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

[hunmcbunny]

Does anyone have pics of the pool slide specifically? I've only seen bits of it from odd angles. My daughter is trying to get a gauge on what to expect. The kid is a bit of a dare devil.

My 5 yr old went down it all by herself and she really isnt dare devil when it comes to doing things by herself.

 

[Disney before Sally]

There was a link to a you tube video of a person going down the slide that was posted in the previous thread. I did not bookmark the link, apologies. I thought the slide looked awesome, long, twisting, and worth trying to figure out how to fit in into the schedule. It runs only with a lifeguard on duty. Getting those hours is not an exacting task, closing time is certainly never after the parks close.

 

[HeatherLassell]

Does anyone have pics of the pool slide specifically? I've only seen bits of it from odd angles. My daughter is trying to get a gauge on what to expect. The kid is a bit of a dare devil.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfyokCf9cbU

 

[Stan Solo]

Hmm, is it me or is the Disney Parks Blog layout broken? (looks like CSS issues to me).

Andre

Looks all wonky on my iPad too.

Link looks good on my iPad. Maybe they fixed it in the comments some people commented on the look of the site.

 

[Gorechick]

The blog was wonky earlier today.

 

[ksromack]

I just spent the better part of an hour combing over the portorleans.org website. Thank you for all the work on that site, Andre! I've jotted several notes for our December trip at POR.

I do have one question, though. We have a reservation for Kona at 7:50 am on a day that MK opens at 9am. The website stated that buses run an hour before park opening.....I was hoping to not need a taxi for any of this trip. I figured we'd take a bus to TTC then monorail it to Polynesian. Is there a better way to get there and will we be able to make it in time or should I just get a later reservation?

 

[andrewilley]

The reservation system had a loop hole at one point, stating because age 3 and under it would allow us to put five in there.

Well you could I guess - and just hope you don't get caught telling lies about the room occupancy. Infants under 3 years old do not count towards the normal room occupancy total.

If you really wanted to push it, you could even get five adults in one Alligator Bayou room without paying the official 3 x $15 surcharges by listing three of them as children. Personally, I wouldn't though, especially as occupancy levels are related to building safety regulations not just Disney's booking system.

My 5 yr old went down it all by herself and she really isnt dare devil when it comes to doing things by herself.

I'm not a dare devil either but can cope with the Riverside slide. It has a few turns in it as it comes down through the foliage, and a little gentle bump in the middle which speeds you up a bit, but it's less than 100ft long and really isn't anything to worry about. It is longer/faster than the POFQ slide though.

We have a reservation for Kona at 7:50 am on a day that MK opens at 9am. The website stated that buses run an hour before park opening.....

They do usually have a few extra character meal buses, which run earlier than normal park opening times - you basically tell the driver where you need to get to if it's not a park, but I would suggest allowing plenty of time for that method. Compared to the overall cost of a character meal for a family, I think $15 for a taxi is often your best (and certainly fastest) option though.

Andre

 

[JulieBarlow]

We will be staying in the Alligator Bayou section. Does anyone know if there is room under the new beds to store suitcases/bags so they are out of the way? If not where does everyone put their cases?

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

We will be staying in the Alligator Bayou section. Does anyone know if there is room under the new beds to store suitcases/bags so they are out of the way? If not where does everyone put their cases?

We are just back. There is no under anymore! Can't put anything there. We put our suitcases around the room, 2 in the dressing area under the clothes and 2 by the bed near the door. It was more difficult to find places but we did like the new decor.

 

[ChristinaMouse]

The reservation system had a loop hole at one point, stating because age 3 and under it would allow us to put five in there. Maybe because the kid could still be classified as a baby I don't know. But it is one that has been used a few times. Pretty sure it still lets us do that.

I don't think this is a loop hole. A child under 3 doesn't count towards the room occupancy count. My family of 5 (2 adults and 3 children) has stayed on-site several times in rooms that have a max. occupancy of 4 because my youngest was under 3 years old.

That being said. This is my first post on this thread but I have been following/reading since late 2011 when we booked our stay at POR for this year (August 21-29). My husband and I stayed here in 2001 for our honeymoon but have been at values ever since with our children. This is the first year that our youngest is over 3 so we choose POR for it's lower cost 5 person option. We are looking forward to our stay even more so thanks to all the great information gathered reading this thread. Thanks everyone.

 

[TwiddleDeeTwiddleDum]

It seems there are no hard and fast rules, only guidelines... Things change at different times of the day and (I assume) based on demand and where the computer tracking system decides needs to be serviced first. The drivers apparently just go where the system tells them.

If a bus does share, it will most often go to POFQ first, then the South depot at POR and then the outer three at POR stops. But that can vary. e.g. before 10.30am, the buses from South Depot normally head straight to the destination. The Magic Kingdom buses fairly rarely service both resorts.

Coming back from the parks (especially at busy times) there are usually buses directly to each resort - but again, it can change.

Andre

Thanks for the information I know things change daily but in general we'll be at the South Depot anyway but if we end up going direct to park without stopping at FC first, we may go for the outer bus stop when b4 10:30am

 

[Phatoomch]

We've had a slight change of plan to travelling down. Originally we were going to do the drive in one day (approx. 8hrs) so we'd be at POR at about 3pm. We have now decided to start out the night before, stop over half way then finish in the morning so this means we could be at POR by about 11am, 7th Dec.

