Port Orleans Riverside FAQ thread --- 2012, Part Three --- NOW FULL / CLOSED

[andrewilley]

I'd LOVE to see any pics anyone has of corner RGRs.

I don't have any specifically of corner Royal rooms, but the basic layout is the same as all the other corner rooms - there is an extra full-size window next to the table and chair, which gives a different view to that from the main window and lets in more natural light. In RGRs, the extra window replaces the oval mirror, and the wall-hanging pennants get relocated further into the room.

From the 3rd floor at Parterre in a RGV can you see the river at all or is it blocked by trees?

There are several River View rooms in the middle of the 3rd floor which have a nice view of the water, although the side ones get blocked by trees. There are also some nice views from the rooms facing into the courtyard nearer the river. The river is behind the camera in this shot, which shows the central area at the back/right of the photo, and the northern wing section in the foreground on the left:

Good point, actually. Maybe they aren't able to call internationally?

I would strongly suggest quoting your email address in your faxes so they can reply that way if necessary. They won't always though, they may just read and do whatever they can at the time.

Exactly!! I'd be happy in a tent in the carpark....

I think we have a new booking category to suggest to Disney... including the new premium priced Disney's Royal Tent in Car Park TM®©

I admit I am worried that I haven't received a response to my fax in the past week but I am truly grateful for all the help that I have received from you and Venom! ... and after reading the thread and the website, it feels like home! I am surrounded by kind people in my hometown and I am really glad we are staying here! I found my new home at Disney!

So glad we could help. Both Venom and I do this just to try to help out and make people's stays even more magical. From my point of view it's a kind of "pay it forward" thing, trying to give back some of the magic and pixie dust that I've experienced from Port Orleans over the years (and Dixie Landings before that).

Please don't worry too much about getting responses to faxes though, not everyone will get a personal reply - although I gather than Venom's secret voodoo magic tips via PM might help.

Oh that is great news! Congratulations! I sent my fax a week and it has been 10 days and I haven't heard anything yet, but I will send again tomorrow! I'm still hopeful and excited either way!

It's best to send faxed requests about 3-5 days before arrival. I wouldn't suggest too much earlier than that.

Oh no problem its what we are here for. now I am off to bed.

And here on the other side of the Pond, I take over for my shift...


Andre

 

[macadoo]

I'm very excited about staying at POR for the first time in August , we have only been to Disneyworld once before in 2011 and stayed at All Star Sports and had a brilliant time....DS and DD absolutely loved the resort. We chose POR this time as there wasn't much price difference and we get the free QSDP Anyhow, i was showing DS(15) pictures of POR last night and he said "looks very nice BUT it looks more of an adults hotel" think he is a tad disappointed we aren't staying at All Stars again

So anyone who has stayed there with older children (mine will be 12 and 15) please tell me it is a great resort for kids?? We took them to Paris Disney many times while they were growing up so Disney is his happy place (he's even happy to have his photos taken with all the princesses ) I think he's worried he isn't gonna get that same happy Disney feeling that he got at the value resort

 

[Turrash]

Just finished up booking my first family vacation to Disney. 8 months is SO LONG FROM NOW! This thread is killing me too, it makes me so excited to go Last time I was in Disney was 2002, then before that I think 1991 or 1992.

 

[OttawaON]

I also felt this way. I sent my fax in last Wednesday. I never received any kind of response. My DH was worrying more about whether any of our requests would be granted or if they had receive my fax. He convinced me to call on Monday to see if they had received my fax. After having difficulty get the phone number off of my phone while at Universal, I got a machine. I left a message but didn't want to try to retrieve the other number off of my phone I just left it at that. We checked in morning on Tuesday. All of my request were granted and we upgraded to a preferred room (I booked garden view only with a request for AB). I did receive a return call from my message that I left but after we were already in our room.

So to those that don't hear anything, do not worry! You still might get what you want with maybe some pixie dust added in like me!!!

I'm so happy for you and your family! It goes to show that the people at Port Orleans Riverside really care.

 

[Venomhatch]

I'm back on Andre. Lol

 

[Missytara]

Thanks everyone!! I decided to opt out of the Caribbean and go with my gut and stay at POR in a Royal Room. Are these all located generally close by to the Riverside Mill? And when I make my reservations, is there a way I can request a first floor room (I can't imagine lugging up two kids, strollers and bags to the third floor after a full day at the parks)?

Again, thank you everyone for all the tips!
And, thank you Bumbershoot about the tip about the lights in the bathroom. While my older one may find it cool, I don't think my three year old would appreciate it in the middle of the night

Royal Rooms are located in the mansions, and they are three stories, so they have elevators in the central part of the building.

