Port Orleans Riverside FAQ thread --- 2012, Part One --- NOW CLOSED

[KCmike]

OMG. I am unbelievably disappointed. I just read through this thread and I see that my reservation for March 4 - 10 for a Royal River View Room will not be able to be honored. Wow. Just wow.

This will be my first trip to Disney and this is leaving a very bad taste in my mouth. They are not even offering any resorts that interest me. The Poly? Bah. Beach Club? Nah. Grand Floridian? Maybe, but seems a bit stuffy and I am a "small town in the mountains" girl. I think we would feel out of place there.

I was REALLY looking forward to POR. Maybe they will offer AKL. It's the only other place I would want to stay.

If they would offer anything on the monorail you should snag it. I was always a PO Riverside guy and we stayed on the monorail last summer and it was fun to split stay on our vacation. It is definitely worth it being on the monorail. I love having the boat as an option to the Magic Kingdom as well. We did some hotel hopping on our last trip and I don't see what people like about Animal Kingdom. Doesn't everyone have a zoo in their hometown? If you get the chance book Grand Floridian.

 

[eribriggs]

Are there any Royal Rooms that accomodate 5?

 

[andrewilley]

Do you think water view includes courtyard fountains not just pools? I was going to book water view and request Parterre Place, upper floor, fountain view.

No, from what I've been told I believe that Garden View will now include the courtyard fountain views, it looks as though 'water' view really equates to pool view now. I've also been given the impression from another source (certainly as far as FQ is concerned, which is running at very high occupancy rates) that when the resorts are full there will be a lot less options to move people between categories based on requests.

Are there any Royal Rooms that accomodate 5?

Sorry, no. The 5th bed option is in Alligator Bayou only.

Andre

 

[Gorechick]

Thank you so much Andre! Does that request look good for garden view?

 

[Venomhatch]

Wow, this is certainly a surprising development. I know most of us are still speculating about when we might get a call. We are reserved with a RGR - Garden View checking in on March 7. I don't want to jinx myself, but BC has always been a dream for us, so that would be amazing

Is there a way for me to initiate the call and ask somebody or do I have to wait for someone to call me?

You can wait, but I called the reservation line or call this number and poke around play dumb and say something like I heard my royal room would not be ready in time for my check out. They should mention something about the team involved in notifying guests of the delay. If they do or don't ask to pass a message to their department. Should stir the hornets nest for you.

1-407-934-6000

So would I. In fact that is a question I plan to ask. It depends upon the cost difference.

Well I told my AAA agent that we wanted poly, 3rd floor, tuvalu building, TPV, no other options, she came back from Disney and said you got it all!

We had the RGR RV booked.

 

[THERESA522]

Just changed my trip from end of May to end of February. I am now in complete planning mode, since we're leaving so soon.

So, if I understand it correctly, only 2 mansion buildings will be renovated and one will be closed by the time we go, right?

I'm a family of 3, so what do you think my chances are of getting a "new" room? Any idea?

 

[Venomhatch]

Just changed my trip from end of May to end of February. I am now in complete planning mode, since we're leaving so soon.

So, if I understand it correctly, only 2 mansion buildings will be renovated and one will be closed by the time we go, right?

I'm a family of 3, so what do you think my chances are of getting a "new" room? Any idea?

I would have a request for a refurbished room to your reservation, but it is a request, not a promise. If you get there at check in ask if it is a refurbished room and if not ask to move to one.

 

[THERESA522]

I would have a request for a refurbished room to your reservation, but it is a request, not a promise. If you get there at check in ask if it is a refurbished room and if not ask to move to one.

Thanks, making the request right now. I'm travelling with another family, who will be in AB (family of 5). Any chance they'd put me in AB?

 

[fairyclairy]

No, from what I've been told I believe that Garden View will now include the courtyard fountain views, it looks as though 'water' view really equates to pool view now. I've also been given the impression from another source (certainly as far as FQ is concerned, which is running at very high occupancy rates) that when the resorts are full there will be a lot less options to move people between categories based on requests.



Sorry, no. The 5th bed option is in Alligator Bayou only.
Andre

How do you book th 5th person in? We have 3 kids and can't seem to find anywhere that lets you do this. Thanks Claire

 

[THERESA522]

How do you book th 5th person in? We have 3 kids and can't seem to find anywhere that lets you do this. Thanks Claire

Just choose the resort (POR) and they'll assign you an AB room if you're a family of 5.

 

[HeatherLassell]

How do you book th 5th person in? We have 3 kids and can't seem to find anywhere that lets you do this. Thanks Claire

When on disneyworld.com and planning your vacation. You click that you have 2 adults and three kids. Then the ONLY options it gives you are resorts that allow 5 people. POR (when i tested it) the room options all say "trundle bed". Otherwise it only gives you resorts with suites like AKL. etc.

The All Star resort (i forget which one) also has family suites and the new Art of Animation has family suites.

 

[Venomhatch]

Thanks, making the request right now. I'm travelling with another family, who will be in AB (family of 5). Any chance they'd put me in AB?

You can mention that your traveling with another family and see if they can put you both together. Never hurts to try.

 

[aoffhaus]

I booked my royal guest room river view for 2/18 for a night before my cruise. I did not booked it directly from disney but from expedia. BIG MISTAKE. I got a call today from expedia and told that my royal guest room is not ready until march 9 and they offer me a regular river view room. Unlike others who booked directly and offer to upgrade to deluxe resort, I stuck in the same resort. I called disney guest relation and a nice cr told me that because i booked thought a wholesaler, they cannot upgrade me and they can only offer me to stay in the same level. In other words, disney only take care those only deal directly with them. If you booked it thought other way, you are on your own. Do I save any money booked thought from expedia? No. The reason I book it thought expedia because I also booked my flight from expedia. BIG MISTAKE FOR ME. Not only my 6 years old daughter disappointed that she cannot stay in a princess room, I was treated like a second class guest because I did not book directly. Lesson learned- DO NOT use any travel website. They should all out of business. You should only booked directly.

We booked our stay through AAA....do you think that will affect us from not getting any upgrade too?

 

[MDChris]

First, I want to thank all of you for posting updates and concerns regarding the RGR upgrades. As someone who is scheduled to check-in on the 7th, I'm still waiting for my call. I'm trying to be as patient as possible but driving my family crazy by jumping every time the phone rings. Hopefully there aren't too many more days of waiting!!

 

[aoffhaus]

Just wondering if ANY of the people who received upgrades booked with anyone other than Disney? We booked with our AAA office which is an authorized disney planner.....I am stressed!!!

 

[THERESA522]

First, I want to thank all of you for posting updates and concerns regarding the RGR upgrades. As someone who is scheduled to check-in on the 7th, I'm still waiting for my call. I'm trying to be as patient as possible but driving my family crazy by jumping every time the phone rings. Hopefully there aren't too many more days of waiting!!

I hope you get a great upgrade!!!

 

[mjwheelerali]

Just to add to what others are saying...

We booked our trip through Air Miles since I was redeeming a tonne and thus saving a lot of money!!! It said "Standard Room" on our reservation for our family of three, which includes a 3 year-old. Following the guidelines from POR threads, I called 8 days before we were to leave and spoke with someone right at the resort (not the central booking or reservations) and explained that since my son has allergies, it would be preferred that we stay in a refurbished room. While on the phone with her, I asked about the probability of being given one of these rooms and she said, "No guarantees, but pretty good since typically only Disney fanatics know about the ability to call and request particular blocks of rooms, not many call to request refurbished rooms."

Thanks to the disboards we did indeed get a refurbished room...well...two actually...the first room was in Acadian House:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23996558@N04/6656135807/

But...within minutes of us entering the room, a strong smell of cigarette smoke was coming through the bathroom vent. Turns out a neighbour was smoking in their bathroom! They immediately found us another room...this time in Magnolia Terrace. The rooms were identical, as both had been refurbished. The room in Acadian House was on the first floor and the Magnolia Terrace was on the 2nd floor.

We loved the room! It had plenty of storage space for the three of us and was clean and beautifully decorated.

Testing to see how to get my pics to show up!

 

[mjwheelerali]

Oh...and I tested the wifi (as posted earlier) from our room and it wasn't all that great, but I tested it again when we were in the front lobby and the results were MUCH better:

Download: 8.18 Mbps
Upload: 9.83 Mbps

Compared to in our room:

Download: 0.95 Mbps
Upload: 0.24 Mbps

So....moral of the story...really need wifi...go to the lobby!

 

[pmaurer74]

It seems that some on here that booked through TAs got upgraded, not sure about AAA. I wish you luck! I hope you do!

Patti

 

[pinkle]

You can go to andre's website, portorleans.org and pull up the resort map.

You indicated you wanted to be close to the food court and bus depot; I am assuming you mean the main bus depot. There are actually four depots.

There are four buildings that are considered preferred because they are close to the main building, but they are a booking category. If you haven't booked that category, then the next options would be to look at the buildings that are surrounding those particular buildings.

You didn't say whether you are a party of 5 and need to be in AB, so that narrows it down a bit.

Also, I am not sure what week you are going, so it is hard to indicate, because buildings will be out of commission due to the refurbishment.

My suggestion is to go to Andre's website, with the dates of your trip. Look at the refurbishment schedule and then pull up the resort map, and find something close to the preferred buildings, or the bridges over to the main building.

Well....we will be staying in August, with a group of 4! The reason we are here is because we began as a group of 5. I tried to switch to POFQ when our group shrank but we have a promo and the rooms are full at POFQ. The thing I don't enjoy so much at POR is the size and the way things are soooo spread out. I am trying to figure out where the most central place would be (view is not important) Thanks for any input......I also assume that all the beds will be queensize????