Port Orleans Riverside FAQ thread - Royally Refurbished for 2011

[Missytara]

That last monorail ride at the airport going home really is a bummer isn't it?

A few years ago, I took two college aged friends; girls that worked at the bar I frequent.

We were walking to the ME bus and they had these long faces and were trudging along, barely picking up their feet. I am sure they were most likely just tired (we stayed 8 days), but since then I call it the "walk of shame", 'cause it is just a shame that you are leaving.....

 

[Scoot95]

Can I bring a "cheap" DVD player to hook up in the room? Anyone does this at POR? We have Kids Nite out coming the night of the half oct 1st. I thought it might be nice to be able to let the kids watch a movie that night since they'll be harder to put to bed since we're gone.

We just got back from POR a couple of days ago and we stayed in AB building 18 and we were able to hook up our portable DVD player to the TV. Every night, my kids watched a different Disney movie as they wound down from the day.

 

[ProudMomTo3Boys]

Sounds more than bad luck to me. The driver (or their computer system) should at least know where the bus is going!

Last week we were on a direct bus back to Riverside from a park, and the driver pulled into the French Quarter area and drove right past the FQ lobby before realising that the bus should be going to Riverside. At least he didn't stop there and look puzzled when no-one got off.

Andre

That's what I thought, unless she just wasn't paying attention, I really don't know. It didn't really affect our park touring because there was only a 10 minute wait for Expedition Everest and our fastpasses were for 10:20. We did everything we wanted to do by 2pm. It was just weird, I thought maybe we got on the wrong bus.

 

[Venomhatch]

We fly Southwest non-stop out of Manchester New Hampshire.
It's smaller than Logan, and the parking is cheaper.
Either one is an hour ride for us, so we'd rather go smaller and have less crowds.
Flight is scheduled to leave at 6:40am and land at 9:50am
That last monorail ride at the airport going home really is a bummer isn't it?
With luck, we'll get a bounce back offer, and have next years trip scheduled before we go home.

Yeah I fly out of Newport News, Va. But I may have to go down to Norfolk International in VA. Ever since Southwest bought Airtran they pulled out of my airport, I used to fly Airtran. But Southwest is one of the nicest airlines I fly if you want to spend more money where your going instead of on the flight. So I will probably end up flying with them.

*You should snap some shots of the plane ride too, I am an avid aircraft enthusiast and am in the process of learning how to fly.

A few years ago, I took two college aged friends; girls that worked at the bar I frequent.

We were walking to the ME bus and they had these long faces and were trudging along, barely picking up their feet. I am sure they were most likely just tired (we stayed 8 days), but since then I call it the "walk of shame", 'cause it is just a shame that you are leaving.....

Yeah I feel the walk of shame from the point I start packing for the way back.

 

[Venomhatch]

We just got back from POR a couple of days ago and we stayed in AB building 18 and we were able to hook up our portable DVD player to the TV. Every night, my kids watched a different Disney movie as they wound down from the day.

Yeah one year we actually took the wii. But back then i brought an adapter in case. But yeah i can see bringing a small dvd player to help with the relax down time for the kids.

 

[Ashmanarion]

That is a perfect building to meet your needs.

It is close to the bridge over to the main building (you cross through Ol' Man Island to the food court side). It does have very nice quiet areas that face the trees. You will love it!

I think this is a good location. The mansions do have elevators, unlike AB, worst case scenario if you can't get a first floor room. If you don't mind taking the elevator, the top floor may even be a quieter option.

I'll be booking today with a request for Magnolia Standard View 1st floor or 3rd floor. I'll also leave comments on it being my daughters 1st birthday and first visit hoping for some towel animals. Thanks for all the advice!

