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

[Venomhatch]

Thanks! This will be our first time at POR. So exited!

No problem!

We are staying in the Royal rooms - standard view in late Jan/early Feb.
I'm not very good at making special requests for hotel stays - but given that we are travelling with 5 kiddos (ages 11, 9, 6, 2 & 3 months) for the first time - is there anything special that we should be adding to our rez? Is there anything super important?

I did request that we have connecting rooms since the 4 older kids will be in one room while DH & I with the baby will be in the other; and a crib/pack & play for the babe.

Would the CM who is assigning rooms look at our rez and just know what would make sense for us?

If you think there is something else that we are missing - would you kindly inform this first-timer

TIA

Well to start with congrats on the trip here! Second connecting rooms is a good request in this situation. Just a heads up standard views have views of parking-lots and some shrubbery. So if that isn't a big issue then you will be fine. Do you have a floor preference? If so you may want to request 1st, second or third. There will be elevators in the central area of both the royal buildings. In my own opinion the oak is a nice building but the parterre was the newer building of the two to be refurbed into royal rooms. There is a foot bridge (Slightly closer to the Oak Building) that connects to the main building area and provides for a short walk over to the food court, main bus depot and main building/gift shop.

If you have further questions you can Contact me if you'd like, I will Private message you. Id be more than happy to help.

 

[ganandem]

We arrive at POR tomorrow! We can't wait to see this beautiful resort in person. I have read so much about it and viewed so many gorgeous pictures on this thread of the resort. We are soooo ready to be on vacation!

 

[Venomhatch]

We arrive at POR tomorrow! We can't wait to see this beautiful resort in person. I have read so much about it and viewed so many gorgeous pictures on this thread of the resort. We are soooo ready to be on vacation!

So excited for you! Have a great time!

 

[ScoMar]

I am so happy that I have found this board!! Thank you to everyone that has supplied us with such helpful info!

I have been to DW twice, once I was 12, the other time I was 20. So it's been a few years.

My WONDERFUL father is taking us to POR for Christmas! It will be a rather short stay, 5 nights, 4 days. There will be a total of 13 of us. We live in a different state than the rest of the family that is going, so seeing them for Christmas this year is very exciting, and doing so in POR and DW is

This will be DH's and all of the kids first time to DW! I am so excited for them!

Are the pools heated?

I would love to hear from anyone that has been there on Christmas day. I KNOW it will be crowded and plan to not stress about it. I plan to just do what when can when we can and enjoy each other's company! The ONE thing that I really do want to make happen for my youngest daughter, is for her to see some of the Disney Princesses. That is the one thing she talks about all the time.

I forgot to add, we will be celebrating my SIL's 40th birthday there too!

I can't believe we will be there in TWO weeks!!

 

[buzznina]

I am so happy that I have found this board!! Thank you to everyone that has supplied us with such helpful info!

I have been to DW twice, once I was 12, the other time I was 20. So it's been a few years.

My WONDERFUL father is taking us to POR for Christmas! It will be a rather short stay, 5 nights, 4 days. There will be a total of 13 of us. We live in a different state than the rest of the family that is going, so seeing them for Christmas this year is very exciting, and doing so in POR and DW is

This will be DH's and all of the kids first time to DW! I am so excited for them!

Are the pools heated?

I would love to hear from anyone that has been there on Christmas day. I KNOW it will be crowded and plan to not stress about it. I plan to just do what when can when we can and enjoy each other's company! The ONE thing that I really do want to make happen for my youngest daughter, is for her to see some of the Disney Princesses. That is the one thing she talks about all the time.

I forgot to add, we will be celebrating my SIL's 40th birthday there too!

I can't believe we will be there in TWO weeks!!

First; CONGRATS
Yes the pools are heated, but if it's cold out, it's going to be cold period.
One of the best places (JMO) for princesses is getting a reservation at Askerhaus in EPCOT. MK also has an area where you can see three princesses and the wait can be up to 90 minutes if the park is busy.
Have a great time.

 

[buzznina]

We are staying in the Royal rooms - standard view in late Jan/early Feb.
I'm not very good at making special requests for hotel stays - but given that we are travelling with 5 kiddos (ages 11, 9, 6, 2 & 3 months) for the first time - is there anything special that we should be adding to our rez? Is there anything super important?

I did request that we have connecting rooms since the 4 older kids will be in one room while DH & I with the baby will be in the other; and a crib/pack & play for the babe.

Would the CM who is assigning rooms look at our rez and just know what would make sense for us?

