Nolcrest
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2000
- Messages
- 1,702
Arrived at Port Orleans Riverside on July 9th at 12:15pm. I was so excited to jump out of the car and begin our adventure. There was no wait for registration. A wonderful, efficient, friendly CM checked us in. I was getting 2 rooms. One for the 3 teens and one for DH and myself. After taking care of my remaining balance she gave me the map with our assigned rooms which were already for us. We were assigned 2 rooms in Magnolia Mansion first floor. We had stayed in Magnolia Mansion last time and I nicely asked if there were any rooms available in the AB section. I told her that the mansions were great but we just wanted to try a differwent section this time (I had also noted this when I made my reservation). She was very nice and said she'll see what she can do. She walked into the back room and came back a few minutes later and said she did have 2 rooms available in AB, building 39, first floor #3915 & 3916. I thanked her so much and she said the rooms were also ready for us. After some animated talk about charging priviledges for the teens she gave us 2 Welcome folders with info about park hours and the Sassagoula Times paper. Off we went to move the car and unpack.
AB 39 is an inner building so there was no view of the parking lot from our building. The landcaping was lush and beautiful and it was so enjoyable finding our room. Even though it was terribly hot AB is nicely shaded due to the growth of vegetation. I LOVED our building. There was a free form quiet pool right behind the building. We didn't need to step off our building to get to the pool - just walked past the rooms around the building. There were 2 chairs located outside our rooms ( I think the previous guests may have taken them from the pool area). I sat out on these chairs and read my book or watched the afternoon thundershowers. We had a courtyard view. It felt private to me. Yeah, some people walked by but not alot of traffic at all and evryone was sooo friendly.
When we opened the doors to our rooms I was very happy to see that we had connecting rooms. The first thing that hit me was the clean smell of the room. I did a thorough check of both rooms and they were spotless. The rooms were decorated so cozy. The beds are very high off the floor. Both rooms had a trundle bed under one of the beds and we both had refrigerators, iron, ironing board, blow dryer. The curtain dividing the sleeping area from the sink area is a wonderful addition to the resort. I felt like I had my own changing area. The room actually felt much bigger to me than I had imagined. Above each bed were a sheer draped curtain on a black rod and charming lantern type lights on a dimmer switch. (this was great for the evening when my husband likes to sleep and I like to read). The bedspreads were a nice blue/green/red quilt pattern, with little mickey ears. The tv was a 27" located in a wooden armoire. In the room there was a chest with a cushioned top with I believe pictures of deer and woodsy things on it. Above that was a wooden rack that I used to hang my ponchos/towel on and my son hung his baseball hats on. We had plenty of storage space in the rooms and the beds are high enough that we stored our luggage under the beds.
Okay, now I've always read about towel animals on these boards but have never reeceived one in the 8 times I've been to WDW. Oh my, the towel animals we received in building 39 were awesome. Our Mousekeeper, Elka, was fantastic. Our room was done very early in the morning each day. The first day she left me a dog and the teens got an elephant. The following day I got a praying bunny and the kids got a big elephant. Then she made a bed for our animals. Then she put a book next to mine like they were reading. One day she set them on the bed with the remote and had the tv turned on the the disney channel. In the bathroom she had the bath towels in the shape of a shirt and tie and then a bow tie and then a washcloth holder. Each day was fun just discovering what was in the room. She would usually place the towel animals in the window with the blinds raised so they'd be looking our as we came back. Oh, did I mention that the windows had slatted blinds as well as the darkening curtains.
I took many pictures around the resort now I just have to figure out how to post them. (See link on page 3)
I have to tell you I would not hesitate to stay at any building at PO, especially the AB section if you liek the rustic atmosphere. The walkways are so charming you don't even feel like you are walking very far. There were little foot bridges throughout the AB section. In the evening the bullfrogs are "singing" (are they real?) It seemed like the main walkway to the foodcourt was a stone one but the walkways off the main path were a wooden plank look walkway. The walkways around the theme pool had imprints of leaves in them. The bridges over the Sassagoula river to get to Ole Man Island were so inviting.
We ate many meals at the foodcourt. It was so convenient for us with the teens eating at different times than us. We were all happy with our selections and we ate practically everything they had to offer. I really enjoyed the Cajun shrimp salad. It was a ceasar type salad with some nicely flavored shrimp on top. In the morning I noticed the big barrel had containers of milk and oj and in the evening it had little bottles of wine. You could grab a little tray of cheese cubes and grapes and strawberries in the grab and go cooler. They had many offerings in the coolers. This worked out well for my daughter who loves salads, yogurt, fruit and sandwiches.
One evening my husband and I thougth we'd stop by Boatrights to see if they were taking any walk-in ressies. Prior to that we saw them turning people away without a PS. Yes, we were able to get in with only a 10 minute wait. I was pleased with Boatrights. I had the french onion soup (very tasty but the portion was small) and the 4 cheese ravioli (prepared in a light cream sauce with a red pepper drizzle on top). The ravioli was cooked perfectly. My husband had the ceasar salad and the pot roast. He was very happy with his meal. The corn muffins they serve with the meal are huge with whole corn kernels in them. Served warm and very comforting.
