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

[andrewilley]

I am preparing a room request document to fax to the Room Assignment Department, and wanted to double check our best location. We are looking for River View in Oak Manor with closest proximity to the bridge/walkway to the lobby/food court area. This is due to some mobility issues my daughter has.

Assuming your booking is for a River View Royal Guest Room, I'd just ask for an Oak Manor room as close as possible to the river bridge, and explain the reasons. Ask for ground floor if that's important to you too. No need to go into any room number specifics IMHO. The similarly located rooms in Parterre Place are about the same distance from the bridge by the way, but obviously are slightly further to get to the Ol' Man Island pool.

Andre how do you contact the group for Special Assistance?

1-407-939-7807 (TTY for the hearing impaired is 1-407-939-7670)

Andre

 

[jonofrio]

Just had to say We Leave Today!!!!!!

 

[Zuzu03]

Just had to say We Leave Today!!!!!!

Have a wonderful trip! We're 5 days out!

 

[DisneyFive]

Hi Dan,

We use the laundry facilities every summer at POR. I love being able to wash clothes while the kids are swimming.

The laundry room I use is located in AB by the quiet pool (in between blg 17 and 18). I either wash clothes mid morning (on a resort day) or during our midday break (we go for two weeks in August). It's never been crowded and it's clean and air conditioned.

It sure makes packing easier knowing I will wash clothes mid trip.

There are five laundry buildings at POR (one beside each quiet pool) so generally there's no problem with over-crowding.

Andre

Laundry is in a building at each quiet pool. We throw a load in and go swim. Very easy, and makes it less of a chore. Many pack the Purex Sheets for easy of packing, and a lot cheaper then buying the little Tide boxes from the vending machines. We just stick a few in Ziplock bags. Tide has come out with Pods- also looks good for travel. Haven't tried those yet.

We've done laundry every trip. Cuts back on what we need to haul with. When the kids were younger, our trips were during Spring Breaks~a busy time, but never had trouble getting machines. A laundry room is located by each quiet pool, so it makes it easy to toss in a load and take a dip. Or, just run back and forth from your room. The laundry is open 24/7~you need your room key to access it in the wee hours. Just bring your own laundry supplies (I like the Purex sheets), but used to "baggie" the powdered stuff, and bring dryer sheets. Don't forget the stain stick!)

Thanks all! Sounds great. I know we'll pack a little lighter this year then. At POP the last two years, it could be a little bit of a challenge to get laundry done, even during the slow time that we go (late Sept). Machines were fairly occupied all the time. Glad to hear that it won't be a problem at POR. We asked for a building pretty close to a quiet pool (Bldg 28), so that should work out great with the laundry! Sooooo looking forward to POR this year.

I'm just envisioning you at the airport finding out your luggage is one pound over, saying, "Hold on a minute," and taking swigs of vodka until the weight works sorry, couldn't resist

LOL. What a way to start a vacation! Woohoo!!!!

Dan

 

[TrueDisneyLove61207]

I want a river room in RR buildings not covered by trees when u look out the windaow any advice??

 

[jennyjinx3]

Ok, looking for some advice from all you POR lovers! We are currently booked at Poly from Sept 12 - 21. I am considering switching us to POR with free dining. Savings very big! DH is reluctant though. Can anyone tell me...

Is there lots for the kids to do here?
Honestly how are the buses???
What is the overall "feel" of the resort?

I read about so many people falling in love with POR once they stay, and I would hope that we would too. Please help!!!

Jen

 

[andrewilley]

I want a river room in RR buildings not covered by trees when u look out the windaow any advice??

Book a River View room and request one that has no trees between you and the river. That's about all you can do - but there are no guarantees, as POR does have quite a lot of greenery around.

Andre

 

[Rorey]

Just had to say We Leave Today!!!!!!

Have a great time!!!

 

[andrewilley]

Is there lots for the kids to do here?
Honestly how are the buses???
What is the overall "feel" of the resort?

There's loads for the kids to do, including poolside activities, a fishing hole, evening campfires, outdoor movies, cycle and boat rentals, pirate cruises, arcade games. Oh, and Bob Jackson playing at the River Roost Lounge in the evenings is (as he would say, and most people who've seen him would agree) a hoot!

As for buses, as with most of the Disney resort hotels, if you ask 100 people you'll probably get 100 different answers. There are several stops at POR, and after 10.30am all of the buses tend to go via each of them, but that's probably not much worse than the Poly buses (where buses also stop at the GF and the Contemporary). For myself, going for about two weeks each year, I can't say I've really had any serious horror stories, but I have heard some people have a good old rant about bad bus experiences they've had. The worst waits tend to be when coming back from parks immediately after fireworks/etc, so personally I tend to just wait an extra 40 mins before leaving the park! But the same can be said for almost any Disney resort, so I really wouldn't let it make or break your decision to be honest.

The overall feel of POR is relaxing southern calm I guess. Lots of pathways to disperse the people and a wide variety of landscaping, foliage, water features and fun details. We've had a number of Poly regulars post in the POR FAQ threads that they've become converts, so I guess it must appeal to the same sort of visitor. Plus you get a gentle walk (or take an evening carriage ride) over to see French Quater, and the relaxing ferry boat trip to Downtown Disney is a major plus too. OK, you're not going to have room service and a monorail of course, nor quite as many in-hotel restaurant options, but as you say you ARE going to be saving a packet.

Andre

 

[jennyjinx3]

There's loads for the kids to do, including poolside activities, a fishing hole, evening campfires, outdoor movies, cycle and boat rentals, pirate cruises, arcade games. Oh, and Bob Jackson playing at the River Roost Lounge in the evenings is (as he would say, and most people who've seen him would agree) a hoot!

