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

[crazyboutdisny]

We checked into a RGR today, and let me say they are awesome! The furniture and decor details are so well done. We have 2 boys ages 3 and 1 so we weren't expecting any huge reactions, but my older son was so excited when we walked in. Disney has once again done a great job!

The beds are very comfy, and it is really neat being one of the first people to use the room. It is definitely more than we were expecting!

Have a great trip!! I would be curious to know what the crowd levels are like at the parks while you are there?? We are arriving the 28th and I am a little bit concerned about the crowds.

 

[Cinderella909]

Just noticed we will be there on the same dates!!! Hope your surprise is wonderful!!!

I'm sure we won't be disappointed. I was reading the thread when I noticed that they opened the royal rooms and stopped just as some pictures were coming into site... so guess it's off this thread for me!

Hope everyone enjoys their visits! Karen

 

[andrewilley]

I don't usually multi-quote very much (it always reminds me of those pedants who rip other people's messages apart sentence by sentence) but it's pretty busy in here at the moment!

So when I have insomnia again tonight, I know where to go first, after I pop a movie in the DVD player.

Morning Dawn - so, sleepy-head or insomniac surfer today?

Oops, maybe that was because I spend so much money in the lounge and tip Todd, John, and Holly so well.

Ah, now the truth comes out about these solo trips...

If anyone else can answer this question please do so - are reservations necessary for Boatwrights and if so how do I go about doing that?

You can book dining reservations online via the Disney website, or by phone. It's not always necessary for Boatwright's, but it can get quite busy at peak times (and especially during Free Dining Plan offer periods) so if you do happen to know when you want to eat there, it certainly can't do any harm to book it anyway - and you can always cancel at any time and try for a walk-up or same-day reservation later.

Can anyone tell me, are there garden view rooms in buildings 14, 15, 18 and 27?

There are no actual 'Garden View' category rooms located within the preferred buildings (although there are a few Water View, River View and King Bed rooms). Obviously lots of the rooms within the Preferred buildings do have pleasant garden/bayou outlooks though, so if you want do be sure of getting one of those buildings then you really do need to book a Preferred Location and then request one of the garden/bayou rooms.

We arrive at Disney in 14 days...can I stil add a request to my reservation? Building?

Yes, you can have requests added at any times. If you're within about five days I'd suggest faxing them to the resort directly though.

Yes, but hurry. Ressies roll over from CRO to the resort about 5 bdays before check in.

I have recently been told that with the latest software changes, the resort now has visibility of reservations from the moment you book them, there is no "transfer from the DRC system" any more. However the resort still won't normally do anything with them until around the five-day window anyway, as there's no point in blocking out much further than that.

Do all the royal rooms have a water view? it seems a room this beautiful shouldn't have a parking lot view...

Some do, but not all - these are big buildings after all. There are four specific booking categories for Royal Rooms: standard (most likely on the parking-lot side of the building), Garden (assures you of a garden, courtyard, etc outlook), Water (swimming pool) and River (faces the river front).

If booking Royal Room River View and having someone in our party with a scooter, which bus stop would be better to use?

For Oak, do you think the River View rooms will only be the ones directly on the legs of the H facing the river, or do you think they'd include those on the inside of the "H" and on the crossbar as well as long as you could see a sliver of river?

If you get a room just off the riverfront pathway (near to the bridge beside Oak Manor) then over the bridge to the South bus stop would be best. If you get a parking lot view on the other side of Oak Manor, the East stop might be better. Take a look at the map in the first post of this thread for more details.

You might also wish to contact the WDW Special Assistance line in advance of your stay if you'd like to discuss getting a particular location based on medical grounds.

As for views, I've been told that the rule is basically that if you stand at the doorway to your room and look out, if you can see the river then it's a 'River View' room. This includes some rooms which look out over the fountain courtyards from the inside of the 'H' shapes towards the river, including those on the "crossbar" as you put it.

As part of the re-categorisation they spent some time re-assessing the views from all rooms, with a particular goal of modifying the categories of any rooms where theoretical views are obscured. (On a similar note by the way, the ground floor rooms next to the swimming pool at French Quarter are NOT classified as Water View rooms, as there is a fence/hedge in the way. The upper two floors contain all of the Water View rooms at POFQ)

Incidentally, I've recently updated all the room category notes at http://www.portorleans.org/rooms.php in case anyone wants to check how the system currently works.

Andre

 

[Disney before Sally]

Thank you Andre for being helpful and kind.

 

[Katie's Mom]

Thank you Andre for being helpful and kind.

Ditto! This is extremely helpful! DD10 and I are arriving April 8 for four nights, and we have RR garden view. Cannot wait!

Jacqueline

 

[MickeyEars]

Yes, thank you Andre for all you do!!!

Carla

 

[KEPE]

Anyone know if there is still a glitch in the system when trying to book? I went in to book a package and it still does not show the RGR room. If I click to book room only it comes up but then if I try to add tickets it tells me the room catergory is not available? Why would it be available for room only but not w/ a package? Not applying any discounts nor do I expect any to come out during that time.

 

[crusoe2]

I was there last week, in a renovated AB room, and I think a twin would fit. The bed closest to the door had a connecting door to the room next door, so it's about 3 feet wide. It would be in the way of opening the door, but not a problem once everyone's down for the night.

I would say if you moved the tables and chairs Ilike what they do for the pack n' play, or next to the bed closest to the door, where there is more room, you can do it.

Lean it against the wall in the closet during the day.