Saw Bob Jackson on the lounge on Thurs evening. He is a hoot. He really got the crowd singing and having a great time. You can't help but participate and have fun.
Fultons gift shop is a nice size gift shop with a little bit of everything. I even bought some sinus medication there for my daughter and some dramamine for the ride home. Also bought doughnuts, breakfast bars and juice for our car ride home.
Took the riverboat to DTD a couple of times. That alone is worth it for me to stay at PO. One evening we all boated to DTD and the teens went shopping and my DH and I grabbed a bus at DTD to check out CSR (my reservations were originally there but I switched to POR because I thought POR would feel cooler in the heat of the summer and I wanted to see if I made the right decision for us.) We all boated back to POR in the evening at various times and the boat ride was so charming and relaxing. We could see some fireworks on the ride back - I think from Wishes. Just to note - With summer thunderstorms the riverboat does stop running.
Each evening weather permitting we sat outside of the Riverside Mill and watched the carriage rides. The clip-clopping of the hooves over the wooden bridge is something I'll always have in my memory. It was funny watching he families in the surrey bikes try to navigate down a dip and around the water wheel on the side of the mill. As you can see it doesn't take much to entertain me. I am a people watcher.
I swam in the quiet pool every afternoon and a couple evenings. I wish i made it to the theme pool but I didn't this trip. The pools have a whimsical tile pattern around the top with frogs, alligators and lilly pads. There is a towel return at the quiet pools but you must get your towel either from teh theme pool or from your room. The laundry room is located right next to the quiet pools. I spent one early evening doing laundry. The room was very clean. It was 2.00 for each 30 minute wash and dry. There was a change machine and a machine dispensing detergent. I brought my own detergent so i don't know the price. It just so happened that we had this tremendous lightening/thunder/rinstorm while I was doing laundry so the pool cleared out as well as the laundry room and I had it all to myself. It was great - i had three washers and 4 dryers going - guilt free!
Well - can you tell I absolutley enjoyed our stay at POR. If you've read this so far - thanks - I would love to sahre evry bit of my stay with you but you probabl;y get the picture by now. Please ask if you have any questions.
Walked around French Quarter alot too. Very nice!
I just wanted to say that I was a bit apprehensive before this trip. I guess with always reading these boards I read alot of negative things as well as good things and I was really hoping Disney would seem magical to me. I have to say that ALL the cast members were friendly. At the parks as well as the resort. I found them to be friendlier this trip than ever before. I found Disney to be very clean. Yes, you might see a wrapper or coffe cup but with the amount of people they deal with i think they do an awesome job cleaning up. The people were very friendly too. So many people greeted you as you walked around POR. It was like being home and that's how I felt. POR will alwys feel like home to me.
For those of you travelling to POR - I wish you a magical trip - now I've gotta try to figure out how to share my pictures with you.
AB 39 is an inner building so there was no view of the parking lot from our building. The landcaping was lush and beautiful and it was so enjoyable finding our room. Even though it was terribly hot AB is nicely shaded due to the growth of vegetation. I LOVED our building. There was a free form quiet pool right behind the building. We didn't need to step off our building to get to the pool - just walked past the rooms around the building. There were 2 chairs located outside our rooms ( I think the previous guests may have taken them from the pool area). I sat out on these chairs and read my book or watched the afternoon thundershowers. We had a courtyard view. It felt private to me. Yeah, some people walked by but not alot of traffic at all and evryone was sooo friendly.
When we opened the doors to our rooms I was very happy to see that we had connecting rooms. The first thing that hit me was the clean smell of the room. I did a thorough check of both rooms and they were spotless. The rooms were decorated so cozy. The beds are very high off the floor. Both rooms had a trundle bed under one of the beds and we both had refrigerators, iron, ironing board, blow dryer. The curtain dividing the sleeping area from the sink area is a wonderful addition to the resort. I felt like I had my own changing area. The room actually felt much bigger to me than I had imagined. Above each bed were a sheer draped curtain on a black rod and charming lantern type lights on a dimmer switch. (this was great for the evening when my husband likes to sleep and I like to read). The bedspreads were a nice blue/green/red quilt pattern, with little mickey ears. The tv was a 27" located in a wooden armoire. In the room there was a chest with a cushioned top with I believe pictures of deer and woodsy things on it. Above that was a wooden rack that I used to hang my ponchos/towel on and my son hung his baseball hats on. We had plenty of storage space in the rooms and the beds are high enough that we stored our luggage under the beds.
