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

[zabache]

Andre: what day are you checking in?
You know I'll be at POR from 8/1 to 8/8 and I know once you told me your dates but I completely forgot.

 

[Venomhatch]

Is that the one in front of the lobby/main building? That's the one we used most when we stayed there, so maybe that's why we had no problem.

Yes the South Depot is the one right by the gift shop and main entrance doors.

 

[fadingjamie]

This is why I tell guests to go to the South Depot for a sure fire chance of getting where you need to go.

So far every time we've stopped at the south depot, the people getting on have had standing room only. Very often they aren't able to all get on the bus and have to wait for another one. I feel bad for them and wouldn't recommend south at all.

 

[andrewilley]

Andre: what day are you checking in?
You know I'll be at POR from 8/1 to 8/8 and I know once you told me your dates but I completely forgot.

We'll be at POR rom 31 July (arriving early evening) to 14 Aug (leaving lunchtime).

So far every time we've stopped at the south depot, the people getting on have had standing room only. Very often they aren't able to all get on the bus and have to wait for another one.

South is the most popular stop, and usually seems to get more buses (because if one fills there, it might go direct to the park rather than doing the circle next, while another bus will do the circle route).

It's hard to work out exact rules though - partly as they use a computerised despatch and tracking system - but some parks (e.g. MK and DTD) seem to do the circle route FIRST, and then go to the South Depot, while other parks (e.g. Epcot and Studios) do South first and then the circle route. If you know which route your park is on, it makes sense to be at the stop that the bus is mostly likely to arrive at first, but the "rules" do seem more like guidelines sometimes.

I've taken to keeping quick notes on my phone these days - the time I get to the bus-stop, what buses come while I'm waiting, what time we depart (and noting any other stops), and what time we get to the park. It whiles away the wait anyway, even if I still haven't worked it all out. One thing I have noticed is that the subjective wait/journey times are often very different to what the clock actually tells me.

Andre

 

[zabache]

We'll be at POR rom 31 July (arriving early evening) to 14 Aug (leaving lunchtime).

South is the most popular stop, and usually seems to get more buses (because if one fills there, it might go direct to the park rather than doing the circle next, while another bus will do the circle route).

It's hard to work out exact rules though - partly as they use a computerised despatch and tracking system - but some parks (e.g. MK and DTD) seem to do the circle route FIRST, and then go to the South Depot, while other parks (e.g. Epcot and Studios) do South first and then the circle route. If you know which route your park is on, it makes sense to be at the stop that the bus is mostly likely to arrive at first, but the "rules" do seem more like guidelines sometimes.

I've taken to keeping quick notes on my phone these days - the time I get to the bus-stop, what buses come while I'm waiting, what time we depart (and noting any other stops), and what time we get to the park. It whiles away the wait anyway, even if I still haven't worked it all out. One thing I have noticed is that the subjective wait/journey times are often very different to what the clock actually tells me.

Andre

Awesome. I'm guessing you have you ADR's and park schedule set. Maybe we'll see each other.

 

[andrewilley]

Awesome. I'm guessing you have you ADR's and park schedule set. Maybe we'll see each other.

By DIS standards I'm not that much of a planner to be honest. I have four or five ADRs made for places were particualrly like, and some ideas for general park days (especially for the first few days) but otherwise we kinda wing it a lot more than we used to - after consulting Lines & touringplans.com of course, I do still have some planning street-cred!

Andre

 

[candeeapril]

we are a family of 5 and will need the alligator bayou rooms. Do you think its worth the extra money for the preferred section? Thanks

 

[CaraMiaBelle]

we are a family of 5 and will need the alligator bayou rooms. Do you think its worth the extra money for the preferred section? Thanks

I would say yes if your children are young like mine. That was what I was originally planning. However, I doubt there will be any preferred rooms available with the FD promotion.

 

[brios86]

we are a family of 5 and will need the alligator bayou rooms. Do you think its worth the extra money for the preferred section? Thanks

Only if you really want it you will be in AB unless someone in the room is an infant. In that situation it would not be guaranteed. Otherwise you will be in AB.

 

[bc7ate9]

This is my very first post on the DIS Boards - after lurking for a few weeks in various forums/threads and not finding an answer to a random question I have, I'm guessing there's a pretty good chance that somebody on here will have an answer for me!

My boyfriend and I will be staying at Port Orleans Riverside in September for what is, essentially, our honeymoon. We'll be on our own for the first 5 nights of our trip, but then my best friend and her husband will be joining us for 2 nights. They live in Florida and don't want/need the Magic My Way package or meal plan or anything so they are not included on our reservations, but they will be sharing our room. For some reason, I feel like we're being sneaky and breaking rules or something...but does the resort really care? Wouldn't the room cost the same regardless? I guess we might all use the buses a few times and maybe the pool, but beyond that, our guests won't be using the resort amenities much, just sleeping in the extra bed in the room we've already paid for. We're certainly not looking to take advantage of anything - and if there is some sort of surcharge for having more people in the room, we'll pay it...I just don't know if it's worth calling and going through the automated system and waiting on hold etc. Any thoughts?

