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

[Phatoomch]

@wallawallakids I feel terrible for you! Like Andre says, it really shouldn't be this difficult.

When I booked our rooms (we have two rooms - one for me, DH & DD; the other for my parents) one of the questions I was asked was did I want a connecting room which I declined. I called back today to make an amendment on our ressie (they had a name completely wrong, not sure why). The CM read back all my reservation details, he also asked if I would like connecting rooms as he saw that there wasn't a request for one on our ressie.

I think you need to take a deep breath and call back and treat it as a new call, totally unrelated to your others.

Good luck!

 

[texasgirl73]

I ran into a similar problem in that they told me no for connecting rooms in preferred or riverview- they could only get me in 2 standards. What I think is occurring is that while they have connecting rooms in preferred and riverview categories, they are probably only willing to "guarantee" in the lower categories since there are more to pick from. If I am in 2 standard rooms and the only connecting rooms they have are riverview or preferred I'm not going to whine about being upgraded but if someone pays for guaranteed connecting rooms in an upgraded category and they don't have any available then they will be angry about not getting their category or not getting the connecting rooms. I imagine they only guarantee for so many people or they would run into problems fulfilling that guarantee. So far I have had connecting rooms at the Beach Club and Animal Kingdom and they had no problem getting the rooms connected.

 

[wallawallakids]

Well, I just got off the phone with AAA. Now I am nervous I made a big mistake. He said there were connecting RR he could get in the Magnolia building. And that he called the hotel directly and spoke to Heidi who said that disney offers no "guarantee" on connecting rooms but that they would try to honor the request. He said he would call 3 weeks before and 3 days before our trip and check on our requests and do everything he could to get us two connecting royal rooms though Heidi. I thought, great. That sounds good and booked though him. But now I just looked at the Portorleans web site and it doesn't show any RR in the Magnolia building!!! I tried calling back, but because it is after 5 no one answers. I am ready to cry. This has been way too much work to get a hotel room. I just don't know what to do anymore. I only wanted a nice room for my DD's 5th birthday and now I think I've messed the whole vacation up and I am more nervous than ever that we will be split up.

 

[HiHoOffWeGo]

Take a deep breath!!!

If you are going after June 1 then both buildings will be done. If you AAA person says they have you then they should.

Most likely Heidi was from the call center not the resort. Talk to them tomarrow to reconfirm. It will be all right. Don't get worried for no reason. If things don't work then worry.

 

[andrewilley]

I just looked at the Portorleans web site and it doesn't show any RR in the Magnolia building!!

They probably meant Magnolia Bend (i.e. the whole mansion buildings area), it's a common error. RGRs are in Oak Manor or Parterre Place only, but there is no way anyone at the resort (assuming Heidi is actually at the resort, she could be at the central call center where they pick up calls for all the resorts) could guarantee any particular building at this stage.

In short, stop worrying! I'm sure it'll all work out OK in the end. POR would not normally place young kids in a room on their own without a connecting door to their parents (after all, they've got the condition of the room afterwards to think about too!! )

Just make sure you are booked into the category you want and then deal with the rest by fax 3-4 days before you arrive (faxes DO get passed directly to the resort room allocation team, not to the central call center).

Andre

 

[wallawallakids]

They probably meant Magnolia Bend (i.e. the whole mansion buildings area), it's a common error. RGRs are in Oak Manor or Parterre Place only, but there is no way anyone at the resort (assuming Heidi is actually at the resort, she could be at the central call center where they pick up calls for all the resorts) could guarantee any particular building at this stage.

In short, stop worrying! I'm sure it'll all work out OK in the end. POR would not normally place young kids in a room on their own without a connecting door to their parents (after all, they've got the condition of the room afterwards to think about too!! )

Just make sure you are booked into the category you want and then deal with the rest by fax 3-4 days before you arrive (faxes DO get passed directly to the resort room allocation team, not to the central call center).

Andre

Ok. Thank you. I will call back tomorrow and confirm. The fax is a great idea. Thank you.

 

[andrewilley]

Here's a question for anyone staying in a refurbished Alligator Bayou room... someone just said that there are pull-out drawers beneath one (or both?) of the beds, but that it took them a while to notice.

No one else has mentioned this so far, and it'd be fabulous to know if it's true. And if so, we need pictures!

[Darn, was a misunderstanding, there are no extra drawers under the main beds]

Andre

 

[mistydoodles]

Here's a question for anyone staying in a refurbished Alligator Bayou room... someone just said that there are pull-out drawers beneath one (or both?) of the beds, but that it took them a while to notice.

No one else has mentioned this so far, and it'd be fabulous to know if it's true. And if so, we need pictures!

Andre

I was wondering the same thing. For a room that sleeps 5 there doesn't seem to be enough storage for everyone to be able to unpack.

 

[majic2615]

It would mean my husband and I would be in separate rooms. I just don't think it would feel much like a vacation if our family was broken up in the hotel room We have too many kids. Haha. My bad. Lol. Just so depressed than there aren't any connecting rooms!! She actually said there weren't any in Alligator Bayou either. The only connecting ones were in building 24 or in POFQ. Depressing. DD would have loved it for her birthday.

Although I am a newbie, from all the research I've done it appears that WDW will try to give priority to connecting rooms when there is one set of parents with kids, as opposed to two families with four adults and a few kids. They won't guarantee anything (I think mostly to cover themselves), but I think you'll be fine. Just request it with your reservation, follow up with a simple fax to the resort a couple days before arrival (follow Andre's instructions), and if it will ease your mind, have a contingency plan roughed out.

