Port Orleans Riverside Q&A Thread 2013, Part One [Thread now FULL and closed]

[siskaren]

On Friday, May 10th, I have an ADR at Tusker House in AK scheduled for 8:25 am, before the park opens. Will I be able to get on a bus to AK or will I have to cab it?

Buses start running at 6:30 am every day.

 

[Chuckers]

Buses start running at 6:30 am every day.

6:30? Wow... I didn't think it was that early.. Thanks. I figured I would want a bus around 7:45 to make it on time.

 

[Kalea]

Hi, everyone!

I grew up in Orlando but am currently living in TN. I've been to WDW dozens of times as a child & young adult, but this is my first time actually planning a trip with my own kids (2 of the buggers, ages 8 & 3).

We just booked our first family trip at POR for Oct 19-26.

We decided to book a preferred room. Am I correct in thinking that by booking a preferred room we will 100% be in Alligator Bayou?

Also, we are driving down to Orlando and will have our car. It seems like the only beef folks may have with POR are they crowded buses. Should we save ourselves some trouble and plan to drive to the parks?

I think we want to take a carriage ride, but I'm unsure whether to try and book one at POR or hope for the Ft Wilderness Halloween-oriented one. Has anyone tried the POR ride? Is it interesting for kiddos?

Thanks!! My neurotic planning has already kicked in, so it's going to be a long 8 months for my husband.

 

[Nana Julie]

So excited we leave in 9 days for our first visit to POR! Thanks to all for all your posts helping us plan. Probably I will still be checking up until we pull out of drive for more tips.

 

[SoonToBeMrs]

What a great thread. Everyone is so helpful, really made our resort decision easier. Officially staying at POR July 11 -18 for our DFTW and Disneymoon

We get there the day before our wedding, any suggestions on what we should do to relax and unwind before the big day? Any romantic suggestions?

 

[wdwmaw]

Hi, everyone!

I grew up in Orlando but am currently living in TN. I've been to WDW dozens of times as a child & young adult, but this is my first time actually planning a trip with my own kids (2 of the buggers, ages 8 & 3).

We just booked our first family trip at POR for Oct 19-26.

We decided to book a preferred room. Am I correct in thinking that by booking a preferred room we will 100% be in Alligator Bayou? Yes you are correct.

Also, we are driving down to Orlando and will have our car. It seems like the only beef folks may have with POR are they crowded buses. Should we save ourselves some trouble and plan to drive to the parks? The busses are not bad. I personally would not drive, esp. to MK. I would use the car if I had dinner at another resort but other than that I would just use Disney transportation.

I think we want to take a carriage ride, but I'm unsure whether to try and book one at POR or hope for the Ft Wilderness Halloween-oriented one. Has anyone tried the POR ride? Is it interesting for kiddos?I don't think they take reservations at POR. These are 2 different experiences. POR if you just want a relaxing nice evening with the family and FW Halloween one if your in for the experience. That would be up to you.

Thanks!! My neurotic planning has already kicked in, so it's going to be a long 8 months for my husband.

From one neurotic planner to another welcome andPixie Dust for all your hard work.

 

[wdwmaw]

6:30? Wow... I didn't think it was that early.. Thanks. I figured I would want a bus around 7:45 to make it on time.

Our rule is be at the bus stop 1 hour prior to park opening. If you were to miss that 1 hour bus you will be on the next bus. Disney tries to run a bus every 15 minutes or so.

 

[bumbershoot]

On Friday, May 10th, I have an ADR at Tusker House in AK scheduled for 8:25 am, before the park opens. Will I be able to get on a bus to AK or will I have to cab it?

6:30? Wow... I didn't think it was that early.. Thanks. I figured I would want a bus around 7:45 to make it on time.

FWIW, you would have wanted to leave earlier than that anyway. Just walking back to TH can take some time, I've found, so leave earlier than 7:45. IMO.

 

[wdwmaw]

On Friday, May 10th, I have an ADR at Tusker House in AK scheduled for 8:25 am, before the park opens. Will I be able to get on a bus to AK or will I have to cab it?

Yes, catch the bus at 7- 7:15 am and when you get there just go ahead and check in. Everyone with reservations will be let in about 5-10 minutes before 8am. You will be seated quicker than 8:25 and will be finished with breakfast at or just before the park opens.