 

[ohnowewontgo]

At the north bus stop right now. We've seen 5 Hollywood Studios buses, 5 Animal Kingdom, 3 Downtown Disney, 2 Magic Kingdom. Still nothing for Epcot!!

The buses and service overall are absolutely atrocious. We're regretting switching here...

We've been here since Saturday and had incredibly good times and luck with buses. I've luckily not had to stand, and never waited long. We always use the South depot though.

 

[SRUAlmn]

This is my very first post on the DIS Boards - after lurking for a few weeks in various forums/threads and not finding an answer to a random question I have, I'm guessing there's a pretty good chance that somebody on here will have an answer for me!

My boyfriend and I will be staying at Port Orleans Riverside in September for what is, essentially, our honeymoon. We'll be on our own for the first 5 nights of our trip, but then my best friend and her husband will be joining us for 2 nights. They live in Florida and don't want/need the Magic My Way package or meal plan or anything so they are not included on our reservations, but they will be sharing our room. For some reason, I feel like we're being sneaky and breaking rules or something...but does the resort really care? Wouldn't the room cost the same regardless? I guess we might all use the buses a few times and maybe the pool, but beyond that, our guests won't be using the resort amenities much, just sleeping in the extra bed in the room we've already paid for. We're certainly not looking to take advantage of anything - and if there is some sort of surcharge for having more people in the room, we'll pay it...I just don't know if it's worth calling and going through the automated system and waiting on hold etc. Any thoughts?

The resort rates are based on double occupancy and after that there's a per person per night charge (for adults.). My husband ended up joining my family at BWI at the last minute a few years ago and we just let them know which days he'd be there. They ended up not charging us, but I would've felt bad if we hadn't been honest ETA: I wanted to make sure you knew I wasn't implying that you intended to be dishonest

 

[scoobydooby]

We'll be at POR rom 31 July (arriving early evening) to 14 Aug (leaving lunchtime).

Andre

Hello You will be there some of the same time as us. We arrive for our third stay at POR on 9 August, leaving on the 24th. I'm trying to get excited but to be honest would prefer the Beach Club again! POR is my fave moderate though.

Thought Id say hello as I noticed you are from very close to where we live too!!

Having reviewed the great room maps on here I am going to request a pool view in (I think) building 18. Have paid for preferred location and love that quiet pool.

Have a good trip. I hear immigration lines are currently horrible......

I hope we get a fridge too. That's bothering me.

 

[NJRRK]

This is my very first post on the DIS Boards - after lurking for a few weeks in various forums/threads and not finding an answer to a random question I have, I'm guessing there's a pretty good chance that somebody on here will have an answer for me!

My boyfriend and I will be staying at Port Orleans Riverside in September for what is, essentially, our honeymoon. We'll be on our own for the first 5 nights of our trip, but then my best friend and her husband will be joining us for 2 nights. They live in Florida and don't want/need the Magic My Way package or meal plan or anything so they are not included on our reservations, but they will be sharing our room. For some reason, I feel like we're being sneaky and breaking rules or something...but does the resort really care? Wouldn't the room cost the same regardless? I guess we might all use the buses a few times and maybe the pool, but beyond that, our guests won't be using the resort amenities much, just sleeping in the extra bed in the room we've already paid for. We're certainly not looking to take advantage of anything - and if there is some sort of surcharge for having more people in the room, we'll pay it...I just don't know if it's worth calling and going through the automated system and waiting on hold etc. Any thoughts?

Tell the front desk when you check in. Expect to pay the extra adult charge for the two nights, maybe you'll get lucky.

As long as you are up front about it, no problem. If you try to call and add them in advance, you'll probably get the reservation line all confused and they will tell you that all people in the room have to be on the same package, blah, blah, blah. But the front desk will handle it on check in. I would not do on line check in in this case though.

 

[bc7ate9]

The resort rates are based on double occupancy and after that there's a per person per night charge (for adults.). My husband ended up joining my family at BWI at the last minute a few years ago and we just let them know which days he'd be there. They ended up not charging us, but I would've felt bad if we hadn't been honest ETA: I wanted to make sure you knew I wasn't implying that you intended to be dishonest

Thanks! That makes sense and seems to be a fair and reasonable policy. I didn't feel like you were implying that I wanted to be dishonest - I would have felt bad as well! I probably would've gotten so overwrought with guilt that I would've forced our friends to sleep on top of the covers, refused to let them use the shower, hid their belongings, made them leave the room disguised as luggage, etc. until finally ending up in the lobby sobbing and begging the nice cast member's to PLEASE forgive me!

