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

[bobbigrl27]

Well I called to make the changes (email and tried to add ME) and asked that the requests now say Oak Manor and please closest to the Lobby/food well they changed it and it now says "Oak Manor - NOT GUARANTEED". So they took at the closest to the lobby part and added in bold letters not guaranteed. Is this something new? My old request didn't have in caps bold not guaranteed on it.

Also I asked on transportation but no one has responded - I originally requested ME when I made the ressie last week. They didn't put it on the ressie (says no transportation requested). I asked for it to be added and said I would let them know when I had my airfare information. They said that they never add ME to reservations until airfare is confirmed. Is this new? I swore on our last 2 trips we added it - but it said that we had to contact them to give our flight information when we had it (I know that on the computer ressies you have the option to add it and check you will contact with airline information at a later date.

I made reservations for POR back on November 30th and they let me add ME even though I didn't have flight information. My reservation just says that I have to call and give them the flight information when I have it.

 

[fbarker]

While it doesn't address the allergy issues at all, for the lemonade's-too-sour-but-punch-is-too-sweet folks, try combining the two; they balance each other nicely. I usually do 4/5 lemonade and 1/5 punch for a flavored lemonade effect.

My main wish would be for another location or two where the mugs could be refilled. Last visit my room (Bldg 35) was far enough from the Food Court that we didn't use the mugs very much since my feet and legs protested the walk after a long park day. Loved everything else about the location, though. Can't wait to see where they put us for next month's trip. Loved Alligator Bayou but like the look of Magnolia Bend, too, so our room location is being left up to Fate in the form of the room assigners!

Magnolia Bay is our so favorite location. It's so very pretty and the walk to the FC, escpecially early in the morning, is so very pretty. We are going back again at the end of March and have requested Magnolia Bay, keeping our fingers crossed.

 

[lillykat]

Sorry, I didn't know that Hi-C Fruit Punch was meant to be orange and pineapple (I actually love orange and pineapple drinks, and don't like fizzy products either) as it's always tasted overpoweringly of cherry to me in the past, and has been a redish/purple colour. I wonder if they've changed the formula over the past couple of years?

I too wish that Port Orleans had apple juice in the dispensers like some of the other resorts, as I also drink a lot of that and it'd save me a fortune if they had it in the dispensers. They do have still lemonade, but that's rather too bitter for me, and I suspect for many children too.

Mind you, as I said, I rather took to Fuze on our last trip, but that's bottled.

Andre

I know while I might like it too but- it is something like 10% juice so not really a juice option either. I guess I'm just surprised that since the Poly (and I think I remember friends at other deluxes - I think AKL had it too) had minute maid apple juice and it was at almost every single counter service restaurant we went to (I was pregnant on one trip and soda didn't agree with me so I drank apple juice a lot which is how I know that) that they wouldn't offer it at POR as well. You would think since they push that WDW is offering "healthier" options that they would offer a juice (not that it is the best either - but better than soda). The lemonade though is light - which I assume means sugar substitutes? I will just order more juice boxes from garden grocer - but it is a little disappointing that they don't offer at least one juice choice esp when ages 3-9 get a resort mug now.

 

[lillykat]

I made reservations for POR back on November 30th and they let me add ME even though I didn't have flight information. My reservation just says that I have to call and give them the flight information when I have it.

That is what I remember in the past - when I booked the CM said she was adding ME and to call them with the info but she didn't and now I have called 2x and they tell me that I can't add it until I have my flight info. Honestly it isn't a big deal - but it is kind of annoying to not at least have it on there. I swore we could do it in the past but the CM's I spoke to were adamant that their policy is that you cannot add ME to your reservation until you know your flight info.

 

[sambisc]

I originally booked the garden view room because of the queen beds. Now I've learned that getting queen beds are not guaranteed. Should I call the resort before we arrive and request the queen beds or should I just wait until we check in to ask for the queen beds?

 

[shoney]

That is what I remember in the past - when I booked the CM said she was adding ME and to call them with the info but she didn't and now I have called 2x and they tell me that I can't add it until I have my flight info. Honestly it isn't a big deal - but it is kind of annoying to not at least have it on there. I swore we could do it in the past but the CM's I spoke to were adamant that their policy is that you cannot add ME to your reservation until you know your flight info.

Wow another CM contradiction!!!!

I was told to add ME to my ressie even before I had flight info!!! I did and then called back with the info when I had it.

My faith in the disney reservation system is at an all time low! I am really surprised based on Disney's reputation for customer service!

 

[Phatoomch]

I think the problem is the CM reservation centers are all over the place and some of the CMs have no idea what the resorts even look like so unless they have done their homework ....

When booking last year I was calling up several times a week with questions etc and I would always ask where they were based - the one I got the worst service/info from (he straight up kept saying 'Ummmm, I actually don't know the answer but I can find out') was based in a call center in the Midwest, the most helpful CM was based in the Orlando call center.

 

[Gorechick]

I'm interested in the Pirate Adventure along the Sassagoula. My kids will be
7, is this a good age for it? Is it hokey or cool?

 

[shoney]

I think the problem is the CM reservation centers are all over the place and some of the CMs have no idea what the resorts even look like so unless they have done their homework ....

When booking last year I was calling up several times a week with questions etc and I would always ask where they were based - the one I got the worst service/info from (he straight up kept saying 'Ummmm, I actually don't know the answer but I can find out') was based in a call center in the Midwest, the most helpful CM was based in the Orlando call center.

I understand that the call centers are all over the place, but I feel like my own research has yielded much, much better results. Sorry, but how hard is it? Obviously, disney doesn't care or they would be monitoring and testing their customer service dept.

Adding: I am asking my rhetorical question to Disney, not to any poster here!!!!LOL

 

[Phatoomch]

I understand that the call centers are all over the place, but I feel like my own research has yielded much, much better results. Sorry, but how hard is it? Obviously, disney doesn't care or they would be monitoring and testing their customer service dept.

Adding: I am asking my rhetorical question to Disney, not to any poster here!!!!LOL

Absolutely I totally agree!

 

[Backstage_Gal]

I'm interested in the Pirate Adventure along the Sassagoula. My kids will be
7, is this a good age for it? Is it hokey or cool?

Never had my own kids go (but they are adults now), but a couple of weeks ago my work associate and I took the boat to DTD for lunch and a boat with Pirate kids passed and they all brandished their swords and yelled "ARGGHHH", the entire boat laughed at the kids and the fun they were having.

 

[crazyboutdisny]

We are arriving at POR on March 28th, 2012 for 8 nights. When we booked our trip we werent given the option of a preferred room, only a garden view. I am guessing because we booked with the free dining package they block the preferred. Is there any chance that we would be allowed to pay for the upgrade either when we call to pay for our trip in full or at check in??
And also, we will be arriving at the resort late. Our flight doesnt land until after 10pm. Will that work against us for any special requests we have??
Thanks!!

 

[bobbigrl27]

That is what I remember in the past - when I booked the CM said she was adding ME and to call them with the info but she didn't and now I have called 2x and they tell me that I can't add it until I have my flight info. Honestly it isn't a big deal - but it is kind of annoying to not at least have it on there. I swore we could do it in the past but the CM's I spoke to were adamant that their policy is that you cannot add ME to your reservation until you know your flight info.

I made my reservations online, so I never talked to a CM. Maybe that is the difference.

 

[Stan Solo]

In reguards to the refillable mugs I believe you can also get hot coco or iced tea as an option. I know this is not quite the health option that some of you are looking for but it is a break from soda. My dd would love it if milk was an option then we would have one less thing to buy at Hess.

 

[eeyorepixie]

There was storage space under the old AB beds (there needed to be a gap there anyway for the trubdle beds) but not in the refurbished rooms.
Andre

This is not good news, where the heck can I put my suitcases, we usually have 10 x-lg. suit cases on our trip because we go for longer trips and I do not do laundry.

I was already upset about losing the Armoire for storage that was bad enough. What the heck! Are they trying to make it uncomfortable for families of 5 so they go to family suites? We need some storage for goodness sakes. This is where Disney gets me crazy and makes me want to go off site.
I would go to the family suites if I could afford it but not an option for this gal. ugggggggh, this is not good news. I really am one of the few who does not want a refurbed room at POR. Plus, the trundle being smaller is also an issue. If my budget was not so tight, I would do something different, but POR is the cheapest option for my family of 5, so I feel stuck with these changes weather I like them or not.

