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

[Kirby]

We have a garden view room reserved in late January. (We've been staying off property lately and so excited to back in the magic!)
We need sleeping for 5, so we will be in AB. I see a lot of people on here wanting to be close to main building and/or food court, but my family is actually looking for the opposite. We will have a car and plan on driving to and from the parks. One of our main desires is a close-ish parking spot to our room. Any suggestions on which building?

It's been awhile, 12 years in fact since we stayed at POR. We were in Building 25 and loved it! We were close to the West Bus Depot and the buses always had plenty of room when they got to us. I loved walking to the food court each morning for coffee listening to the birds, watching the rabbits and squirrels.

 

[andrewilley]

Andre, love the menus and the in depth room type/location maps. Two features on the site I've never used before.

Great, glad you found them useful.

I did an update on the building floorplan maps recently by the way, in case anyone wants to download the newer versions from www.portorleans.org/floorplans.php.

Some of the connecting rooms were not indicated correctly (specifically those with certain types of Accessible features) and also the resort let me know a few extra rooms with Connecting doors that were not previously listed on their master document.

I'm sorry if this has been asked before but I'm wondering if the building that assigned to a reservation is known before check in? I'd love to know what building we will be in now before we check in on Saturday!

Generally no, most rooms are assigned on the guest's checkin day, using the Ready Room system. That happens a few hours before you are due to arrive if you have done Online Checkin, or when you actually get to the front desk if you have not.

Even if rooms are pre-blocked (for special requests or larger groups for example) they won't normally give out that information out until the room is actually vacated and ready for the new guest, just in case something has to change at the last minute (for example if there is a problem with cleaning a room, or a previous guest has not yet checked out, etc).


Oh, I forgot to mention that the 'Direct to Room' checkin trials that were carried out earlier in the year were deemed to be generally successful, and there are plans to roll the service out permanently early in the new year. There will be a few tweaks made to the system before it goes live again, and I'll let everyone know when I know more.

It will remain optional of course - anyone who prefers to check in at the front desk rather than being texted with their room number just prior to their arrival will always be able to do so.

Andre

 

[totebagg]

I have been meaning to post this for several weeks but life has been super busy since we came back from our trip! But I wanted to post a huge thank you to Andre for his tireless work on answering questions and keeping us all up to date with his wonderful Port Orleans Website - that is how I first fell in love with the resort! Also a big thank you to venomhatch for always being willing to help anyone out and giving pointers to an even more magical stay. So thanks to you both and to all the others who have participated on this board, it truly made our stay even more magical. I have to say that our first full stay at POR was wonderful (stayed in RR last year for one night) and we received most of our requests and I feel that was due to the fax process which Venomhatch has helped so many of us. When we arrived, the CM (named Tori) was wonderful - she looked at our room assignment and noticed we were in AB and said I see that you requested the Mansions and she reassigned us to the Mansions without me even asking. We were in Magnolia Terrace - garden view and it was a short walk to the bus stop, food court and main pool. It was a perfect location for us!
We did have a slight problem with our bands so check in took a little longer but I wasn't complaining because I am at Disney and honestly I was beside someone in line who was over the top complaining and asking for comp after comp and the CM kept her composure and I am not sure that I could. He even went as far as saying he needed compensated because the TSA was horrible to his wife and now they were having trouble with their magic bands!! The CM that was working with us did get our bands fixed and even offered a 4th fast pass for our wait which was such a pleasant surprise.
We were there for our daughter's birthday and each night we had the cutest towel animals (which is a first for us) and a birthday card left in the room from Mickey. She thought that was the coolest thing and believed Mickey was the one making the towel animals. I did make a point to find our Mousekeeping lady and let her know how much we appreciated her extra touches! Overall everyone from Mousekeeping to the CMs to the boat captain was really friendly and helpful. The resort was beautiful and overall it was another fabulous trip. The only thing my husband complained about was that I booked us for 3 buffets in 24 hours!!! Can we say food overload...I don't know what I was thinking to book 1900 Park Fare on Arrival night, Crystal Palace at 8:05 am the next morning and Chef Mickey that evening
So once again thanks for all that you guys do to help make everyone's trip as best as it can be!!
PS - as much as I don't want to - we are staying at CBR next year (to please another couple) but we will definitely be back to POR soon.