As for buses, as with most of the Disney resort hotels, if you ask 100 people you'll probably get 100 different answers. There are several stops at POR, and after 10.30am all of the buses tend to go via each of them, but that's probably not much worse than the Poly buses (where buses also stop at the GF and the Contemporary). For myself, going for about two weeks each year, I can't say I've really had any serious horror stories, but I have heard some people have a good old rant about bad bus experiences they've had. The worst waits tend to be when coming back from parks immediately after fireworks/etc, so personally I tend to just wait an extra 40 mins before leaving the park! But the same can be said for almost any Disney resort, so I really wouldn't let it make or break your decision to be honest.

The overall feel of POR is relaxing southern calm I guess. Lots of pathways to disperse the people and a wide variety of landscaping, foliage, water features and fun details. We've had a number of Poly regulars post in the POR FAQ threads that they've become converts, so I guess it must appeal to the same sort of visitor. Plus you get a gentle walk (or take an evening carriage ride) over to see French Quater, and the relaxing ferry boat trip to Downtown Disney is a major plus too. OK, you're not going to have room service and a monorail of course, nor quite as many in-hotel restaurant options, but as you say you ARE going to be saving a packet.

Andre

Thank you sooo much...I will now take all this info to DH!!! Ironically enough, our trip was originally booked here, but then we upgraded back to Poly!! Now we have come full circle !!!

 

[scmomof2]

Thanks Andre, yes it's a RGR River View that we reserved (and hopefully get).
I tend to get too detailed sometimes

 

[Wonders10]

Just booked a last minute solo weekend trip in 2 weeks, actually less than that. I am just in need of some Disney magic and an escape from reality, which I'm sure you all can understand! The only room available with an AP discount was a Royal Room with River view so I am excited to check that out as well. I read they are only in bldg 90, but have they opened in any other bldgs yet? Have there been any changes to the food court menus? POR is one of my favorite resorts but have not stayed there in over a year I think, if not more!

 

[3Mickeys]

Hello all - and apologies, with the search disabled, I can't find the answer.

We arrive Saturday and I'm going to fax the room assignment people. I have two separate reservations (mine, and my parents) that aren't the same reservation. I want to request connecting or at least same building for our two rooms. Also have fingers crossed for refurbed with queens (we booked in October when the description said.... well, you know the story )

I found the fax number on Andre's site, but who do I address it to? Attention: Room Assignment Dept? Room Allocation Manager?
Is there a specific office??

Thanks - I appreciate if anyone has a quick answer. Count down is on. Better get packing!!

 

[WINTER]

Just booked a last minute solo weekend trip in 2 weeks, actually less than that. I am just in need of some Disney magic and an escape from reality, which I'm sure you all can understand! The only room available with an AP discount was a Royal Room with River view so I am excited to check that out as well. I read they are only in bldg 90, but have they opened in any other bldgs yet? Have there been any changes to the food court menus? POR is one of my favorite resorts but have not stayed there in over a year I think, if not more!

Royal Guest Rooms are in the Oak Manor and Parterre Place.

 

[crazyboutdisny]

We returned from our trip last Thursday and had a great time. POR was beautiful and we would return in a heartbeat.

The resort honored my room request (#38), so we stayed in a refurbished room. It was a nice room but a little tight for our family of 5 (kids 11,9,and 6). My wife thought I was crazy, but I took some photos of the drawers under the murphy bed. I saw that people were asking about them before I left. Did someone already post them? If not, I can post them soon.

We used all available space for clothes. The kids each took one drawer under the murphy bed and the adults used the space above the closet and all hangers (we requested 10 addl hangers after we arrived). We also cleared out the drawer between the queen beds and used the bottom of the coffee maker stand. It worked, but we needed to "organize" everytime we returned to the room..the kids throw clothes everywhere.

I have some pool pics showing spring break mid-afternoon crowds that I will post soon. I'm still getting caught up at work...

Just curious what dates you were there? We were there March 28th-April 5th in building 38!

 

[crazyboutdisny]

.....about the murphy bed.. isn't there a weight limit? When you pull it down, is it suspended right above the seat or does it rest on the seat? I think it looks like this murphy bed can sleep a child under 8 or under 70 lbs. They look small from the picture.

My daughter weights 85lbs and slept on the murphy bed with no problem and room to spare

 

[andrewilley]

I found the fax number on Andre's site, but who do I address it to? Attention: Room Assignment Dept? Room Allocation Manager?

Just Room Allocations Dept, or anything similar should be fine.

Make sure your original bookings are setup as 'linked' on the Disney reservations system, and also get them to add your request for CONNECTING (not just adjoining) rooms in the meantime too.

Andre

 

[HiHoOffWeGo]

Wonders10 - Good to see you are going to be at the river and both mansions with RR are open. Just think of that boat to DTD. With that annual pass where are you going? Hope this trip is more fun for you this time. Are you doing a trip report? Enjoy!

 

[nickle831]

We are staying at the POR refurbed mansions with the queen rooms. When free dining comes around do those rooms typically get included, or are they excluded?

 

[andrewilley]

We are staying at the POR refurbed mansions with the queen rooms. When free dining comes around do those rooms typically get included, or are they excluded?

Free dining is already available for late August/Sept this year, and some Port Orleans rooms were included in the offer when it first started - but I don't know whether there is any availability left now.

Do you mean you have a Royal Guest Room booking, by the way? Otherwise there's no actual guarantee you'll be in the mansion buildings.

Andre