 

[mouselovenfamily]

I originally booked the garden view room because of the queen beds. Now I've learned that getting queen beds are not guaranteed. Should I call the resort before we arrive and request the queen beds or should I just wait until we check in to ask for the queen beds?

We are in the same situation as you. I'm not going to panic over it until I get there. Our reservation form WDTC show a reservation for a Garden View with Queen beds. That is what we booked and that is what they need to provide. No where on my reservation does it say, if queen beds are available. I'm just gong to hope that when I arrive my room is ready, with my queen beds.

 

[Phatoomch]

This is not good news, where the heck can I put my suitcases, we usually have 10 x-lg. suit cases on our trip because we go for longer trips and I do not do laundry.

I was already upset about losing the Armoire for storage that was bad enough. What the heck! Are they trying to make it uncomfortable for families of 5 so they go to family suites? We need some storage for goodness sakes. This is where Disney gets me crazy and makes me want to go off site.
I would go to the family suites if I could afford it but not an option for this gal. ugggggggh, this is not good news. I really am one of the few who does not want a refurbed room at POR. Plus, the trundle being smaller is also an issue. If my budget was not so tight, I would do something different, but POR is the cheapest option for my family of 5, so I feel stuck with these changes weather I like them or not.

Let me ask you this, do you use those space saving bags for packing? You can get those ones specifically for traveling that you squeeze the air out of (rather than having to use a vacuum to suck the air out like the larger bags). I use these and it definitely saves space - 2 large cases down to one. They are amazing! Would recommend practicing with them first and see how much you can fit in. They might really help

 

[3sweetpeas]

I noticed that they have Hi-C. Do they have any juices available? I know at the Poly they used to have minute maid Apple juice. We are getting the dining plan and neither of my girls drink soda. Additionally DD#1 is allergic to oranges - I think Hi-C is orange flavored isn't that right? Are there any non soda choices?

When we were there last year on the dining plan, the CMs told us that in the wall refrigerators where the drinks are....there are larger sized bottled juices etc.... and on the other side of the same frig are smaller individual sized milks and I am almost positive juices especially maybe apple juice that you can use for your drink choice on the dining plan. My daughter is a choc milk fan and she would dump it in her mug and go.

 

[andrewilley]

Our reservation form WDTC show a reservation for a Garden View with Queen beds. That is what we booked and that is what they need to provide.

While I completely agree that you're right in an ideal world, the difficulty is that there simply aren't that many refurbished queen bed rooms to go round for all the Garden View bookings as yet. I reckon that about one-third of the available capacity so far has queen beds, with that ratio due to change to 50% once the two 'Royal Room' buildings are taken out of the mix over the next few weeks. The whole problem will gradually go away over the coming months, until all the rooms at the resort have been refurbished (August).

It was a description error on Disney's website to claim that all Garden View rooms have queen beds from day one, which they have now corrected. But whatever the reason, the resort can't just magic up enough queen bed rooms to go round in the short term, so SOME people are definitely going to end up with doubles.

Hopefully a lot of people didn't even notice, or don't care about, the bed sizes - they were simply making their booking based on the view (or maybe it was the cheapest option available at the time). If so, the people who did book specifically based on that one line in the small-print will be a small enough number for the resort to accommodate within the currently limited number of refurbished rooms.

I would certainly suggest that you contact the Reservations Center now though, and get them to add something along the lines of "queen bed listed in original booking" to the requests section. It might also be worth contacting the resort directly a few days before you arrive to re-confirm that.

the CMs told us that in the wall refrigerators where the drinks are....there are larger sized bottled juices etc....

Yes, they do have some good choices in the grab'n'go chillers - but those are separate items rather than the sort of drinks you can refill whenever you like using the Refillable Mugs.

Andre

 

[bell.of.the.ball]

Let me say I love Disney and cant wait to go but I really need the Queen beds. I booked with a pin and chose Garden view Quuens because that was the cheapest available. I am prepared for a problem when I get there. I noticed that the standard and the River views are both stating 2 queen beds. So they either need to upgrade my room or put me in standard and refund me some $$.