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

[Gorechick]

So excited, finally booked! We are going 3rd week of August. Booked Royal Room, Garden View. Requested Parterre Place, upper floor, fountain view. I hope we can get a room on the south end with view of the fountain, gardens, and river . It's our 10th anniversary, DH's birthday, and twins first trip!

 

[Venomhatch]

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

I booked through AAA and got upgraded!

 

[chris1974]

I have reservations for March 18 to March 24...and have a royal room booked is everything still on track for me to stay in a room......is there differnt rooms for girls and boys?

 

[Stasieki]

I booked through AAA and got upgraded!

I booked through a TA and got an upgrade.

 

[Stan Solo]

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!

You were able to pay for your resort with Airmiles? I've been on the Airmiles web sight quite often to what was available and have never found Disney resorts only park tickets. Where do you go on the web sight to get resort stays? Were you able to get the dining/free dining by booking with Airmiles?

 

[aoffhaus]

I booked through AAA and got upgraded!

GREAT!!! I just wanted to check and make sure. Maybe I will get my call on Monday.

 

[andrewilley]

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?

Correct. By the end of February, work on Oak Manor should be well underway, and possibly Parterre Place will be down by then too (depending on whether the current delays affect the future schedules).

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?

Every chance, yes. While AB is the only section which can accommodate five people, unless there are an awful lot of five-person families staying at the same time they'll still need to use the rest of the AB rooms for smaller parties anyway. Just put your request in and keep your fingers crossed.

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

Thanks for the info, that's two people who have now got around 1Mbs download and 1/4 Mbs upload, so I wonder if that's the max provided to the guest room access points? Has anyone acheived any better rates from the in-room wi-fi as yet I wonder, or got any signal strengh patterns from a Wifi-Analyzer app? <Pictures a hoard of DISers wandering around Port Orleans holding iPhones and Droids in front of their faces and bumping into trees. >

Well....we will be staying in August... The thing I don't enjoy so much at POR is the size and the way things are soooo spread out ... I also assume that all the beds will be queensize????

By August, all of the beds should be queens, yes (unless there are any more delays). As far as the size of the resort goes, you can now book Preferred Location rooms, which assures you a room fairly close to the main buildings, the South Bus Stop and also not far from the Ol' Man Island pool area. That would be buildings 14, 15, 18 or 27 on the map in the first post in this thread.

I have reservations for March 18 to March 24...and have a royal room booked is everything still on track for me to stay in a room......is there differnt rooms for girls and boys?

By that time in March you should be OK. There won't be boy or girl versions though, all the Royal Rooms will have the same decor.

Andre

 

[Dwo]

POR always finds a way to draw me back. I want to try a couple of deluxes, namely AKL and Beach club, but those Royal Rooms are my idea of perfect (at least would be if they had bunk beds)

 

[Disney Addicted]

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

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!!!

I wouldn't worry too much. If you read through the last few pages of the thread, you'll see that people who booked using a TA (including AAA) did get upgraded.

What happened with IS131NY is that she booked through a Expedia - a wholesaler. I know she kept saying "TA", but she did say Disney said because Expedia is a wholesaler. Regardless if you book on your own or with a TA - you are paying the same price. A wholesaler gives you a cheaper price (my understanding). It's a shame that Disney is not giving her an upgrade regardless.

 

[Venomhatch]

I wouldn't worry too much. If you read through the last few pages of the thread, you'll see that people who booked using a TA (including AAA) did get upgraded.

What happened with IS131NY is that she booked through a Expedia - a wholesaler. I know she kept saying "TA", but she did say Disney said because Expedia is a wholesaler. Regardless if you book on your own or with a TA - you are paying the same price. A wholesaler gives you a cheaper price (my understanding). It's a shame that Disney is not giving her an upgrade regardless.

Did she get the RGR ones also? If she went through Expedia, i think their best bet is to contact the reservation line directly and ask to speak to the team leading up this upgrade process. If they cant speak to them then leaving a message to be emailed or passed on to them. See if they can get the ball rolling on their upgrade.