Thank you both so much. Sounds like it will work pretty much the way we did it at CBR. Makes for a "cozy" arrangement but it's manageable. For anyone else considering using an air mattress, we found that we could lean the mattress against the wall next to the head of the bed and it was never in the way. There was also enough space, when the mattress was in use, to open the room door just enough to go in and out. Hope it will be the same at POR.

 

[mouselovenfamily]

Have a great trip!! I would be curious to know what the crowd levels are like at the parks while you are there?? We are arriving the 28th and I am a little bit concerned about the crowds.

I am planning on CROWDED, but we will be at Disney and a crowded day at Disney is better than not being there!!!

It's Sunday so I can officially say, I'll be at WDW next week!!!!!!!!

 

[mskermit]

Just got a phone call from friends checking in to POR. They walked into their room only to find another family already there! Went back up front to try again and got upgraded to a RGR. Isn't this the first day for the RGRs?

this is the 2nd time i am hearing that this happened! kinda scary isnt it??? how does this happen??? uugghhh i would have demanded to upgraded to the Poly at that point!!! lol

 

[mskermit]

question... i was originally booked in a standard room , alligator bayou in a handicap room, we are now booked in a royal room in the mansion section. are there elevators in those buildings?? we didnt get the handicap room since we are now getting 2 connecting rooms and it works out fine that way, im just concerned in case we dont get a ground floor. i havent stayed at POR since it was dixie landings, my home is FW cabins... wanted to try something new.

 

[Missytara]

question... i was originally booked in a standard room , alligator bayou in a handicap room, we are now booked in a royal room in the mansion section. are there elevators in those buildings?? we didnt get the handicap room since we are now getting 2 connecting rooms and it works out fine that way, im just concerned in case we dont get a ground floor. i havent stayed at POR since it was dixie landings, my home is FW cabins... wanted to try something new.

There are elevators in the mansions.

 

[HappyGal]

I'm afraid to request a RGR.

I'm a single mom of 2 young girls and we usually stay at POP b/c it's affordable. Thanks to the FD in Sept. we are booked for POR in AB.

All this excitement about the new RGR has me itching to book it for September but if I do that I'm afraid the bar will be set waaaaaay too high to ever turn back.

My concern is that once we go moderate we'll never want to go back to value! And if we go RGR we'll be spoiled and nothing else will ever compare.

 

[crusoe2]

I'm afraid to request a RGR.

I'm a single mom of 2 young girls and we usually stay at POP b/c it's affordable. Thanks to the FD in Sept. we are booked for POR in AB.

All this excitement about the new RGR has me itching to book it for September but if I do that I'm afraid the bar will be set waaaaaay too high to ever turn back.

My concern is that once we go moderate we'll never want to go back to value! And if we go RGR we'll be spoiled and nothing else will ever compare.

I may be in the minority, but I still love the value resorts. We've stayed at CBR, POR, Wilderness Lodge, and offsite in condos. And I'd still love to go back and stay in a value resort again. I love the whimsy and the big food courts and the compact layout (compared to the mods anyway). Unfortunately, DH and DS are big guys and wouldn't get much rest of they had to share a double bed with someone else. If not for that, we'd stay at All Star Movies again in a heartbeat. Or we'd try Pop - never have gotten to stay there but would love to. So long story, short - I'd say give the royal rooms a try while you can get such a great deal. The resorts are all so fun and all have their good points so I wouldn't worry too much about "stepping back down" to a value later on.

 

[annmarieda]

I may be in the minority, but I still love the value resorts. We've stayed at CBR, POR, Wilderness Lodge, and offsite in condos. And I'd still love to go back and stay in a value resort again. I love the whimsy and the big food courts and the compact layout (compared to the mods anyway). Unfortunately, DH and DS are big guys and wouldn't get much rest of they had to share a double bed with someone else. If not for that, we'd stay at All Star Movies again in a heartbeat. Or we'd try Pop - never have gotten to stay there but would love to. So long story, short - I'd say give the royal rooms a try while you can get such a great deal. The resorts are all so fun and all have their good points so I wouldn't worry too much about "stepping back down" to a value later on.

I completely agree. I was going to post almost exactly the same thing.

 

[mskermit]

There are elevators in the mansions.

Thanks!!! i figured they would but just wanted to make sure

 

[maui13]

Am so excited! We leave tomorrow. First stay at POR. Looking forward to checking in. Will be late tomorrow night!

 

[bobbigrl27]

Am so excited! We leave tomorrow. First stay at POR. Looking forward to checking in. Will be late tomorrow night!

Yeah, have fun!!!

 

[crusoe2]

Okay, I'm excited all over again - just upgraded our ressie from a garden view room to a preferred room. Now I'm looking at the map and trying to decide if I should call back and request a particular bldg in the preferred section. My main concern is ease of getting to the bus stop. The South Depot is obviously closest. How long a walk is that from the preferred buildings? And do you have to go thru the main building or is that a path I see from the parking lots by bldg 15?

 

[HANDYMOM]

I'm afraid to request a RGR.

I'm a single mom of 2 young girls and we usually stay at POP b/c it's affordable. Thanks to the FD in Sept. we are booked for POR in AB.

All this excitement about the new RGR has me itching to book it for September but if I do that I'm afraid the bar will be set waaaaaay too high to ever turn back.

My concern is that once we go moderate we'll never want to go back to value! And if we go RGR we'll be spoiled and nothing else will ever compare.

The RGR rooms aren't going to add very much to the cost. Since the other rooms on property have all been renovated too, either way you go is a winner. Don't stress, you'll probably be out of the room most of the time anyways