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

[Minnie404]

We are traveling in November with our son who will be almost 5 when we travel. For anyone who has stayed in one, the Royal rooms look beautiful, but are they too "girly" for a boy?

We are here now and they are pretty neutral but it does have the princess theme. My 7 year old boy loves the fireworks as much as his sister. He said a couple of comments about it being a princess room but otherwise I think he likes it. Love the details in these rooms.

Now if the rain would go away. My daughter is booked tomorrow for the boutique to have her hair done and then eating dinner at the castle. so I hope it doesn't rain or at least not till later. So unfortunate. Got drenched today at Epcot so hoping the weather gets better for us!

 

[momofEAP]

This is such a silly question that I am almost embarassed to ask it.

The buildings in Alligator Bayou...are they a combination of two building per unit? (ex. Is bld.15 two buildings by each other to look like an "L" or is it just on building in the shape of an "L"?) Or in other words is there a breeze-way at the bend? Just trying to figure out if it would be okay to be in the middle of the bend facing away from the food court.

Less than 4 months and I feel like there is so much to do!!

 

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

According to the map, and to whats posted at Portorleans.org, the riverviews are very close to Ol' man island.

Hopefully I can tell you for sure in 2 days 16 hours or so

Thanks!! Appreciate it.

 

[SkywayGuy]

SkywayGuy, another wow! Lol I apologize if I sound sexist, I'm just not accustomed to seeing that kind of organization skills in men outside of a workplace. But then again, I may just not have come into contact with any b/c I am a hardcore type A personality that plans & organizes to the point of obsession and there's only room for one of those in each house lol The men in my life have always been the "you wanna do what? How much is it going to cost? When? Ok, that sounds fun" type. Which is perfect for me!!!

Believe me, Tarraha, ordinarily I can't organize my way out of a paper bag, and my wife is generally more detail oriented than I. But when it comes to Disney, obsession compensates for weak planning skills I'm trying to reign myself in a bit by turning the planning over to my daughter and letting her make the key choices (like when to get up, where to eat, which park on what day). I've armed her with a subscription to TouringPlans.com though and she, who was gifted with more procrastination than anyone I know, is actually considering being at rope drop for our MK day! We'll see. When she's home from school she's rarely up before 12. I figure if she does that at POR, I'll just enjoy the resort all the more! Planning on renting a Kayak and a bike at some point, and there are a few lounge chairs that have my name on them!!

 

[SkywayGuy]

This is such a silly question that I am almost embarassed to ask it.

The buildings in Alligator Bayou...are they a combination of two building per unit? (ex. Is bld.15 two buildings by each other to look like an "L" or is it just on building in the shape of an "L"?) Or in other words is there a breeze-way at the bend? Just trying to figure out if it would be okay to be in the middle of the bend facing away from the food court.

Less than 4 months and I feel like there is so much to do!!

MomofEAP: at the PortOrleans.org website they've posted the the map of the resort and you can see the shape of the buildings, and the number of rooms in each. Some are L shaped, some are more like checker board shaped. I stayed in the AB area many years ago when it was called Dixie Landings. The architects did an amazing job of packing in a lot of rooms but still giving the feel that there aren't that many people around; partly through the shape of the buildings and partly by the landscaping. It really is a beautiful place and for my money, feels much, much more relaxed than say the Contemporary or GF resorts do.

To be fair and give equal time, WDWINFO (host of this forum) also has PDF's of the map here. And if you're really obsessed like me, you'll look the property up on Google Earth or Google Maps where you can see satellite photo's of the entire property.

 

[TarrahA]

SkywayGuy, LOL too funny!! I admire your willingness to hand over the reigns - as Crush would say, "Let us see what Squirt does flying solo" I guess I may not be so obsessively controlling if this was a repeat trip for everyone, but it's my daughter's 1st (age 10), and my 1st planning/buying. I haven't been to Disney since about 2003 I think (?) and I see a lot has changed, I'm excited to experience it as if it were my 1st all over again. so of course it has to to PERFECT, which can only happen by nonstop planning until we hit WDW soil, after which my family will trample all over my masterpiece Disney Binder/Bible probably right out the gate with a very "SQUIRREL!!" like reaction when they see the first swimming pool. Why do kids not want to do anything but swim when they go on vacation?? Ugh.

Note for binder: Try to avoid pool on Day 1, ignorance is bliss If that doesn't work, pull out pre-packed single serve daiquiris (See: Packing List from Hell, page 3) =P

 

[bumbershoot]

We are traveling in November with our son who will be almost 5 when we travel. For anyone who has stayed in one, the Royal rooms look beautiful, but are they too "girly" for a boy?

