POR or AOA??

[akmebe]

We are a family of 5 with 3 girls who will be 9, 6 and 4 when we go in October. We currently have a room reserved in a Finding Nemo suite at Art of Animation. But as we get closer I wonder if we really need all that room or if we would be ok at Port Orleans Riverside in an Alligator Bayou room. Plus is about $850 cheaper at POR. This is our first trip as a family to Disney.

My husband says just keep what we have but I wanted others opinions.

Thanks~
Amanda

 

[Missytara]

We are a family of 5 with 3 girls who will be 9, 6 and 4 when we go in October. We currently have a room reserved in a Finding Nemo suite at Art of Animation. But as we get closer I wonder if we really need all that room or if we would be ok at Port Orleans Riverside in an Alligator Bayou room. Plus is about $850 cheaper at POR.

My husband says just keep what we have but I wanted others opinions.

Thanks~
Amanda

AoA will give you more room and more storage area, and more sleeping options. You will appreciate that AoA doesn't share buses with any other resort, but it doesn't have the covered bus stop or multiple stops that the moderates have. You will love the newness of the resort and the pool cannot be beat as far as theming, as well as the rest of the resort. It doesn't have that value appearance, but it has the over the top theming normally associated with the values. The food court appears to be typical for a food court and there is no restaurant.

You may/may not feel cramped in POR depending on how much you are in your room. There is minimal storage space due to the murphy bed, so you may want to consider bringing cubes or packing less. You will appreciate the multiple covered bus stops, but POR and POFQ do share buses from time to time during the day. The multiple pools cannot be beat; the quiet pools are a wonderful alternative to a long day at the park. The resort just went through a refurb about a year and a half ago, so it still has its newness. The food court is one of the best on property. The restaurant for dinner and the options of going over to DTD on the water taxi add a little extra added bonus. Yee-had Bob in the lounge, to me, puts POR over the top, as far as well worth it.

 

[maxiesmom]

If you want to spend time hanging out at the resort, switch to POR. You get a much nicer pool area, complete with hot tub and slide. You don't get those at any value resort. Plus there are also bikes and boats to rent if you like, and you can go fishing too. Also POR has the best food court on Disney property, in my opinion.

If all you plan on doing at your resort is sleeping, then stick with AoA.

 

[DSNY4ever]

I don't know how sleeping arrangements work for a family of 5 at POR (I am sure others can chime in on that), but we did love that resort. It is really, really beautiful and the pool area was fantastic. We loved getting to take the boat ride to DTD. Plus you can walk over to POFQ too and use their pool too. We actually thought the food court was terrible, but maybe it has gotten better (we haven't stayed there since 2005).

We are about to try AoA for the first time, but we are doing a LM room and for that big of a price difference I think I would go back to POR. Are you guys used to sharing regular sized hotels rooms together as a family?

 

[~April~]

We were just at POR last month and I must say we plan to go back in 2 years and POR is where we are staying. Its just beautiful and peaceful. The food court is really great, I LOVE the make your own salad bar and the pasta bar. Its a beautiful resort, we are a family of 5 and we found there to be enough room, of course we weren't in our room much, only to sleep and get ready in the morning to leave again. The main pool was cool with many activities going on, but we really loved the quiet pools for a little relaxing and down time after spending a day at the parks. I would save the $850 and spend it elsewhere, but that is just me and my family.

 

[darkwing818]

POR every time; no question about.

 

[rosiegmendez]

We had a split stay in April - AoA / POR AB room.

We too are a family of 5. We had 2 connecting LM rooms at AoA.

AoA was cool, the big blue pool exciting but my husband and I grew tired of the value feel of the hotel (and we are not snobs!). No towels at the pool, uncomfortable beds. The quality of the food at AoA was not good and surprisingly not kid friendly.

We switched to POR the AB room with the fold down bunk and we loved it! Perfect blend of fun for kids but beauty for adults. Plus it has a water slide. The food was far better at POR - kid friendly and better tasting.

In full disclosure, my 7 year old preferred the pool at AoA but he very much enjoyed the pool and slide at POR (we couldnt get him to leave!). We also enjoyed the movie night, marshmallow roasting, etc. at POR.

Save your money and go to POR. Request a good room location wihtout having to pay the preferred price. We stayed in room 1621 - close to pool, lobby, bus stop. POR is pretty spread out so avoid the far reaching buildings.