might have just exactly the staff they need to handle the waiting Guests. Can we even be sure Management endorsed telling all split-reservation Guests to return at the same time?

The major problem with the buses is, you're putting Guests from over 3,000 rooms - most with up to four Guests, many with up to five - in the same buses. The closest situation to that is Pop Century, where they have 2,880 rooms,,, but only one bus stop. And chains, to control the queues. THAT'S something that would greatly benefit POR.

But if this is the trend that has occurred over the last few years, then have staff scheduled to come in for 7:00am. This isn't the first summer for POR or the first free dining period. And for the buses, that's been an ongoing issue for a long time. But they don't seem to want to correct it.

 

[mrsnj91]

Ok don't have time to read all the pages yet but just wanted to say that I feel the OP's pain. LOL! We were there 8/26-9/3. We had a late check in so it wasn't so bad. That was rather quick considering the buses coming in even at that hour. But there was no real info on the hotel. Pool hours? Resturant hours? Etc. I thought I was missing info in the room and went back down. I was told I had to call to get that info. What hotel doesn't have that in the room?

We were one of the people at the horror line at MK! Oh yes. I KNOW exactly what night you are talking about.

"Are you in line 5?"
"Yes"
"That line is back that way.....allllllllll the way back that way...keep walking....keep going......"


Two hotel stalls used for our resort alone and still we were out the canopy and heading up the walk way to MK. Aweful! I think the whole resort was there that night! And then you would watch bus after bus come to AKL for pick up for like 10-20 people. Why didn't the direct the bus to POR?? But that was nothing compared to the wait I had at Hoop Dee Doo. Not a POR story but still fits....our boat got caught in that lovely light show on the lake. 50 min. wait to just get on the boat, which then put us at MK at closing. The fireworks were going off and I was sitting there praying for that boat to move faster so I didn't get in that horriable line again!!!! We JUST made it!!

Back to POR....I rather liked it there though. We did have an issue with the fridge. It was never cold. We complained several times and they were out right away. But is still never got cold. Another guest told me that they had the same problem and the repair guys told him not to say anything but to remove the fridge out of the wood casing. It holds the heat in and the fridge doesn't get cold enough. The resort doesn't want them showing and so they aren't allowed to remove them. Nice except I had to keep food for my allergy DD in there and milk for her sippie. We ended up having the use the fridge/freezer in the luggage station cause we didn't know that info on the room fridge till we were ready to leave.

We waited three nights for pillows....calling every day. The shower curtain had mold on it. They only made the port a crib bed once. I did it the rest of the time. And they kept forgetting to leave extra towels for a family of 5. But you know what....it is a hotel with humans running it. Mistakes happen. Things get missed. Workers have a bad day. I can't say I wouldn't stay there again. I thought it was nice. I do think Disney needs to rethink on the transportation some but in general we all...the customers...worked together and helped eachother and it seemed to be ok for us.

(Oh and yeah we got the pick up at the POFQ too for the first 3-4 days. But we got on at the east depot and that was the 1st stop. It wasn't bad for us. But the end was always crowded. They stopped going to that end by about Wed. and the buses weren't so bad)

 

[Dani Dani Dani]

We just got back from staying at POR (8/29-9/3). I gotta say that I'll definitely NOT be staying at that resort again EVER. Check-in at 1pm (arrived at MCO at 9:35am. Took magical express 3 hours to pick us up and get us to the resort as the driver kept getting lost) Check in itself took another 2.5 hrs as there was only 3 CM working the desk. We were never told how to find our building or where anything at the resort was. I had asked for a ground floor room due to a person in our party with a disability- was given a room in building 39 which was in the middle of BFE. Ended up having to change rooms as it was too far for the other disabled person in our party to walk to the bus stop/food court. The CM at the check in desk were very rude and seemed rushed. Every bus was completely full every day all day. Other guests were complaining about people with disabilities and how it's not fair that the disabled person/their party got loaded on busses first, etc. The list of complaints goes on and on and on. The only positive from POR was their mousekeeping. Ours was exceptional and always did a very good job. She was definitely well rewarded!

 

[SGMCO]

The only positive from POR was their mousekeeping. Ours was exceptional and always did a very good job. She was definitely well rewarded!

Sorry you had such a bad experiance--
At least there was one postive thing.
Im still trying to keep positive about upcoming trip to POR.
Anyone else have ANY OTHER POSITIVE things to say
to help me stay Positive.

 

[yaddo121]

Sorry about your experience at POR! I just wish POR and POFQ had separate buses! They really need to do something about that! POFQ is not bad because the bus stops there first, but POR is another story! We also had a bad time with the buses at POR in 2006. We stayed at POFQ this past Feb. and did not have any problems with the buses, except once going and coming from DTD.

I recently stayed at POFQ (08/18-08/22) and noticed they did provide separate buses a few times for MK (not sure about other parks). A couple of times it was the middle of the afternoon and we ended up riding with only one or two other guests. There was also a cast member at the POFQ bus stop each morning who seemed to do a pretty good job of keeping track of everything. Of course this was before free dining and I never leave with the 'rush' so I'm not disputing the OP. Just wanted to let others know that it comes and goes lol!