I realise we would probably not be able to check in that early but, would they allow us to leave our luggage with them whilst we go off and then would they take our luggage to our rooms or should we just leave luggage in car?

Trivial question I know but I have planned everything now and am feeling planning withdrawals so have decided to concentrate on the un-important stuff

 

[TwiddleDeeTwiddleDum]

Look on Andre's site under February 2010. There were a couple good pics. http://www.portorleans.org/gallery-POR-Island.php

I think picture #108 looks like a big pool sized Micky head

Looking forward to our first stay this year, the pool looks like the slide area is in the "right" Mickey ear and the water dumping area over on the "left" Mickey ear with the head part the swimming area. Can't wait to frolick about in all areas of that pool

 

[CaptainEO71]

The reservation system had a loop hole at one point, stating because age 3 and under it would allow us to put five in there. Maybe because the kid could still be classified as a baby I don't know. But it is one that has been used a few times. Pretty sure it still lets us do that.

Anyone under the age of 3 isn't counted in occupancy limit. I'm not sure what you mean by it being a "loop hole?" For someone who claims to be a CM I'd hope you'd have your info straight!

Well you could I guess - and just hope you don't get caught telling lies about the room occupancy. Infants under 3 years old do not count towards the normal room occupancy total.

Exactly, under 3 can be the 5th person, we've done it ourselves!

The reservation system had a loop hole at one point, stating because age 3 and under it would allow us to put five in there. Maybe because the kid could still be classified as a baby I don't know. But it is one that has been used a few times. Pretty sure it still lets us do that.

I don't think this is a loop hole. A child under 3 doesn't count towards the room occupancy count. My family of 5 (2 adults and 3 children) has stayed on-site several times in rooms that have a max. occupancy of 4 because my youngest was under 3 years old.

That being said. This is my first post on this thread but I have been following/reading since late 2011 when we booked our stay at POR for this year (August 21-29). My husband and I stayed here in 2001 for our honeymoon but have been at values ever since with our children. This is the first year that our youngest is over 3 so we choose POR for it's lower cost 5 person option. We are looking forward to our stay even more so thanks to all the great information gathered reading this thread. Thanks everyone.

Hi Cristina Mouse - 1st post here too after lots of lurking! We've stayed at Dixie Landings, but never POR or POFQ. Looking forward to checking it out or staying here next trip!

 

[kerplop]

Question! If we're trying to get a room near the parking lot in the mansions, what exactly do I need to request? Does online check-in have a lot of options like when we were at Pop last year? Any help would be awesome.

 

[andrewilley]

We have now decided to start out the night before, stop over half way then finish in the morning so this means we could be at POR by about 11am, 7th Dec.

I realise we would probably not be able to check in that early but, would they allow us to leave our luggage with them whilst we go off and then would they take our luggage to our rooms or should we just leave luggage in car?

You can leave everything with Bell Services, however by 11am I think you stand a good chance of getting your room there and then. No guarantees of course, but the Ready Room system really does help people who are arriving early (as long as you are not fussy about too specific a room location anyway).

Question! If we're trying to get a room near the parking lot in the mansions, what exactly do I need to request?

Just book a Standard View room and request a mansion building room near to a parking lot. No need to over think your requests, just keep it simple. And I would guess that should be a pretty easy request for them to fulfil, as most people tend to ask for the exact opposite.

Andre

 

[kerplop]

Just book a Standard View room and request a mansion building room near to a parking lot. No need to over think your requests, just keep it simple. And I would guess that should be a pretty easy request for them to fulfil, as most people tend to ask for the exact opposite.

Andre

I figured it would be an odd request, but we're all adults who don't like to swim and don't want to pay extra for preferred. I just really want the mansions! And we'll be driving everywhere, so it seems silly to walk all over the place. Thanks again!

 

[trennr]

This may be covered somewhere in the 100+pages... but concerning the Alligator Bayou rooms.

In post #1 you state that ALL room have 2 queens.

I had heard elsewhere that the Alligator Bayou rooms with a Murphy Bed were actully still Double Beds due to Fire code or something to that effect.

True or False? Photo evidence? Picuture in post #4 actually look kind of like Doubles to me? Is there a better picture showing the Beds?

 

[Zachsmom4]

True or False? Photo evidence? Picuture in post #4 actually look kind of like Doubles to me? Is there a better picture showing the Beds?

The pictures in post #4 are the beds before the refurb. If you go to www.portorleans.org you will find updated pictures of the newly remodeled AB rooms. They all have queen beds.

 

[Venomhatch]

This may be covered somewhere in the 100+pages... but concerning the Alligator Bayou rooms.

In post #1 you state that ALL room have 2 queens.

I had heard elsewhere that the Alligator Bayou rooms with a Murphy Bed were actully still Double Beds due to Fire code or something to that effect.

True or False? Photo evidence? Picuture in post #4 actually look kind of like Doubles to me? Is there a better picture showing the Beds?

Come on trennr, you could have just asked me in the other thread lol!!!