 

[klacey1]

Just got back from POR late last night. We were there for 8 nights. Everything was great. We had a couple issues with busses but nothing terrible, except for one. Mostly we just missed the bus to the park we were going to, so the wait was a bit longer than we would have liked. Didn't let it get us down. However on Sunday the 28th, we were going to AK. Got to the bus stop at 8:15/8:20. Watched as 6 MK busses and 2 Epcot busses got there. There was a cast member there writing info down so I casually asked after about 10 minutes if there would be an AK bus soon. He said it was on time and would be there shortly. Another 10 minutes and it finally showed up. Well instead of going to AK, the driver drove to Epcot. She pulled almost all the way to the bus stops there before she realized where she was and turned around and finally went to AK. We didn't get to AK until about 9:10.

I also got back last night and thought the bus service was terrible. On our way back from Epcot, the driver forgot to stop at every stop except for the South depot. I didn't realize until we left the gates and when I said something, she said she had to bring the people she picked up at the South Depot to Hollywood Studios before bringing us and the others back to POR. We were pissssssed. She also picked up people at Saratoga Springs at DHS before FINALLY bringing us back to POR. Her excuse? "I forgot..." Nothing else.
One morning four MK buses passed in the span of 10 minutes, but it was 35 minutes (I timed it) before an Epcot one came.
Check in experience wasn't great-- got a refurbed room in Acadian House. It was pretty, but I preferred our room in AB 15 that had the shower/toilet separate from the vanity area.
I still like POR, but after two trips there, this one being so-so, I'm ready for a change...

 

[kazfloyd]

I agree, the buses at POR were sketchy last week. On several occasions I saw 3/4 buses pull up at a time. I might have been with you klacey1, I remember waiting for about a half hour too for an Epcot bus in the morning while 3 MK buses came passed! 2 were back to back at the same bus stop!

 

[Venomhatch]

I agree, the buses at POR were sketchy last week. On several occasions I saw 3/4 buses pull up at a time. I might have been with you klacey1, I remember waiting for about a half hour too for an Epcot bus in the morning while 3 MK buses came passed! 2 were back to back at the same bus stop!

I too have been sitting and while sitting there I noticed three or four buses for MK show up but never had to wait more than 15 minutes for the bus I want to show. But it never happens like what you descibed to me. The only time I had something bad happen to me was in the DC capitol where we were getting off the metro rail and when I got off the doors started to close and people waiting to get on rushed the doors and pushed my girl and her daughter back onto the train. I am kicking and breaking the door trying to get on or force it open. But it leaves anyway. They hop a station and come back. Once I alert security and the worst part is I have all our money on me, and cellphones, etc. But the security finially helped them back to find me.

 

[tripplanner2]

We just got back Tuesday evening from a 15 day stay. We had a wonderful trip at POR. Stayed in AB building 16. We did not pay for a preferred room but the location was still very nice. Close enough. This was our favorate Disney trip and we have been on 5. All of which have been 2 weeks long. We relaxed and did not let the little things get to us. We will definately stay at POR again but never without the meal plan. Our first 3 nights were before FD started so we went with a room discount. Thought we would like the freedom but hated the expense. Way too much money for food. And that is with only eating CS.

 

[KCmike]

Thanks again for the nice comments.

 

[nkereina]

got a refurbed room in Acadian House. It was pretty, but I preferred our room in AB 15 that had the shower/toilet separate from the vanity area.

How was the bathroom area in your room in Acadian House? The mansions pre-renovations had two sinks in a vanity area with the shower/toilet being adjacent, having a door separating the two. So someone could be showering, and someone could be at the sinks without being in the same room. Was yours not look this? The photos of the refurbished rooms on here appear that they are still like this, with the exception of one photo of a room which was later determined to be a handicap accessible room.

 

[andrewilley]

How was the bathroom area in your room in Acadian House?

In the standard refurb rooms, the layout is exactly the same as before - i.e. bath and WC are in one small room, with a door leading to the vanity area (which has two sinks) and then a curtain seperates that area from the main bedroom.

Accessible rooms have a door from the main bedroom leading to a combined roll-in shower, single handbasin, and WC room.

