Port Orleans Riverside FAQ thread - Royally Refurbished for 2011

[ShhhQ]

We hit the road tonight.... arrive at POR on Sunday!!!!!

Super excited to be staying at this BEAUTIFUL resort...

loved all the pics KCMike... you really made the place come alive!

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Andre, love the virtual tour of a Mansions room on your website!! Have never been a fan of the Mansions, but the new room is fabulous! Did not like the new FQ room decor, so was not sure what to expect over at POR. This sure is making me want to book a Mansion room for next year. Thing is Parterre Place would be my choice location (best river views), but those will be the new Royal Rooms - would not pay extra for that.

Mansion fans - any suggestions for another building? What we liked about Parterre Place is that the corner rooms offered more light than the other Mansion buildings (we were shown 3 rooms a few yrs ago by a manager) and the building was not as maze like as the other Mansions. Thanks!

 

[Rekenna]

We hit the road tonight.... arrive at POR on Sunday!!!!!

Travel safe and have fun!

 

[Missytara]

Mansion fans - any suggestions for another building? What we liked about Parterre Place is that the corner rooms offered more light than the other Mansion buildings (we were shown 3 rooms a few yrs ago by a manager) and the building was not as maze like as the other Mansions. Thanks!

My favorite has always been Oak Manor near the quiet pool.

But I must say I had a corner room at the end of the wing at Parterre Place last year and it was heavenly.

 

[2manypets]

We hit the road tonight.... arrive at POR on Sunday!!!!!

Super excited to be staying at this BEAUTIFUL resort...

loved all the pics KCMike... you really made the place come alive!

Maybe we'll see you there. DH & I are leaving tomorrow and will check in on Sunday also. Have a safe trip.

 

[andrewilley]

We need to be fair here and make sure that POR gets some love too....

POFQ enthusiasts, please see the new poll posted by TwoKids0204 and please vote. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2796197

Andre

 

[Venomhatch]

We need to be fair here and make sure that POR gets some love too....



Andre

I voted POR. FTW

 

[Missytara]

I voted POR. FTW

Ditto for me; POFQ is a resort you walk over to and visit; POR is where you stay.

 

[Venomhatch]

Ditto for me; POFQ is a resort you walk over to and visit; POR is where you stay.

Exactly!!! If some like it, its just a leisurely stroll and you can admire it again lol.

When I first visited in 23-25 years I stayed in POFQ in 2008 and it was nice, but when I saw the mansions for the first time on a boat ride, I thought to myself that did it cost more to stay in these? LOL. So I believe even though they are comparable to POFQ, I still like that illusion of staying somewhere kinda fancy. lol.

 

[ShhhQ]

Maybe we'll see you there. DH & I are leaving tomorrow and will check in on Sunday also. Have a safe trip.

You have a safe trip as well.... maybe we will see ya there!!!

 

[Missytara]

Exactly!!! If some like it, its just a leisurely stroll and you can admire it again lol.

I stayed in POFQ in 2008 and it was nice, but when I saw the mansions for the first time on a boat ride, I thought to myself that did it cost more to stay in these? LOL. So I believe even though they are comparable to POFQ, I still like that illusion of staying somewhere kinda fancy. lol.

I am a southern girl and my favorite movie of all time is Gone with the Wind.

Quite frankly, I adore standing at the bottom of the steps at the mansions and picture Scarlett O'Hara herself coming down those steps in a huge hoop skirt dress and breezing past me, saying "fiddle-de-dee." One of my many guilty pleasures at Disney.

The year I took my mom, we stayed in Parterre Place and there was this magnolia tree in bloom on the walk to the main building each day. I swear by the end of the trip, my mom was going to toss all of her clothes in the water and bring back that tree in her luggage. She made me take tons of pictures of it. One of them was on her desk at work, until she retired a few years ago.

 

[Venomhatch]

I am a southern girl and my favorite movie of all time is Gone with the Wind.

Quite frankly, I adore standing at the bottom of the steps at the mansions and picture Scarlett O'Hara herself coming down those steps in a huge hoop skirt dress and breezing past me, saying "fiddle-de-dee." One of my many guilty pleasures at Disney.

The year I took my mom, we stayed in Parterre Place and there was this magnolia tree in bloom on the walk to the main building each day. I swear by the end of the trip, my mom was going to toss all of her clothes in the water and bring back that tree in her luggage. She made me take tons of pictures of it. One of them was on her desk at work, until she retired a few years ago.

Yes that truly does sound very nice. I am from the south myself, Orlando, so I am very intrigued by the southern architecture in buildings and historic places. So I definitly understand you on that.

 

[Missytara]

Yes that truly does sound very nice. I am from the south myself, Orlando, so I am very intrigued by the southern architecture in buildings and historic places. So I definitly understand you on that.

