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

[Grumpy Grandma]

Well hello Princess Michele and to the Dis! We are glad that you decided to make this thread the first one you post in.

I see you are a family of five so of course you will be in AB the decision to stay in a preferred room or a water view room is completely a matter of choice. Now if it were up to me between saving $400 and walking an extra five to seven minutes a day or paying an extra $400 and spending five to seven minutes taking a beautiful walk each morning I'd pick the walk. Lets say you are going for seven days and someone says to you I'll give you $400 but you and your family have to walk ten minutes each day would you take that offer? The added bouns is you are going in November when it's not even super humid and hot in the morning.

Remember you are driving so it's only in the morning that you need to walk (when its easier) and chances are the walk from your car to the park entrance will be just as long if not longer and that will be in a parking lot and not a beautiful lush resort. Plus for $400 I could buy myself a real nice souvenir, pay for a big chunk of the car rental or take my family for an amazing dinner.

I can see why some people would prefer to be closer to the action, sleep in for a few more minutes to try and make rope drop and don't mind paying a few hundred dollars more after spending most of the day walking.

I hope this helps put it in perspective but in the end the choice is yours and your family.

When you look at it this way that is quite a lot per minute of walking time. Plus I'd take the water view anyway!

 

[MEG&MINNIE]

If it were me, I would stay with the preferred room...closest to the food court ! I almost never sit in my room and look out the window. You will see the water when you' walking to the food court and of couse when you're at the pools. A water view can also mean pool view ...but like I said, I never sit down in front of the window and admire the view outside. Now that would be different if there were balconies to sit out on, but Moderate resorts do not have balconies.

I'd rather be closer to the main building and food court...able to run over quickly and refill my Disney mug!
It's up to you and your families needs !
Happy Planning !

 

[3sweetpeas]

We will be at POR from aug 21-28 , we stayed here a few years ago and then we started to stay at POFQ. This time we thought we would give POR another try. I do love it here but I think I will miss the size of FQ-everything is so close. We are going with friends who have never been and they aren't too keen on paying for an upgrade so we have standard rooms. I hope I'm not in the back corner.
See some of you there
I'm the crazy mother with a 19DS and a 17DS and an awesome DH

Do you prefer the mansions section or Alligator Bayou? We stayed in building 16 2 years ago (which is AB) and it was a standard view. It was right behind the preferred buildings and literally less than a minute's difference in walk time. We were close to the south bus stop and very close to the main buildings and just a little further to the pool. Why don't you put in a request for that building if you want AB? Hope you have a great time!

 

[ohnowewontgo]

Woohoo, finally got my water order to go through. Can't beat $8.90 for two cases of water that I won't have to have in my car for the trip! Hope it makes it there. The address fill out area thing on the website was confusing.

 

[Zombierella]

We will be there from Aug 26-31! Look for us...we are the crazy family of 6 crammed into one room! Getting close guys! Safe travels to all.

 

[3sweetpeas]

On previous trips we have stayed at ASM and Pop in preferred rooms and eaten breakfasts and dinners at the food courts. On this trip we will probably only eat breakfast at the food court. We will be eating lunch and dinner at the parks or other resorts. We will be using our car so being near a bus stop is not important. My kids will be 16, 11, and 6 and we will be spending most of our time in the parks. Having never been to POR I am not sure if I will be unhappy if I end up in a building far from the main area. .

Now if it were up to me between saving $400 and walking an extra five to seven minutes a day or paying an extra $400 and spending five to seven minutes taking a beautiful walk each morning I'd pick the walk.

If it were me, I would stay with the preferred room...closest to the food court ! I almost never sit in my room and look out the window. You will see the water when you' walking to the food court and of couse when you're at the pools. A water view can also mean pool view ...but like I said, I never sit down in front of the window and admire the view outside. Now that would be different if there were balconies to sit out on, but Moderate resorts do not have balconies.

I'd rather be closer to the main building and food court...able to run over quickly and refill my Disney mug!
It's up to you and your families needs !
Happy Planning !

