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

[Patience]

Thank you, Andre. I can't have any caffeine right now and was hoping they had at least one caffeine free diet soda.

 

[bigmac5]

and still on the topic of drink stations. I know they have reg coffee but do they have decaffeinated-I sometimes enjoy a coffee at night but don't want the caffeine

 

[LisaTC]

and still on the topic of drink stations. I know they have reg coffee but do they have decaffeinated-I sometimes enjoy a coffee at night but don't want the caffeine

from portorleans.org

Tea (Various Tea Bags, plus Hot Water Dispenser)
Nescafe Coffee (or Decaf)
Hot Chocolate
Gold Peak Iced Tea: Sweetened Black Tea, Unsweetend Black Tea, White Tea with Citrus or Sweetened Green Tea

 

[bigmac5]

from portorleans.org

Tea (Various Tea Bags, plus Hot Water Dispenser)
Nescafe Coffee (or Decaf)
Hot Chocolate
Gold Peak Iced Tea: Sweetened Black Tea, Unsweetend Black Tea, White Tea with Citrus or Sweetened Green Tea

Thank you and they all sound good

 

[Napria]

I had heard they have iced coffees now too? Can anyone confirm?

 

[quackmar]

Just a couple quick questions my upcoming stay at POR July 21-28. I'm going with just my DB (14) and we have a garden room.

1) What are the odds we will be in the Magnolia Bend versus the Alligator Bayou since there are just 2 of us? Our only room preference is to be in the mansions, so I'd don't want to bother with room requests if the default is already for us to be in the non-RR mansions.

2) Do I need to specifically request no king bed?

Thanks!

 

[andrewilley]

Just a couple quick questions my upcoming stay at POR July 21-28. I'm going with just my DB (14) and we have a garden room.

1) What are the odds we will be in the Magnolia Bend versus the Alligator Bayou since there are just 2 of us? Our only room preference is to be in the mansions, so I'd don't want to bother with room requests if the default is already for us to be in the non-RR mansions.

2) Do I need to specifically request no king bed?

Without any requests, the odds are maybe marginally in favour of you being placed in Alligator Bayou. There are twice as many rooms in AB, but some of them are Preferred Locations, and others will be assigned for parties of five.

It's very rare for them to pixie-dust upgrade people to King Bed rooms, but it can happen when they see what appears to be a couple.

I'd suggest you put in a simple request for a mansion building room with two beds (you'll have to make sure that the agent actually adds that last bit, they might resist as that's technically what you've already booked).

Andre

 

[Mom2six]

Sorry if this has been asked a billion times! What time do the buses from POR to MK start running on a day the park opens at 9:00? We are going in Sept and have an pre-RD ADR at CRT. Usually we drive to the parks, but I'm taking the girls to CRT and we will be meeting up with everyone else after breakfast so we will be on the bus. I would like to get there no later than 7:45. Is this possible? I really don't want to be standing at the bus stop stressing over it! Thanks.

 

[dansdad]

Sorry if this has been asked a billion times! What time do the buses from POR to MK start running on a day the park opens at 9:00? We are going in Sept and have an pre-RD ADR at CRT. Usually we drive to the parks, but I'm taking the girls to CRT and we will be meeting up with everyone else after breakfast so we will be on the bus. I would like to get there no later than 7:45. Is this possible? I really don't want to be standing at the bus stop stressing over it! Thanks.

Buses start rolling at 6:30 every morning to accommodate early breakfast ADRs. To be at MK at 7:45, I would be at the bus stop by 6:45 to be safe.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

I had heard they have iced coffees now too? Can anyone confirm?

I'm pretty sure that the bakery window of the food court had them.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

We returned home 6/19 from a fabulous POR Royal/YC CL split stay.

We arrived at POR via DME around 10:30 am on 6/5. The check in lines were longish, but plenty of CMs were on hand to help out. I did on-line check in and sent a fax about a week out. We were booked in a standard view Royal Room. My main request was for a top floor with no one above us. I also said we would love a corner room if possible and anything near the main foot bridge connecting to the food court. I knew the resort was at capacity during our stay so I was not expecting any kind of pixie dust upgrades.

At check in we were told our room was not yet ready and we would receive a text. We put our carry ons into storage and headed to the MK bus stop. While we were waiting for the bus, the text arrived saying our room was ready. (BTW, you should receive a sample text of some sort to reply to to ensure that you get these texts. Not sure if this is new...)