I am in DE, on the Mason/Dixon line, but we consider ourselves southerners.......

My mom grew up on a chicken farm in MD, as well as her closest cousin who married a dairy farmer. There isn't anything better than sweet tea and Maryland biscuits and gravy. And every meal, you ate something that always went with applesauce......

My grandmother had the cast iron skillet on the stove permanently; it never got put away in the cupboards. It was always in use for something.

 

[tjknitz]

Hey everyone - I booked my trip to POR for Sept 2012 - I'm so excited! I ended up booking through AAA and booked preferred room. TA said that she put in a request for building 14 or 18. I know building 14 is a great location...anyone ever stay in 18? Should I have her remove 18 from the request?

Also, by looking at building 14 on a map, I'm not sure if any of the rooms are facing a parking lot. I assume that by upgrading to preferred room that I am just guarenteeing a specific building - correct? I could still get stuck looking out over a parking lot by booking preferred - correct?

 

[andrewilley]

Yes, buildings 14 and 15 do have some rooms which face towards the parking lots, but there are quite a few trees too so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Preferred buildings 18 and 27 have no parking lot views.

Andre

 

[tjknitz]

Yes, buildings 14 and 15 do have some rooms which face towards the parking lots, but there are quite a few trees too so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Preferred buildings 18 and 27 have no parking lot views.

Andre

Thanks so much Andre!

 

[Minnie&Nana]

I am in DE, on the Mason/Dixon line, but we consider ourselves southerners.......

My mom grew up on a chicken farm in MD, as well as her closest cousin who married a dairy farmer. There isn't anything better than sweet tea and Maryland biscuits and gravy. And every meal, you ate something that always went with applesauce......

My grandmother had the cast iron skillet on the stove permanently; it never got put away in the cupboards. It was always in use for something.

Missytara, that's about as Southern as you can get! My grandmother is from Mississippi, so you know I grew up with authentic southern home cookin' - and yes, the cast iron skillet was always on top of the stove. Sweet Tea always available.

We never had applesauce - must be a MD speciality - very glad b/c I hate the stuff. We did have white rice with sugar and butter though...very deep South and sooo good.

Back to POR Mansions - the first time we visited was when Dixie Landings was brand new and while I liked the architecture of the Mansions, up close did not like all the cement. The AB bldgs looked much more charming. Years later I was walking from FQ to Riverside, looked across at Parterre Place and wow, it was gorgeous. I cannot imagine anything lovelier than a Magnolia Tree in full bloom; that must have been the icing on the cake for your stay!

Will have to check out Oak Manor. Should not have said "want to book the Mansions" b/c we all know it is not a bookable category, but we've always had good luck with requests and tend to travel off season, which helps.

Wonder what will be considered a GV now... We had one of those paid for non river, river views once. A corner room in AB bldg14. It was a weekend of freezing rain and we actually forgot we'd booked a water view (before River view was a category). When it hit us, we tried finding some water, other than the rain, and finally the pine trees blew in the wind and we noticed a sliver of river. We spoke with a front desk manager and after some discussion she refunded the difference between water view and std. She did not seem to appreciate our reference to the rain being the only water view.

(p.s. We did have a direct parking lot view in bldg 14 once, so those do exist. Did not bother us b/c we had a car that trip and parked very close to our room)

 

[andrewilley]

Wonder what will be considered a GV now...

I actually asked that question last time I was there. The new 2012 'Garden View' category can be in any section of the resort (including AB) and basically means any location that is not directly overlooking a parking lot. That could include bayou areas, courtyards, walkways etc. Obviously pool and river views aren't included as those are separate categories. What I'm not sure about is whether a fountain area counts as 'water' or 'garden' ... ?

Andre

 

[KristiKat]

Just a little heads up for those of you planning a Feb stay. We tried to book POR for Feb 15th-20th 2012 and the CM said all standards were already booked up and closest thing to it in price was garden view. We don't spend that much time in our room and I don't want to pay extra for something I don't want or need but I would really love to stay again. We needed two rooms, one for a family of five so that plus the refurbs going on may have made a difference. She said we can keep calling to see if there have been any changes so for now looks like we will be staying at SOG.

 

[andrewilley]

We tried to book POR for Feb 15th-20th 2012 and the CM said all standards were already booked up and closest thing to it in price was garden view.

I think the new Garden View category really needs to be looked on as encompasing most of the old Standard room locations - whereas the 'new' room-type is really 'Standard', which basically means you'll probably get a parking lot view.

Perhaps it might have been a bit more honest to simply increase the cost of what used to be called 'Standard View' rooms by $10, and then offer a $10 discount for parking-lot views...

Andre