Stan and MEG&MINNIE make such good points. I thought I'd add to it. One of the best parts of staying at POR is the walks and the grounds if you ask me. Our first time staying at POR years ago, we stayed in a far out building near the parking lot and never ventured into the resort very much. Such a big mistake! I've since learned to enjoy the resort a little and we are constantly on the move since my kids are 12, 13 and 15.

We have never had anything other than standard or garden view. MEG&MINNIE is so right about the views. When you're in the room you don't see your views at all. When you walk outside, you inevitably pass pretty views just going around a corner.

Another thought... are you on the dining plan? The food court has great counter service meals that are more "regular dinners" and my family always use our snack credits at the food court for their huge portions of ice cream and other great bakery choices (cheesecake for me!) All this to say, you may end up wanting more access to the main buildings than you think....just walking or sitting outside at night is beautiful after the parks.

Throwing one more wrench in things as i told a PP, we stayed in building 16 two years ago and it was so close and convenient to our car, and main building. It is directly behind the preferred buildings and less than a minute's difference in walk time.

Hope you're not totally confused now.

 

[ang]

If we are staying a riverside can we use are refill cups at the french quarters?
I thought it would fun to walk over there to eat and swim.
Thanks for the info!

 

[familyoflemons]

It took several days but I finally managed to get through all 169 pages of this thread!! What a ton of wonderfully helpful information!! Thank you, Andre, for all of your hard work and thorough information both here and at portorleans.org! To the rest of you, thank you for asking and answering practically any question I may have had and for providing me with a few chuckles along the way!
DH, DD2, and myself leave in 16 days for DD first trip to DW! DH and I have not been back since my first trip there in 2005, and this is my first time staying on DW property! I am SO EXCITED to be at POR for my first on-site stay!!!! I am booked for a RGR Riverview, DD is going to be SO excited! Thanks to you all, I know what to request and when/how to do it! So no questions regarding location or room requests!
I do have what may seem as a silly question though. I booked my trip through a TA who did EVERYTHING for me. Ever since I received my Mickey Mail several weeks ago, she has been less than helpful and I know since she booked it, I have a hard time doing anything with my reservation (I tried calling to request bed rails and was told my TA had to do it because they could not access my reservation). I was told by a friend that her TA (who apparently is much more willing to help) added to her reservation that it was her children's first trip to Disney, as well as their anniversary, and when they arrived to the room their pins were waiting for them. Now I know I can simply go to Guest Services in MK and retrieve the same pins, but I thought it would be a nice surprise for my DD to get her pins as soon as she walks in (it is also her birthday a few weeks after out trip and our anniversary was the 8th of this month). She already has a lanyard with several pins thanks to a Florida family member and she wears it around the house. I know she would love to receive some special pins as soon as she arrives! Now...does anyone know if I'm able to add this info (first visit, birthday, anniversary) to my on-line check in? If not, how would I go about doing it? I'm not sure how much access a CM would have to my reservation since I made it through a TA. I do apologize for this being so long...it's kind of late here in Jersey and I tend to ramble when I'm tired!! Thanks for your help and it is nice to finally be caught up and able to post!!

 

[andrewilley]

The 19th is the day we arrive and are planing to go to Disney Quest during the day then maybe off to the Poly's Capt. Cook's for a Dole Whip and to watch Wishes on the beach...
...Looks like I just may run into you on our first night.

Indeed! DM me on Twitter when you get there. Do we follow each other? If not, follow me @andrewilley and I'll follow you back.

Same goes with anyone else who wants to meet up at POR over the next few weeks and has Twitter on their phones - follow me @andrewilley and remind me to follow you back can so we can send DMs. I won't read all general tweets while on vacation, but should notice DMs.

Andre

 

[andrewilley]

Currently I have a reservation for a preferred room but with the new Military room discount I can change to a water view room and save about $400.

I would definitely suggest switching to Water View to save the $$$, and put in a request for building 18 (which has eight very nice water view rooms overlooking the quiet pool). If you do get the request, you'll have the best of both worlds as building 18 is a preferred location too. My second choice within the Water View area would be the mansions though, as the pool area between Acadian and Magnolia is a pleasantly short walk across Ol Man Island to the main buildings.

