Port Orleans Riverside FAQ thread - Royally Refurbished for 2011

[nkereina]

We just got back from a stay, booked a King room and had HA shower. But maybe all King rooms are that way?

They aren't. I looked into that because I have a king room as well, and I was told there are non-HA king rooms so I added a request to not be placed in one. How was the room though and where was it? I'm hoping for a corner room, so maybe it wouldn't matter to me if it was HA if in the right spot

 

[andrewilley]

We just got back from a stay, booked a King room and had HA shower. But maybe all King rooms are that way?

Was this a refurbished room (Acadian House or Magnolia Terrace) or an exisiting one?

Andre

 

[janabananas]

Thanks for the responses. However, my main question was if there are standard rooms available in the Mansions, or are they only available in AB. I know refurbs are going on in the mansions and I read that all rooms in all mansions will be the royal rooms?

If there would be absolutely no chance of getting a standard room in a mansion and I can't get a room in AB due to no elevators, then I won't even bother attempting to change my POFQ reservation to POR.

 

[DisneyGuess]

Thanks for the responses. However, my main question was if there are standard rooms available in the Mansions, or are they only available in AB. I know refurbs are going on in the mansions and I read that all rooms in all mansions will be the royal rooms?

If there would be absolutely no chance of getting a standard room in a mansion and I can't get a room in AB due to no elevators, then I won't even bother attempting to change my POFQ reservation to POR.

Standard rooms are available in both the Mansions & in AB.
& not all the rooms in the Mansions are being turned into Royal Rooms, only rooms in certain buildings.

 

[janabananas]

Standard rooms are available in both the Mansions & in AB.
& not all the rooms in the Mansions are being turned into Royal Rooms, only rooms in certain buildings.

Awesome thanks!!

 

[andrewilley]

not all the rooms in the Mansions are being turned into Royal Rooms, only rooms in certain buildings.

Correct. Acadian House and Magnolia Terrace are already completely refurbished and have the standard set of rooms (512 rooms).

Oak Manor and Parterre Place will be done Jan-March next year, and will be all Royal Rooms (also 512 rooms).

Andre

 

[Aubsmama]

We will arrive at POR next MONDAY!!

I have already done on-line check-in, not sure it will save that much time, but I was so excited that I could check-in already, so I just did it!!

I requested ground floor with trundle bed. We are only a party of 4 but my husband is a big guy so I thought it would be easier if he has a bed all to himself. And then me and mom could share a bed and DD (4) could sleep on the trundle! I'm hoping they won't be too busy and we can get a trundle bed!

I really wanted to stay in building 38 or 39, should I call POR directly and add that to my room request or just wait until we check in at the hotel. I don't want to look greedy by requesting so much, but I just want this trip to be perfect and really want to stay in either of those building! Unless someone can tell me a better building that is not preferred.

Thanks for your suggestions!!

 

[Missytara]

I used to work in a hotel and when all the handicap rooms weren't in use or reserved, we'd only assign the left over handicap rooms if no other standard rooms were available. I don't know if WDW does this or not. I'd imagine they would rather keep accessible rooms clean in case of walk ups (which are probably rare at WDW) or in case someone finds they just need to switch to a handicap accessible room. I made a request to NOT be placed in an accessible room, so its definitely something that can be noted.

That is correct.

Per the ADA code, they have to hold some rooms available in case someone needs a room. Unless the resort is near capacity, they would not give our an ADA room unless they needed to for capacity reasons.

 

[Motherof3wifeof1]

Do any of the rooms have a bathroom door?
Any rooms with doors that seperate the rooms with beds & the bathroom?
Are they all just a pull curtain?

 

[Missytara]

Do any of the rooms have a bathroom door?
Any rooms with doors that seperate the rooms with beds & the bathroom?
Are they all just a pull curtain?

The room with the water closet and the tub has a door; the dressing area has a curtain.

POR does not have suites, nor the doors that separate the dressing area from the room as in CSR.

