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

[andrewilley]

We booked standard room, that was all that was in the budget.
I don't really care about view but my parents are also going so would like connecting rooms and something close to main building.

Would you request mansions or AB?

Looking at the map the standard rooms is Magnolia Terrace look closer that AB standard rooms in Building 16.

If you don't care about views, or AB vs. MB rooms, then don't request them. Just request what you do want - i.e. "connecting rooms close to main building". Keep it simple.

Andre

 

[Mama Moose]

Hi

Is it possible to book a king room with 1 adult and 2 kids? It's just me taking the kids on one last AP trip in August and my youngest likes to sleep with me on vacation, so the bigger the bed the more sleep we will get. This room would also give us more room to spread out.

Thanks

 

[Missytara]

Hi

Is it possible to book a king room with 1 adult and 2 kids? It's just me taking the kids on one last AP trip in August and my youngest likes to sleep with me on vacation, so the bigger the bed the more sleep we will get. This room would also give us more room to spread out.

Thanks

King bed room occupancy is two plus one under the age of 3, so only if one child is an infant.

 

[andrewilley]

King bed room occupancy is two plus one under the age of 3, so only if one child is an infant.

In fact the rules have recently been changed, you can now book three people at POR in a King Bed room, which will result in an AB room with a Murphy bed (just like you can book for five in the queen bed rooms).

However I don't know whether availabilty for all dates has been loaded onto the booking system yet. I couldn't see anything when I checked.

Andre

 

[Willows909]

Hello!! Leaving for Disney on July 5th and first time POR riverside! Two questions for everyone please...Would love to do the carriage ride...how long is it? I would love to do it in the evening....what is the best time? Ok.. more than two questions....It looks like buildings 14 & 18 are the closest preferred room locations..true? I want to be close to the food courts since we won't be going to any parks this time...just relaxing and filling those mugs by the pool.... Thanks for any advice you might have for me!!

 

[Yellowstonetim]

Hello!! Leaving for Disney on July 5th and first time POR riverside! Two questions for everyone please...Would love to do the carriage ride...how long is it? I would love to do it in the evening....what is the best time? Ok.. more than two questions....It looks like buildings 14 & 18 are the closest preferred room locations..true? I want to be close to the food courts since we won't be going to any parks this time...just relaxing and filling those mugs by the pool.... Thanks for any advice you might have for me!!

I understand the carriage ride is 25 minutes. I think you can go around POR or go to POFQ and back. I would think dusk would be the perfect time: A little light in the sky, but the lights on and shining.

Can't judge the building numbers, I think those are good choices, but if you looked at the info at the beginning of this thread and at portorleans.org, the maps are accurate, and distances are given in more detail. You can also get info on how to make a request for a particular building and/or other things. Enjoy!

 

[ALD85]

Are the pools heated?

 

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

I understand the carriage ride is 25 minutes. I think you can go around POR or go to POFQ and back. I would think dusk would be the perfect time: A little light in the sky, but the lights on and shining.

Can't judge the building numbers, I think those are good choices, but if you looked at the info at the beginning of this thread and at portorleans.org, the maps are accurate, and distances are given in more detail. You can also get info on how to make a request for a particular building and/or other things. Enjoy!

We did the carriage ride in April at 6pm and it was a half hour ride with Laurie & her horse Thomas. We chose to do the POFQ loop. Laurie was amazing & a great fountain of information about anything Disney. We made our reservation as soon as we checked in for that night.

We also stayed the first trip in preferred bldg. 18 & our second trip in preferred bldg. 14. Perfect location. Quiet pool just around the corner from us in 18. Quick walk to everything.

Have fun!!

 

[bigmac5]

We will be in POR for our 25th anniversary the first week in Sept. I have booked most of our suppers for around 6 and was wondering how dark it would be around 9/930. would we see much that late at night?

Also we have a dinner booked for Boma and I guess to get there we would take the bus to either MK or AK and then another bus to AKL. I was thinking that the bus to AK might be better?

 

[Li Li]

We will be in POR for our 25th anniversary the first week in Sept. I have booked most of our suppers for around 6 and was wondering how dark it would be around 9/930. would we see much that late at night?

Also we have a dinner booked for Boma and I guess to get there we would take the bus to either MK or AK and then another bus to AKL. I was thinking that the bus to AK might be better?

Or, if leaving from POR, take bus or boat over to Downtown Disney and then grab a bus straight to AKL.

 

[bigmac5]

Or, if leaving from POR, take bus or boat over to Downtown Disney and then grab a bus straight to AKL.

Thank you I didn't think about DTD--that would probably be the quickest!

 

[Skyhawk341]

Well, DD, DW, and I will be staying at POR this year. And I would certainly be remiss in not acknowledging the yeoman efforts of one andrewilley! We based our choice in no small part upon the information in this thread, as well as his portorleans.org website.

Andre, if fate should ever put us in the same place one of these days, the first pint is on me!

 

[andrewilley]

Are the pools heated?

Yes, to 82 degrees. Though the sun in the summer can warm them up further than that.

We will be in POR for our 25th anniversary the first week in Sept. I have booked most of our suppers for around 6 and was wondering how dark it would be around 9/930. would we see much that late at night?

It'll be fully dark by 9pm, but Disney has a completely different charm at night which is well worth experiencing. What were you thinking of doing/seeing?

Well, DD, DW, and I will be staying at POR this year. And I would certainly be remiss in not acknowledging the yeoman efforts of one andrewilley! We based our choice in no small part upon the information in this thread, as well as his portorleans.org website.

