Port Orleans Riverside FAQ thread - Royally Refurbished for 2011

[kellicb]

Tomorrow!!!!

We don't arrive until late at night but that's ok. We have a party of 5 so I'm assuming we'll be at AB. Maybe I'll be lucky enough for a refurb room. If so, I'll take lots of pics and share.

 

[andrewilley]

We don't arrive until late at night but that's ok. We have a party of 5 so I'm assuming we'll be at AB. Maybe I'll be lucky enough for a refurb room. If so, I'll take lots of pics and share.

Good luck, hope it works out for you. It'll definitely only be a matter of days now, and tomorrow (Sunday) was the last target date for completion of work on #36 that I've heard.

Maybe worth giving them a call today or first thing in the morning and asking the question - especially if you're not checking in until late? Just try to get past the centralised call-center if you can.

Andre

 

[Gorechick]

I'm interested in booking one of the royal rooms this summer. Is there a list of what characters are in which category of room anywhere? I know it's limited to 2 of the mansions. TIA!

 

[HeatherLassell]

I'm interested in booking one of the royal rooms this summer. Is there a list of what characters are in which category of room anywhere? I know it's limited to 2 of the mansions. TIA!

"Exciting enhancements also are taking place over at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort, with 512 Royal Guest Rooms planned to debut by March 2012. The story behind these lush rooms is that Princess Tiana (“The Princess and The Frog”) invited some of her royal pals – Belle (“Beauty and the Beast”), Jasmine (“Aladdin”) and more – for a vacation getaway. Princes and princesses of all ages can enjoy their luxurious lodging quarters, which will include ornate beds that feature headboards with fiber-optic special effects, and gold and crystal accents. Guests also can enjoy artwork and special mementos left by Tiana’s royal friends."

So the room has Tiana art work on the walls, and princess and the frog detail in the awesome fiber optic headboards, designed into the carpet is Aladdins magic carpet, there is a bench that looks like the "dog" bench from Beauty and the Beast, bathroom faucets in the shape of aladdins lamp. It's the same in all the Royal Rooms from what I can tell.

 

[gigi1313]

We will be there on Friday and ninja sleuth dd will have her dslr with her!

 

[Venomhatch]

We will be there on Friday and ninja sleuth dd will have her dslr with her!

Best of luck to her. Have lots of fun!

 

[andrewilley]

Is there a list of what characters are in which category of room anywhere?

We won't know for sure until the work is complete, but it's my understanding that all of the Royal rooms will have the same decor and details. The booking categories just indicate what area you'll be in, and so what view you'll get.

Andre

 

[laura_<3]

Are AB rooms more for families?
Myself and DBF are going to POR in September, is it more likely we will be given a mansion room since there's only 2 of us?

 

[andrewilley]

Are AB rooms more for families?
Myself and DBF are going to POR in September, is it more likely we will be given a mansion room since there's only 2 of us?

The Alligator Bayou section is the only part of the resort which sleeps five people, so those groups would be prioritised first, but otherwise there is no reason at all why you can't ask for Alligator Bayou.

Indeed, once the Royal Rooms come into service, that will reduce the remaining guest room capacity in the mansion buildings by 50%. So with 1,024 Alligator Bayou rooms and only 512 (non-Royal) Magnolia Bend rooms, the odds look to be stacked 2:1 in favour of getting a room in Alligator Bayou in future.

What I'd be interested to see next year is whether people start getting free Royal upgrades when the resort is fairly busy but not all of the Royal Rooms have been taken. I do suspect that might happen.

Andre

 

[Iron Mouse]

So excited in 9 days we will be at POR!!!!!!!

We are a family of 5 and honestly I really don't care where we get placed. I do actually prefer something in the front because I have mobility issues and I am disabled. I would like to stay in the refurb rooms but I think they may be a bit too far for me.

WOOT WOOOOOT This will be our first time staying at POR and we are excited!!!!!!!

 

[Rachey_101]

Good Morninig I just wanted to post that I've just returned from a stay at Port Orleans Riverside. We were in Room 8220, and I can't say enough good things about this resort. Room was refurbished beautifully and we were SO close to bus stop.

I would stay here again in a heartbeat.

How awesome, I stayed in room 8222 and only left last Friday, very close to you and I agree about being SO close to North bus stop

 

[softballmom3]

I'm guessing no new news on refurb AB rooms? We are checking in there end of this week and was keeping fingers crossed that 36 would be complete and we would be lucky enough to get it .

 

[Missytara]

So we will be arriving on the 26th; just a few weeks away.

I found a great youtube video for my friends, that was posted by allearsnet. It is really well done. They have seen Andre's website, but the video really put my traveling companions into a whirlwind of excitement when I saw them last night. Yippee.

 

[andrewilley]

I think the size/nature of the storage area under the murphy bed will need to be investigated by our next set of spies!

