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

[LauraJean]

If you book preferred you're guaranteed a room in AB...

Couldn't with the fd pin it was garden or royal only.

 

[ALD85]

Couldn't with the fd pin it was garden or royal only.

Aww, darn!

 

[LauraJean]

Aww, darn!

Yeah. Haul down an air mattress I guess lol.

 

[ddwwelsh]

My concern with the Murphy bed is my 18 month old pulling it down on himself! Lol, just a fear I can see happening.

If I request a mansion is that going to cost me more at check in or are there regular garden rooms there as well as royal rooms? I'd love an upgrade, but sure cant afford it!

This might have been addressed, but I would consider putting the Murphy bed down and laying out luggage or something to weight it down if there's room to move around it.

I remember the days of having to toddler-proof hotel rooms. Good luck to you.

 

[~Tinkerella]

Just returned from 5 nights at POR. Had a fabulous trip

Had only made one request and that was for a mansion room rather than AB as we were celebrating my DDs graduation from college and she wanted a mansion room. PIXIE DUST Upon check-in we were upgraded to a Royal Room!!!! DD was totally thrilled.

Resort is absolutely beautiful. We were in Parterre Place, a short walk over the bridge from the main resort building.

Food court was great ~ nice selection and always found a place to sit.

Absolutely loved Yehaw Bob's show; we had the best time participating in his show.

Spent time at Ol' Man Island and the quiet pool near our building, both were nice. It was fun watching the pool games at Ol' Man Island.

Mousekeeping was great ~ room was very clean and there were several towel animals throughout our stay.

The riverboat ride to DTD was really nice and scenic.

Bus service was absolutely stellar!!!!! We never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus anywhere and it was usually 5 minutes or less. Even leaving MK after the Wishes fireworks show when the queue for Riverside spanned two areas, three buses arrived in succession and were loaded and out of there in 10 minutes!!!!!

Would absolutely love to stay at POR again on a future trip.

Thanks to Venom, Andrew, and everyone for their tips and information.

 

[Fºoºz]

Just returned from 5 nights at POR. Had a fabulous trip

Had only made one request and that was for a mansion room rather than AB as we were celebrating my DDs graduation from college and she wanted a mansion room. PIXIE DUST Upon check-in we were upgraded to a Royal Room!!!! DD was totally thrilled.

Resort is absolutely beautiful. We were in Parterre Place, a short walk over the bridge from the main resort building.

Is the Royal Rooms still in great shape ... we stayed there last Sept ...

 

[Napria]

My DD was 5' 2.5" on our last AB stay and she really enjoyed the Murphy bed; another couple of inches would probably be fine too.

I think you'll be OK, but as you say you can always use an air mattress if it doesn't work out for any reason (the resort will be fine with this).

Andre

Thank you! That is very helpful!

Since we are 4 plus an under 3 we might not be able to have an AB room I'm told as they are for people with 5. She will be almost 3 so a pack and play is not an option. I asked about an air mattress in another group and people have done it. I asked the phone cm since if I end up in the mansion building I will need one and she said it was okay to do since we are not over the max number for the room.

When I first called to book I talked to a CM who was adamant that I understand that although she'd note my request for an AB room with Murphy bed, they couldn't guarantee one and they're allocated to families of five first. I took that to mean that it was possible to get it, as long as they weren't overrun with families of five during our stay. I also have heard that not all AB rooms have the Murphy bed. (correct me if I'm wrong on this.)

Just returned from 5 nights at POR. Had a fabulous trip

Had only made one request and that was for a mansion room rather than AB as we were celebrating my DDs graduation from college and she wanted a mansion room. PIXIE DUST Upon check-in we were upgraded to a Royal Room!!!! DD was totally thrilled.

Resort is absolutely beautiful. We were in Parterre Place, a short walk over the bridge from the main resort building.

Food court was great ~ nice selection and always found a place to sit.

