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

[Stan Solo]

KCMike here is your birthday mickeybar ----> Hope you find us here!

 

[Venomhatch]

KCMike here is your birthday mickeybar ----> Hope you find us here!

Thats right today is his b day. Happy Birthday KCmike!

 

[bunkkinsmom]

WOW all of those categories are very confusing! We arrive in 19 days
and I have specifically requested 14, 36, 37, or 38. This is our first stay at POR, as we usually stay at OKW. Of our 3 OKW visits, I have received our room request twice. When we stayed at POP I didn't have a specific request, as it was a last minute add on to a stay (train service home was cancelled due to snow). I am very much looking forward to our stay and really pray we get a refurbished room!

I will do some live reports while we are there!

 

[laura428]

Update on the continuing reservation - we didn't have to move.

When I got down to the front desk early this morning, I was told that we had not been placed in the same room for our second reservation. But the CM took pity upon me, left the desk for about five minutes, and reappeared with the good news that everything had been fixed.

VERY happy DH, and VERY happy me.

 

[Brookie1972]

Yes, it is all a bit confusing at the moment as the new Garden View category has been introduced half-way through a resort-wide refurbishment program.

Basically:-

The only section of the resort that has the fifth-person bed option is the 'Alligator Bayou' area. The original rooms there have a slide-out trundle bed underneath one of the double beds, while the newly refurbished rooms have a pull-down murphy bed on the wall, plus two queen sized beds.

So far, four of the 16 Alligator Bayou lodges - 14, 36, 37 and 38 - have been refurbished, and they now have the queen beds and pull-down murphys. The rest of the buildings still have double beds and trundles. The remaining 12 lodges are due to be refurbished between April and August this year.

Adding to the complication, four of the AB lodges (14, 15, 18 and 27) are defined as 'Preferred Locations', as they are especially close to the main buildings, and these are priced at a slightly higher nightly rate.

And further adding to the confusion, a new booking category commenced on 1st January, making a price distinction between Standard View and the new 'Garden View'. As far as we can tell, these Garden View rooms could be located anywhere in the resort (i.e. in Alligator Bayou or the mansion buildings section) and should basically ensure that you get a nicer view than just a room overlooking a parking lot (e.g. courtyard, bayou area, lawn, etc). Once the refurbishment process is complete in August, every room in the resort will have two queen beds (apart from the King bed rooms of course, but let's not go there at the moment!) however at present some of these newly re-classified Garden View rooms will still have two doubles.

What is not yet clear is whether a current booking for Garden View will actually guarantee you queen beds - i.e. a refurbished room, which would limit them to about one-third of the resort's overall room capacity at the moment - or if the wording on the online booking form is a bit ahead of itself and/or was written on the (incorrect) assumption the whole resort would be done by the time the first Garden View guests started arriving.

Sorry if this just makes the waters even more muddy, but the multiple categorisation options getting a bit out of hand just now - and will only get worse when the four new Royal Room room categories become available in the mansion buildings in mid-February.

Andre

So do all rooms in AB have the 5th person capacity?

I was thinking that maybe since preferred is now available that I should upgrade.....more likely to get 2Q.

But, since only one preferred building has the Queens and 3 of the non preferred have Queens, I am guessing I am prob better off staying garden.

Hmmmm.....I wish I had something in writing that said I booked 2Q.

 

[stinkerbellsmommy]

Hello all!

We're booked in the Royal Guest rooms for a stay beginning March 4 (jocelyn6 - looks like we'll be there during the same time!). I know the calendar says the rooms in Oak Manor will be done in mid-February. Do you think there is a chance that they won't be complete by the time we arrive? We've been talking the rooms up to our 4YO daughter (ok, and hyping ourselves up too ), but if there's a chance we won't be in the Royal rooms, I'd like to prepare us. I know it's hard to guarantee, but what are your best guesses as to completion on time?

THANKS!!

 

[Venomhatch]

Hello all!

We're booked in the Royal Guest rooms for a stay beginning March 4 (jocelyn6 - looks like we'll be there during the same time!). I know the calendar says the rooms in Oak Manor will be done in mid-February. Do you think there is a chance that they won't be complete by the time we arrive? We've been talking the rooms up to our 4YO daughter (ok, and hyping ourselves up too ), but if there's a chance we won't be in the Royal rooms, I'd like to prepare us. I know it's hard to guarantee, but what are your best guesses as to completion on time?

THANKS!!

The rooms will definitely be done by the dates they stated if not earlier. We have been talking them up also we are there from the Feb 24th to the Mar 3rd in a river-view room.

 

[andrewilley]

So do all rooms in AB have the 5th person capacity?

I was thinking that maybe since preferred is now available that I should upgrade.....more likely to get 2Q.

Yes, all rooms in AB do have the fifth person option - apart from the few specific King Bed rooms of course. I'd just leave your booking as it is, and put in a request for a refurbished AB room and see what they can do for you.

If you don't get one when you check in, you can always ask if they could check the room inventory to see if any are rooms due to become available later in the day (e.g. perhaps have not been cleaned yet) and say you don't mind waiting rather than just taking the first available room.

Good luck anyway, let us know how you get on.