 

[bell.of.the.ball]

I am going there during President's week. I must Queen beds. I got a pin code and when I clicked the link to book I chose garden view 2 queen beds. I would love to request AB but I dont know if the queen bed have been put there? Any answers out there?

 

[Disney Addicted]

Did she get the RGR ones also? If she went through Expedia, i think their best bet is to contact the reservation line directly and ask to speak to the team leading up this upgrade process. If they cant speak to them then leaving a message to be emailed or passed on to them. See if they can get the ball rolling on their upgrade.

That's a good idea. I can certainly understand why she's upset. I would be fuming myself after reading about so many people being upgraded to Deluxe but than have Disney telling me I'm not eligable beause I booked through a wholesaler. Hopefully she comes back and reads these posts.

 

[Venomhatch]

That's a good idea. I can certainly understand why she's upset. I would be fuming myself after reading about so many people being upgraded to Deluxe but than have Disney telling me I'm not eligable beause I booked through a wholesaler. Hopefully she comes back and reads these posts.

I can understand and I would be the same as well. I am going to PM and see if I can help.

 

[Is131ny]

I did talked to the team who handle the delay. She told me that they have another team who do the wholesales guest. If you book directly or TA, you get an upgrade to deluxe. If you book it from a wholesales like expedia, you can only get the same level. For example, I can go to another moderate resort with the same view. Not only I did not get a upgrade, I got a downgrade. How can you explain that I pay for a RGR river view and I only can get the same view in any moderate resort. I believe I did pay for extra for the RGR. The worst part is I did not pay less to book it from expedia. I pay the same. The reason I booked it from expedia is I also booked my flight from them and I got lazy and just booked the room also.

 

[Venomhatch]

I did talked to the team who handle the delay. She told me that they have another team who do the wholesales guest. If you book directly or TA, you get an upgrade to deluxe. If you book it from a wholesales like expedia, you can only get the same level. For example, I can go to another moderate resort with the same view. Not only I did not get a upgrade, I got a downgrade. How can you explain that I pay for a RGR river view and I only can get the same view in any moderate resort. I believe I did pay for extra for the RGR. The worst part is I did not pay less to book it from expedia. I pay the same. The reason I booked it from expedia is I also booked my flight from them and I got lazy and just booked the room also.

I would take it higher. If you have proof you paid the same, you need to tell them that. Tell them if you need to you can fax it to them, email whatever. I would not take just a move to another moderate if everyone else got Deluxes. I wish I could help. I would call resort reservations and ask for a supervisor explain this. Show proof etc. But I wouldn't take that. That is just me.

 

[DisneyDreamerMom]

Stupid question - do all the AB rooms have the Murphy bed (after renovation, I mean) or do some only sleep 4?

 

[MDChris]

Has anyone with a March check-in date for RGR been contacted regarding their upgrade? I'm assuming you would have posted, but wanted to check!

 

[Venomhatch]

Has anyone with a March check-in date for RGR been contacted regarding their upgrade? I'm assuming you would have posted, but wanted to check!

Yes there has been some March dates already upgraded. Before you ask we have no idea how there system of calling people works. We suspected pay of dates, but that wasn't it. Then we suspected dates they would show up, nope. I believe it may be a combination of a few things, and perhaps the names of the guests.

 

[cassiopia419]

Has anyone with a March check-in date for RGR been contacted regarding their upgrade? I'm assuming you would have posted, but wanted to check!

I'm checking in March 8th and still waiting for a call. Definitely will post the minute I hear anything.

It's stressful to try to figure out which deluxe we would want if we get the call, but not get too excited about a deluxe at the same time in case we don't get an offer since we're only 1 day off the new opening date of the RGRs.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all of us hear early this week so things can be definitely planned for everyone!

 

[andrewilley]

Stupid question - do all the AB rooms have the Murphy bed (after renovation, I mean) or do some only sleep 4?

All of the rooms with two queen beds will also have a Murphy bed, yes.

Has anyone stayed in a refurbished King bed room in AB yet to be able to say what the furniture arrangements are like there?

Andre