We opted to head to the park anyway and check out the room later (which would be a mistake). TS Andrea rolled in around 4pm so we headed back to the resort. It was pouring when we arrived and we still had carry on luggage to get back to the room. The fabulous luggage CM's got a bellman to drive us to our building in a golf cart so we (and our stuff) would stay dry

Our room was 9711 Paterre Place and we couldn't have loved it more. It was a corner room on the 2nd floor, with no one above us. One window looked out towards the quiet pool (in the distance) and the other towards the parking lot. But it was, indeed, a very close standard view room near that main foot bridge. It was a bit of a walk to Ol Man Island but that didn't bother us at all.

As for the Royal Rooms themselves, WOW! As primarily Deluxe Resort guests I was blown away by the attention to detail (the sparkle in the granite counter tops, the upgraded flooring, the linens, the curtains, the genie lamp faucets etc). My only annoyance with the room is the lack of a real closet, but I wouldn't want to sacrifice the floor space to get one either. As for the floor space, I was impressed at how spacious it felt with the addition of the queen beds. Also, the room was spotless and we did receive a few towel animals during our stay which the mousekeeper always arranged in the window.

We used the South Depot exclusively since the North really wasn't any closer to our room. We stood about half of the time, but since we made it on the first bus to pull into the resort (or theme park) 95% of the time, we didn't mind. We typically waited around 10 minutes for a bus at the resort and less than 15 at a theme park (with a few exceptions of walking onto a waiting bus). We shared with POFQ primarily midday (although never to MK).

We found it best to take a bus to DTD in the evenings if the line at the boat dock was long. But we never waited for a boat back to the resort as there were plenty of them running. We took full advantage of the ease to get to the DTD from POR, eating at T-Rex, Earl of Sandwich, Raglan Road, Portobello, Fultons and Ghiradelli. We also spent the main rain from TS Andrea at the AMC West Side theater (although the boats were not running at that time).

As for the food court, we ate there once for breakfast around 7:30 am (it was busy but managable. Take your tray to Boatwright's in the AM as there were plenty of open tables). But we generally grabbed something to eat in the parks since we typically aren't that hungry first thing in the AM. We ate there twice for dinner, both times when it was raining. Then it was slammed. Luckily, DS is old enough to wait in his own food line while I wait in mine or else it would have easily been 45 minutes just to get food from multiple windows. I had the baked ziti of the day one night (from the pizza window) and it was decent. I did the make your own pasta the next and that was quite good. We did not get the refillable mugs since we aren't big soda or coffee drinkers (It was still NesCafe when we checked out on 6/14).

As for the rest of the resort, it was beautiful to walk around (DISCLAIMER: We never ventured into the AB side of the resort). Ol Man Island is busy but we always found a chair. I didn't care for the single location to pick up towels (I guess I am used to SAB where there are towel pick up locations at each entrance). I know some folks here don't care for the pool entertainment, but as the mom of a 10 year old, we loved it! The dunk chair was a lot of fun for the kids.

One evening we did walk to POFQ for dinner and beignets (spelling?). As some of you may recall from WAY back when, I had originally booked here but made the switch to POR once the room discounts came out. I am SO glad we stayed at POR instead! I just wasn't feeling it over there (First off, its not THAT small. Some of those buildings could be a walk). Also, I just didn't care for the decor and I far preferred the landscaping and the pool at POR. But their food court was much less crowded at dinnertime (DISCLAIMER: It wasn't raining and my only POR dinner experience was in the rain). And the made to order beignets were awesome!

All in all it was a fabulous stay and I absolutely would stay here again. We had a terrible time there back in 2005 and this recent stay has completely wiped that out of my mind. Every CM we encountered was wonderful and the resort truly is beautiful. As of now, we are planning on spending our annual F&W fest trip back at POR.

If anyone has any other questions, please feel free to ask!

 

[eaf2063]

We arrive at POR on 10-18. We have a preferred room booked and there are 2 adults, 3 children. I believe that I read there are no stairs, so with 5 of us im sure there will be planty of luggage. I know we will be arriving late night so i will need to add that info to my reservation.
Questions:
1- I was thinking of requesting ground floor.. Any other suggestions on requests to make? Is there a pool close to the Preferred rooms? Can that be requested?
2- When i call to let them know about my late arrival, should I add the room requests at that time or just wait and fax it to them?
3- What number do I fax the requests to and to who's attention?

106 days and counting.... as state in a pp i'm still kind of nervous and excited at the same time about staying at the POR since this will be our 1st time at this resort. Any pointers and tips about things that are Must-Dos here are welcomed... Thanks

i didnt see any repsonses to my PP.... so i thought i would repost.
Also wanted to add that i read more about the resort and from what i read it appears that since there are 5 of us in my party our room will be in Alligator Bayou. Howver from the pics i saw it doesnt look as if there is a lot of storage. Where does everyone empty their suitcases? We will proably have a lot since there are so many in our party and we are there 10 days????