Andre

 

[snoobydi]

P.O.R....is my favorite resort. I love staying at magnolia bend. especially in the spring when the magnolia trees are in bloom. The resort it so pretty and quiet. I cannot wait to stay in one of the newly decorated rooms with my daughter..she need to be a little older to appreciate them though..she is only two right now.

 

[andrewilley]

OK folks, you wanted to see what the Magnolia Bend refurbished rooms look like? I don't think I can post this file format directly into the DIS, but will this do...?

http://www.portorleans.org/images/panoramas/POR-MB-Room-2011-3618-pano360.swf



(Sorry for the wait, I needed to get home to use my main PC as the laptop didn't really have enough grunt to fully adjust and process the image. I hope to have a French Quarter version up over the next day or two too)

Andre

 

[Ashmanarion]

Thanks for the picture Andre! Room looks very nice. Now just have to figure out where to put the pack and play :/

 

[Stini228]

Thank you Andre!! Beautiful!!

 

[3sweetpeas]

Thanks for the picture Andre! Now I'm anxiously waiting to see AB rooms done with the pull down bed. My family of 5 is so happy about this extra bed. We have done 2 rooms in the past but can't justify it this year if we want to keep coming yearly for 2 weeks. Thanks for all you do for this thread!

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

We returned this afternoon from a 12 day stay at POR. We did online check-in and I had requested a refurbed room in Acadian House but was put in Magnolia Terrace, they had about 50% of that building completed when we arrived. We were placed in a refurbed room, the room was really nice, we enjoyed the size if the beds, but the mattresses are not the most comfortable. The new headboards are really cool!!! The pictures lend themselves to the Tiana theme, in the Riverboat scene, Big Daddy and Charlotte are in the picture and in the Mansion scene, Tiana and Prince Naveen are on the 2nd floor waving at people. The room was a bit further to the food court and main pool than we like, but that's a personal preference for us, and not applicable to everyones choices. We were close to the Bus stop though.

There were some negative points that I wanted to bring about, and although they may not be a bad thing for others for us, they put a negative light on the resort for us.
1) The Buses. Ok, I should have felt warned that they can be bad at POR, but I wasn't really prepared for how bad they really were. We waited almost an hour to go to MK one day, while we saw 4 buses to EPCOT! This was almost every day, 1 park getting way more buses then the other parks. Also the bus stop at the Main Bldg, is not for the weak!!!! You have to be cut throat if you want to get on a bus there!!!!
2) The Pool. I have a couple of issues here. The lifeguards went off duty at 8:00 pm, closing the slide!!! I have traveled this time every year for the past 4 years and have never had a lifeguard not on duty until 10 pm. We thought this was crazy!!! Also, we found the main pool to be very dirty! Full of leaves and debris, even at 2:00 in the afternoon. It was so bad, we left and went to the quiet pool. We found we liked that better, but so did a bunch of other families!!!
3) Construction noise. Ok, so I know that this is only a temporary thing at the resort, but it did wake us up a few mornings when we wanted to sleep in.

Anyway, we found it to be a nice resort, we thought it was pretty, but just not our cup of tea. I am glad we tried, but I think our next trip will be at another resort. Oh, and just to let everyone know how the refurb schedule was going, the 2nd 1/2 of Magnolia Terrace was being completed this week and should be ready for occupancy by Sat.

 

[GetGlowing]

OK folks, you wanted to see what the Magnolia Bend refurbished rooms look like? I don't think I can post this file format directly into the DIS, but will this do...?

http://www.portorleans.org/images/panoramas/POR-MB-Room-2011-3618-pano360.swf



(Sorry for the wait, I needed to get home to use my main PC as the laptop didn't really have enough grunt to fully adjust and process the image. I hope to have a French Quarter version up over the next day or two too)

Andre

VERY NICE 360 panorama!!! wow, kudos!!