My 8 year old boy didn't feel that they were girly. Honestly the princess stuff was just pictures. The rest was "royal", and Aladdin, and other stuff. The colors in the room are dark purples and blues, which are royal. And there was a picture of the princes as well (maybe a silhouette?) so it's not just princesses. (and remember, all the Disney princesses (but Mulan, but she's not called Princess Mulan though she's A princess) got their title by being daughters of a king or being married to a prince...can't have those Disney princesses without a male involved! I always found that to be helpful for my son when he was feeling left out from all the princess stuff at disney.)

 

[andrewilley]

Do the Recreation Activities Schedule come out on the first of the month? Can't wait to see the schedule for June

Definitely by the first day of the month, but hopefully a few days earlier if I get sent the files in time.

Question - DH & I always stay in a Preferred AB room. Has anyone stayed in a Riverview Room at Magnolia Bend? Are they nice, and pretty convenient to get to Ol Man Island and the food court, etc. or are they quite a hike? I've gotten spoiled by staying in Bldgs 14 & 18 in AB & they're so close to food court, bus & a quiet pool, but for a fall trip we were thinking about a different location. TIA for all your info!

River View rooms in Magnolia Terrace are pretty conveniently located - you just stroll over the bridge and walk across Ol' Man Island, it's a nice and relatively short walk. If you look at the map you'll see some are set a little further back, but even then it's still a pretty short walk.

The buildings in Alligator Bayou...are they a combination of two building per unit? (ex. Is bld.15 two buildings by each other to look like an "L" or is it just on building in the shape of an "L"?) Or in other words is there a breeze-way at the bend?

Yes, there is a breezeway through the centre of all of the Alligator Bayou buildings, the ice and vending machines are located near there. Although they all look like they are different layouts, I found when I was creating the floorplan layouts for my site that they are all based on four simple square units with 8 rooms on each floor, just laid out in different configurations and all with the facilities block in the middle.


Andre

 

[klwdisney]

Question - DH & I always stay in a Preferred AB room. Has anyone stayed in a Riverview Room at Magnolia Bend? Are they nice, and pretty convenient to get to Ol Man Island and the food court, etc. or are they quite a hike? I've gotten spoiled by staying in Bldgs 14 & 18 in AB & they're so close to food court, bus & a quiet pool, but for a fall trip we were thinking about a different location. TIA for all your info!

My Mom and I stayed in a Riverview room in Magnolia Bend last year... Room 8418. We were on the 3rd floor. LOVED IT!! The room was gorgeous!! And we spent a lot of time on the benches outside just looking at the river. I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again in a heartbeat! I can't speak much of the walk. I am one of the few who don't think there is much of a walk involved in the entire resort! It's such a gorgeous resort that I don't mind the walk. We were also very close to a bus stop and the quiet pool next to us was gorgeous and so quiet compared to the loud main pool! I prefer the theming in the mansions to the aligator bayou rooms since they refurbished. We got quite a few towel animals as it was Mom's bday that week and mousekeeping always did a wonderful job! I'm hoping for a room in a similar location for our trip in a couple weeks... although this time we booked a standard room and not a riverview room. Fingers crossed for pixie dust!

 

[germ539]

Called and ordered more magical express tags and when I was on the phone with ME, when she was pulling up my name to make sure that they had the right person, she pulled up another person with the same resort, same name, same arrival date and same amount of people in the party. (except they are all girls in their party, we have one girl and two guys in ours). Had to make sure that they sent the right ME tags to our TA. What is the chance that the same name as mine would be checking in the same day at the same resort with the same number of people.

I hope we don't get mixed up when we check in. Maybe I'll even meet this other person with the same name.

 

[Chuckers]

Called and ordered more magical express tags and when I was on the phone with ME, when she was pulling up my name to make sure that they had the right person, she pulled up another person with the same resort, same name, same arrival date and same amount of people in the party. (except they are all girls in their party, we have one girl and two guys in ours). Had to make sure that they sent the right ME tags to our TA. What is the chance that the same name as mine would be checking in the same day at the same resort with the same number of people.

I hope we don't get mixed up when we check in. Maybe I'll even meet this other person with the same name.

That's just freaky...