 

[Shaden]

Great review, I need to type one up myself !

We returned home 6/19 from a fabulous POR Royal/YC CL split stay.

We arrived at POR via DME around 10:30 am on 6/5. The check in lines were longish, but plenty of CMs were on hand to help out. I did on-line check in and sent a fax about a week out. We were booked in a standard view Royal Room. My main request was for a top floor with no one above us. I also said we would love a corner room if possible and anything near the main foot bridge connecting to the food court. I knew the resort was at capacity during our stay so I was not expecting any kind of pixie dust upgrades.

At check in we were told our room was not yet ready and we would receive a text. We put our carry ons into storage and headed to the MK bus stop. While we were waiting for the bus, the text arrived saying our room was ready. (BTW, you should receive a sample text of some sort to reply to to ensure that you get these texts. Not sure if this is new...)

We opted to head to the park anyway and check out the room later (which would be a mistake). TS Andrea rolled in around 4pm so we headed back to the resort. It was pouring when we arrived and we still had carry on luggage to get back to the room. The fabulous luggage CM's got a bellman to drive us to our building in a golf cart so we (and our stuff) would stay dry

Our room was 9711 Paterre Place and we couldn't have loved it more. It was a corner room on the 2nd floor, with no one above us. One window looked out towards the quiet pool (in the distance) and the other towards the parking lot. But it was, indeed, a very close standard view room near that main foot bridge. It was a bit of a walk to Ol Man Island but that didn't bother us at all.

As for the Royal Rooms themselves, WOW! As primarily Deluxe Resort guests I was blown away by the attention to detail (the sparkle in the granite counter tops, the upgraded flooring, the linens, the curtains, the genie lamp faucets etc). My only annoyance with the room is the lack of a real closet, but I wouldn't want to sacrifice the floor space to get one either. As for the floor space, I was impressed at how spacious it felt with the addition of the queen beds. Also, the room was spotless and we did receive a few towel animals during our stay which the mousekeeper always arranged in the window.

We used the South Depot exclusively since the North really wasn't any closer to our room. We stood about half of the time, but since we made it on the first bus to pull into the resort (or theme park) 95% of the time, we didn't mind. We typically waited around 10 minutes for a bus at the resort and less than 15 at a theme park (with a few exceptions of walking onto a waiting bus). We shared with POFQ primarily midday (although never to MK).

We found it best to take a bus to DTD in the evenings if the line at the boat dock was long. But we never waited for a boat back to the resort as there were plenty of them running. We took full advantage of the ease to get to the DTD from POR, eating at T-Rex, Earl of Sandwich, Raglan Road, Portobello, Fultons and Ghiradelli. We also spent the main rain from TS Andrea at the AMC West Side theater (although the boats were not running at that time).

As for the food court, we ate there once for breakfast around 7:30 am (it was busy but managable. Take your tray to Boatwright's in the AM as there were plenty of open tables). But we generally grabbed something to eat in the parks since we typically aren't that hungry first thing in the AM. We ate there twice for dinner, both times when it was raining. Then it was slammed. Luckily, DS is old enough to wait in his own food line while I wait in mine or else it would have easily been 45 minutes just to get food from multiple windows. I had the baked ziti of the day one night (from the pizza window) and it was decent. I did the make your own pasta the next and that was quite good. We did not get the refillable mugs since we aren't big soda or coffee drinkers (It was still NesCafe when we checked out on 6/14).

As for the rest of the resort, it was beautiful to walk around (DISCLAIMER: We never ventured into the AB side of the resort). Ol Man Island is busy but we always found a chair. I didn't care for the single location to pick up towels (I guess I am used to SAB where there are towel pick up locations at each entrance). I know some folks here don't care for the pool entertainment, but as the mom of a 10 year old, we loved it! The dunk chair was a lot of fun for the kids.

One evening we did walk to POFQ for dinner and beignets (spelling?). As some of you may recall from WAY back when, I had originally booked here but made the switch to POR once the room discounts came out. I am SO glad we stayed at POR instead! I just wasn't feeling it over there (First off, its not THAT small. Some of those buildings could be a walk). Also, I just didn't care for the decor and I far preferred the landscaping and the pool at POR. But their food court was much less crowded at dinnertime (DISCLAIMER: It wasn't raining and my only POR dinner experience was in the rain). And the made to order beignets were awesome!

