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

[LovingDisny]

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

Yay!!
I faxed mine this morning also! 6 more days

 

[raider97]

The walks to the food court from the River View rooms in 14, 27 and 38 are all just a short stroll along the river bank pathway, you can watch the kids pretty-much all the way there. Much simpler than some of the walks from the Preferred Locations, and even the very furthest River View room in 38 is still no more than a 4 minute walk from the food court (300 yards tops). Buildings 27 and 38 are also really handy for a quiet pool very near to you, and the main feature pool just across a bridge.

So honestly, whether you are in 14, 27 or 38, you'll be fine.



This is a party of five, so they will get AB. And all of the River View rooms (even in 14 and 27) need to be booked as River View category, not as Preferred Location. You can book River View and request buildings 14 or 27 and still stay within the River View category, but you can't book Preferred and ask for a river view without technically getting an upgrade.

Andre

Glad to hear that the River View rooms in Building 38 aren't too far from the main building I was a little worried. We have a River View room booked and I faxed in my request asking to be close to the main building so we will see what we get.

Can't wait - only 4 more days!

 

[SJSloan]

We were at POR from 5/25 to 6/1. We are a family of five who booked a river view room.

Our family was there the exact same time you all were and in the same building. Used the North Depot most of the time and the food court many times. I'm sure we cross paths at least once.

We loved building 38 too! I don't think I could have picked a better building even if it was right beside the main building.

 

[LovingDisny]

ChristineOH & Brian95

Thank you both for your replies regarding kids falling from the murphy bed. I think we will just put some pillows/stuffed animals down and hope for the best. He has never fallen at home, and is SO excited about sleeping on this. I guess I am just a little worried about it because the murphy bed seems pretty high off the ground. Maybe it it not as high as I think it is. Can't wait to see in person! Good to know that he will need a blanket. We usually bring a couple of Disney throw blankets from home anyway, so he will probably use that instead getting one from Mousekeeping.

Thanks to everyone who has posted a recent review! Good info.

 

[LauraJean]

Sadly, that CM was wrong. Only persons aged 3+ count towards that total room occupancy level (and of those, over 17 years count as adults). An infant under three is separate from the total. So in your case, you have four occupants plus one infant, not five occupants. However I wouldn't worry too much, requests for AB mostly seem to get met anyway - after all, there are twice as many rooms in the AB section as there are in the regular mansions.

That's odd, I've never seen that happen. Specific room types (Preferred) will guarantee you AB and hence the extra bed, while others (Royal Rooms) will guarantee a mansion building room with no extra bed. But other than those, amenities should be the same - it should quote a generic wording such as "two queen beds, or two queen beds and a fold-down bunk size bed".

For a laugh you could try using the UK website which is (being generous) somewhat muddled... For example, for a random day in November:

Disneyworld.com site, which seems pretty-much correct apart from the total room occupancy figures and slightly misleading wording on the Standard vs. Garden views:

Disneyworld.co.uk site; if you can figure out how the UK descriptions and price structure work, well done:

Andre

That is good to know. I find on the phone you are told so much different info for everything! I know most of the phone cms aren't even in FL but I mean they should be still having the same info to say!

 

[ChristineOH]

Our family was there the exact same time you all were and in the same building. Used the North Depot most of the time and the food court many times. I'm sure we cross paths at least once.

We loved building 38 too! I don't think I could have picked a better building even if it was right beside the main building.

We must have! It was SO quiet in our building. I could tell people were staying in the rooms, but we never heard anyone, and hardly even saw anyone walk by our window. (I requested and received a second floor room.) We found our room at POR much quieter than our room at the Poly. Glad you loved it too! Wasn't the weather great last week?!

 

[theEncode]

Okay, so our trip is in its 5th day so far and is really turning into a comedy of errors. Day one. We checked into ASSp and went to DTD. When we returned to our room, it was flooded so we had to move. Not a huge deal but we were only there for one night, then started our package at POR. When we FINALLY get to the hotel, their credit card machine is not working so we are not able to charge things to the room. We go on our way and just pay out of pocket for everything. When we return from MK we go to the lobby and add our credit card. Everything seems fine until we go to pay at Crystal Palace. We give them our card to charge it to the room but 30 min later the server comes back and says we do not have charging (he thought this was also weird since the card now said we had charging ability). They called the hotel and the POR even told them we are not able to charge. So, I pay my tab on the cc we used at the hotel (no issue on the card). Hubby goes to guest services to get the cards fixed and kiddo and I go stand in line for Merida. We wait about 30 min and are at the front but hubby is not back yet so I let several families ahead of us so we can wait. Another 15-2 min go by and he is back with new cards. Now we are able to charge, but our pin never works. Uggggh. Back to the hotel later that night to get it fixed. Check! Now we are good....oh wait no we aren't when we go to the park the next day our cards won't let us in and we have to have the supervisor check them to make sure they are valid. Off we go after another hassle. (thus still has not been fixed btw) once we get to dinner, we go to use our card again using the dining plan and low and behold, it doesn't work again. They call the hotel and get it sorted out though so that's not bad, just an extra 30 min getting it settled. Booooo! Next day we have zero problems (other than park entry). This mrning when we wake up, my daughter has bites all over her leg. They are not mosquito bites as she swells with that so there is no way. Hubby is a paramedic and says it looks just like bed bugs. We immediately check the bed but find nothing. There are a few small blood spots on the mattress pad but nothing else. POR sends in their bug guy but of course he finds nothing. We are having them spray and change everything also. So, this morning we spent over an hour working this issue out and have to adjust our plans. Now when we went to lunch we realize we have been shorted credits for our meal plan. Snacks and qs are off by one day I am sure Ts is off too, just haven't verified yet....back to the hotel manager I go. I am NOT a happy camper!