Do you think it's necessary to let the resort know prior to our arrival? Or would it be fine to let them know when we check in? After spending a half hour on hold today, I'm not especially eager to call again if I don't have to (I actually meant to ask about this when I called them today for totally unrelated reasons, but a half hour of the Haunted Mansion soundtrack had me in something of a trance...)

 

[SRUAlmn]

Thanks! That makes sense and seems to be a fair and reasonable policy. I didn't feel like you were implying that I wanted to be dishonest - I would have felt bad as well! I probably would've gotten so overwrought with guilt that I would've forced our friends to sleep on top of the covers, refused to let them use the shower, hid their belongings, made them leave the room disguised as luggage, etc. until finally ending up in the lobby sobbing and begging the nice cast member's to PLEASE forgive me!

Do you think it's necessary to let the resort know prior to our arrival? Or would it be fine to let them know when we check in? After spending a half hour on hold today, I'm not especially eager to call again if I don't have to (I actually meant to ask about this when I called them today for totally unrelated reasons, but a half hour of the Haunted Mansion soundtrack had me in something of a trance...)

Hahahaha! I'm the same way! My husband and I slept in separate beds a few nights because they're queens and he's 6'5" and I'm 5'9" and I was worried housekeeping would think we had extra people in there. That, or that we hated each other, ha! I'm sure Venom or Andre could direct you better, but my suggestion would be to let them know when you check in that you will have 2 additional guests joining you and for which dates.

 

[bigmac5]

Thanks! That makes sense and seems to be a fair and reasonable policy. I didn't feel like you were implying that I wanted to be dishonest - I would have felt bad as well! I probably would've gotten so overwrought with guilt that I would've forced our friends to sleep on top of the covers, refused to let them use the shower, hid their belongings, made them leave the room disguised as luggage, etc. until finally ending up in the lobby sobbing and begging the nice cast member's to PLEASE forgive me!

Do you think it's necessary to let the resort know prior to our arrival? Or would it be fine to let them know when we check in? After spending a half hour on hold today, I'm not especially eager to call again if I don't have to (I actually meant to ask about this when I called them today for totally unrelated reasons, but a half hour of the Haunted Mansion soundtrack had me in something of a trance...)

I would do it when you check in at the front desk. When you call you do not get the resort-and hence a good chance for everything to get messed up lol

 

[andrewilley]

Do you think it's necessary to let the resort know prior to our arrival? Or would it be fine to let them know when we check in?

No, if you try to do it in advance (a) they'll just get confused and (b) they'll most probably want to charge you $30/night for the extra two adults.

Just let the front desk know during your stay (no need to do it when you first check in). If you just let them know that you've got two local friends visiting to celebrate with you for a couple of days, I think it's very unlikely that they'll charge you any extra. But I think you're right in letting them know for all sorts of reasons (safety issues for one). Not sure whether they'll issue separate room keys or not though, they might.

Hello You will be there some of the same time as us. We arrive for our third stay at POR on 9 August, leaving on the 24th. I'm trying to get excited but to be honest would prefer the Beach Club again! POR is my fave moderate though.

Thought Id say hello as I noticed you are from very close to where we live too!!

Having reviewed the great room maps on here I am going to request a pool view in (I think) building 18. Have paid for preferred location and love that quiet pool.

Have a good trip. I hear immigration lines are currently horrible......

I like the BC too, especially for the easy access to Epcot. Now if I could just walk to Epcot in 4 minutes from POR, life would be perfect.

'Preferred Location' category does not technically include the six 'Pool View' rooms in building 18 - but that said, there are a number of other Preferred rooms which are very close to the pool, just not having a full direct view of it (trees in the way for example). Just ask for a room as close to the pool as possible and see what they can do for you.

We fly from Birmingham via Newark, so we'll clear US customs and immigration at New York, and then have an internal flight onward to MCO, so we just get to step off the plane at Orlando and walk right on though to internal baggage claim in the terminal building. We live about 8 miles north of Birmingham, so it's our most convenient airport.

Maybe see you around the resort, you never know!

Andre

 

[Dani C]

Just got to my king mansion room at Magnolia Terrace. The refrigerator is nowhere to be seen, so it appears that yes some have been removed and they are putting people in those rooms without them. Also, yes they have the Joffrey's coffee pods in the room. Time to start my holiday!

 

[DisneyFive]

So I tried wading through all this, but can someone help anwer my question about replacement of refrigerators? We'll be in AB rooms.

We always order from Garden Grocer and keep things like milk, drinks, cream cheese, etc... in the refrigerator.

We'll be there late Sept, and from what I've read, all the refrigerator replacements are to be complete by July 31st? Is that right?

Dan