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

[Tulles]

I was worried about being cramped into 1 room for 5 of us for 10 days (3 adults and 2 kids) but I didn't want to lose the extras of the POR so I made the leap and changed our res to a split stay. So now we'll be at POR for 3 nights first and then change to a family suite at AoA for 6 nights. I'm sure I'll love both resorts. Can't wait to get there.

 

[Gorechick]

is there a Photo Pass Kiosk at POR? I'm planning to upgrade to PhotoPass+ in July when we go and would love to do it as soon as possible.
Thanks

No Photopass kiosk at POR, however there is one at DTD if you want to take a boatride there on your arrival night. I did a search last week and I think only the deluxes and parks have a Photopass counter.

 

[Koz]

I'm glad that I found this thread. Somewhat-Disney vets here, with previous stays at WL, CBR and Pop. We're heading down the 2nd week in December for 8 nights, and with a 30% off pin, jumped at the chance to book a "Royal" room.

Some questions for you veterans:

1) I requested Building 90, river view. When requesting such a view, does this mean that you will be at the very end of one of the legs of the building? By this I mean that you should look at the building as a letter "H" turned 90 degrees to the right. Would you normally be placed at the western-most extension of one of the wings of the building, closest to the water?

2) With a room near the east depot, what does this mean in terms of bus pickup, kids getting a seat, etc? Are we better off heading to the main stop closest to the main house?

3) Will it be a big deal to have an open pack and play (our own) in the room, along with a collapsed Graco-type stroller, and still have enough space to walk around? I'm thinking so, that it's probably very similar to CBR. The one remarkable thing is that I feel as though this room offers more "living space" than our room last year @ WL, where it wouldn't have been possible to add the pack n play.

Thanks for your help. I'm sure that I'll have more questions as time goes on.

Before this post gets lost I figured that I would appeal to the masses. If anyone can give an answer to any of the questions it would be most appreciated. If we see that POR isn't going to work I'd like to be able to make a change now, while room selection is still pretty decent.

 

[nannye]

No Photopass kiosk at POR, however there is one at DTD if you want to take a boatride there on your arrival night. I did a search last week and I think only the deluxes and parks have a Photopass counter.

Thanks we will be headed to DTD later that day, but also going to Grand Floridian for the alice tea party so I can probably upgrade there too. I hadn't thought of that.
Thanks
Erin

 

[DisneyFive]

Just as a quick update, all of the guest rooms at both POR and POFQ should now feature the new Cuisinart dual-pod coffee makers, which have gradually replaced the old 4-cup filter machines over the past month or so.

The new units can make two cups of coffee simultaneously, using coffee pods which are inserted into trays through which hot water is passed. Free pods are supplied, which will be replenished daily by housekeeping.

Andre

Thank you Andre. Is it funny that a coffee maker in the room is one of the things I really look forward to having at POR? The last two years we've stayed at Pop Century and I had to walk to the food court each morning for coffee. Will LOVE just making it right when I wake up! It will help us all get ready easier and faster, and get that much needed caffeine ASAP!

SO looking forward to POR this year. We needed to change things up a little bit from the last to trips to keep the magic going, and POR will be great for that. Plus we're doing two days of Sea World this year. Can't wait!

Dan

 

[andrewilley]

Before this post gets lost I figured that I would appeal to the masses.

Wow, you waited a whole hour-and-a-bit before bumping your own post...

1) River View (assuming that is what you have paid for anyway; you mentioned adding it as a "request") can include any rooms which give you a view of the river, including some of the rooms on the inside of the 'H' shape. You could request a room directly beside the river pathway, near to the bridge (which is my favourite location too) but be aware you are not guaranteed that.

2) From a River View room in building 90, especially if you are near the bridge, I'd probably suggest using the South Depot from a walking-distance point of view - but there's not a lot in it, so feel free to try both and see which works best for you. However the East Depot is often the final pickup before the bus heads off to the parks, so that might save a little bit of travel time. Drop-off though, I'd simply suggest getting off at whichever location the bus stops at first.

3) A Pack'n'Play and a folded stroller should be no problem at all. Some people put the crib into the curtained-off vanity area, to slightly separate the sleeping area for the baby at night.

Andre

 

[germ539]

When abouts do they have the 2013 dates available? Is it in August?

 

[andrewilley]

When abouts do they have the 2013 dates available? Is it in August?

You can book 2013 rooms now if you want to (via the phone lines) but the prices won't be announced and online booking made available until the middle of this year. The rates release dates have varied, but historically beween mid-June and mid-August.

Andre

 

[Koz]

Wow, you waited a whole hour-and-a-bit before bumping your own post...

1) River View (assuming that is what you have paid for anyway; you mentioned adding it as a "request") can include any rooms which give you a view of the river, including some of the rooms on the inside of the 'H' shape. You could request a room directly beside the river pathway, near to the bridge (which is my favourite location too) but be aware you are not guaranteed that.

2) From a River View room in building 90, especially if you are near the bridge, I'd probably suggest using the South Depot from a walking-distance point of view - but there's not a lot in it, so feel free to try both and see which works best for you. However the East Depot is often the final pickup before the bus heads off to the parks, so that might save a little bit of travel time. Drop-off though, I'd simply suggest getting off at whichever location the bus stops at first.

3) A Pack'n'Play and a folded stroller should be no problem at all. Some people put the crib into the curtained-off vanity area, to slightly separate the sleeping area for the baby at night.

Andre

Thanks for the reply Andre and I'll let your terrible remark slide Figured that sometimes these threads move along at a decent clip and I'm just trying to make sure that this is the resort for us.

We did in fact pay for river view- thanks for confirming that it's not only those at the "tips" of the letter H. I'll definitely make sure to request one at the end once we get closer to departure.

