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

[MrsHockey]

We have reservations for a waterview....what building would you recommend that we request to be in? I am looking for convenience to all amenities. I initially thought bldng 14, 18 or 27 but not sure if those classify as waterview (2 queen beds).

Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[dobirdsmommy]

Leave tomorrow still have today to work and 6 hours tomorrow.. I just cant sleep.. too anxious.

 

[dansdad]

We have reservations for a waterview....what building would you recommend that we request to be in? I am looking for convenience to all amenities. I initially thought bldng 14, 18 or 27 but not sure if those classify as waterview (2 queen beds).

Thanks for your suggestions!

According to Andre's awesome Port Orleans website, of your choices above only building 18 offers waterview rooms. But building 18 is also a preferred location which you would have had to book. Check out the link which describes which buildings have waterview rooms.

http://www.portorleans.org/room-requests.php

 

[andrewilley]

We have reservations for a waterview....what building would you recommend that we request to be in? I am looking for convenience to all amenities. I initially thought bldng 14, 18 or 27 but not sure if those classify as waterview (2 queen beds).

There are no Water View category rooms in buildings 14 or 27, but there are eight in building 18 so that's the building you should request. (Water View, River View and King Bed bookings override the fact that the rest of the building is classed as 'preferred' by the way)

As the availability there is fairly limited it might be a good idea to put a second choice in your requests too; I'd suggest the next most convenient Water View locations would be the ones in Magnolia Terrace.

Andre

 

[darose1234]

We are booked in the royal rooms and I am going to try and request Oak Manor, which bus depot would be the closest each day the south or east? Thank you

 

[Venomhatch]

We are booked in the royal rooms and I am going to try and request Oak Manor, which bus depot would be the closest each day the south or east? Thank you

Kinda a trick question this is sometimes. South Depot would have a better chance on most days. They tend to load there first a lot. But some do load at East Depot first but not as many. So East would be the closest, South is a better chance.

 

[Missytara]

According to Andre's awesome Port Orleans website, of your choices above only building 18 offers waterview rooms. But building 18 is also a preferred location which you would have had to book. Check out the link which describes which buildings have waterview rooms.

http://www.portorleans.org/room-requests.php

You can book one category and then request another.

While it is more ideal to book preferred and then request waterview; it can be done the other way around and they may be able to do it if the resort is not busy.

That is the tough part with multiple categories; you have to book one and then request the other.

 

[mtfarlin]

posted this on the "shipping" boards but haven't gotten any response, so I thought I'd post it here......Does anyone know if POR uses UPS or another shipping carrier to ship items from the Resort to my home that I box up and want shipped. Several years ago we stayed at WL and they only used FedEx for shipping items home from the front desk and the cost was almost $100....I don't want to incur that type of cost again if POR uses only FedEx to ship items home..any help would be appreciated...thanks!!

 

[Prose]

Which depot is the closest also depend on where your room is in Oak...we're in a parking lot (standard) view, so the east is a few steps closer to us. The South depot is closer for the water view rooms.

 

[Gorechick]

posted this on the "shipping" boards but haven't gotten any response, so I thought I'd post it here......Does anyone know if POR uses UPS or another shipping carrier to ship items from the Resort to my home that I box up and want shipped. Several years ago we stayed at WL and they only used FedEx for shipping items home from the front desk and the cost was almost $100....I don't want to incur that type of cost again if POR uses only FedEx to ship items home..any help would be appreciated...thanks!!

They ship UPS from the conceirge desk. I shipped 2 medium/large boxes home in August and they were about $20 each. One box was my own from shipping stuff down, the other I got from the gift shop. If you think you will need a box from the gift shop get it early in the week, they go fast as the weekend approaches with guests checking out. You fill out a UPS form with address and CC info, then they give you a copy of the form. My boxes went out in 2-3 days and arrived home in about a week.

 

[8lovesmickey]

Just posted our deposits today. We are staying at POR in the Royal Guest Rooms next August It will be our second time at POR, but our first time in Magnolia Bend and the princess themed rooms. We are usually POFQ fans, but my little sister missed our 2012 trip, and I let her pick which moderate we'd stay at next year. She insists that 15 isn't too old to love princesses

I'm really looking forward to being so close to Yahaw Bob and the River Roost Lounge.

