POR renovations

[Joyfulsnuff]

I am wondering if anybody that has just come back or has any knowledge of what renovations are going to happen at POR could share that info with me. Also any idea how long these renovations will last? I am taking my chances by staying there in November but we really like this resort and am hoping for the best. Maybe we will even get bumped up some where else (I know its wishfull thinking).

 

[msteddom]

I've been nervous about this too; we will be there in August. I have been reading trip reports from poeple who have just gotten back from POR, and they say that while there are definitly rennovations going on that they are in no way disturbing, and that the resort seems less crowded than usual. Again, I don't know this firsthand, but it;s what I've been hearing pretty consistantly. Let's both hope that we'll experience the same on our trips!

 

[Joyfulsnuff]

msteddom- since you are going before me you will have to post a report on POR when you return. I am hoping for the best, like maybe it will be less crowded (especially when catching a bus) I am so hoping that buildings 14 and 15 are not being renovated while I'm there since these are the best buildings for us.

 

[lmm]

I'm staying in late July and will post when I get back. I've stayed there twice before, so I know what the resort is like not being renovated. We'll all have to keep our finders crossed.

 

[daannzzz]

I was at POR May 14-18 and walked all around the resort. It appeared that the Mansion Homes Acadian House and Magnolia Terrace along with a gorup of the Alligator Bayou buildings next to Acadian House were not being used. The parking lots were empty though at night some of the lights were on in some of the rooms. When I walked over there and peeked in some of the windows you could see the beds were stripped but the sheets and comforters were just piled on the floor. I saw a couple of matresses in a hallway. If you do not go over into these deserted areas you will not know that anything is going on. Now it may become a bit more extensive when they start tearing out carpeting. I assume they will have some large dumpsters but those would probably be sitting in the empty parking lots.

 

[khawk]

I was at POR May 7-13th and didnt notice that any renovations were going on. I agree with the above posts that some lodges were empty but if I hadnt been looking for them I wouldnt have noticed. Go to POR and have a great time.
Kim

 

[dizkidz2]

I'll be there next week (6/6-10) then switch to AKL (10-15th). This will be our 1st time staying @ POR. After I made our resv. I heard about the renovations so we decided to split our stay. From all the info I have read, I think things will be fine.
If this resort is not up to par with all the renovations, Disney will have alot of unhappy guests.

 

[magicmouse2]

I called CRO today as I had not received confirmation letters yet. They STILL insist none of POR is closed , just French Quarter.

 

[lmm]

I've gotten the same response magicmouse2 "the entire resort is open, there are no renovations in POR"

 

[n2mm]

We visited there a couple of weeks ago. While all seemed quiet, I have heard that the quiet pools near the refurbishing areas are closed. But most important, especially to me, is that a section of the food court is closed. This does not make me happy since we are suppose to be there in October. The section that is closed is the part that sells the GOOD stuff. The taco salads, ribs, mac&cheese, (the dinner stuff). Only the pizza/pasta, burgers/chix fingers/ and bakery are open. A poor excuse of a food court. If this doesn't get better, I most likely will switch back to the All Stars. Not a big fan of CBR and CS. With a 10 day trip, the food court is important to me, because we don't eat at a sit down every night when we are there for this length of stay. We do enjoy Boatwright's dining hall, but they have a very limited menu of things I like on it.

 

[doombuggy]

I thought that taco salad stuff was seasonal? While I was there from the 15 - 20th , I did not notice any renovations going on at all. The quiet pool between our building and the next mansion was far from quite, and I never went there (too many children with their noodles in the pool).

The only thing i saw going on at FQ was the day we got there - they were sealing the driveway. We stayed in the mansion closest to FQ, and never heard anything (for those worried about noise).

I forgot to mention that we ate at the food court a lot.

 

[sci-fi-dreamer!]

We were at POR for 5 nights 5/11 - 5/16 in building 14, 2nd floor. There were no renovations that we saw going on in the "teen (14, 15, 18)" buildings, however, the other buildings in Alligator Bayou were not being used (like a ghost town- empty parking lots) and only a few of the mansion buildings appeared to be being used. There was only 1 bus stop open, so you don't want to be too far away (this was the stop to the side of the main building and store - out front of POR main entrance) No other bus stops were being used at the resort! We were very close to this stop - so it wasn't a problem. We did have to wait around 20 - 25 minutes most of the time for the busses - especially to Epcot and MK. The food court was not as good as it has been in the past (limited selection) - no ribs, or taco salads - they had pizza, burgers, chicken and the bakery. We still enjoyed our stay, and we would return!

 

[Joyfulsnuff]

Thank you everybody that has been there recently for the wonderful, detailed information. It is always so nice to hear from people who have just returned since that is the best source of information. It's funny, I have also been told by CRO that there is no renovations being done at POR. The nachos and taco salads are my favorites, so that being closed is a bummer but I can deal with the limited food selections. I figure we can always go elsewhere to eat if we tire of the selections. We always try to go with the flow and be happy we are there, I do hope however that buildings 14 or 15 won't be closed while we are there since it sounds like they have yet to have their renovations done. These two buildings are my favorites! I kind of thought that maybe if some buildings were closed it would be more quiet and the bus stops would not be as crowded, I could deal with a few other inconveniences if this were the case.

 

[ls1222]

When I called CRO last week, I wanted to change my room only reservation to the FTP- the CM stated that "not only was the FTP not available for my dates 09/28-10/05 but that I could not keep my existing room only reservation since POR was being refurbished". She then proceeded to transfer me to the relocation department, the CM in that dep't put me through to a supervisor that said "POR is being worked on and all is uncertain at this time but there is a possibility that everyone will be moved". She said that if the resort remains open so will all the amenities. Of course, after reading the board, I am somewhat concerned. We have 5, so we cannot switch to another moderate. I just can't understand why Disney has so many different answers to the same question.

 

[Joyfulsnuff]

Wow! How in the world are we to ever know what is going on! We also have 5 in our family so another moderate would not work out but I would love to get an upgrade at a good rate for a deluxe if we were to get moved. We have never stayed at a deluxe so that would be cool. I just tell myself all will work out!

 

[magicmouse2]

Why cant they say for sure ? It would save them answering a lot of phone calls fom worried guests. I wondetr if they are waiting to see how many bookings they have for value season - September time. Does anyone know if they are still accepting bookings for September/October ?????

 

[lmm]

Please continue to post any info that anyone is given - there aare so many different answers from Disney my head is spinning! I have been told that the entire resort is up and running as usual. I just don't want to be moved at the last minute as we are planning our entire trip based off of where we are staying.

 

[Robbie Fowler]

We are at POR mid August and I am worried that it is going to be a ghost town. I particularly picked POR as it had a fishing hole for my DBF who dosent really want to be there anyway, and a decent food court as it has always had rave reviews on these boards. If the resort is partially closed it could be very disappointing.

Keep the news coming!

 

[ls1222]

There is still rooms available on the Disney website for "fall times". I would assume if they are still taking reservations then part of the resort will remain open. lmm-I agree, we are planning our whole vacation based on what Disney is saying. If I thought that we would get moved, I would just book a FTP at a deluxe now instead of waiting for an upgrade (which might not be as good a deal). Since there is 5 of us, it makes the other moderates out of the question.

 

[lmm]

I am just wondering if Disney is taking the bookings even though they plan on not having rooms available and then moving people to other resorts. What do you guys think????