Okay, now I've always read about towel animals on these boards but have never reeceived one in the 8 times I've been to WDW. Oh my, the towel animals we received in building 39 were awesome. Our Mousekeeper, Elka, was fantastic. Our room was done very early in the morning each day. The first day she left me a dog and the teens got an elephant. The following day I got a praying bunny and the kids got a big elephant. Then she made a bed for our animals. Then she put a book next to mine like they were reading. One day she set them on the bed with the remote and had the tv turned on the the disney channel. In the bathroom she had the bath towels in the shape of a shirt and tie and then a bow tie and then a washcloth holder. Each day was fun just discovering what was in the room. She would usually place the towel animals in the window with the blinds raised so they'd be looking our as we came back. Oh, did I mention that the windows had slatted blinds as well as the darkening curtains.
I took many pictures around the resort now I just have to figure out how to post them. (See link on page 3)
I have to tell you I would not hesitate to stay at any building at PO, especially the AB section if you liek the rustic atmosphere. The walkways are so charming you don't even feel like you are walking very far. There were little foot bridges throughout the AB section. In the evening the bullfrogs are "singing" (are they real?) It seemed like the main walkway to the foodcourt was a stone one but the walkways off the main path were a wooden plank look walkway. The walkways around the theme pool had imprints of leaves in them. The bridges over the Sassagoula river to get to Ole Man Island were so inviting.
We ate many meals at the foodcourt. It was so convenient for us with the teens eating at different times than us. We were all happy with our selections and we ate practically everything they had to offer. I really enjoyed the Cajun shrimp salad. It was a ceasar type salad with some nicely flavored shrimp on top. In the morning I noticed the big barrel had containers of milk and oj and in the evening it had little bottles of wine. You could grab a little tray of cheese cubes and grapes and strawberries in the grab and go cooler. They had many offerings in the coolers. This worked out well for my daughter who loves salads, yogurt, fruit and sandwiches.
One evening my husband and I thougth we'd stop by Boatrights to see if they were taking any walk-in ressies. Prior to that we saw them turning people away without a PS. Yes, we were able to get in with only a 10 minute wait. I was pleased with Boatrights. I had the french onion soup (very tasty but the portion was small) and the 4 cheese ravioli (prepared in a light cream sauce with a red pepper drizzle on top). The ravioli was cooked perfectly. My husband had the ceasar salad and the pot roast. He was very happy with his meal. The corn muffins they serve with the meal are huge with whole corn kernels in them. Served warm and very comforting.
Saw Bob Jackson on the lounge on Thurs evening. He is a hoot. He really got the crowd singing and having a great time. You can't help but participate and have fun.
Fultons gift shop is a nice size gift shop with a little bit of everything. I even bought some sinus medication there for my daughter and some dramamine for the ride home. Also bought doughnuts, breakfast bars and juice for our car ride home.
Took the riverboat to DTD a couple of times. That alone is worth it for me to stay at PO. One evening we all boated to DTD and the teens went shopping and my DH and I grabbed a bus at DTD to check out CSR (my reservations were originally there but I switched to POR because I thought POR would feel cooler in the heat of the summer and I wanted to see if I made the right decision for us.) We all boated back to POR in the evening at various times and the boat ride was so charming and relaxing. We could see some fireworks on the ride back - I think from Wishes. Just to note - With summer thunderstorms the riverboat does stop running.
Each evening weather permitting we sat outside of the Riverside Mill and watched the carriage rides. The clip-clopping of the hooves over the wooden bridge is something I'll always have in my memory. It was funny watching he families in the surrey bikes try to navigate down a dip and around the water wheel on the side of the mill. As you can see it doesn't take much to entertain me. I am a people watcher.
I swam in the quiet pool every afternoon and a couple evenings. I wish i made it to the theme pool but I didn't this trip. The pools have a whimsical tile pattern around the top with frogs, alligators and lilly pads. There is a towel return at the quiet pools but you must get your towel either from teh theme pool or from your room. The laundry room is located right next to the quiet pools. I spent one early evening doing laundry. The room was very clean. It was 2.00 for each 30 minute wash and dry. There was a change machine and a machine dispensing detergent. I brought my own detergent so i don't know the price. It just so happened that we had this tremendous lightening/thunder/rinstorm while I was doing laundry so the pool cleared out as well as the laundry room and I had it all to myself. It was great - i had three washers and 4 dryers going - guilt free!
Well - can you tell I absolutley enjoyed our stay at POR. If you've read this so far - thanks - I would love to sahre evry bit of my stay with you but you probabl;y get the picture by now. Please ask if you have any questions.
Walked around French Quarter alot too. Very nice!
I just wanted to say that I was a bit apprehensive before this trip. I guess with always reading these boards I read alot of negative things as well as good things and I was really hoping Disney would seem magical to me. I have to say that ALL the cast members were friendly. At the parks as well as the resort. I found them to be friendlier this trip than ever before. I found Disney to be very clean. Yes, you might see a wrapper or coffe cup but with the amount of people they deal with i think they do an awesome job cleaning up. The people were very friendly too. So many people greeted you as you walked around POR. It was like being home and that's how I felt. POR will alwys feel like home to me.
For those of you travelling to POR - I wish you a magical trip - now I've gotta try to figure out how to share my pictures with you.
:thewave:
