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

[amomma23]

I booked preferred but other than that, I don't care which of the preferred buildings we are in. I don't plan on faxing any requests. I did ask for a ground floor but if I don't get it, it won't ruin my vacation.

I booked exactly the same way. I am going to fax just to request the same room for both parts of our stay. To be honest, if we have to pick up and move to a new room, we'll get over it pretty quickly.

 

[freckles04]

I have booked a Preferred Room. Judging by the map, it looks like building 15 would be the best choice for us. It looks like it's close to a large amount of parking area, and we'll have our vehicle, so that will be handy. We don't mind a parking lot view. Without having been there, it's hard to picture, but it looks like it's still fairly close to the main pool/food court. Also, it looks like you can take an easy walk from Bldg 15 through the parking lot and to the South Depot. I hope my observations from the map are spot on.

 

[mrsarbogast]

I booked at POR this morning. Have free dining and wanted this resort but they didn't have any standard rooms left they did however; have the royal rooms available with FD. The CM talked me into it as we are taking only our youngest 2 girls on this trip. Is it worth the extra $300? Or should I switch if a standard becomes available?

 

[Yellowstonetim]

I booked at POR this morning. Have free dining and wanted this resort but they didn't have any standard rooms left they did however; have the royal rooms available with FD. The CM talked me into it as we are taking only our youngest 2 girls on this trip. Is it worth the extra $300? Or should I switch if a standard becomes available?

That is a hard to say as it is a judgment call. Some on here absolutely love the rooms. The theming is awesome and they are beautiful. Whether or not it is worth the money is hard to say. If the $300 doesn't matter, the kids will probably love the room. Mine are grown so I would probably switch.

 

[shannon006]

I would like to introduce myself to this group. My DH and I will be arriving in September for a little getaway without the children This is our first stay at Riverside. We had a reservation for POP, and having been trying everyday for Riverside, and today was the day. We were able to book a king bed, which is exactly what we were hoping for.

I have started to read through the pages, but there are a lot. We are excited for the river taxi, as we always go to DTD and ride down the river.

So I just wanted to introduce myself, and I will be working on finding out whatever I can do to make our stay magical

Our arrival day is DH birthday. I have our dining reservations as follows.
BOG dinner
Rose & Crown, 7:45, perfect for Illuminations
Garden Grill I love living with the land dinner, also doing behind the seeds tour
Sci Fi DH loves it lunch
Tusker house breakfast
Rainforest AK lunch

 

[LisaTC]

I would like to introduce myself to this group. My DH and I will be arriving in September for a little getaway without the children This is our first stay at Riverside. We had a reservation for POP, and having been trying everyday for Riverside, and today was the day. We were able to book a king bed, which is exactly what we were hoping for.

I have started to read through the pages, but there are a lot. We are excited for the river taxi, as we always go to DTD and ride down the river.

So I just wanted to introduce myself, and I will be working on finding out whatever I can do to make our stay magical

Our arrival day is DH birthday. I have our dining reservations as follows.
BOG dinner
Rose & Crown, 7:45, perfect for Illuminations
Garden Grill I love living with the land dinner, also doing behind the seeds tour
Sci Fi DH loves it lunch
Tusker house breakfast
Rainforest AK lunch

Welcome, Shannon! How fun. POR is awesome. We love Rose & Crown. I've only had breakfast at Rainforest, but it was so good and they have awesome coffee. The boat to DTD is great. I love boating past the TreeHouses at SSR. Sounds like you have a great plan. Have a wonderful time! Don't forget to check out the River Roost Lounge at POR. Great entertainment and the apps are pretty tasty. Great bartenders, too!

 

[justakrazymom]

Am I the only one who doesn't care where our room is....as long as it is on WDW property?!? I have not made ANY special requests for our trips and none of them have been ruined. Imagine that....my kids keep wanting to go back!

We make no requests. Never have never will.

 

[shannon006]

Ate the king rooms in a preferred section?

 

[LisaTC]

We make no requests. Never have never will.

Some people need to make requests because of physical issues, etc. That said, we've only done it once because we wanted to be on 2nd floor due to sleep issues, but that was a general request. I think if you get your heart set too much on a specific, you could self-inflict disappointment. If you have a need, that is an entirely different story. We did a royal room riverfront this last time, just to do it once. It was nice, but for as little as we are in the room, I'll take a standard parking lot view if it meant I get to be at POR and going to the parks!

 

[EpcotBill]

Ate the king rooms in a preferred section?

I have never eaten a king room in any section.

Yes, king rooms are in the preferred buildings.

 

[NJRRK]

I have never eaten a king room in any section.

Yes, king rooms are in the preferred buildings.

They are not ONLY in the preferred section, the king rooms are spread throughout the resort the only category that does not have king rooms are the royal rooms.

But they are quite tasty, you should try them, yummy, lol.

 

[shannon006]

Lol. Sorry, on my phone, I meant are. Lol

 

[andrewilley]

the only category that does not have king rooms are the royal rooms.

Which the royalist in me still finds ironically amusing by the way.


Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, the princess pictures in the Royal Rooms are all in the process of being changed out. Gone will be the groups of princesses in locations around Port Orleans, and in will be more 'portrait-like' images of single princesses in regal surroundings (e.g. with castle backgrounds).

The problem is basically that the pictures clashed with Disney character integrity guidelines - for example showing Snow While, Ariel, Belle and Jasmine meeting up with Tiana in New Orleans obviously breaks a great many time/space laws, and I guess will probably cause some kind of anti-matter implosion before long.

Actually I do happen to agree with the sentiment that these characters come from different worlds and so should not be portrayed as existing together - but that doesn't seem to stop Disney Consumer Products from mixing them up to market a new toy, or for several princesses to ride on the same parade float.

I had known this was on the cards since pretty much the moment the Royal Rooms first opened, but it seems like they've finally got the job in hand now. The process is about 2/3 complete.

Andre

 

[Princess Serendipity]

Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, the princess pictures in the Royal Rooms are all in the process of being changed out. Gone will be the groups of princesses in locations around Port Orleans, and in will be more 'portrait-like' images of single princesses in regal surroundings (e.g. with castle backgrounds)...The process is about 2/3 complete.

I hadn't heard about that! Do you have any pictures or sources with pictures? They're not using the new redesigns are they?

 

[TxRabbit]

Hey Everyone!

We are just back from a 3-nights stay from 6/29 to 7/2 at POR. It was our first stay there. We thoroughly enjoyed POR. We stayed in a royal room...Oak Manor 9056. Anyone have any questions?

 

[NJRRK]

Which the royalist in me still finds ironically amusing by the way.

Andre

They are princess based. Princesses become Queens. Therefore queen beds.

It's only logical (said with tongue firmly implanted in cheek).

 

[Missytara]

I was very lucky to be in a corner room; king bed; riverview; Parterre Place, about as close as you could get to the river, before RR's.

It was my no parks, all resorts stay a few years ago.

 

[Astylla]

Hey Everyone!

We are just back from a 3-nights stay from 6/29 to 7/2 at POR. It was our first stay there. We thoroughly enjoyed POR. We stayed in a royal room...Oak Manor 9056. Anyone have any questions?

I have several..hope you don't mind !

What view did you have booked ?
We are looking into Rver view.

Any photos of the room outside regardless of view ?

What floor were you on ?

How was the bedding ? It looks fun but not sure how the comforters feel..

It's just me and DH but we love Disney and he is onboard..do you think the rooms are too cramped for 2 adults for 5 days ? ( split stay with CSR)

Did you enjoy the grounds/amenities ?

 

[andrewilley]

I hadn't heard about that! Do you have any pictures or sources with pictures? They're not using the new redesigns are they?

I'll take some more detailed pictures, and a new Panorama, when I'm over at POR in four weeks time, but in the meantime here's a quick shot to be going on with (thanks D!).

Not a prince in sight this time, which perhaps veers the rooms slightly more towards girls than they were before.

Andre

 

[TxRabbit]

I have several..hope you don't mind !
I don't mind at all...

What view did you have booked ? Garden View - Royal Room
We are looking into Rver view. If you look at the map, our room faced into the courtyard from where the big AED mark on the map is. The river was in the background. Our thoughts regarding river view was to wonder if the horns of the river boats would be annoying? At least for the rooms along the path of the boats...

Any photos of the room outside regardless of view ?
Nope. Sorry. It rained almost constantly...and so we didn't deal with the camera at all. We were right by the stairs, but we weren't bothered by them. We could see the fountain, which changed colors in the evening. The courtyard area was beautiful.

What floor were you on ?
First floor. Really grateful for that as well. The stairs were very slippery because of the rain. We saw a lot of people slip on them.

How was the bedding ? It looks fun but not sure how the comforters feel.The bedding was fine. The sheets are great. The comforters are polyester, I'm pretty sure. They are thin and slightly slick feeling on the top, so definitely a man-made fabric of some sort. We generally push comforters at all hotels aside since hotels aren't required to launder them as often. Liked the theme though. And the bolster pillows were nice...we were watching Wimbleton and they were awesome for relaxing and watching tennis.

It's just me and DH but we love Disney and he is onboard..do you think the rooms are too cramped for 2 adults for 5 days ? ( split stay with CSR)
Definitely not. We were 3. You have to know how to use the space available. We moved the bench over to the other side of the bed closest to the door. We put this flattop thing I brought for food prep onto it and used it as a second nightstand on the other side of the bed. We could put shoes under this bench. You can use the hooks over there for all different kinds of things from bags to clothing.

Moving the bench opened up a nice floor space next to the entertainment dresser where we were able to put the suitcases and other storage things. There are 3 decent sized drawers. The closet hanging space is large, but you might need to ask for more hangers. And I didn't love how close the clothes would be to the sinks. DS isn't the most careful...so I worried about him splashing onto the clothes. There is one long shelf above that can hold more clothing.

The vanity storage is great. There is a shelf under the mirror and above the sinks for all the things you want to unpack. It's the entire width of the sink area and about 6-8 inches deep, so plenty of space for everything. There is also a large, tall storage shelf under the sinks.

The space in the dressing area is nice. Between DS and myself, we really made use of that area with the curtain. Plenty of room for getting dressed. The double sinks were great for DH and myself to use at the same time.

There is also decent floor space by the window/door/table. IMO...the room is typical of most hotels. You do have to "yield" or go around each other anywhere around the beds, but it isn't horrible...though some might be annoyed. There isn't the recommended 36" pathway for traffic patterns. LOL.

Did you enjoy the grounds/amenities ?
Most definitely. The grounds are absolutely beautiful. Peaceful. We didn't venture into the AB area. We stayed around the Mansions. I was slightly worried that it would feel too manicured and formal, but it didn't to me. It was more geometric and planned, but the vegetation was fully grown and tropical so while it is technically a formal garden area, it was very inviting and lovely.

We loved the river. It made for fabulous views. The bridges are picturesque. The trees. The main building theme just totally works.

We took the boat to DTD and also the bus to HS. The boat will shut down if there is lightning in the area, which there was...A LOT on our visit. The boat can also take a while depending on where you are in DTD and where you want to go...one night, we left DQ (on the West side) at 10:45 PM. We went to take the water taxi from West Side to Marketplace (the only landing for the POR boat)...and the lines were very long...we got on the 3rd boat to Marketplace...then we got on the second boat to POR. We were back in our room at 12 midnight. So it took quite a while...maybe not much more than other transportation and definitely more enjoyable than a bus or having to drive ourselves.

Too much lightning and rain to enjoy the pool. But we walked through that area...and on a future visit, I would definitely enjoy it. Seemed like a great oasis on the island. Lots of fun.

The food court was fine. I thought the seating was ample and the atmosphere nice enough for a food court. When we were there, we could easily get a window table and the views were really enjoyable. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't any patio dining right there (unless I missed it), as I always enjoy eating al fresco.