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

[PizzaMan]

Andre, was the water wheel working properly when you were there?

 

[MaceysMom]

Andre- Thank You so much fror making the beautiful Port Orleans website!

It is awesome!

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

We arrive tomorrow for our first stay at POR. We have only ever stayed at POP. Can't wait!!!!!

 

[PPFDDisneyLover]

Andre, was the water wheel working properly when you were there?

I'm here now, and the water wheel only worked this past Monday, since then it has not worked and had what looks like scaffolding being built around the base of it

 

[SRUAlmn]

I've now updated www.portorleans.org/riversidemill.php with the latest menu info for the Riverside Mill, including the price changes (quite a few things went up by an odd few cents - for example some $6.79 items may have gone up to $6.99, etc). I think all Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner menu changes are covered, but there was still one menu I wanted to double check. Many thanks to Amanda999 for the photos!

Having a nice time in London by the way, I nearly ended up getting the train from Kings Cross to Hogwarts...

Andre

Jealous!!! I've dreamt of going to London my whole life!! Enjoy your time there

 

[aroundtheriverbend]

Depends on what your frustrations were. The buses do call at all the stops, but whether you get seats or not can depend on whether you board at one of the early stops rather than the last one. For MK that would mean the outer stops might be better, for other locations try the South Depot. But it is far from a science, and remember that when a bus gets full it might skip the later stops and they'll send another one to pick up where that one left off.

Just request a room close to the main building & South bus stop, probably better than aiming for a specific building.

Andre

This will be our first trip, so trying to understand - does this mean for MK the buses run counter clockwise starting at the east depot? Is that the majority of the time or only at peak times? Thanks.

 

[AntFarm]

Andre- Thank You so much fror making the beautiful Port Orleans website!

It is awesome!

I also want to give Andre a shout out for this site!

 

[isabelle25]

Thanks andre for all you re doing for people going to Por. Im a french first timer in next august 2014 and your website is a bless for us.
I may ask you what do you mean by outer stops for MK? Xxx

 

[LolaMouse]

Has anyone been able to get BOG lunch FP+ for mid-October yet? I keep trying but it keeps telling me no.

 

[bigmac5]

Another bus/boat question. We are having lunch at Planet Hollywood-ADR @2 and was thinking about taking the bus as it looks like the stop is near there(trying to cut down on some walking for my hubby) How often do the buses run to DTD? We will probably walk around after lunch and take the boat back.

Andre-thanks for posting the prices and pics for the food court. You do such a great job!!

 

[pxedst21]

What's the overall opinion on POR? Yay or nay? Especially if one is used to the value resorts?? Thx

We've stayed at several values, all the mods except CBR, and a few of the deluxe (GF, WL, and AKL). For the money, POR is our favorite. GF was nice but not worth the $$$ (only reason we stayed there is hubby had planned a surprise trip for us because he knew I had always wanted to stay there). I really don't see a big difference between POR, AKL, and WL and with POR being cheaper we think it's the best choice. You can definitely tell a difference in resort level going from a value to the moderate (not that there is anything wrong with the value--just you can tell a difference in the resort levels). If our budget/package deals allow, we always bump up to POR if we can.

 

[PixiePowered]

DH, DS16, DD12 and myself are hoping for a preferred room. But should our request not be fulfilled...Are rollaways available at POR? Or would an air mattress be required?

 

[andrewilley]

Andre, was the water wheel working properly when you were there?

Yes, but I gather it's not running due to maintenance work at the moment.

Andre- Thank You so much fror making the beautiful Port Orleans website!

It is awesome!

You are all very welcome, I'm glad you find the site useful.

This will be our first trip, so trying to understand - does this mean for MK the buses run counter clockwise starting at the east depot? Is that the majority of the time or only at peak times? Thanks.

The buses all run clockwise around the three outer circle stops at Riverside (i.e. West>North>East). The difference is that some go to the South Depot first and then do W>N>E, while others (e.g. the Magic Kingdom buses) do W>N>E first and then South before heading off to their destination.

How often do the buses run to DTD? We will probably walk around after lunch and take the boat back.

The DTD bus stops are being moved around a bit due to the work going on over there. One of the stops is near Planet Hollywood, but that's where a lot of building work is being done at present so I don't know if that will change. They run at least every 20 mins anyway.