Andre

 

[MaddieC]

How long are buses to all the parks from POR. I heard bussing is very long...

 

[Venomhatch]

How long are buses to all the parks from POR. I heard bussing is very long...

Check this out for those that stay atleast during the Feb 28 to the 1st of March or longer the Parks are open 24hrs for the 29th of Feb.

http://land.allears.net/blogs/dnews/2012/01/leap_year_2012_calls_for_one_m.html

 

[modegard]

I always order GG and have them deliver before our arrival, and everything has been kept cold for us. I have read about people arriving and having their GG order in their room. However, we always have to call the front desk and someone always delivers the order promptly.

The first few time I ordered too much from GG. The last trip I brought a lot of our breakfast items, coffee.. and got dairy from our POR store.

Hope this helps

They left our order with Bell Services (we weren't there yet). We did order items that required refrigeration both times and Bell Services not only kept our stuff in their fridge, they put the items that needed to be refrigerated into the fridge in our room when they brought the order! Stellar service, by both Garden Grocer and Bell Services

Thanks so much! This is a huge help. One less thing to worry about.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

Just joining in the new thread. I think we are going to switch our reservation from CBR to POR. We really liked CBR, but we are thinking of trying something different.

 

[stinkerbellsmommy]

The rooms will definitely be done by the dates they stated if not earlier. We have been talking them up also we are there from the Feb 24th to the Mar 3rd in a river-view room.

Thanks! I read the other refurbed rooms were done on time, if not earlier, but just wanted to make sure. We can't wait!

 

[MaddieC]

We are going at the end of August, and are debating on where to stay. I really want to stay at POR, but my mom said that the bus rides are to long to all the parks.
I'm trying to persude her. My mom and little sister(6 yrs old) both want to stay at Coronado, but I don't see the Disney magic there. Hmmm....

 

[MHTeacher]

Wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to handle the lack of storage in the renovated AB sections (other than packing less). We're a family of 5, staying 6 nights/7 days, and those three drawers below the murphy bed are NOT going to do it!

 

[KarlaG4Kids]

Wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to handle the lack of storage in the renovated AB sections (other than packing less). We're a family of 5, staying 6 nights/7 days, and those three drawers below the murphy bed are NOT going to do it!

I find the hanging storage (collapsible) things are great. You can get the shoe holder type or the sweater type. Great for holding little things, undies, belts, swimsuits. You can even put folded shirts, shorts etc in the sweater holders. And they fold up and go in the suitcases easily. We have used them on numerous cruises where space is limited.

 

[MHTeacher]

I find the hanging storage (collapsible) things are great. You can get the shoe holder type or the sweater type. Great for holding little things, undies, belts, swimsuits. You can even put folded shirts, shorts etc in the sweater holders. And they fold up and go in the suitcases easily. We have used them on numerous cruises where space is limited.

I have used the shoe holders (in fact, used them at POR on a previous trip!) Just not sure about fitting adults things in the sweater holders. I guess I need to look at one and see exactly how large they are. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Venomhatch]

I find the hanging storage (collapsible) things are great. You can get the shoe holder type or the sweater type. Great for holding little things, undies, belts, swimsuits. You can even put folded shirts, shorts etc in the sweater holders. And they fold up and go in the suitcases easily. We have used them on numerous cruises where space is limited.

I agree... Sometimes we just live out of suit cases even when there was the armoir tv / dresser.

 

[canadianmom2three]

Just got back from 10 days at POR and was worried about storage room. We found it to be no problem for the 5 of us (DH and I, and our DS 14, DD 12, DS 10) while we were there. I do have to preface it by saying I pack really light and planned to do laundry halfway through (which is conveniently located by the quiet pool). We had 2 long hanging organizers in the closet (kids clothes), and 2 short haning organizers (junk), DH and I put lots of our things on the top shelf, with small bins for socks and undies. The kids used the drawers under the foldout bed for socks and undies etc. We brought some bins for under the sink (lots of room there!) and had a large rubbermaid tote in the corner for dirty laundry. We used the shelves beside the fridge for all our snacks and such, and the area under the nighttable for all the kids pj's. Shoes all fit in the corner by the window, and under the table (which we never sat at). I was actually shocked and amazed at how tidy we managed to keep the room!! Have a great time!!

 

[MHTeacher]

Just got back from 10 days at POR and was worried about storage room. We found it to be no problem for the 5 of us (DH and I, and our DS 14, DD 12, DS 10) while we were there. I do have to preface it by saying I pack really light and planned to do laundry halfway through (which is conveniently located by the quiet pool). We had 2 long hanging organizers in the closet (kids clothes), and 2 short haning organizers (junk), DH and I put lots of our things on the top shelf, with small bins for socks and undies. The kids used the drawers under the foldout bed for socks and undies etc. We brought some bins for under the sink (lots of room there!) and had a large rubbermaid tote in the corner for dirty laundry. We used the shelves beside the fridge for all our snacks and such, and the area under the nighttable for all the kids pj's. Shoes all fit in the corner by the window, and under the table (which we never sat at). I was actually shocked and amazed at how tidy we managed to keep the room!! Have a great time!!

Good info! Thanks!