Appreciate the information regarding the buses. The only thing I envisioned we might have to do is go to the main depot if we find that buses hitting "east" as the last stop were already full. 2 kids and an infant without seats does not make for an enjoyable or safe bus ride.

Great idea about storing the PnP off to the side, keeping it out of the way. I'd like to keep the table area as free as possible if the other kids wake up and are looking for breakfast.

Sounds like you are a repeat visitor to the property, correct? Appreciate the info and any other tips you might have.

 

[3sweetpeas]

Sounds like you are a repeat visitor to the property, correct? Appreciate the info and any other tips you might have.

Andre has a wonderful website at portorleans.org that may give you some great information about Port Orleans. You should check it out....and he is the man with the answers when the rest of us don't. He also has a dry sense of humor. Don't hold it against him.

 

[Koz]

Andre has a wonderful website at portorleans.org that may give you some great information about Port Orleans. You should check it out....and he is the man with the answers when the rest of us don't. He also has a dry sense of humor. Don't hold it against him.

Good to know and its an awesome web site. I've already visited a few times. I'll admit to premature bumping, no worries.

 

[andrewilley]

I'll admit to premature bumping, no worries.

LOL, sounds painful, do they have medicine for that now?

Andre

 

[andrewilley]

The lobby refurbishment now underway at Port Orleans Riverside will be completed in two stages.

Stage One: Monday 23 April to Wednesday 9 May 2012

The completion of the first part of the work has been delayed by a week or so, the swap-over will now be on 17 May for those who are waiting to see what that first section looks like.

I don't know if that will impact on the final end date of 8 June, but I wouldn't be surprised as that was always listed as TBC.

Andre

 

[HappyGal]

Wow, you waited a whole hour-and-a-bit before bumping your own post...

Andre, you can be so rude! I've seen you make snide remarks like this in the past and gave you the benefit of the doubt as this is such a busy thread. I enjoy all the information and comradery the DIS provides but "your" thread leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Unsubscribing.

 

[rascooby]

Sorry to just pop in again with a question! You guys convinced me months ago that POR was the best place for us to stay, so I haven't worried about it. But... then I started hearing Pop Warner talk. We haven't settled on our dates yet and we're fairly flexible. We were thinking about a week or maybe 8 days sometime between 11/25 and 12/15. I know it hasn't been announced yet, but any ideas about whether POR will be a Pop Warner resort this year? I really, really don't want to stay near a bunch of noisy kids.

Is it too early to bump my question? I don't think anyone ever answered it.

 

[HeatherLassell]

Considering the fact that a new thread has to be created in just 2 months there is reason to be annoyed by people bumping the thread. Questions are answered quite quickly if you're patient. Also, checking the website and the FAQ would help these threads last longer because people come to the POR thread and fully admit to not reading it and asking a question that has been asked over and over and ....over and over. Maybe instead of reading Andres post in a tone that was rude you could have read it in a joking manner like I did.

 

[HeatherLassell]

Is it too early to bump my question? I don't think anyone ever answered it.

The only information I can find is it will be November 30-Dec 8th and they usually stay at All Star resorts with a Moderate as an alternate but no information about that is available so far that I can find personally.

 

[andrewilley]

I enjoy all the information and comradery the DIS provides but "your" thread leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Unsubscribing.

Fair enough, we obviously have differing opinions on the netiquette of how long is customary to wait for a response to a question - I guess after more than 30 years of using electronic communications (going back waaaaaaay before the internet ever existed) my ideas might be a little old fashioned in this instantaneous twitterised world. Please feel free to pop back if you ever want any Port Orleans information though.

Questions are answered quite quickly if you're patient.

That was my point, you can't expect people to always be able to provide instant answers to multi-part questions, it's a good idea to allow just a little time for people to get online and read/reply. No hard feelings anyway, I just pointed it out as part of responding in full to the OP's question.

I know it hasn't been announced yet, but any ideas about whether POR will be a Pop Warner resort this year?

As you say, it's probably too early to be sure (which may be why no one answered the question before?) but hopefully POR won't turn out to be one of the host resorts this year. I think the same sentiment is felt by some of the resort CMs too! I've heard some vague rumours that they might be using CSR as overflow from the Values this year, but nothing has been announced.

Andre

 

[3sweetpeas]

Good morning all you happy Dis'ers! I think everyone needs to give everyone else a break! Everyone involved has legitimate points. The new PP who asked the original question had no idea how long he was supposed to wait for an answer. He's new! (WELCOME!). On the other hand, sometimes questions do get lost in the shuffle because the right person with that answer may not be online in that time frame. Andre specifically, uses his personal time to carefully answer any question that the rest of us can't answer and he's very consistent. Andre is very valuable here.

This thread is very kind and helpful and I hate to see it slammed.

Having said that, this is an excellent lesson in that when we say something on the net, people can't see our faces or hear our inflections so it's easy to misinterpret.

Love POR and love this thread! Don't hate me for sounding like a mom.

 

[Disneymaddness]

Good morning all you happy Dis'ers! I think everyone needs to give everyone else a break! Everyone involved has legitimate points. The new PP who asked the original question had no idea how long he was supposed to wait for an answer. He's new! (WELCOME!). On the other hand, sometimes questions do get lost in the shuffle because the right person with that answer may not be online in that time frame. Andre specifically, uses his personal time to carefully answer any question that the rest of us can't answer and he's very consistent. Andre is very valuable here.

This thread is very kind and helpful and I hate to see it slammed.

Having said that, this is an excellent lesson in that when we say something on the net, people can't see our faces or hear our inflections so it's easy to misinterpret.


Love POR and love this thread! Don't hate me for sounding like a mom.