I'm a project manager so having a risk management plan even in my personal life is something I can't help but do!

 

[Fire14]

Dumb question for the "experts" can I send fax myself since rooms were booked thru TA. I just want to remind them we would like our rooms NEAR each other. THe TA did place request to have ressies connected but I don't think she said nearby rooms. I don't care if we have a few doors between us but otherside of resort I do care about.

 

[stephmarty]

Here's a question for anyone staying in a refurbished Alligator Bayou room... someone just said that there are pull-out drawers beneath one (or both?) of the beds, but that it took them a while to notice.

No one else has mentioned this so far, and it'd be fabulous to know if it's true. And if so, we need pictures!

Andre

We are checking in Saturday and we've been told we have a refurbished room in AB. If so, I'll check for the drawers and get a picture or two. If its true, I'm glad you mentioned it. I was also thinking that drawer space seems pretty limited, and I might have overlooked these. Hope they exist!

 

[Sue M]

Well, I just got off the phone with AAA. Now I am nervous I made a big mistake. He said there were connecting RR he could get in the Magnolia building. And that he called the hotel directly and spoke to Heidi who said that disney offers no "guarantee" on connecting rooms but that they would try to honor the request. He said he would call 3 weeks before and 3 days before our trip and check on our requests and do everything he could to get us two connecting royal rooms though Heidi. I thought, great. That sounds good and booked though him. But now I just looked at the Portorleans web site and it doesn't show any RR in the Magnolia building!!! I tried calling back, but because it is after 5 no one answers. I am ready to cry. This has been way too much work to get a hotel room. I just don't know what to do anymore. I only wanted a nice room for my DD's 5th birthday and now I think I've messed the whole vacation up and I am more nervous than ever that we will be split up.

So sorry you are having so much problems with booking. We did stay in Parterre Pl before the refirb, had connecting rooms, river view.
Andre's right, I am sure it will all turn out Ok. So now you can start to enjoy your trip planning!

 

[patclairesmom]

We are checking in Saturday and we've been told we have a refurbished room in AB. If so, I'll check for the drawers and get a picture or two. If its true, I'm glad you mentioned it. I was also thinking that drawer space seems pretty limited, and I might have overlooked these. Hope they exist!

We're going to be there next Friday and I've requested a refurbished room in AB. Who did you speak to to confirm that you were getting a refurbished room?

 

[andrewilley]

We're going to be there next Friday and I've requested a refurbished room in AB. Who did you speak to to confirm that you were getting a refurbished room?

The only way to guarantee an Alligator Bayou room is to have five people in the room - or to book a Preferred Location (giving you buildings 14, 15, 18 or 27). Anything else (including asking for a refurbished room) is really just a request, no matter what the reservations people tell you.

Note: some people who booked Garden View rooms before mid-January (which is when Disney realised there was a mistake in the descriptive text saying that people were definitely getting queen beds, although that won't be certain until the full rehab is complete) have been given special assurances that the resort will place them into a refurbished room (i.e. queen beds) but that could be in Alligator Bayou or the mansion buildings.

My own advice, as always, is to put your requests into your original booking first. Then, if they are especially important to you, send the resort a fax about 3-5 days before you arrive (no earlier than 5 days anyway) reiterating your requests and perhaps explaining the reasons so they have a better idea of how to help you. You can also phone them, but fax is preferred as it goes directly to the resort rather than routing via a call center first. They will do their best, but please remember that even with the best will in the world they simply can't fit around 2,000 families into Alligator Bayou 14 at one time!

Andre

 

[yolie912]

We are checking in Saturday and we've been told we have a refurbished room in AB. If so, I'll check for the drawers and get a picture or two. If its true, I'm glad you mentioned it. I was also thinking that drawer space seems pretty limited, and I might have overlooked these. Hope they exist!

Hi, How did you find out you have a refurbished room? Also what is the fax number to fax in my request. Thanks!

 

[HiHoOffWeGo]

refurbished rooms all have queen beds.

The fax is on the first page of this thread.

 

[andrewilley]

If so, I'll check for the drawers and get a picture or two. If its true, I'm glad you mentioned it. I was also thinking that drawer space seems pretty limited, and I might have overlooked these. Hope they exist!

Sadly, I think this was a misunderstanding. The person who mentioned it was actually talking about the three drawers under the MURPHY bed (which we already knew about) rather than any extra drawers under the main bed. Shame really, it would have been a great idea.

Andre

 

[Missytara]

So sorry you are having so much problems with booking. We did stay in Parterre Pl before the refirb, had connecting rooms, river view.
Andre's right, I am sure it will all turn out Ok. So now you can start to enjoy your trip planning!

I have also been in Parterre twice; both times in a corner room and it had a connecting door.

 

[stephmarty]

We are a family of five, so definitely in AB. When we booked several months ago, our booking stated that we will have 2 queen beds, which would be a refurbed room. I called booking to see if there was any chance we could get a Royal themed room, but cannot with a family of five. But was told then that it does at least appear we have a refurbished room. Planning on pouring on the charm Saturday morning just to be sure! Hopefully it works out. Might help that we are arriving around 9:30 am? I'll let everyone know. (Bummer about the under-bed drawer space--guess we'll be utilizing the rack space in the closet).

 

[stephmarty]

If anyone would like pics of anything you've had trouble finding, let me know. We'll be at POR 8 nights starting Saturday, and I plan on seeing it all. I'll do my best to snap some photos of anything you're wondering about.