If you think there is something else that we are missing - would you kindly inform this first-timer

TIA

Connecting rooms #1 and ground floor #2

 

[AuroraRosesMom]

We arrived yesterday, and are really enjoying our stay. The Royal Guest Rooms are lovely. My daughter is especially enjoying the decor. When we arrived yesterday, the lobby seemed to be pretty busy, but I imagine it was because their system went down! They were very helpful and accommodating in getting us a room quickly despite the problem. My husband was feeling very ill and really needed to get into a room. So, I really appreciated their help with that. I must admit, I'm still partial to French Quarter, because it has always been my favorite hotel since childhood... but I also haven't really had a chance to walk around the Riverside resort yet. I plan on doing so tomorrow.

 

[mbrou24]

Does the port Orleans royal rooms have DVD players? Stayed at animal kingdom a few years back and they did...

 

[Venomhatch]

Does the port Orleans royal rooms have DVD players? Stayed at animal kingdom a few years back and they did...

No they dont, they have av hook ups where if you brought a portable one or a laptop you could plug into the tv.

They have in order left to right; HDMI in, VGA PC input, red/white/yellow RCA input, I believe s-video also.

*Bring your own cables also!

 

[Cree629]

Hi all!

We stayed at POR for the first time from 11/24-11/30 and I thought I would leave a short review with our thoughts.

We absolutely loved POR. I had requested the Magnolia Terrace building, but when we arrived (we did online check-in), they had us assigned to a room in buiding 37 of the AB section (which wasn't ready at the time; 12:30pm). I asked if they would check again for Magnolia Terrace or anything at all in the mansions. The CM was able to find a room on the third floor of Acadian House (room 8401) that was ready. I was very grateful, as I really wanted to try the mansion rooms (plus building 37 looked pretty far from everything!).

Acadian House was not nearly as far from everything as I thought it would be. We had stayed at CSR last year, and the buildings that were far from everything there were REALLY FAR from everything, so I think I expected it to be more like that. But Acadian house was a quick, lovely 4 or 5 minute walk to the main pool, and then another minute or two to the food court. The room itself was great; it felt roomier than our room at CSR last year. I did think CSR's beds were a little more comfortable, though.

Mousekeeping was great. We tipped daily and the room always looked great and we did get a few cute towel animals throughout the week.

I loved the food court. Plenty of open space/seating, and the food was very good. I loved the create-your-own pasta option for dinner.

We used the quiet pool once and the main pool once. Kids enjoyed both. I did think it was a bit of a pain that we had to go across the bridge and over to the marina to sign out a life jacket for our little one. Last year at CSR they just had a big bin of them in the pool area that you could grab as needed (not sure if this has changed there, too?).

Buses were pretty good. We usually waited no more than 10 minutes for a bus. The exception was one morning heading to MK. We were at the main bus stop after a late-ish breakfast (maybe 9:30am or so) and it was PACKED. It took us a good half hour before we were able to get on a bus that day.

I loved the ferry to DTD. We also took a horse drawn carriage ride around the resort one night and it was wonderful. We had our mugs filled with hot chocolate and we really enjoyed it. It was great to get to see some of POFQ while we were on our ride.

I can't say enough great things about POR. I definitely preferred it to CSR overall (and I really liked CSR!). The next time we visit WDW it will be a hard choice; try something new or return to POR??

Thanks to all on these boards for all the info and tips! It really was a magical trip!

 

[mbrou24]

No they dont, they have av hook ups where if you brought a portable one or a laptop you could plug into the tv.

They have in order left to right; HDMI in, VGA PC input, red/white/yellow RCA input, I believe s-video also.

*Bring your own cables also!

Thank you

 

[Venomhatch]

Thank you

Yeah no problem. I alway take my macbook and just hook it up for the little one through the hdmi.

 

[Hillary12.8.07]

Here now (checked in yesterday) and love it so far! I have to admit, we've been spoiled by deluxes and renting DVC points at OKW, so I was a bit hesitant but I'm so glad we decided to stay here! Thanks to Venom, I was able to get my fax in last week and got EVERYTHING I asked for, 1st floor, building 16, corner room, and we paid for pool view. GREAT location, beautiful room. I was worried about storage space but we made it work just fine! Resort is beautiful, we havent gotten to explore a ton yet, but so far we just love it!

Only bus experience so far has been this morning going to MK, it was packed, and first bus was within about 10 minutes, and was obviously from POFQ as it was FULL, so very few people got on, to stand obviously. Another bus came within maybe 15-20 minutes, not too bad, but there were quite a few scooters and people were getting upset to wait for all of them to load, but it wasn't too bad! We'll see how Epcot/HS goes tomorrow! Oh this was at South Depot btw.

Biggest bummer so far has been the rain but we don't care, just keep going and deal with it!

 

[Venomhatch]

Here now (checked in yesterday) and love it so far! I have to admit, we've been spoiled by deluxes and renting DVC points at OKW, so I was a bit hesitant but I'm so glad we decided to stay here! Thanks to Venom, I was able to get my fax in last week and got EVERYTHING I asked for, 1st floor, building 16, corner room, and we paid for pool view. GREAT location, beautiful room. I was worried about storage space but we made it work just fine! Resort is beautiful, we havent gotten to explore a ton yet, but so far we just love it!