Us too! We have stayed at POFQ but never POR- looking forward to it! We are going in April

 

[bkowals25]

We are booked in the royal rooms and I am going to try and request Oak Manor, which bus depot would be the closest each day the south or east? Thank you

Just returned Sunday from our stay at POR last week. I think a lot depends on when you will be at the resort and how the buses are running. We had a room right in the middle of oak manor.

Every return trip to POR the buses did the west-north-east-south loop. If we wanted to go back to the room it was closest to get off at the east depot and quicker because the east depot was before the south depot drop off. If we wanted to grab a snack we would get off at the south depot.

For us in the mornings they had a bus pickup at the south depot and I am assuming a seperate set of busses were picking up at the other stops. (we never got on a bus at the east depot) Our bus was always empty when we were picked up and never went to the other stops. I most cases we had breakfast first and then would use the south depot to catch a bus to the parks.

We did not do any traveling on the buses during the middle of the day but maybe others can offer some insite as to how the buses run during the day
south-west-north-east
west-north-east-south

 

[andrewilley]

While it is more ideal to book preferred and then request waterview; it can be done the other way around and they may be able to do it if the resort is not busy.

Probably better to do it the other way around - i.e. book Water View and then request building 18 - as there are eight official Water View category rooms located in builidng 18 (four on the ground floor, four above them) whereas there are no rooms within the Preferred Category which have water views.

Nor are there technically any King Bed or River View rooms available in the Preferred booking category by the way, all such rooms in buildings 14/15/18/27 fall under the King and River categories, rather than matching with the general building designations.

Andre

 

[andrewilley]

south-west-north-east
west-north-east-south

It's meant to vary by park-hub (so MK buses generally will do one route, Epcot another, etc) but it still seems more like voodoo black magic trying to predict it! The individual drivers generally don't get to choose anyway, their navigation system tells them which way to go.

Andre

 

[Sue M]

It's meant to vary by park-hub (so MK buses generally will do one route, Epcot another, etc) but it still seems more like voodoo black magic trying to predict it! The individual drivers generally don't get to choose anyway, their navigation system tells them which way to go.

Andre

Voodoo that's pretty much it! Our first stay (Magnolia Terrace) we always used East Depot, and we always went directly to the parks from there. But now, the past 2 stays they've changed and I never know the route.

But I still prefer the East or North depots over the very crowded South.

 

[summerlady]

We were in the middle of Oak Manor as well last week, straight down the courtyard on the right, garden view near the quiet pool. We had terrific luck using the South Depot, never had a very long wait for a bus and the walk back to the room was pretty reasonable. One time we got off at the East Depot and for some reason, maybe we were hot and tired, but it seemed like a longer walk back to our room.

 

[bartleyosu]

MICKEYMAIL!! MICKEYMAIL!!!! Here I come Tigger!

 

[luvlife]

I have tried to find this through google, here on the boards etc... I was wondering what the resort looks like in January? We are booked with a RGR Garden View at the end of January and I would love to see some pics if possible. I have seen so many beautiful pictures, everything seems so green and lush I'm basically curious as to how much the lanscape changes during the colder months. I can't wait to see what pictures or any type of feedback, thanks

 

[Penguin312]

I would be curious, too. We arrive Jan 5, I hope its as pretty as all the pictures. This is our first trip to DisneyWorld. We booked a King Bed (just my husband and I for our honeymoon) and I'm not sure what the process for room requests are. We would obviously like a nice view and not the parking lot. I'll need to look into that. Any one have any pictures of rooms with king beds?

 

[andrewilley]

It's actually still very lush, there's quite a lot of evergreen foliage around.

See these two 360-degree panoramas which were shot in mid-February for an idea of what it looks like then:

Marina area
Ol' Man Island pool area


By the way, I've now finished updating all of the Panoramas on my website - www.portorleans.org/panoramas.php. They look much better now I've colour-corrected them, and there are also now downloadable HQ versions of all of them. I must shoot some more when I'm back next February (especially some POFQ ones).

Andre