If we are staying a riverside can we use are refill cups at the french quarters?

Yes you can.

Now I know I can simply go to Guest Services in MK and retrieve the same pins, but I thought it would be a nice surprise for my DD to get her pins as soon as she walks in (it is also her birthday a few weeks after out trip and our anniversary was the 8th of this month).

Don't worry, just ask at checkin and they'll give you the badges there and then. They are large button badges, not tradeable pin badges, by the way.

Andre

 

[Gorechick]

I'm not on twitter . I can PM you my schedule and perhaps we can figure something out. .

 

[ang]

Thank you, Thank you!! slowly but surely going through all the pages! YIkes!!

 

[kjbean]

So we originally had a Royal Room booked for our trip in September, but had to change dates to October. Since the park ticket price went up for our new reservations, we decided to not put out extra money to keep the Royal Room, and got a Garden View instead. I can't decide whether I like the Alligator Bayou or the Magnolia Bend sections better (I see they are both differently beautiful). I was thinking of not putting in any request and just go with whichever section/room we get knowing we would enjoy it either way. But I am stil curious what we could expect with a garden view room. What could I or should I request during check in?

 

[DisneyFamily123]

I think I read it's $45 for 25 minute ride. I don't get out much... so don't know about tipping... but I'd assume that tipping the horse carriage driver is the norm? That's what I would do if getting a carriage ride in New York. Are the carriage rides fun? Is it a quiet ride or do the drivers tell stories, Port Orleans history, etc.... ?

Port Orleans is an incredible resort! We are going to LOVE the carriage rides, bike rides, jogging, boat to Downtown Disney, Yee Haa Bob, the pool.... I'm wondering if we will ever make it to the parks! I've been watching a lot of resort videos on youtube.

 

[DJFan88]

So we originally had a Royal Room booked for our trip in September, but had to change dates to October. Since the park ticket price went up for our new reservations, we decided to not put out extra money to keep the Royal Room, and got a Garden View instead. I can't decide whether I like the Alligator Bayou or the Magnolia Bend sections better (I see they are both differently beautiful). I was thinking of not putting in any request and just go with whichever section/room we get knowing we would enjoy it either way. But I am stil curious what we could expect with a garden view room. What could I or should I request during check in?

I felt the same way, but am leaning toward the mansions, but I requested for my first request the mansion buildings that are not royal (maybe 80 and 85) and then on the second line I put in for AB buildings that were convenient (you know the ones that are not preferred, but still close to the main court). Just look on the map for verification on that. This way I felt that if I could not get a mansion, maybe I could get a convenient AB?

 

[pinkle]

Do you prefer the mansions section or Alligator Bayou? We stayed in building 16 2 years ago (which is AB) and it was a standard view. It was right behind the preferred buildings and literally less than a minute's difference in walk time. We were close to the south bus stop and very close to the main buildings and just a little further to the pool. Why don't you put in a request for that building if you want AB? Hope you have a great time!

Thanks I will do that!

 

[shenaniganzz]

Am I correct that the food court at POFQ has better/more options than the one at POR?

Trying to finalize a few plans for meals.

TIA!

 

[DJFan88]

Am I correct that the food court at POFQ has better/more options than the one at POR?

Trying to finalize a few plans for meals.

TIA!

Think it depends what you're looking for. I thought POR had more (make your own pasta/salad other things), but if it's the beignets or taco salad you want that's at POFQ -- but I think more stuff is at POR.

 

[Svhadden]

Oh my gee, the make-your-own-pasta station at the POR is ahhhh-mazing. The portion is massive, and I ate almost all of it last year and just about put myself in a food coma lol. I'm to a big eater normally, but that pasta station is dangerous.

 

[Stan Solo]

Am I correct that the food court at POFQ has better/more options than the one at POR?

Trying to finalize a few plans for meals.

TIA!

Here is a link to all WDW menus. http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm This way you can see the menus, photos of the locations and decide which one you like better.

Personally I preferred the decor and food POR but found POFQ was less crowded when we went. We only had breakfast once at each of the CS places.