Only bus experience so far has been this morning going to MK, it was packed, and first bus was within about 10 minutes, and was obviously from POFQ as it was FULL, so very few people got on, to stand obviously. Another bus came within maybe 15-20 minutes, not too bad, but there were quite a few scooters and people were getting upset to wait for all of them to load, but it wasn't too bad! We'll see how Epcot/HS goes tomorrow! Oh this was at South Depot btw.

Biggest bummer so far has been the rain but we don't care, just keep going and deal with it!

Great to hear Hillary! Hope it clears up weather wise for you!

 

[Pamwest]

Hi from Australia

Planning my first ever trip to disneyworld for my husband and I in September 2013! It's taken forever but I think I have finally decided on a resort, well I haven't changed my mind in nearly a whole day anyway.... Just wondering how I can book an AB room with a riverview. Do I book the preference room and then request a riverview or the other way round? Thanks for your help

 

[Melissabo]

When people say that AB has a different feel than the mansions what do they mean? We were in the mansions but I'd like to try the AB too.

 

[andrewilley]

Just wondering how I can book an AB room with a riverview. Do I book the preference room and then request a riverview or the other way round? Thanks for your help

You can't book an Alligator Bayou room with a guaranteed River View. You can book river view - which could be in either section or the resort, but will be facing the river - or you could book Preferred Location, which would definitely be in Alligator Bayou but would not normally include any river view rooms (as they all fall into the River View option).

Your best option to try to get both would be to book River View, and request an Alligator Bayou room - and perhaps follow that request up with a fax directly to the resort a few days before you arrive (see http://www.portorleans.org/room-requests.php).

When people say that AB has a different feel than the mansions what do they mean? We were in the mansions but I'd like to try the AB too.

They mean just what they say, the room size/shape may be the same, but the building theming, landscaping and other details are very different, giving a different feel to the area (it's almost like being in a different resort to be honest).

See the FAQ in the first post, or here's a quick cut'n'paste from www.portorleans.org/faqs.php to save a bit of typing:

Port Orleans Riverside is split into two distinct accommodation areas:

• Alligator Bayou: Sixteen two-story lodges (64 rooms in each) sit in a lushly wooded area and are quite spread out, with secluded rooms that have a laid-back rustic theme (with wooden-hewn bedposts and period patterned fittings and carpeting, for example).
• Magnolia Bend: Four much larger mansion buildings (256 rooms in each) are set in more formal ornamental gardens and feature fancier, more flowery room decor rather more akin to the French Quarter section. This is the only section of Riverside that features elevators, which are located in the central three-story section of each building.

Many people prefer the rather more secluded Alligator Bayou area, but there are also plenty who comment that the rustic theming feels somewhat basic and they prefer the comparative plushness of the Magnolia Bend rooms.

If you want to book one of the new themed Royal Guest Rooms, these are all located in the Magnolia Bend section of Port Orleans Riverside, and are a separate booking category (not just a request). Please see the Royal Guest Rooms page for more details.

The actual amenities included inside all of the guest rooms are pretty much the same in all of the sections by the way (see the Rooms page for full details) only the theming of the decor and the fittings changes. The only notable difference is that the Alligator Bayou section contains the only Moderate resort rooms on Disney property to officially sleep five people, as they feature an extra pull-down Murphy bed over the banquette bench seat.

Andre

 

[Venomhatch]

When people say that AB has a different feel than the mansions what do they mean? We were in the mansions but I'd like to try the AB too.

It kinda feels like your down on the swamps of the bayou outside, and inside they have the washboard sink area package crate style fold out bed. The AB rooms also sleep 5 where mansions only do 4. If you go to: http://www.portorleans.org/alligator-bayou.php

This is Andre's Site and it has pictures of the AB rooms including a virtual 360 tour!

 

[Kathy Z]

Yes, even though they are shown as separated buildings, they are linked at the corners so you get get between them easily enough on either level.

Apart from the central section of each of the mansions (which is the only place where there are elevators) the rest of the wings/etc are only two stories anyway, and there are access stairwells all the way around.

Andre

Thanks, I think I finally can picture the layouts of those buildings now. Probably the only time we'd need to use the elevator would be when taking our luggage down to leave with bell services on our check out day. We like to do that ourselves since we'll be having them store it until late afternoon. For our arrival, ME will deliver the two heavier bags to us.

 

[andrewilley]

Probably the only time we'd need to use the elevator would be when taking our luggage down to leave with bell services on our check out day. We like to do that ourselves since we'll be having them store it until late afternoon.

I usually just get Bell Services to collect our bags from the room and keep them until we're ready to depart. It works fine.

Andre