You can see on the front page that the Royal Rooms are located in two buildings; Oak Manor and Parterre Place. Depending on what booking category you have, some RR's can be very remotely located, i.e. Parterre Place standard view. Similar to CBR and the pirate themed rooms which are the most remotely located rooms at that resort. It is a way for Disney to fill those rooms.

Best to request Oak Manor.

 

[firstwdw]

Does every building have an ice machine? We are booked preferred but will need ice several times a day to ice my back since the fridges have no freezers. I was just hoping they'd be somewhat close by and I didn't think I'd need to add it to a request to be near one but then thought I'd better ask here just in case they are few and far between! Thank you!

 

[andrewilley]

Does every building have an ice machine? We are booked preferred but will need ice several times a day to ice my back since the fridges have no freezers. I was just hoping they'd be somewhat close by and I didn't think I'd need to add it to a request to be near one but then thought I'd better ask here just in case they are few and far between! Thank you!

Yes, there are ice machines on every floor of each building at POR. They are centrally located in the Alligator Bayou lodges, and at least four separate locations in each of the mansion buildings. There's a snack/drink vending machine by each one too, in case you get peckish in the night.

Andre

 

[andrewilley]

I think I remember Andre saying he was going to do the room layout for the mansions too but I haven't seen that. Did I miss the post?

Here you go. No major layout differences between the regular mansions, the Royal Rooms and POFQ in fact - just the fridge & drawers swap sides under the tabletop in some rooms:

There's a PDF version HERE.

Andre

 

[rsleleux]

I'm so happy for you and your family! It goes to show that the people at Port Orleans Riverside really care.

I Agree!

 

[sunnydays28]

Anyone have or can point me in the direction of accessible Royal Guest rooms? Or a tell/show me how the layout is different? I am mainly concerned about the bathroom and shower area, and if the sink in in the bathroom or outside the bathroom. And what area of Oak or Parterre are the HA room located?

 

[cc-atl]

I will be staying with my family at POR from 2/8 - 2/16. We will be staying in a Royal Room.

I was hoping to get thoughts on whether I could get the resort/Disney to do something special for our arrival. Here is some background:

We have had an elf of the shelf for several years which the kids happened to name Disney. We decided to suprise them with out trip by having Disney the elf give them the tickets as a Christmas present this year.

It started with a note left by Disney in our Christmas tree. A few hours after our kids opened their presents from Santa, I pointed to the note on the tree (which they had not seen) and asked my son what it was. He opened it and read it aloud. It said something to the effect of how the kids are wonderful and that an elf can pick one year to give his family a present (we did not want this to turn into an annual thing) and that he was picking this year.

The note also told them they had to work for the present by following the clues to find it. The clues were all hidden in or by things that are related to Disney World or Harry Potter (going to Universal as well). Overall it went very well. The kidswere past the frenzy of opening their presents from Santa and were thinking that they were done with presents only to find this present from their elf of the shelf who they love.

So I am thinking that it would be cool to close the loop on the elf on the shelf thing by having something in the room when we arrive that says something like - hope you have a great trip - love Disney. Maybe some balloons with a card attached to it or something like that.

Of course, I would be happy to pay for it.

What do you think? Is something like that possible and, if so, how would you suggest I go about making it happen?

 

[dansdad]

I will be staying with my family at POR from 2/8 - 2/16. We will be staying in a Royal Room.

I was hoping to get thoughts on whether I could get the resort/Disney to do something special for our arrival. Here is some background:

We have had an elf of the shelf for several years which the kids happened to name Disney. We decided to suprise them with out trip by having Disney the elf give them the tickets as a Christmas present this year.

It started with a note left by Disney in our Christmas tree. A few hours after our kids opened their presents from Santa, I pointed to the note on the tree (which they had not seen) and asked my son what it was. He opened it and read it aloud. It said something to the effect of how the kids are wonderful and that an elf can pick one year to give his family a present (we did not want this to turn into an annual thing) and that he was picking this year.

The note also told them they had to work for the present by following the clues to find it. The clues were all hidden in or by things that are related to Disney World or Harry Potter (going to Universal as well). Overall it went very well. The kidswere past the frenzy of opening their presents from Santa and were thinking that they were done with presents only to find this present from their elf of the shelf who they love.

So I am thinking that it would be cool to close the loop on the elf on the shelf thing by having something in the room when we arrive that says something like - hope you have a great trip - love Disney. Maybe some balloons with a card attached to it or something like that.

Of course, I would be happy to pay for it.

What do you think? Is something like that possible and, if so, how would you suggest I go about making it happen?

In my experience, unless you are staying club level at a deluxe you won't be able to have something like that setup in your room prior to check-in. You would have to set that up the day after you arrive.

 

[mom2princesses2]

Hi there!

Can someone direct me to info on faxing a room request? Is there a post # on this thread with some details (who to direct it to, fax number to send it to, etc)?