 

[andrewilley]

I really wanted to stay in building 38 or 39, should I call POR directly and add that to my room request or just wait until we check in at the hotel.

No harm in calling and letting them know, those are lesser requested buildings anyway I'd have thought.

If you could let us know your reasoning for choosing 38/39 we could let you know other possible locations, as those two are already about as far away from 'preferred' as you can get.

Andre

 

[Motherof3wifeof1]

The room with the water closet and the tub has a door; the dressing area has a curtain.

POR does not have suites, nor the doors that separate the dressing area from the room as in CSR.

Ok I'm a TN gal....just want to make sure we are on the same page....
Water closet...is that Toilet/Potty/Commode? just checking

 

[Aubsmama]

If you could let us know your reasoning for choosing 38/39 we could let you know other possible locations, as those two are already about as far away from 'preferred' as you can get.

Andre

Main reason was I didn't want a parking lot view!

We will probably be at the swimming pool a lot and it seemed like it was close to the pool and would have a pretty view! This is my first time staying there so I could be wrong!

Any suggestions??

 

[andrewilley]

Main reason was I didn't want a parking lot view!

Well those buildings would certainly assure you of that, assuming you get your request, but without paying for a river-view room there are others that are just as pleasant.

Maybe just let them know the reason of your request, and ask for a non-parking-lot-view room in building 16 or 17 for example? Those are much closer to the main buildings, ferry boats and the main bus stop, plus are next to a quiet pool - and honestly not too far from the feature pool either.

Andre

 

[Aubsmama]

Building 17 does look good! Thanks Andre!

 

[DisneyGuess]

Ok, so I did put in my request for building 38, ground floor. Is it going to be a hugely long walk to refill our mugs at the food court?

 

[nkereina]

Do any of the rooms have a bathroom door?
Any rooms with doors that seperate the rooms with beds & the bathroom?
Are they all just a pull curtain?

As PP stated, the toilet and bathtub are in a room with the door and both sinks are outside of that, with a curtain to separate it from the bedroom area. Someone on here did post pics of their room and everything, including the sinks, was in a room with a door - no curtain. It was determined it was a handicap accessible room, and I don't even think all of the handicap accessible rooms are like that.

Ok I'm a TN gal....just want to make sure we are on the same page....
Water closet...is that Toilet/Potty/Commode? just checking

haha yes! toilet plus bathtub are in the room with the door

 

[andrewilley]

Here is a floor-plan of the Port Orleans rooms. The new changes don't make any difference to the basic physical layout, only the details such as bed sizes and TV/fridge unit:

As you can see, the bathroom/toilet has its own door which separates that area from the rest of the room.

Andre

 

[2manydaves]

My family (me, DH and our 3 kids, and 2 grandparents) stayed at POR from 9/10-9/17. We had requested connecting rooms. We got next door rooms (not connecting) in AB building 24, parking lot view.

I thought the location would completely stink, but it turned out to be excellent for our needs.

We were right next to one of the quiet pools, and steps away from the West bus depot. We were also (obviously) near our car, which made loading and unloading easy, and convenient for driving to ADRs at other resorts. The walk to the main building was about ten minutes. We don't do refillable mugs, so that wasn't a problem for us.

Workers started painting our building on our third day there. They painted ceilings, walkways, and primed shutters. It wasn't a problem, other than the smell and dodging painters here and there, but it would've been nice to know they were going to be there. Also, the love bugs apparently also love paint. There were dead ones stuck in the paint everywhere, and they were all over our room doors. It was totally disgusting.

As always, POR was absolutely gorgeous. The food court was excellent, as always, and the grounds are just beautiful.

Just thought I'd share our experience. We will definitely return, but will probably ask for a building where there is no refurbishing going on at the time of our stay.

 

[Venomhatch]

Here is a floor-plan of the Port Orleans rooms. The new changes don't make any difference to the basic physical layout, only the details such as bed sizes and TV/fridge unit:

Andre

My room looked like this swapping the fridge and bench:

But the new layouts should look like this right?: