Port Orleans Riverside - My comments

[goofygal531]

Just got back and have to say we weren’t to happy about our resort – Port Orleans Riverside. It was a beautiful resort, but when your used to the convenience of the deluxe resorts, it just doesn’t compare. DH said if you had to stay there to relax it’s fine, but for the disney parks, it’s just not convenient. (We’re spoiled so this is just our opinion).

Check in was smooth and quick. I didn’t get into the building I had requested, but they did honor my request for a king, corner room, (2 windows) top floor overlooking the pool. We ended up in room 8267 in the Acadian Building. My request was for Parteer Place or Oak Manor. But it was okay. I was happy that it was a quite location. The room was nice and the walk to the bus was fairly close, so was the food court and main building. Mousekeeping was fantastic! I used the envelopes daily and left one each morning on the bed. She left us adorable surprises. One morning she had a card from Cinderella for me for my birthday. It was a very nice surprise.

One complaint about this resort is the boat transportation – it’s a joke compared to other boats in WDW. This boat is so slow and can only hold 30 passengers. We rode the boat twice and then gave in for the bus which got us to the marketplace within 7 mins instead of 30 like the boat would have. Another complain is that the Westside boat and bus station is closed. The boat from PO-R drops you off in the Marketplace. Which is inconvenient when you have ressies at Bongos or HOBs on the Westside. Then you need to walk back to PI for the bus or to the Marketplace before 11pm for the boat.

Other thing that upset me was trying to get an iron and ironing board. I phoned mousekeeping and no one ever picked up, as well as the front desk. I was on hold between the both numbers for over an hour and forty five minutes. Finally, I just dialed the operator and she took my request and got the iron delivered within 15 minutes to our room. We complained about this service and was told they are working on the phone system. It was annoying!

We had a nice vacation, but just wanted to let you know don’t go to a moderate expecting service to be similar to a deluxe. As my DH put it “it’s like night and day”.

 

[tileman]

Hi goofygal531
We just got back sunday. stayed at the Port Orleans F/Q
and the price for 6 nights was $559.00 with tax.
And I would say thats about all its worth sorry to say.
The boat ride to down town disney was like a 35 min wait. The front desk said the boat stopped running at midnight the boat captain said 11:15pm. We arrived at the boat slip around 10:30pm to find it closed already. Quite disappointed, we were.
then to call the front desk for info was 15 to 25 min wait. Many times I would hang up and try again later.

The pool at the F/Q was packed all the time should of tried River side pools. The tv remote broke and the room had a crack in the ceiling as well the carpet had a funny smell. both the places to get ice were broke and the coin changers in the game room & laundry were not working. It cost me 22.00 to dry 4 loads of clothes and only one of the loads was jeans. Total laundry cost with washing was 28.00 and 2 1/2 hours of time. The dryers do not work well. The little one wanting to head for the arcade and out of the 20 or so games we stayed with the air hockey several other games ended up taking my change.
The first day or so of maid service left a little to be desired however the last several days were ok so I did leave a tip.



Do I need to go on?
I do not want to sound like I was being too picky. I have stayed at several of the Disney Resorts and I am comparing this trip to the ones in the past. I do expect a moderate resort to have slightly better service than the All Stars in which I do not think this was the case on this trip. Although I have stayed in worse places I do expect a certain level of service from ALL of Disneys resorts.


Perhaps I'll go back to Disney but I most likely will not stay at Port Orleans. I think in the future I may stay at AK Lodge again. Or perhaps All-Stars cause then I won't be expecting much and it would not be as much of a let down.

The above post is just my opinion and only my opinion

 

[All Aboard]

We rode the boat twice and then gave in for the bus which got us to the marketplace within 7 mins instead of 30 like the boat would have.

That's why it's called the Sassagoula River Cruise. It's not intended to get you to Downtown Disney in the fastest possible fashion.

 

[JCarangal]

We also just returned from a stay at RIverside and I was overall pleased.

The theming of our room and the building were very nice (we were in Oak Manor). The buses were always quite convenient and quick.

My children (2 and 4) enjoyed the pool area.

We didn't do laundry, but I have heard from others that it is about $4 a load to put it through 1 dry cycle.

We took the boat ride to Downtown Disney and DH commented that it took longer than he liked. I thought it was a nice little diversion.

The area I was least pleased with was the food court. The choices were quite limited. (but I think I was spoiled by the food court at CS which I thought was phenomenal). The quality was good and it was always possible to find a table.

In general, I have stayed at 3 moderates and 1 value and everything kinda fell in line with what I expected. CS is my favorite. Then PO/R, AS Movies, and CBR all more or less tie with each other.

JMO
JenC

 

[JulesMom]

We just got back from PO-R and enjoyed our stay. We stayed in Alligator Bayou-Lodge 34.

My DS enjoyed the pool, especially the "quiet" pool because there were lots of other kids and they played different water games.

We went fishing on morning-we had a blast

We thought the food court was fine-best banana split I ever had!

I called for a hair dryer one afternoon. The phone rang for about 1 minute without anyone answering, so I hung up & dialed again and it was answered right away. The dryer was delivered before I was out of the shower.

You really can't compare Mod to Deluxes--you get what you pay for.

I 'm sorry for all the problems the other guests encountered

 

[Luv2Roam]

We enjoyed the boatride, especially since the bus service was so lacking for our experiences.
We had very bad timing on the buses, but good timing on the boats. The *captains* do say it is a 22 minute ride, each way.
At least we always got to sit down, were not crammed in shoulder to shoulder and didn't have to wait a half hour for it to come (like the buses). The CM's were much more personable too on the boats.
I know others have written they didn't have bad POR bus experiences. But DH and I noticed it wasn't a first wait, first board the bus situation at POR. It was a total free for all. We continually saw people just walk up and board a bus, while the people waiting even longer than us couldn't get on.
It was just a matter of luck and determination on boarding a POR bus, for our experiences anyway.

On the laundry -- a thumbs up for POR. It was MUCH better than ASMo. (And the same as CSR.) I anticipated the cost of soap and softener. I pack detergent tabs and fabric softener sheets for every trip.

 

[TwinMom7]

Hmmm...I always found the 20 minute boat ride to DTD to be the most relaxing part of the day - definately better than standing shoulder to shoulder with hot/tired people on the bus!

We stayed at the YC two years ago and it was a wonderful stay, but we'll be back at PO-Riverside for the 4th time in just a few weeks. I do enjoy being pampered at the Deluxe resorts, but I don't think you can beat the "bayou" for a relaxing stay.

I guess if we all LOVED the same resort, we'd be in big trouble. Just think how hard it would be to get a reservation!! That's why Disney has many levels with many themes to take care of all of us. As for myself....I'd never stay at an All-Star resort, and yet there are people who absolutely love to stay there. As far as we're concerned, PO-Riverside was our first onsite resort and it has become a favorite through the years. I gave my DH the choice of 5 different resorts for this trip...and this was his choice. I feel like we're going "home".

 

[jwfla422]

There are "moderate" people, there are "deluxe" people and then there are those very flexible people who like a little of both.

goofygal531, you're a "deluxer" just like me We've always stayed at the deluxes except for one time which coincidentally we stayed at POR (then DL), after that stay, although I thought it was a beautiful place I just needed my deluxe (I missed the amenities, the room setup, etc) didn't like that 1 1/2 hr wait for the cruise, yes we are spoiled, what can we say...it's ok we're allowed to be as TwinMom7 said we'd be in trouble if we all liked the same resort!

 

[The_Disney_God]

Originally posted by goofygal531
(We’re spoiled so this is just our opinion).

Yes, I see.