You could always get the boat to DTD (which goes to the Rainforest Café dock) and then get the DTD internal water taxi over to Pleasure Island.

Andre

 

[andrewilley]

DH, DS16, DD12 and myself are hoping for a preferred room. But should our request not be fulfilled...Are rollaways available at POR? Or would an air mattress be required?

Preferred Location is not a request, it's a booking category, so if you have already booked that then you should get it. If not, I would suggest requesting an Alligator Bayou room as close as possible to the main buildings. See the first post in this thread for details of how to do that.

Roll-aways are no longer supplied, but a single air mattress would still fit.

Andre

 

[bigmac5]

You could always get the boat to DTD (which goes to the Rainforest Café dock) and then get the DTD internal water taxi over to Pleasure Island.

Andre

great idea-I forgot about the internal boat. I love boats so I am leaning for that route

 

[disneymom0811]

We haven't stayed yet (our trip isn't until Dec) but out main concern/worry is out kids. I think H & I will LOVE it -- I mean, it looks gorgeous! But our girls are use to theming. Our last stay was in the Nemo suite at AoA, so I hope they don't mind all of the missing characters.

Hopefully it will be warm enough to use the pools because I think the slide will more than make up for the lack of cartoonish decorations.

H & I stayed at Pop in Jan and we were less than thrilled. We're looking forward to the queen bed @ POR!

Im like your littles ones then lol have always mostly stayed at values except CBR in 2010 which I was not crazy about at all.
Just got back from AoA and loveeeedddd it.
Friends are taking us next year at POR. I was just wondering what it was like, never stayed there before and so used to the noise and theming of the values. I'm just beyond grateful to be going can never get enough Disney!

 

[disneymom0811]

We've stayed at several values, all the mods except CBR, and a few of the deluxe (GF, WL, and AKL). For the money, POR is our favorite. GF was nice but not worth the $$$ (only reason we stayed there is hubby had planned a surprise trip for us because he knew I had always wanted to stay there). I really don't see a big difference between POR, AKL, and WL and with POR being cheaper we think it's the best choice. You can definitely tell a difference in resort level going from a value to the moderate (not that there is anything wrong with the value--just you can tell a difference in the resort levels). If our budget/package deals allow, we always bump up to POR if we can.

Ty for the feedback. I have never been here and excited to try a different mod just so used to the value, we are going with friends so I may just get spoiled and have to stay here each time we go lol

 

[rammh]

I was wondering how the RFID drink system was going? Any one there now? I will be checking in on Monday

We were there 8/18-25. The system was in place when we arrived but started actually working about 3 days in. I thought it worked fine. We had the dining plan so got the mugs included. You just set them on the tray and fill. I am not sure how long you have to wait until you fill again as I never drink more than one cup at a time. When you put the mug on the tray, the screen would show you what date your mug expired on.

We also took our mugs to the Polynesian. They were not RFID and still selling the old colors, but no one said anything to us about using them. I didnt feel bad because the "new" RFID plan is that you can use them at any resort.

 

[bigmac5]

We were there 8/18-25. The system was in place when we arrived but started actually working about 3 days in. I thought it worked fine. We had the dining plan so got the mugs included. You just set them on the tray and fill. I am not sure how long you have to wait until you fill again as I never drink more than one cup at a time. When you put the mug on the tray, the screen would show you what date your mug expired on.

We also took our mugs to the Polynesian. They were not RFID and still selling the old colors, but no one said anything to us about using them. I didnt feel bad because the "new" RFID plan is that you can use them at any resort.

we too are on the dining plan and also plan to take them to Poly as we want to watch wishes from the beach

Now that you are home are the mugs able to go in the microwave?

 

[Dittz]

, I'm glad you find the site useful.

Andre

I actually found your site (and printed MANY MANY pages from it for my planning binder) before finding this thread. It is wonderful. I do all the planning for our trips (this is only our second) for my group of 4, my parents and my BFF. Parents didn't mind what I planned and then one day mom asked where were going to be staying so she could google it an I sent her to your site. I think she is excited after seeing all the pictures. Last time we stayed at ASMov.

Keep up the awesome work.

Ps my son is jealous that you almost made it to Hogwarts!