I have stayed at Dixie/POR more than 6 times since 1998. We started at ASMu (3 times) and loved it...until we stayed at POR. Never went back. Since then we have branched out to stay at Coronado, AKL and WLV which were all great. I'll be at POFQ in a week and have been past it and walked through it many times. Overall, with the exception of the WLV which are just fantastic, we keep coming back to POR.
AB vs Mansion: This is a personal preference issue. I have stayed in both, but we prefer AB. We like the trundle bed option. We also like the more intimate feel of the smaller bayou buildings. We have stayed in Bayou buildings 14, 15 and 16 - not a bad location in the bunch. The noise of the quiet pool depends on how many people choose to be there at the same time. Sometimes they're packed and sometimes they're not (in my experience with the All Stars, the pools were always packed except in February). Having said this however, the mansions are truly beautiful - reminiscent of the Old South - with beautiful gardens.
Food: Boatwrights is an excellent sit down restaurant. We have only had dinner, but were very happy with the menu selection. They have a breakfast buffet. The food court is pretty typical American/Southern food. There is a bakery/dessert section - yummy! There is a southern/American food section with taco salad, Caesar salad, and special entrees. There is a grill section for burgers, sandwiches and chicken. There is an Italian section for spaghetti, calzone and pizza. The pizza is wonderful! There are many breakfast choices and the staff is very accomodating. If you just want scrambled eggs, that's fine. There are self service bins with bread, bagels, cookies, salads, milk, etc. And, don't forget the refillable mugs which are good forever (we always take ours with us!). We always sit in the back area by the waterwheel - very peaceful. At certain times the food court is very busy, however, with the decreased crowds over the past couple of years, it is not as crowded as it used to be.
Rooms: Larger than the All Stars with 2 doubles, 2 sinks, small, but adequate bathroom, trundle bed in the Bayou, table and 2 chairs, plus TV stand with drawers. There is also a hanging clothes section with a shelf. Plenty of room for my family of 4 as long as the kids are neat.
Activities: 6 pools - the main pool and 5 quiet pools. If 1 is closed, there's another close by. Playground. Very good game room according to my teens. Rental boats. Rental bikes. Fishin' hole where you can feed the fish (they're so smart they've learned to take the worm off the hook without getting hooked
), nice paths for long walks (take the walk to French Quarter along the river
). Friendly ducks who love to be fed (they love bread
). Tame bunnies who might come right up to you to take the bread out of your hand! For the most part, friendly CM's. There's always the potential for a "bad apple", but in my experience over the past 5 years of staying on-site, there are some "bad apples" in each resort and each park).
Store: Fulton's General Store. An absolutely huge store - at least twice as big as ASMu's store. I always find plenty of souvenirs, snacks, etc. to buy.
Boat to Downtown Disney: How wonderful this is back! There's nothing better than a leisurely ride to Downtown Disney. It can be a little cold in the winter months
, but it's lovely in the warmer weather. Boats were running 4:30 PM-11:45 PM when I visited in April.
Bus transportation: Has improved immensely. Back in 1998 and 1999 when Disney was always packed, the buses were packed as well and often slow. Disney has definitely put a lot of attention into the buses and it shows. There are 4 bus stops. I usually recommend catching the bus from the first stop (main building) in the early mornings. The bus stops at POFQ first and sometimes is full after picking up at the main POR stop. And...all buses are packed when the parks let out each night, regardless of the resort and how much you've personally paid.
Note my signature: This summer we were originally going to split our stay between POR, AKL and WLV. After much discussion, we decided to stay all 8 days at POR. First, of all we couldn't pass up the $84 rate (a $50 savings per night and a bargain over the AS's, especially considering all of the amenities that a moderate has). Second, we just love POR - especially in the summer.
Have a wonderful trip!
Dixie Landings sounds like a fun place. Port Orleans Riverside sounds stuffy. Who is in charge of all this name changing anyway? I still haven't forgiven them for changing the names of all the longhouses at the Poly.