All in all it was a fabulous stay and I absolutely would stay here again. We had a terrible time there back in 2005 and this recent stay has completely wiped that out of my mind. Every CM we encountered was wonderful and the resort truly is beautiful. As of now, we are planning on spending our annual F&W fest trip back at POR.

If anyone has any other questions, please feel free to ask!

 

[Cinderumbrella]

i didnt see any repsonses to my PP.... so i thought i would repost.
Also wanted to add that i read more about the resort and from what i read it appears that since there are 5 of us in my party our room will be in Alligator Bayou. Howver from the pics i saw it doesnt look as if there is a lot of storage. Where does everyone empty their suitcases? We will proably have a lot since there are so many in our party and we are there 10 days????

We bought a hanging organizer at Target for $8 to hang in the closet. It looks like a stack of hanging cubes and it folds flat. It was AWESOME! Also, I did laundry for the first time ever on vacation since we were there 2 weeks and that also helped cut down on the amount of clothes I needed to pack. I also brought about 40 wire hangers from the dry cleaners to hanging shirts etc in the closet.

As for the fax info, I believe all the details are on page 1. I would put in your room request when you call (ground floor) and then reiterate them in the fax a week before arrival.

 

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

i didnt see any repsonses to my PP.... so i thought i would repost.
Also wanted to add that i read more about the resort and from what i read it appears that since there are 5 of us in my party our room will be in Alligator Bayou. Howver from the pics i saw it doesnt look as if there is a lot of storage. Where does everyone empty their suitcases? We will proably have a lot since there are so many in our party and we are there 10 days????

We stayed in a preferred room AB twice in April. Once in Building 14 & once in Building 18. Building 18 we had a first floor room & Building 14 a second floor room. There are no elevators, just stairs & you do have to haul your luggage up quite alot of stairs. There isn't alot of storage, but we never unpack our suitcases except to hang up certain items of clothing, but we do have hanging organizers for certain items. Loved the AB rooms - Building 18 is super close to the quiet pool and just a few steps to Ol Man Island and the food court. Building 14 is the closest to food court & Ol Man Island. If you check out Andre' website it gives you alot of pics of the rooms and helped us alot in choosing whether we wanted the Mansions or AB.

 

[andrewilley]

1- I was thinking of requesting ground floor.. Any other suggestions on requests to make? Is there a pool close to the Preferred rooms? Can that be requested?
2- When i call to let them know about my late arrival, should I add the room requests at that time or just wait and fax it to them?
3- What number do I fax the requests to and to who's attention?

1. Yes, there is a quiet pool very near to the Preferred rooms (which are all in buildings 14, 15, 18 and 27 in the Alligator Bayou section). See the map in the first post.

2. Add your requests to your initial booking, but your arrival time can be included in your online checkin details, or sent by fax closer to your arrival date. Again, all you need to know is in the first post.

3. Again, see the first FAQ post for fax info and links (or go to www.portorleans.org/room-requests.php for more in-depth info).

Andre

 

[shawnstring]

Just checked and was throughly sprinkled with pixie dust!
Faxed on Thursday for a request of a room in 16 or 17. Got building 17, on the second floor garden view (granted thats what i paid for). Room is so nice and bright.
Now off to the parks! Thanks everyone!

 

[shan23877]

I've been following this thread for months now, and really appreciate all of the information that's been provided.

We're 18 day from our first stay at POR-Royal Guest Room Standard View!

I've read that several people recommend bringing hanging organizers to help manage the lack of storage. Having looked at the photos on POR.org, it looks like half of the dresser space is the mini fridge and the other half drawers. Is this correct? I seem to remember a similar set up at CBR and POFQ. We managed ok at those resorts, so if anyone can confirm that they are in fact the same I can cross one thing off my growing shopping list.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

I've been following this thread for months now, and really appreciate all of the information that's been provided.

We're 18 day from our first stay at POR-Royal Guest Room Standard View!

I've read that several people recommend bringing hanging organizers to help manage the lack of storage. Having looked at the photos on POR.org, it looks like half of the dresser space is the mini fridge and the other half drawers. Is this correct? I seem to remember a similar set up at CBR and POFQ. We managed ok at those resorts, so if anyone can confirm that they are in fact the same I can cross one thing off my growing shopping list.

Yes

 

[freckles04]

I apologize if this has been asked before.

I read on the portorleans.org site that the rooms have Cuisinart coffee makers with coffee pods.

Couple of questions:

1. How many Regular coffee pods do they give you per day? (Decaf does NOT count!) We would need two Regular pods per day.

2. Has anyone had an issue with these not being replenished daily?

I'm considering buying some of the pods online and bringing them along, but if they're good about keeping us stocked, I'd be happy with the complimentary ones.

Thanks!