Por Riverside questions

[minniegirl19]

Hi everyone!

My family is considering staying at por for the first time this August but are a little worried about it. How bad is the bus system especially with 4 stops within the resort? for the royal rooms is a river view or pool view better? and what building would we end up being in?

This also might be a dumb question but can you feel the disney magic at this resort? some resorts you can others its kind of lacking the disney touches unless my family is the only people who feel this way lol

TIA

 

[karm12]

Royal rooms are either in Oak Manor or Partree Place. Those rooms are full of Disney magic. POR is a personal fav of mine. I thought the buses were ok last time I went, but I stayed at a low crowd time. I never waited more than 10-15mn for a bus and I used the East Depot which is often the last stop to be dropped off.

 

[Saimaeve]

I've never minded the extra bus stops. They don't take that long

River view is amazing although remember that there is a walkway between your window and the railing so you may not really see much anyway

There is definitely Disney Magic. It's very quiet and relaxed but it's there. It's just not as in your face theming like the values.

I can't remember every building but I know Oak Manor and Psomething Place are all royal guest rooms

We are staying at CBR this year. But POR Royal guest rooms are my favorite

 

[Capang]

I stayed mid June last year and the buses were just fine. Staying in a royal room (totally full of magic by the way) you would most likely use the bus stop at the main lobby. Should not be an issue. Either view is great. We had neither as room was in the back of the building and it was still a great view. very beautiful and peaceful. The quiet pools are fantastic as well. Enjoy your trip!

 

[kiki02]

Or, try AKL - has been better and better on so many levels.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

We've never had an issue with the buses. If you've never been to POR then book it. You'll be glad you did.

 

[POOHsie]

We also take the bus from the Main Bldg (the south bus stop). POR is like a wheel with spokes going across. So you could walk from the royal rooms across "the wheel" to the Main Bldg for the bus. Of course, you don't have to do that, but it's convenient if you want a mug refill on your way to/from the parks.

Great info here from a dedicated POR enthusiast. Maps, pics, & everything in-between: http://www.portorleans.org/

 

[Lucius Best]

POR is our favorite moderate resort. Nice atmosphere, pretty walk along the river, nice main pool, very good food court. Never had a problem with buses, although sometimes if bus was super crowded at night we would get off first stop and walk through lobby to get to our room. I would personally never pay extra for any kind of "view" at a WDW moderate resort.

 

[Disneylover99]

We've stayed in a Royal Room and the Disney "magic" is definitely at POR. Actually, we've visited just about every resort and feel the Disney Magic at every resort, so what do I know.

 

[RustManFan]

I will never stay anywhere other than POR

 

[sheila14]

I leave in 7 days for POR and booked a royal suite!!! I am excited and hope it is full of magic

 

[ATLbelle]

We love POR. We can't do the royal rooms because we are a family of 5, so I can't help there. For the most part bus service has been fine for us. We have had a handful of times where we had a full bus come to the pickup so we had to wait for the next one, but that isn't often and usually the next bus is pretty close behind. We really like the boat to DTD. The evening campfire and playground are fun, too. In all honesty, I don't think the resort is super Mickey-fied, but it has good theming. We stay in Alligator Bayou and the decor is from the Princess and the Frog.

 

[DJFan88]

We had problems during a busy august with the last bus stop when we stayed in magnolia. Busses would be full and not stop.
So, the next time we stayed in alligator bayou and had no problems, using either the west stop or more often the main south stop. I would avoid east stop next time if I stayed on that side. But this is my favorite resort. Theming is definetly Disney feel! The piped in music of Dixie and the atmosphere in food court area is great!

 

[goofy4tink]

Stayed in a RR, river view, two weeks ago. We were in Parterre Place. I've also stayed in Magnolia Bend, Arcadia House, and AB several times. It's one of my favorite resorts.
Would I pay for a river view again? I'm not sure. I would have hoped that it gave me quicker access to the bridge to the main areas. It didn't. It's a beautiful resort....no matter what view you get.
The buses? Had no issues at all. The buses were crowded first thing in the morning. We always walked over to the main stop...in front of the gift shop area. Yes, we had to stand occasionally, but we never had to wait for a second bus.

For us, there's a ton of Disney magic at POR!!!! In fact, the one time we stayed at the Polynesian, my dd, then almost 10, said she wished we were at POR....it seemed more magical there than at the Polynesian! And she was the one who had begged to stay at the Poly!!!

 

[ready4mouse]

Our Disney heart will always belong to POR! Truly our favorite....your kids will love it! And you'll love the quieter "magic" that gives everyone a nice break from the parks.
Enjoy!

 

[scoobydooby]

I have stayed at POR four times, POFQ twice, the Beach Club and AKL. POR is by far my favourite resort it's beautiful. I wouldn't personally pay more for a Royal Room but I do pay extra for preferred location to be near the food court (which is the best quick service food court on property IMO). If you really want to be near a pool paying for a pool view is worth it. The quiet pools here are lovely. You don't really get a view from any room as you have to leave the room to see the view it's not like at a deluxe where you can sit on a balcony. The rooms and table service dining are bigger and better at the deluxe hotels, but for resort feel overall POR is my favourite. The bus service is fine and we usually use the main bus stop at the resort check in area. AWe are doing OKW for the first time this summer but only because with two teens we need a one bed villa now so we don't all kill each other after two plus weeks in one room

 

[kiki02]

We had problems during a busy august with the last bus stop when we stayed in magnolia. Busses would be full and not stop.
So, the next time we stayed in alligator bayou and had no problems, using either the west stop or more often the main south stop. I would avoid east stop next time if I stayed on that side. But this is my favorite resort. Theming is definetly Disney feel! The piped in music of Dixie and the atmosphere in food court area is great!

The bus can be a problem there. Very slow and when we tried to take the boat, they had shut it down twice in just a few days.

 

[DisneyPeachNJ]

Hi everyone!

My family is considering staying at por for the first time this August but are a little worried about it. How bad is the bus system especially with 4 stops within the resort? for the royal rooms is a river view or pool view better? and what building would we end up being in?

This also might be a dumb question but can you feel the disney magic at this resort? some resorts you can others its kind of lacking the disney touches unless my family is the only people who feel this way lol

TIA

We stayed there in October 2014 and had absolutely no issues with the bus service. Having several stops just meant that the walk to the bus station was much shorter than at other resorts.

 

[minniegirl19]

thanks everyone!

 

[tinkerbella16]

We have never had any issues at Riverside with the buses. We love POR! The royal rooms are my favorite rooms.. I am booked in one for my Nov trip. I always prefer booking garden view there for the royal rooms, I love Oak Manor building 90 facing the fountain. I do not think river view is worth the extra cost honestly. I have looked on the room finder on Touring Plans and seen the views from the river view rooms in the royal room section and some are blocked by trees so it really isn't anything special. Our room in 2013 was garden view and we faced the big fountain and if we looked to the right, there was the river. We loved it.