 

[kelleigh1]

Was it just due to size that you didn't like CBR? Because POR is also quite large? Unlike FQ

We didn't really mind the size of CBR. We didn't feel the same magic that we felt at POFQ. We had great interaction with all cast members at POFQ and almost felt ignored at CBR. They were also renovating the main pool when we were at CBR and because of that, part of the walkway was blocked and we had to walk out and around through an active parking lot which was not well lit at night and during the day we often saw the housekeeping crew zipping across on golf carts. Just a lot of little things that made us not love it.

 

[kelleigh1]

We took the pre-dawn bus from YC to MK in Oct. for our 8:05 CRT ADR. I loved being on the bus that early and seeing everything before it woke up and then watching the sun rise. It was great.

 

[Kalea]

From one neurotic planner to another welcome andPixie Dust for all your hard work.

::high five::

Thanks for the welcome and the answers!

 

[Chuckers]

Yes, catch the bus at 7- 7:15 am and when you get there just go ahead and check in. Everyone with reservations will be let in about 5-10 minutes before 8am. You will be seated quicker than 8:25 and will be finished with breakfast at or just before the park opens.

Awesome! thanks for the tip!

 

[wdwmaw]

Awesome! thanks for the tip!

Your welcome Ask to be seated in Neil Auster's section, he is AWESOME and really contributes to the experience. Another tip is ask for the check when your seated, will save a ton of time at the end when everyone is asking for the same thing.

 

[KittyKat1978]

Question on the bus route...does it always stop at the South depot first? Then go West, North then East or vice versa?

I am staying in the mansions and I am trying to figure out which bus stop I should use. South or East.

I am used to values where there is a line at the depot. I am a little afraid of the chaos that might be at the South depot (which I read is the busiest) but if I am never going to get a seat if I go to the East Depot, I might brave the South Depot.

 

[asherls]

So excited we leave in 9 days for our first visit to POR! Thanks to all for all your posts helping us plan. Probably I will still be checking up until we pull out of drive for more tips.

I'm heading out in 9 days too!

 

[asherls]

Your welcome Ask to be seated in Neil Auster's section, he is AWESOME and really contributes to the experience. Another tip is ask for the check when your seated, will save a ton of time at the end when everyone is asking for the same thing.

Does Neil only do breakfast?

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

For just a hair over 150.00, I switched my 4 night May reservation from POP to POR.

I just knew I'd be missing POR if I didn't stay there again and since the price difference was so small, I'm going for it.

Let's see - will this be my 5th stay at POR? I'll have to check my ticker.

 

[SRUAlmn]

What a great thread. Everyone is so helpful, really made our resort decision easier. Officially staying at POR July 11 -18 for our DFTW and Disneymoon

We get there the day before our wedding, any suggestions on what we should do to relax and unwind before the big day? Any romantic suggestions?

So your wedding is on July 12? We had a Disney Fairytale Wedding on July 12, 2007

We arrived two days before our wedding, but we aren't relaxers, ha! You will have a rehearsal session (or at least we did at the wedding pavilion) the day before your wedding. We then headed out to the parks for the rest of the day and had a rehearsal dinner at Ohana that night. It was so fun! (One tip, if you do go to the parks, wear a strapless tank so you don't get weird tan lines that will show when you wear your wedding dress the next day )

 

[SoonToBeMrs]

So your wedding is on July 12? We had a Disney Fairytale Wedding on July 12, 2007

We arrived two days before our wedding, but we aren't relaxers, ha! You will have a rehearsal session (or at least we did at the wedding pavilion) the day before your wedding. We then headed out to the parks for the rest of the day and had a rehearsal dinner at Ohana that night. It was so fun! (One tip, if you do go to the parks, wear a strapless tank so you don't get weird tan lines that will show when you wear your wedding dress the next day )

We're wedding twins! haha

This is why I don't want to do the parks for too long the day we get there. We are having an Escape wedding at SBP so we don't have a rehersal (There will only be 20 people in total including DF and I) We arrive around noon so we're thinking we might just go to Magic Kingdom for a bit, get our APs and see the castle (I'm not in Disney until I see it ) then probably DTD for dinner. Unless anyone else has better suggestions