ETA: for SGMCO -- Just wanted to say (as you can tell by my sig lol) that I've stayed at POR/POFQ almost every trip and have never had a problem. Mousekeeping was always exceptional, the buses ran smoothly, the CM's were always polite and friendly....and we just love the atmosphere -- plus the boats to DTD lol! I hope you have a great trip!!

 

[rgionet]

Another positive for POR! We were there from 8/24 - 8/26 and had another great stay. We were leaving on 8/26 and saw the giant line in the morning - yikes! That was crazy. We noticed the busses to be crowded and did spend a lot of time standing on the bus, but we didn't wait more than 15 minutes for a bus. The two weeks prior we were at the Polynesian and we found the busses to be much worse there as you are sharing with the Contemporary and Grand Floridian. Many times the bus didn't even make it to the Poly because it was already full from the Contemporary stop - nevermind the poor folks waiting at the Grand Floridian!

 

[lilyv]

Free Food is designed to pack in the crowds during a normally slow time. It works. Disney, I'm sure, will use the info from this year to help with crowds in the future.

Our POR stay in Aug was just lovely. Romantic, relaxing, I can't say enough good about this resort.

 

[Lilolvr]

Free Food is designed to pack in the crowds during a normally slow time. It works. Disney, I'm sure, will use the info from this year to help with crowds in the future.

I guess only time will tell. Not sure why they wouldn't have used the free dining info from the last few years though.

 

[bluefairy13]

The difference is, bluefairy, that you were already in the store and assigned to a department as needed. If there is no staff IN the resort able to handle the Front Desk (not unusual at 7 AM, since it's RIGHT when the system rolls over to the next day), they truly can't magically produce said staff. They can't borrow it from another hotel - other hotels might be in the same straits, or might have just exactly the staff they need to handle the waiting Guests.

I'm sure that if there were some kind of floating staff, help could be very quickly available.

It's funny how strenuously people will defend WDW! They did a bad job. That's pretty obvious. They are a huge company that handled something badly. I know that people have a wonderful time there and it is a beautiful resort, and I don't think that pointing out a flaw is so out of line.

 

[quiltymom]

It's been interesting reading the good, bad & the ugly on this thread. We're staying at POR next month, and even after reading everything I'm not worried.

Why?

Last trip we stayed at the WL and the busses were BAD. We would arrive 10 minutes prior to the first bus scheduled, and that first bus would always be about 30 - 40 minutes late. Except if you wanted to go to a water park or DTD. Those came about every 5 minutes. But we didn't let this ruin our trip.

Also, the majority of the time had to stand, either coming or going, and it was never at park closing. And this was at a Deluxe. We also had to wait an hour to check in. But it was Spring Break. Should I say more?

So, it doesn't matter where you stay, the busses can and will be bad. But I also go to WDW with the knowledge that we will have to wait for stuff, whether we want to or not. I'd be living in a dream world if I thought that every time I wanted a bus it would magically appear, and be empty. We'll just make sure to have something to entertain us while we wait. Maybe even look back at all the photos we took that day on or digital camera.

 

[LvsTnk]

Not only that, but I think that Disney should be able to "magically create a staff". There should be employees to fill in in situations such as this.

I worked for a department store as a "floater" when I was in college, meaning that I went where I was needed and didn't have a specific department.

WDW is so very expensive and there are so many things they do well. I'm always surprised when they do something so wrong.

ITA- I was also reading another thread where at the CBR they had a simular problem last week and they had drinks and cookies for guests and CM's answering guests questions while they were waiting in line. It is a small gesture but at least they aknowledged the situation.

 

[SGMCO]

Thanks for some postives! it helps.
I need to stop reading the negative reviews
about POR so that I won't get a Tainted outlook.
Also I need to look at OP review with the
fact that it was the 1st day of Free Dining
and it was an unusual Circumstance.
I'm also a pretty patient person.
It's a good thing that I'm the one checking in because
DH has no patience.
POR here we Come!

 

[bluefairy13]

So, it doesn't matter where you stay, the busses can and will be bad. But I also go to WDW with the knowledge that we will have to wait for stuff, whether we want to or not. I'd be living in a dream world if I thought that every time I wanted a bus it would magically appear, and be empty. We'll just make sure to have something to entertain us while we wait. Maybe even look back at all the photos we took that day on or digital camera.

This is true, but I am a little surprised at the attempt to discredit the original poster. These boards are for information primarily, am I right? They aren't the cheerleaders for WDW.

If I were new to WDW I'd want to know that in a busy season things like buses can be a pain. I've stayed at POR and I've stayed at WL and the better thing about WL is that there is for example another way to get to the Magic Kindom.

If I were new and were staying at POR at a very busy time I might consider a car instead of relying on what might be very annoying bus service. I like a resort that keeps me off the buses the most, and if that isn't possible I rent a car.

It's just extra information to help them make the best decision they can. I'd rather warn someone assure them everything will be peachy keen and have them be disappointed.