 

[andrewilley]

I find on the phone you are told so much different info for everything! I know most of the phone cms aren't even in FL but I mean they should be still having the same info to say!

I couldn't agree more, but I'm sure it's hard for them to know everything about every resort somewhere the size of WDW. What they should have though is fully updated information on their computer screen, and that sadly does not always seem to be the case.

What does annoy me is when DRC CMs automatically pooh-pooh things that guests have read on the internet and then proceed to give them even worse 'official' information. Yes, some of the stuff you find on the internet is wildly inaccurate, but there are also sites which provide valuable (and a darn sight more useful) information that the Disney sources do.

I've mentioned it before, but it's still true some 12 years later... the official WDW website STILL quotes the "Colonel's Cotton Co-op" as the name of the main building at POR, when it hasn't been called that since 2001 when the resort was still named Dixie Landings!

Andre

 

[andrewilley]

Okay, so our trip is in its 5th day so far and is really turning into a comedy of errors.

Sounds like a real problem with your key cards generally - there still seem to be teething problems with these new RFID cards, but you've had the lot!!! I've PMed you.

Andre

 

[theEncode]

Sounds like a real problem with your key cards generally - there still seem to be teething problems with these new RFID cards, but you've had the lot!!! I've PMed you.

Andre

Andre, can you send again? I am not seeing a PM. I totally understand they are having some issues but this is just ridiculous. Like I said before, a comedy of errors for us.

 

[andrewilley]

Andre, can you send again? I am not seeing a PM.

Sorry, was still typing it, didn't expect you to reply so quickly! LOL. Sent now.

Andre

 

[LauraJean]

Omg that sounds horrible! The cards would have me drove and the bites sound awful! I can see why your not very happy !!

 

[andrewilley]

the bites sound awful! I can see why your not very happy !!

I wonder if she spent any time sitting out on the grass anywhere? My DW tends to get bitten by some sort of insects on the lawns (the worst time was in Titusville, when we were waiting for a shuttle launch) but they don't seem to go for me for some reason.

Andre

 

[CareHeartsDisney]

Okay, so our trip is in its 5th day so far and is really turning into a comedy of errors.

I'm sorry to hear that you are having so many problems. When we went in February, we had some issues with the new cards. They sometimes didn't work when we went to the parks and had to be scanned on the portable scanners and my pin never worked. I had my credit card linked to my KTTW card but didn't end up using it for charges.

That's awful to hear about your daughter. I hope it's not bed bugs! You certainly don't want to bring those home.

I would speak with a manager and inform them of your numerous problems and I would request a different room.

I hope the rest of your vacation is much better.

 

[mommy2jack]

ChristineOH & Brian95

Thank you both for your replies regarding kids falling from the murphy bed. I think we will just put some pillows/stuffed animals down and hope for the best. He has never fallen at home, and is SO excited about sleeping on this. I guess I am just a little worried about it because the murphy bed seems pretty high off the ground. Maybe it it not as high as I think it is. Can't wait to see in person! Good to know that he will need a blanket. We usually bring a couple of Disney throw blankets from home anyway, so he will probably use that instead getting one from Mousekeeping.

Thanks to everyone who has posted a recent review! Good info.

Our 2 year old LOVED that murphy bed! I was really nervous about her sleeping in it at first since at home she is still in a crib. But I took the 2 chairs that are in the room and placed them next to the bed. I then put our little suitcase in between the bed and fridge and stacked 2 pillows on to it. That made it pretty safe for her to sleep on. She doesn't move around alot so we didn't have any problems. It is actually quite high off the floor, about as high as the regular beds but if you put those 2 chairs in front of it there's no way they'll roll off.

 

[LovingDisny]

theEncode: Okay, so our trip is in its 5th day so far and is really turning into a comedy of errors.

So sorry you are having so many issues. Hopefully Andre will have some good advice for you!

Wishes, hopes & prayers that everything goes well for you from here on out

 

[theEncode]

Thank you for all your kind words so far! Luckily , I messed up the count in the meals so that was not an issue. Here's hoping nothing else happens!!!

 

[jesusluvsu2005]

If you're staying in AB what is the closest room location to the main pool? Thanks!
Amanda

 

[FrenchSnowWhite]

Does anyone have a picture of their kid on the murphy bed in AB?
My 13 y.o daughter is supposed to sleep on one in 50 days and would like very much to see a real picture with a kid on it!

 

[andrewilley]

If you're staying in AB what is the closest room location to the main pool?

The river-facing rooms in 27 and 38 are probably the closest, and 14 is next.

Andre