 

[dramaticmissy]

Called and ordered more magical express tags and when I was on the phone with ME, when she was pulling up my name to make sure that they had the right person, she pulled up another person with the same resort, same name, same arrival date and same amount of people in the party. (except they are all girls in their party, we have one girl and two guys in ours). Had to make sure that they sent the right ME tags to our TA. What is the chance that the same name as mine would be checking in the same day at the same resort with the same number of people.

I hope we don't get mixed up when we check in. Maybe I'll even meet this other person with the same name.

you have a name doppelganger! hope you guys do not look similar too

 

[sunnydays28]

We leave Wednesday for 4 nights at AoA and then 4 nights at POR. I am getting my room request fax ready and wondering if I should go ahead based on the research I have done and the help provided here and on portorleans.org (thanks Andre!) OR since we are driving in and will be at WDW on Thursday, we should take a quick drive over to POR and look around, then use the gotfreefax site to send in our request. We have booked a standard view Royal Room, so there will not be a lot of choices, but since it is our girl's birthday surprise we are hoping for a little pixie dust in getting a corner room close to the one of the pools and the bridge for easy walk to a bus, and do have a couple rooms in mind. It's a difference of 11 days now, or 5 days next week, but I am kinda thinking 5 days is cutting it a little close and they may have already started making assignments.

Thanks for any advice

 

[andrewilley]

I am kinda thinking 5 days is cutting it a little close and they may have already started making assignments.

Five days is more than enough, I usually suggest 3-5 days in fact.

Andre

 

[Patrickprincess]

We leave Wednesday for 4 nights at AoA and then 4 nights at POR. I am getting my room request fax ready and wondering if I should go ahead based on the research I have done and the help provided here and on portorleans.org (thanks Andre!) OR since we are driving in and will be at WDW on Thursday, we should take a quick drive over to POR and look around, then use the gotfreefax site to send in our request. We have booked a standard view Royal Room, so there will not be a lot of choices, but since it is our girl's birthday surprise we are hoping for a little pixie dust in getting a corner room close to the one of the pools and the bridge for easy walk to a bus, and do have a couple rooms in mind. It's a difference of 11 days now, or 5 days next week, but I am kinda thinking 5 days is cutting it a little close and they may have already started making assignments.

Thanks for any advice

I had a corner room last year and I didn't ask for it. It was my birthday. Your daughter is going to have a blast. I'm going in September for my birthday. I hope she has a magical birthday filled with wishes and pixie dust

 

[Towmater Blue]

One and a half day left! Super excited, but nervous because I didn't fax any requests.

 

[germ539]

you have a name doppelganger! hope you guys do not look similar too

hopefully not from the same part of the country also

 

[KatyDot]

Thanks so much! I think that those rooms look so nice, they would be a nice "home" for our stay!

 

[Shaden]

37 HOURS !!! hahaha, just can't contain it !

Wishing everyone happy planning and disney magic on your upcoming trips !!!

 

[LovingDisny]

SkywayGuy, LOL too funny!! I admire your willingness to hand over the reigns - as Crush would say, "Let us see what Squirt does flying solo" I guess I may not be so obsessively controlling if this was a repeat trip for everyone, but it's my daughter's 1st (age 10), and my 1st planning/buying. I haven't been to Disney since about 2003 I think (?) and I see a lot has changed, I'm excited to experience it as if it were my 1st all over again. so of course it has to to PERFECT, which can only happen by nonstop planning until we hit WDW soil, after which my family will trample all over my masterpiece Disney Binder/Bible probably right out the gate with a very "SQUIRREL!!" like reaction when they see the first swimming pool. Why do kids not want to do anything but swim when they go on vacation?? Ugh. Note for binder: Try to avoid pool on Day 1, ignorance is bliss If that doesn't work, pull out pre-packed single serve daiquiris (See: Packing List from Hell, page 3) =P

My kids love the pool too, so this is how I deal with that. We always have pool time on day 1. I stopped trying to fight it. I also plan an entire day at the water parks. We have season passes to a water park 15 miles from our front door so I could easily skip them when we are at Disney, but my boys all want their water park day. I do love the theming at BB & TL though. We always take the earliest flight out that we can get (usually checking in to POR by 11:00 or 11:30 am) so on our last trip I let the boys wear their swim suits w/shirts & flip flops on the plane. As soon as we were checked in & had lunch I let them hit the pool for a few hours. It worked out great, when we got back to the room ME had dropped off our luggage We unpacked and went to DTD & MK.

This time I am making them wait just a bit. We are going straight to MK after check in, but I promised them we would get back to the resort in plenty of time for them to swim before going to the room to unpack.

Have a great trip