Absolutely loved Yehaw Bob's show; we had the best time participating in his show.

Spent time at Ol' Man Island and the quiet pool near our building, both were nice. It was fun watching the pool games at Ol' Man Island.

Mousekeeping was great ~ room was very clean and there were several towel animals throughout our stay.

The riverboat ride to DTD was really nice and scenic.

Bus service was absolutely stellar!!!!! We never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus anywhere and it was usually 5 minutes or less. Even leaving MK after the Wishes fireworks show when the queue for Riverside spanned two areas, three buses arrived in succession and were loaded and out of there in 10 minutes!!!!!

Would absolutely love to stay at POR again on a future trip.

Thanks to Venom, Andrew, and everyone for their tips and information.

Thanks for the mini trip report! Sounds like a wonderful trip! Since air mattresses are ok, I'm kind of hoping for a mansion room now. But I'm going to be happy with whatever I get. This is a trip that's only happening by the grace of god and truthfully, I'm simply thrilled that I'm going to get to go!

 

[CaraMiaBelle]

I've stayed at POR twice (once way back when it was Dixie Landings) and both times I've been in AB as a solo. The AB rooms can hold five, but that doesn't mean they're reserved for five. And to be honest, that's a pretty good chunk of the inventory of rooms at POR to set aside for just groups of five
There really have not been many reasonably priced options for families of 5 in the past, so I can see that it could be a concern that the rooms would be held for families of five though. Now that there is the AoA option for families of five, I would things would be better though.

 

[Rhode Island Quahog]

At what time can you book dining reservations at 180 days prior? Midnight, 6 AM, etc...

 

[G719]

At what time can you book dining reservations at 180 days prior? Midnight, 6 AM, etc...

You can book online at 6 am est or call at 7 am.

 

[Rhode Island Quahog]

You can book online at 6 am est or call at 7 am.

Thank you for your reply...I knew someone would quickly have the answer.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Looks like we'll be making our third stay at POR in September (using an FD PIN). We did stay at POFQ once back in 2009, but POR seems to be the family favorite. We have not gotten an AB room on prior trips; perhaps we will this time. At any rate, I am eager for September to arrive so I can go ride until I am silly and get my Free Dining on.

 

[ferret42]

I'm guessing this had been addressed elsewhere, but i only read the board via an app on my phone. I cannot see the title of a post. So when purple like the one who recently asked"will this be ok for my kid" put Murphy bed in the title, anyone reading the same way i am is lost. Is there n update coming that will add titles in the app?

 

[nonstopdisneymom]

I'm guessing this had been addressed elsewhere, but i only read the board via an app on my phone. I cannot see the title of a post. So when purple like the one who recently asked"will this be ok for my kid" put Murphy bed in the title, anyone reading the same way i am is lost. Is there n update coming that will add titles in the app?

I use the app too but I can see the titles above the post, next to the persons name. I'm using an iPhone. Maybe that's the difference?

 

[andrewilley]

Since we are 4 plus an under 3 we might not be able to have an AB room I'm told as they are for people with 5.

No, although the AB rooms can take up to a maximum of five people, that doesn't mean to say they can ONLY take five people. You can stay in AB with just one person if you want, as long as there's availability there. Of course it's only guaranteed with a party of five (or if you have booked a Preferred Location).

I also have heard that not all AB rooms have the Murphy bed. (correct me if I'm wrong on this.)

All of the AB rooms have Murphy beds, even the King Bed rooms in fact. The only exceptions are wheelchair accessible rooms, where it isn't possible to fit one in along with the other special modifications to the room.

Andre

 

[kelleigh1]

Our 180 day mark passed while we were away on vacation, but I did get all our ADR's. And now that we're back from that trip (not Disney), I think I can really dive into the excitement of planning our first POR visit for November.

Not sure what I really need to do other than some serious daydreaming.

