POR Review, A DVC perspective

[jackmac]

I stayed at Port Orleans Riverside last week for 1 night before checking into the Beach Club Villa's. I'm a DVC member and have always stayed at DVC. I was looking forward to seeing another resort. While POR was nice and the staff was friendly, it pales in comparison to a DVC villa.

Check-in was quick, efficient and friendly. The CM was knowledgeable and very friendly. We were assigned a room in the "desirerable building 14, 2nd. floor". This is the closest building to the food court. The room was well maintained but much smaller than a studio at a DVC resort. The bathroom was much smaller and the sink area / vanity was also small. It felt cramped.

Our flight was a bit late and we did not get to POR until 8 PM using Magical Express. This was smooth getting us to the resort. The CM at checkin suggested that we make an ADR at the concierge desk for Boatwrights for 8:30, we felt that we would just walk there and put our name in. He was right, it was best to make the ADR. We went back to the concierge, made the reservation and were seated before others who were just walk-ups. The moral of this is to always listen to the CM's, they know what they are talking about.

Boatwrights was excellent. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable. Our waitress suggested the pot roast and it was excellent. Boatwrights seems to specialize in plainer food, but very good. I would eat there again anytime.

The River Roost lounge was spectacular and Bob Jackson is one of the best entertainers on property.

The food court was ok, but very overcrowded for breakfast. I felt the Ol Man Island was very small. The Boardwalk pool or Stormalong bay was much larger, along with the option of a quiet pool.

The grounds were very nice and I had the opportunity to go for a nice long walk in the morning to the end of the French Quarter (The pool at the French Quarter looked spectacular and was very nicely theamed).

Overall I found POR to be more crowded than a DVC resort. More people there, more lines for everything and in general just crowded and busy. I don't know how many people the resort accomodates in relation to Boardwalk or the Beach Club, but it felt more crowded.

Would I go back? Probally for a night. I know that I'm spoiled with DVC. I think if I went back I would try the French Quarter for the pool. There are many pluses to POR, I just felt that I prefer Boardwalk and the Beach Club villas.

 

[GoofItUp]

I have heard many people say that once you do DVC, you can't go back.....sounds like it's true in your case, too! Thanks for the review!

 

[jackmac]

I have to admit, this was my first time in a non-DVC resort and while I thought POR was very nice, I prefer DVC. For anyone interested there is a rent trade board or you can book DVC resorts from Disney. I personally never rent my points out but I know that many others do and there are some good deals. When you rent points from a DVC member you don't pay tax on the room. Try it sometime, you may also like it.

 

[goofy4tink]

I love POR and own at BWV. It is my favorite non-DVC resort. While the pool at Ole Man Island isn't as 'fun' as Luna Park or SAB (which I'm not crazy about to begin with), it is fine. There are a total of 7 pools at POR...always room at a pool.
Yes, the food court does get crowded doesn't it!!?? After my first experience there in '99, I decided to never eat at popular times again. What a madhouse. But, like you, I enjoyed Boatwrights. A very pleasant surprise.
You have to realize that a moderate resort is never going to come close to the quality of a DVC resort. Heck, even the deluxes leave you wanting that 'something special' you get at your 'Home'! I love being able to spend a few nights at non-DVC resorts on almost every trip...I try to stay in a different one each time....it just makes me appreciate my DVC home even more.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Thanks so much for your review. Before we joined DVC, I used to stay at POR and loved it. Frankly, I was a little sad that I probably wouldn't stay there again. After 3 years, though I don't miss it, I'm staying there for the weekend before checking in to BCV (saving points). This should be interesting!

 

[DisneyBill]

Thanks for the clear and honest opinion of POR. This thread is very timely because we're taking the extended family in the Spring to our home resort, yet myself and DS are going 2 days early just by ourselves. I've been in a quandry as to which resort to select. Our favorite mod is CBR, and we've never stayed at a value. But I plan on treating DS to the Petty Rookie Experience and was considering saving some coin by lodging at ASM or POP. Now if only I could get one of those promotional $199 rates for AKL I'd be all set.

 

[xterratri]

We own at SSR but have only stayed at OKW so far as DVC members. We thought we had decent accomadations and experiences prior to buying DVC while staying at ASMo but I know now that I'm DVC spoiled already after only 2 trips on points. We visited ASMo during our May/June trip to get Mickey waffle sundaes one night from MK. It was the only full bus we were on all week and the food court was soooo loud.

My sister and I spent 4 nights at POR in July using the AP rate and we(plus our mom) will be staying there for the marathon using the BRP so my lazy butt can walk to the start Sunday morning. For just the 2 of us for a short stay, the moderate worked out well as it had many of the amenities that we had gotten used to at OKW but we missed some things. It was tough every time the bus drove past the entrance to OKW and didn't pull in.

The food court at FQ is nice, quieter(or maybe we ate at off times), takes the DDE card, and isn't much of a walk from Riverside. We were also impressed with our breakfast at Boatwrights and have an ADR there for dinner in December followed by a carriage ride so that Mom and Grandma can see the grounds but we're staying at OKW(1 bdrm, waitlisted for 2 brdm). We might try a preferred room at ASSports for the Minnie Marathon weekend but we'll be flying in Friday evening and leaving again Sunday evening so hopefully we can tolerate a value again for 2 nights(plus we'll be back 2 weeks later for the half ironman and staying at VWL).

 

[Fellowship9798]

Thanks so much for your review. Before we joined DVC, I used to stay at POR and loved it. Frankly, I was a little sad that I probably wouldn't stay there again. After 3 years, though I don't miss it, I'm staying there for the weekend before checking in to BCV (saving points). This should be interesting!

I agree that one thing I would consider a possible negative (very minor negative though) to buying DVC is probably not staying at Dixie Landings again. I know it's POR now, but it's always going to be "Dixie Landings" to me. I had a great trip there before. Loved the grounds, the room was OK, had a nice quiet pool right next to our building, and had no problems.

I guess compared to a Deluxe or DVC resort it can't really be fairly compared, but for that trip it suited us fine. I always said I would stay there again in an instant.

 

[lovinthemouse]

I would just like to say thank you for your posting. It seems a lot of the threads here are more negative than positive. My DH and DD are going to vero over spring break but our first trip to our home resort of SSR since buying in Oct 05 will be in July 06. I have heard so much negative that I was beginning to wonder if we made a mistake buying into DVC. It is nice to see some positive feedback. Thanks Again!!

 

[jackmac]

You'll love Vero at Spring break. I was there for the first time last April and like it so much we went back again at the end of May. We stayed in an Ocean View Inn room and loved it, had a great view of the ocean. The pool was very nice and the ocean was great. We just missed the opening of the new beach access. The restaurants at Vero are good. We ate at Sonya's and enjoyed it. You do need a car there as other restaurants are about a 15 minute drive. Don't miss Hales groves, the best orange and grapefruit juice you'll ever find.

By the way. I feel that DVC was one of the best purchases that I've ever made.

 

[lovinthemouse]

Thanks again for info. I am excited again to be going. I do feel we made a wise purchase in DVC. Looking very forward to our trips in 06.

 

[nezy]

One of the things I like about DVC is the pool hopping privelage(when permitted). Last JULY, we visited POR just to see what the resort was like. Although the pool was smaller and a little crowded,(it was an extremely hot day) I di like the resort, I am glad we have DVC though, but I do like being able to visit our cousins--the non DVC Disney resorts!