POR Riverside Questions

[germ539]

Are all the rooms at Riverside refurbished to Queen beds? Can you request a microwave from housekeeping for your room? We are going next year end of May 2012 and I am trying to decide whether to pick Riverside or try Cornado (I know they have queen beds but don't know if I want to stay at a "convention resort"). We stayed in 1995 when it was Dixie Landings and loved it but now with a teenage son we need queen beds instead of double.

 

[Missytara]

There is a refurb right now going on at POFQ and it was confirmed they were changing over to queen sized mattresses - they did not replace the beds, so they overhang slightly.

The refurb is going well at POFQ and it is speculated to be completed around the end of April. It is speculated that POR would be next (the construction permits have been filed ) and it would assume to start soon after POFQ.

It is also assumed, but not confirmed they will go over to queen size mattresses over there as well.

The refurb at POR will take longer, because the site is so massive and they are also refurbing the elevators as well. I would expect that to go at least to the end of the year.

I have not heard if you can request a microwave in your room, so I cannot comment on that. I have never asked for one.

 

[germ539]

On different sites, I've seen conflicting reports of queen beds and then also double beds as well as king beds. I know that they are refurbishing FQ but my concern is the Riverside. And on another site I saw somewhere that you could request a microwave, but I don't remember which resort that was for. There are too many sites to view and not all of them say the same thing.

We would like to stay at Riverside, we liked it when it was Dixie Landings in 1995 but if there are no queen beds, then we'll have to go elsewhere.

Anybody have any more info?

Thanks a bunch

 

[MelissathePooh]

As it stands right now - there are no queen beds at POR. I don't believe there is confirmation about a renovation yet. There are microwaves at the food court for people to use if they want. Typically you cannot get one in your room.

If you want a queen bed guaranteed you should book someplace else. If you want a guaranteed microwave you should look at renting a studio villa or a cabin. Both have at least 1 queen bed and a microwave. Studios have a double sleeper sofa and cabins have a set of bunk beds and full size murphy bed as well. Old Key West studios have 2 queen beds and a microwave.

I appreciate a nostalgic fondness for a trip 15 years ago, but if you want guarantees on specific room requirements you may have to book some place else.

 

[germ539]

Thanks for the info, when we went in 2007, we stayed at OKW (originally booked for AKL but with all the construction starting with the villas, didn't want the noise, so they moved us). I liked having the microwave and frig so we could "heat" up frozen pizzas bought at the gift shop (expensive ones no doubt, next time we'll stop outside of WDW before we go in). Guess we could "visit" Riverside, maybe we'll consider FQ, never been there and since they'll have queen beds that may be the choice, also want a food court and the moderates seem to have those.

I've got a year to decide, who knows maybe I'll win the lottery
and could stay at a deluxe.

 

[Amy&Dan]

If queen beds are a necessity, I would be wary of POR. First of all, until the actual refurbs begin and somebody sees and posts about the size of the beds in the new POR rooms, its speculation they will be queens. I will be very surprised if they don't do the queen beds, but who knows. Also, the POR refurb will be a lengthy one. Its not been announced when they will actually start it, and given that the POR refurb is for a very large resort and includes elevator refurbs, it could take awhile. I have heard of up to 18 months for the whole POFQ/POR process to be done so your May 2012 dates is cutting it close.

I suggest POFQ or CSR.

POFQ would give you the theming you loved years ago, its a ten minute walk from FQ over to POR to enjoy their pools and activities and at FQ you know you'll have the queen sized beds, a small resort that is convenient in that any room will be close to the main area and also when the two resorts share busses, which is often, FQ is always the first pick up and drop off.

We were set to stay at POR for our June trip, its my favorite resort but I changed over to POFQ a few days ago. I really wanted the queen beds (I have two teenagers) and a new room. I prefer the pools at POR but it won't be a huge deal to go over there.

I'll also put in a strong thumbs up for CSR. Wonderful resort! Its a very close second for my family (it was booked up for our dates) and the main pool is so great. My teenage son LOVES the CSR slide. All rooms have queen sized beds. It has great dining options, an athletic club and spa and is more like a deluxe than a moderate. Check out KatMark's CSR FAQ thread for lots of information and photos. Its always on page one or two of this board.

I will add that at French Quarter, the mattresses and box springs are queen sized, its only the headboards that are still double sized. It looks a bit goofy to me to have a headboard that is not as wide as the bed, but I would imagine that saved Disney a bunch of money! The dressers and nightstand are new I believe. I am fine with a funky headboard as long as my mattress is the right size!

 

[germ539]

The more I think about it, I think we'll consider FQ or CSR, I had looked into CSR but was concerned if there was a convention going on how busy it would really be.

I love these boards because you can get great info from loads of people that go to Disney more often then I have (if it was up to me, I'd go every year)

Enjoy your trip in June. Hope it's not too hot then. When we went in 2007, we ended up going in July (originally planned end of May but son had to have emergency appendectomy end of April, glad we bought the trip insurance I've been to WDW in alot of different months but July through end of August is too hot for me

 

[Amy&Dan]

The more I think about it, I think we'll consider FQ or CSR, I had looked into CSR but was concerned if there was a convention going on how busy it would really be.

I love these boards because you can get great info from loads of people that go to Disney more often then I have (if it was up to me, I'd go every year)

Enjoy your trip in June. Hope it's not too hot then. When we went in 2007, we ended up going in July (originally planned end of May but son had to have emergency appendectomy end of April, glad we bought the trip insurance I've been to WDW in alot of different months but July through end of August is too hot for me

I love the boards too, were it not for the boards I'd probably be paying full price all the time!

I have been in June two other times, the first time it wasn't that hot and I thought "what is all the fuss about?" the second time I found out firsthand! But we enjoy that timeframe, as the summer wears on, with two teens it just gets too hard to travel.

I know CSR is technically a convention resort, however, had I not read about that on here I would have never known. The time we stayed there, a huge convention was going on but basically I rarely saw any of them. At night going to DTD one evening the bus was packed with all these adults wearning nametags but other than that, it felt like any other Disney resort. And the good thing about having a lot of guests who are at conventions means they aren't on the busses or in the pool. More room for me!

CSR is a family friendly resort that is marketed to the masses like all the other resorts. Heck, the Contemporary and Yacht Club are also convention resorts. I wish my husband would have a convention at WDW so we could all go along with him!

Good luck with your planning, that is half the fun.

 

[MelissathePooh]

I have to say we have stayed at CSR during some conventions before and it really didn't affect us. Its a great resort and nice that it doesn't share buses with anyone else. I haven't stayed at POFQ since 2000, but we really like it as well.

The cabins at FW really are alot of fun. No food court, but the space and the kitchen are great. The transportation time can be longer, but not bad if you plan ahead and its really a fun place. Or heck - give AKL a try again. All the construction is done - and its lovely!

BTW - we still call POR DxL too. I'll admit, I've never been that partial to it - preferred French Quarter of the two.

 

[Sue M]

We love POR- Riverside! We were just there, and a friend of a friend was staying at POFQ, and we went over to see his room. It was just finished I think, cause you could still smell wet paint slightly! The room was beautiful.

We are booked for part of our Aug trip at POR again, and hope I get a new room. Renos start in April. Speculation, but I think they'll have queens too.

You can book POR, but when renos start and you hear they are not putting in queens, you can always change your res to a different resort.