 

[LauraJean]

No, although the AB rooms can take up to a maximum of five people, that doesn't mean to say they can ONLY take five people. You can stay in AB with just one person if you want, as long as there's availability there. Of course it's only guaranteed with a party of five (or if you have booked a Preferred Location).



All of the AB rooms have Murphy beds, even the King Bed rooms in fact. The only exceptions are wheelchair accessible rooms, where it isn't possible to fit one in along with the other special modifications to the room.

Andre

Can't book preferred room with the fd pin. I also didn't it to read that they were only for 5 so those without 5 can't go there. I'm not 5 I might not be there. I guess i should have wrote i was told they were for 5 to be a guarantee. When I first booked POR the phone cm said 5 heartbeats regardless of age get them ESP since my almost 3 year is unsafe being in a pack and play. When I called to add on a night I brought up the AB room and was told since we are 4 plus an under 3 my chances of being there is low. So now I have no idea where I will end up and an air mattress is going to have to come just incase. Rather a pain really since the phone cms are giving different info. Andre I get better info from reading your stuff then on the phone!

 

[nonstopdisneymom]

Just faxed my room requests, soooo excited!!! 5 more days!!

 

[SJSloan]

Hello everyone,

My family and I (2 adults and 3 kids) just returned from a 6 night stay at POR and I was wanted to report on how it went.

We booked a Garden View room and I sent in a request for a corner room in AB building 16 as it was close to the lobby or 38 because it looked like it would be a nice walk to the lobby. Well we ended up with a corner room in building 38 and it was perfect! On the map it looks like a long ways away but it was always a nice stroller to the lobby or the pool. I am glad we got building 38 which is right along the river. Several of the other buildings (35-37) are further back and can add a lot of extra time to the walk.

We received 3 towel animals from Mousekeeping and the kids loved them.

The pull down murphy bed was a good size. My large 8 year old slept on it 3 nights and then a 5 year old slept on it the rest. And there was plenty of space to walk in between the murphy bed and the other beds. I was concerned about this because my husband and I are bigger people but there was plenty of space.

We ate at the food court several times. I was a little disappointed with the create your own pasta station because I heard such great things about it, but DH loved it! I think it was the type of chicken that they used, didn't sit well with me...

The kids loved the pizza and I thought it was pretty good myself. Also tried the sliced turkey meal which was really good!

We rode the boat to DD once and it was a nice ride. We tried again later in the week to get a boat to FQ but the line for the boat was too long and the boats were not coming every 10 minutes.

The buses were great and never packed when we were headed to the parks, only when we returned after park close. The only issue we had was on Tuesday we waited 30 minutes for an AK bus, along with approx 20 other people. Several other buses came in the mean time but none for AK. We had an ADR and were cutting it close after waiting so long. We decided to drive to the park, but were still 15 minutes late after running to the car and running through the park. Other than that once instance so bus issues.

Overall we had a great time and I would recommend POR and consider staying there again, although we would also like to try other resorts. But as a family of 5, POR is a great option for us and value!

Thank you to everyone who posted information on here and to Andre and Venom for providing such detailed information, it really helped in planning our trip!

 

[jkl2000]

SJSloan, thanks for that report! Great to get some little details about the space between the beds and the murphy bed - just the kind of stuff I was wondering too. Also the experience with the buses.

Here's a POR booking question for anyone - booked a stay at POR for october, and it was my first time using the Disney booking site. It didn't let me request Alligator Bayou or Magnolia Bend by name, but since it did let you select two Queen Size beds vs. two Queen Size Beds and a Murphy bed I'm guessing it knows we want Magnolia Bend, but was wondering if I'm correct.

I'm planning to call anyway and make sure they know, and also request a corner room.

It's sort of a strange booking system because it doesn't give you a very good idea of what it's going to allow you to do or request of you. I guess the days of e-commerce websites that tell you how to use them are sort of over, but I find the Disney site to be rather opaque, and I've used a LOT of e-commerce sites.