Andre, if fate should ever put us in the same place one of these days, the first pint is on me!

Thank you, I just like being able to help people, and I'm glad that what I do is appreciated. There is a 'virtual pint' donation link on portorleans.org (below the menus on the left of the page) if anyone would like to help out by contributing a small amount towards the direct running costs of the site, which otherwise I pay for myself (I don't include advertising at the moment).

Andre

 

[LovingDisny]

Hi everyone! Just wanted to pop on and say thank you to all of my POR friends for help, good discussion and shared excitement. Also wanted to let you all know how things went on day 1.

We boarded our plane at DFW yesterday, ready to leave at 6:15 am when large, fat, raindrops started hitting the wing we were sitting by. Uh, OH. Well long story short, we were delayed for about and hour and a half to wait for the storm to move out. Nothing you can do about weather though and after we finally got in the air, little bit bumpy flight, we finally made it to Orlando at 10:50. We headed straight for the ME desk, DH or as he likes to call himself on our travel days "pack mule" had a good system for carrying most of our bags himself and we made it to the ME check in at 11:14. ( ok, we got a little distracted at the Harry Potter shop in the airport or we would have been there a little sooner.

The line for POR was really long and we were tired but happy. I'm not sure DH slept at all the night before and DS15 and I only slept for about 3 or 4 hours, so I knew we would eventually crash ( DS7 had full night's sleep, thank heavens)

So, at ME at 11:14, saw the long line, got in the long line.... Sitting on a bus at 11:39.

The stops were: Old Key West, Saratoga Springs and then POR. We were at the on line check in desk at 12:30 & checked in with our packet by 12:45. We booked preferred location and I faxed in a request for "as close to main building as possible, first floor, corner room" We are in AB bldg. 14, all requests were met, and we received some pixie dust! Upgrade to Garden view.. again with the

I am soooo happy with our room! The lobby was fairly crowded, but check in was a breeze and very quick. As we walked to our room ( it was ready )I started to cry.. Stupid I know, but I have been looking at pictures of this place for 3 years and we are finally here! Even the best pictures don't do it justice. it is so pretty!

We had lunch reservations at The Plaza at 1:25, so with our flight delay, we didn't think we would make it. Pixie Dust again! we dropped our carry on's in the room, took the 4 min walk to the south bus stop and what do you know Magic Kingdom bus had just pulled up - we walked on and were only 7 min late for our lunch res. We waited about 25 min and got our table. When we got ready to leave, good bus mojo again! POR bus had just pulled up. On the return from MK, they went to West, Nort, East and then the south stop. It was very quick. Will post more later regarding POR - so far everything since landing has been great! headed out to Blizzard Beach shortly.

Hope our good bus mojo holds out!

Safe travels to everyone coming soon or heading home!

Oh and I cried again when we walked in to MK

Oh and DS15 hugged me really tight last night at the POR pool and said "thanks for planning this trip Mom, I'm so happy to be back here"

and now the tears again....




Oh

 

[Venomhatch]

Oh and DS15 hugged me really tight last night at the POR pool and said "thanks for planning this trip Mom, I'm so happy to be back here"

and now the tears again....

Well very happy your trip is off to a good start here! Sorry about all that crapy weather and delays. At least it wasn't snow! I know wrong location for that but I am saying, could have been much worse. Well I hope you all have a very magical time and WDW treats you well.

 

[Disneymaddness]

Oh and DS15 hugged me really tight last night at the POR pool and said "thanks for planning this trip Mom, I'm so happy to be back here"

and now the tears again....

You think you have tears now, wait until you have to leave!! lol!

 

[LovingDisny]

Thank you Venom! Yes, you just have to roll with the weather in our area, at least the Tornadoes seem to be gone for this year!. It really would have been crazy if we had snow in June in Texas.. thanks for the good wishes!


Oh, and DH and I slept very well on the Queen sized beds. Much better than the doubles!

DS7 LOVES the murphy bed and slept very well. DS15 LOVES having a queen size bed all to himself.

 

[LovingDisny]

You think you have tears now, wait until you have to leave!! lol!

You are so right!!

 

[Missytara]

In fact the rules have recently been changed, you can now book three people at POR in a King Bed room, which will result in an AB room with a Murphy bed (just like you can book for five in the queen bed rooms).

However I don't know whether availabilty for all dates has been loaded onto the booking system yet. I couldn't see anything when I checked.

Andre

Wow, you are right; that is new!

 

[Missytara]

So our plans have again changed and I am continuing to go with the flow.

This trip was supposed to be my friend, her DD18 and DS14, for her daughter's high school graduation. She got senioritis and was failing as of a month ago; she did her best to try to pass but it wasn't quite enough. So while we leave on Friday night to drive straight through, she is staying home and starting Summer School next Tuesday. It isn't about her being a bad kid or being a letdown, it is about what could genuinely effect the rest of her life. She would rather walk with her class and not have to repeat another entire year.

So now DS14 will be bringing a friend; he has asked his best friend (whom I have actually met once) and his parents were to her a yay or nay last night. I am waiting to hear with anticipation. She does have a plan B, another friend in her back pocket.

We know it will all work out in the end. I am not looking forward to the drive from DE, but if it gets me back to my beloved POR I will be happy. I missed last year, due to a cruise with my mom, so I haven't been in a year and a half. I just can hardly think about anything else at this point.

Come on, Saturday morning around 9:30 am, we should be driving up to the guard shack.... it cannot come fast enough.