Port Orleans Riverside Q&A Thread 2014 (Please read first post for FAQs!)

[Marsheliz]

Here now. Our first stay at POR. Checked in on thursday, booked a standard view room and lucked into building 14. Not even a 2 min walk to the bus depot!

Kids are loving the pool and slide. I was happy to have the hot tub (all to myself even!) last night after a busy day running around at MK.

Took the kids to see Yeehaw Bob. My 7 year old loved it, the older boys not so much. Dh and I had a drink and enjoyed singing and dancing along with our youngest. Haha.

The habanero lime margarita at the river roost is to die for.

We didn't get to see YB on our last trip but hoping to catch him next time. Thanks for recommendation of the margarita- that sounds right up my alley.

 

[dixie368]

I would request an upper floor Magnolia Terrace river view - there are some King Bed rooms there that directly overlook the water which are wonderful. Andre

Thanks for answering this! We will be there in December for our honeymoon and have a king room booked too. I've been trying to figure out the same thing!!
Thank you Andre for all of your advice, and Venomhatch too!

 

[mommyof3princess27]

I was looking at the pool hours for POR and it says until 11pm but in the off season its 9pm. What does disney consider off season? I know my kids want to use the waterslide and our only time is in the evenings. We are going the week of Halloween

 

[soniam]

Garden View rooms are located all around the resort, not just in the mansion buildings, so you could just as easily be in the Alligator Bayou section. Upper floor rooms in the more remote buildings like 26, 28 and 34 would be some of the quietest on property, and quite close to the West bus stop (but more of a distance from the main buildings and the South Depot if you prefer to use that bus stop). Parking is ample everywhere, but your room won't necessarily be directly adjacent to a parking lot (indeed, one of the purposes of Garden View is to avoid that outlook). See the map in the first post for a better idea of how the resort layout works. Andre

Thanks. I guess I was assuming we wouldn't be in AB, since those rooms have the extra "bed". It's just the 3 of us. About the bus stops, I am confused about the order of pick. Does it vary, or is there always a certain order? Different things I read say different things.

 

[andrewilley]

Thanks. I guess I was assuming we wouldn't be in AB, since those rooms have the extra "bed". It's just the 3 of us. About the bus stops, I am confused about the order of pick. Does it vary, or is there always a certain order? Different things I read say different things.

There are twice as many AB rooms as there are mansions, they very rarely have enough families of five to completely fill that section (it's usually more like 30%-40%, so plenty of room for other guests too).

The bus routes vary. Most generally go to South Depot first and then the outer stops, but MK buses do it the other way around. MK buses don't share with POFQ, whereas some of the others do (but not all the time). For more info see www.portorleans.org/buses.php.

Andre

 

[mzadell]

There are twice as many AB rooms as there are mansions...

Actually it's exactly 50/50 with 1,024 rooms in each area, but your point remains true. When traveling with my parents this summer, the three of us were surprised with an AB room assignment. It was a really nice change of pace as we'd done Magnolia Bend several times before - It was like an entirely new resort!

 

[andrewilley]

Actually it's exactly 50/50 with 1,024 rooms in each area, but your point remains true.

It's not really 50/50 any more.

There are now 512 Royal Rooms taken out from the total 1,024 mansion building rooms, leaving just 512 for regular bookings (Parterre Place and Magnolia Terrace). But of the 1,024 rooms within Alligator Bayou, just under a quarter of those are now Preferred Location rooms. Also the split varies slightly by room category too, but I'd say a fair estimate is 3:2 in favour of Alligator Bayou.

Andre

 

[kbmartin]

The bus routes vary. Most generally go to South Depot first and then the outer stops, but MK buses do it the other way around. MK buses don't share with POFQ, whereas some of the others do (but not all the time). For more info see www.portorleans.org/buses.php. Andre

This is not meant to be rude or prove you wrong - you are an expert when it comes to Port Orleans! My DH and I stayed at POR a few weeks ago and found that advice to be untrue. Most of the buses seemed to go to the outer stops first, then the South Depot. Then, SOME went to French Quarter from there. That seemed to be at random,

 

[WDWRids]

I'M BACK!!! and so EXCITED!!! After I fell in love with POR on the boards and made our reservations for Dec 6th through 13th......they came with free dining the week after and not at POR. So we switched to CSR for Dec 13th-20th. CSR looked "ok" but I wasn't in love with it. Then this week I received a pin to go back to POR for our currently booked week with FD. I was so excited!!! Change has been made and I'm back to read up and learn even more on POR.

Unfortunately, my sister in law's health will not allow them to join us as original planned so it's just the hubs and I. Looking for a romantic, Christmas getaway (and my birthday too). Any great ideas for romance at POR?

 

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

I'M BACK!!! and so EXCITED!!! After I fell in love with POR on the boards and made our reservations for Dec 6th through 13th......they came with free dining the week after and not at POR. So we switched to CSR for Dec 13th-20th. CSR looked "ok" but I wasn't in love with it. Then this week I received a pin to go back to POR for our currently booked week with FD. I was so excited!!! Change has been made and I'm back to read up and learn even more on POR. Unfortunately, my sister in law's health will not allow them to join us as original planned so it's just the hubs and I. Looking for a romantic, Christmas getaway (and my birthday too). Any great ideas for romance at POR?

Definitely do the carriage ride. I booked this for DH's birthday last year right at dusk. It was beautiful - we chose to go through POFQ to see what it looked like. Our guide Lori was amazing & a huge fountain of information. Then we just took a leisurely stroll around POR. Also a drink at the Muddy Rivers Pool bar & people watching from the rocking chairs. Doesn't take much to make us happy - we've been married 29 years & POR is our "home" when at wdw.

 

[WDWRids]

Definitely do the carriage ride. I booked this for DH's birthday last year right at dusk. It was beautiful - we chose to go through POFQ to see what it looked like. Our guide Lori was amazing & a huge fountain of information. Then we just took a leisurely stroll around POR. Also a drink at the Muddy Rivers Pool bar & people watching from the rocking chairs. Doesn't take much to make us happy - we've been married 29 years & POR is our "home" when at wdw.

Sounds like a wonderful idea! Do I call ahead of time to book the carriage ride? Could be a great thing to do our first night (non park day). Will be our first time at POR. The atmosphere looks amazing!

 

[jenniferyawn]

Hey! I'm really torn here! We will be going next year as a family of five god the first time! We love POFQ, but the kids are excited about the Royal Guest rooms. My kids a will be 16, 14, and almost 2... I know I can get a Royal room with a crib at that time, but I'm torn between that and an alligator bayou room with a trundle bed instead of a crib. The baby usually sleeps with me now. It might be easier to do the bayou rooms than a crib. It just makes me sad the royal rooms look so much nicer! Any chance they will make some royals with trundles? Anyone with experience using a Disney crib? Are they big? Clean?etc...

 

[Venomhatch]

I am on for a bit everyone. Sorry I have been gone for a few days.

 

[siskaren]

Hey! I'm really torn here! We will be going next year as a family of five god the first time! We love POFQ, but the kids are excited about the Royal Guest rooms. My kids a will be 16, 14, and almost 2... I know I can get a Royal room with a crib at that time, but I'm torn between that and an alligator bayou room with a trundle bed instead of a crib. The baby usually sleeps with me now. It might be easier to do the bayou rooms than a crib. It just makes me sad the royal rooms look so much nicer! Any chance they will make some royals with trundles? Anyone with experience using a Disney crib? Are they big? Clean?etc...

As far as I know you get a pack n play, not a crib. And the Alligator Bayou rooms have Murphy beds, not trundle beds. (Murphy beds fold down from the wall, trundle beds pull out from underneath another bed.) Only the Alligator Bayou rooms have Murphy beds.

 

[wiseguyslovethemouse]

Just surprised the kids with a trip to POR on 9/16. We have two rooms, not sure which building, but are basic garden view. It's our first stay here; anything super special/important we should know?? Thanks!! Can't wait!!

 

[andrewilley]

This is not meant to be rude or prove you wrong - you are an expert when it comes to Port Orleans! My DH and I stayed at POR a few weeks ago and found that advice to be untrue. Most of the buses seemed to go to the outer stops first, then the South Depot. Then, SOME went to French Quarter from there. That seemed to be at random,

As I said at the start, the bus routes can vary. But GENERALLY, the MK buses do the South Depot last and then go to the park, while the other park buses mostly do South, West, North, East and then on to the park. If POFQ is involved in the route, then it is usually picked up before POR (and thus drops off there first on the return trip too). I now time and log every bus stop on all of the journeys that we take, and that seems the most common pattern - but it's not set in stone (and I don't have much data on the AK or DTD runs as we very rarely use those buses).

Andre

 

[dawgfan]

Jus tot piggyback off of Andre....His bus schedule is the norm and not the rarity. It is very rare that the busses take any route that has the South Depot other then last and especially going back to POFQ prior to going to the parks. Usually it is the front of POR then all the depots and then off to the parks. POFQ comes before all of that.

 

[GoOfyInDisNEy]

First stay at POR coming up in just 51 days! I was wondering if the resort has the screens at the bus stops that show estimated arrival time of each bus for the different parks? Thanks!

 

[keahgirl8]

First stay at POR coming up in just 51 days! I was wondering if the resort has the screens at the bus stops that show estimated arrival time of each bus for the different parks? Thanks!

It does, but I'm not sure how accurate they are.

 

[ElsasFan]

Hey! I'm really torn here! We will be going next year as a family of five god the first time! We love POFQ, but the kids are excited about the Royal Guest rooms. My kids a will be 16, 14, and almost 2... I know I can get a Royal room with a crib at that time, but I'm torn between that and an alligator bayou room with a trundle bed instead of a crib. The baby usually sleeps with me now. It might be easier to do the bayou rooms than a crib. It just makes me sad the royal rooms look so much nicer! Any chance they will make some royals with trundles? Anyone with experience using a Disney crib? Are they big? Clean?etc...

Unless you don't think your baby will sleep in the crib (and you would therefore need the Murphy bed to have enough sleeping space for everyone), I would go with the Royal guest room. Once your baby turns three, you won't have that opportunity anymore, unless you get two rooms. You have much more limited options, as a party of five.