I think I've just worked it out! From closer examination of one of those early photos, the large drawers under the pull-down bed (and there do indeed seem to be three of them) appear to have finger-recesses along the top edge to allow them to be pulled open.

If you look at the nearest edge in the above closeup, you'll see one of the drawers is very slightly open.

Other things I've noticed is that a lot of details in the room seem to have been left pretty-much untouched: the dark shelf over the sinks looks original (if the dust is anything to go by anyway!), as does the hanging rail, the mirrors (both wash area and bedroom) seem to have the same frames as before, the wooden cladding panels in the wash area look original, the bedheads look original, but possibly with a wider top-beam added to make them fit the queen beds better? (not sure about that one though, the old ones were located 'outside' of the matress base, so they could just as easily have placed behind the new matresses instead). None of these are in any way complaints by the way, I'm impressed if they managed not to lose too much of the original theming which was still in very good condition.

The original hung paintings have been retained in all of the refits so far by the way, which is lovely as they are from the Imagineering Collection.

Andre

 

[Venomhatch]

I think I've just worked it out! From closer examination of one of those early photos, the large drawers under the bed (and there do indeed seem to be three of them) appear to have finger-recesses along the top edge to allow them to be pulled open.

If you look at the nearest edge in the above closeup, you'll see one of the drawers is very slightly open.

Other things I've noticed is that a lot of details in the room seem to have been left pretty-much untouched: the shelf over the sinks looks original, the mirrors (wash area and bedroom) seem the same as before, the wooden cladding in the wash area is original, the bedheads look original but possibly with a wider center-beam added to make them fit the queen beds better (not sure about that one though).

Andre

Well that is nice to know, getting rid of the storage what were they thinking? They need to offer those hanging shelves in the sink area.

 

[FloraFauna]

How awesome, I stayed in room 8222 and only left last Friday, very close to you and I agree about being SO close to North bus stop

That is awesome! We were probably there at the same time.

Also, we traveled with another couple and they were in Room 8221.

Its A Small World!!

 

[LisaTC]

Just wanted to bop in and say we left POR on 10/29. We were in Acadian 8067. Just back from the waterfront at the side with viewing of the quiet pool area. It was great. It was very conveniently located to the bridge to Ol Man Island (literally a 1 minute walk) and we could overlook Magnolia. Our room was nearly equidistant walking wise to either the South or the North Depot, with the south being about 5 minutes and the North about 3 minutes. We'd get on at the South and get off at the North. Would love to stay riverview in Magnolia, but Acadian was great! Mousekeeping was stellar. I have pics which I will post, but I've not gotten them organized. Mousekeeping made DD the cutest towel pumpkin. We didn't use her everyday, we didn't need it on 2 days. My daughter had a loose tooth that had bled on the sheets and she was so sweet to her making sure she was ok the next day and asking to see her toothless smile!

The room had a large armoir for hanging things and storage as well as a large dresser with drawers and hidden minifridge. The bathroom was huge with a large vanity and built in wall storage. The beds were very comfy, but the bedspread was as heavy as a rock, even moving it was like folding a tent! I liked POR. It was beautiful. The wildlife-- awesome! I'd stay again in a hot second. The DIS and portorleans.org were invaluable in choosing it. The quick service food area was really well laid out and efficient. We did eat at Boatwrights one night and it was really good. DH had the prime rib which was awesome and I had the jambalaya -- good, too, a little drier than I like, but very palatable! They fussed over my daughter when they saw her birthday pin, gave her a balloon bouquet and sang to her. The bartenders were really good, too! They know how to make a Bloody Mary, I'll say that!

I loved taking the boat to DTD and seeing the horse driven carriage. My DD had draft horses growing up and he really enjoyed them. The concierge desk was very competent and helpful...going out of their way. Check in was a breeze, very quick.

 

[Gorechick]

Thanks for clarifying info about the Royal rooms. I never read the full press release ony a snippet on another site. Next question- should I book a lesser view for my 10th Anniversary and first trip with twins or book the cateory I want? Wondering if I'll get a little pixie dust my way.

 

[andrewilley]

I wonder if AB #36 re-opened today? That was the plan...

Andre

 

[KAE2008]

I think I've just worked it out! From closer examination of one of those early photos, the large drawers under the pull-down bed (and there do indeed seem to be three of them) appear to have finger-recesses along the top edge to allow them to be pulled open.



If you look at the nearest edge in the above closeup, you'll see one of the drawers is very slightly open.


Andre

Nice detective work!
As a cabinet maker, I was thinking there would be 3 drawers. You'd get more support if there were vertical partitions between the drawers. Something you would want under a bed/bench.
Just a guess on my part however.

So we will be arriving on the 26th; just a few weeks away.

I found a great youtube video for my friends, that was posted by allearsnet. It is really well done. They have seen Andre's website, but the video really put my traveling companions into a whirlwind of excitement when I saw them last night. Yippee.

I'll be there on the 26th as well! I can't wait
Do you have a link to the video? I'd love to see it.