Thanks!

 

[dansdad]

Hi there!

Can someone direct me to info on faxing a room request? Is there a post # on this thread with some details (who to direct it to, fax number to send it to, etc)?

Thanks!

There's always a link to this in Venonhatch's signature.

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=47187742&postcount=2602

 

[ShesAPirate]

Single-digit dance!!!!! 9 Days till Disney!!!!!

 

[andrewilley]

I was hoping to get thoughts on whether I could get the resort/Disney to do something special for our arrival. Here is some background:

.....

What do you think? Is something like that possible and, if so, how would you suggest I go about making it happen?

You could do a couple of things.

You could contact the Disney Florist and order a welcome basket to be made up for you, which can be sent to the room for when you arrive (assuming your room number is assigned in advance rather than you getting a Ready Room, and you are not checking in very early).

Otherwise, I'd suggest contacting the resort directly, either by phone or fax, asking if they can help you out in some way. If you phone, don't just speak to the person who first answers the phone (they will be in an off-site call center) but ask to be transferred to someone in the resort's front desk/guest services team.

I'm sure something can be worked out for you though.

Can someone direct me to info on faxing a room request? Is there a post # on this thread with some details (who to direct it to, fax number to send it to, etc)?

See www.portorleans.org/room-requests.php, and also Venomhatch's fax template which he links to from his sig: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=47187742&postcount=2602 [I just noticed, you can only view the bottom line of his sig if you have a wide screen layout; if you have a narrow, variable-width window, the DIS crops off the bottom]

Andre

 

[momofkids]

I will be staying with my family at POR from 2/8 - 2/16. We will be staying in a Royal Room.

I was hoping to get thoughts on whether I could get the resort/Disney to do something special for our arrival. Here is some background:

We have had an elf of the shelf for several years which the kids happened to name Disney. We decided to suprise them with out trip by having Disney the elf give them the tickets as a Christmas present this year.

It started with a note left by Disney in our Christmas tree. A few hours after our kids opened their presents from Santa, I pointed to the note on the tree (which they had not seen) and asked my son what it was. He opened it and read it aloud. It said something to the effect of how the kids are wonderful and that an elf can pick one year to give his family a present (we did not want this to turn into an annual thing) and that he was picking this year.

The note also told them they had to work for the present by following the clues to find it. The clues were all hidden in or by things that are related to Disney World or Harry Potter (going to Universal as well). Overall it went very well. The kidswere past the frenzy of opening their presents from Santa and were thinking that they were done with presents only to find this present from their elf of the shelf who they love.

So I am thinking that it would be cool to close the loop on the elf on the shelf thing by having something in the room when we arrive that says something like - hope you have a great trip - love Disney. Maybe some balloons with a card attached to it or something like that.

Of course, I would be happy to pay for it.

What do you think? Is something like that possible and, if so, how would you suggest I go about making it happen?

You could always have one adult sneak to the room while the other takes the kids to the arcade to check things out. That's how we handle Tinkerbell visits sometimes.

 

[andrewilley]

Anyone have or can point me in the direction of accessible Royal Guest rooms? Or a tell/show me how the layout is different? I am mainly concerned about the bathroom and shower area, and if the sink in in the bathroom or outside the bathroom. And what area of Oak or Parterre are the HA room located?

There are several types of Accessible room at Port Orleans (I've got a full list at www.portorleans.org/rooms-accessible.php) but basically the wheelchair accessible rooms come in two variants, one with a roll-in shower and the other with a bathtub that you can get a wheelchair alongside. Both types have an 'open plan' washroom area, with the shower/tub, a single basin, and the toilet all within the same large room which has a sliding door separating it from the main sleeping area:

Because this layout removes the space for the shelf and hanging rail from the wash area, these rooms also feature an extra armoire-style wardrobe in the main bedroom area. Also, to allow more space between the queen-size beds, the recessed alcove next to the entrance doorway is 'bumped-out' to give a flat wall, and thus slightly more floor space (although no option for a connecting doorway to the next room).

The exact locations of all of the Accessible rooms are listed in my floorplan layouts which you can view by clicking on any of the accommodation buildings in the maps at www.portorleans.org/maps-and-directions.php

Andre

 

[cheer25mom]

Hi! I am new to disboards and we are plannig a trip to POR for June we are staying in a graden View Royal Room June 2-9. This our 5th Disney trip, but first at POR. From what I have read here it seems that I should request and Ok Manor room if I want to be close to the main building. Is this correct? We are not too picky about corner room, top floor ect, just want to be close to the food court and main bus stop. Should i just say that i would like a room close to the food court and South Depot or Reqest a specific room number? Also, is South Depot the best polace to board busses for the parks, since it pick up first?