 

[Venomhatch]

I have been meaning to post this for several weeks but life has been super busy since we came back from our trip! But I wanted to post a huge thank you to Andre for his tireless work on answering questions and keeping us all up to date with his wonderful Port Orleans Website - that is how I first fell in love with the resort! Also a big thank you to venomhatch for always being willing to help anyone out and giving pointers to an even more magical stay. So thanks to you both and to all the others who have participated on this board, it truly made our stay even more magical. I have to say that our first full stay at POR was wonderful (stayed in RR last year for one night) and we received most of our requests and I feel that was due to the fax process which Venomhatch has helped so many of us. When we arrived, the CM (named Tori) was wonderful - she looked at our room assignment and noticed we were in AB and said I see that you requested the Mansions and she reassigned us to the Mansions without me even asking. We were in Magnolia Terrace - garden view and it was a short walk to the bus stop, food court and main pool. It was a perfect location for us!
We did have a slight problem with our bands so check in took a little longer but I wasn't complaining because I am at Disney and honestly I was beside someone in line who was over the top complaining and asking for comp after comp and the CM kept her composure and I am not sure that I could. He even went as far as saying he needed compensated because the TSA was horrible to his wife and now they were having trouble with their magic bands!! The CM that was working with us did get our bands fixed and even offered a 4th fast pass for our wait which was such a pleasant surprise.
We were there for our daughter's birthday and each night we had the cutest towel animals (which is a first for us) and a birthday card left in the room from Mickey. She thought that was the coolest thing and believed Mickey was the one making the towel animals. I did make a point to find our Mousekeeping lady and let her know how much we appreciated her extra touches! Overall everyone from Mousekeeping to the CMs to the boat captain was really friendly and helpful. The resort was beautiful and overall it was another fabulous trip. The only thing my husband complained about was that I booked us for 3 buffets in 24 hours!!! Can we say food overload...I don't know what I was thinking to book 1900 Park Fare on Arrival night, Crystal Palace at 8:05 am the next morning and Chef Mickey that evening
So once again thanks for all that you guys do to help make everyone's trip as best as it can be!!
PS - as much as I don't want to - we are staying at CBR next year (to please another couple) but we will definitely be back to POR soon.

Thank you so much for the kind words. Really not necessary. We do it to ensure everyone has the most magical experience possible!

 

[erinkristen04]

We are back from our completely MAGICAL stay!! We were incredibly lucky to receive all of our requests and had a gorgeous view from our room. There is no question in my mind that our awesome room assignment was the result of the advice regarding fax requests that we'd received on these boards.

POR has ALWAYS been my favorite resort! However, this was DH's first time staying on property at a Disney resort. I wasn't sure if he would feel the same way about POR that I do, but I shouldn't have worried because he completely fell in love with POR as well. We did the monorail tour of GF, Poly, and CR, and he kept talking about how POR was his favorite and he thought it was the prettiest. Went ahead and booked our BB and will be back to POR next November. It wasn't hard to convince him that was where we should stay

Thanks to everyone for all the advice, especially Andre and Venom! I'm excited to keep up with this thread as we prepare for our stay next year!

 

[lmcarr49]

I booked a RR for May 8-15, but it's standard view. From what I've read, do I wait for the discounts to come out to book a preferred room? Not quite sure how this works. This is my first time staying on disney property.

 

[andrewilley]

I booked a RR for May 8-15, but it's standard view. From what I've read, do I wait for the discounts to come out to book a preferred room? Not quite sure how this works. This is my first time staying on disney property.

There are no Preferred Locations in the Royal Rooms, the only 'preferred' buildings are in the Alligator Bayou section (buildings 14, 15, 18 and 27). It's always worth keeping your eyes open for discounts though, in case any do happen to become available in the meantime. If they do, you can look to see what room categories might be included in any offers and re-book accordingly.

Don't count on it though, Port Orleans has been missed out from a number of discount offers recently, and at other times the allocation of discounted rooms has been pretty limited. Ironically this is partly because people make boo0kings in advance anyway, so Disney may see the occupancy rate as high enough to not warrant any further discounting.

Andre

 

[Luv2Run]

We are back from our completely MAGICAL stay!! We were incredibly lucky to receive all of our requests and had a gorgeous view from our room. There is no question in my mind that our awesome room assignment was the result of the advice regarding fax requests that we'd received on these boards.

POR has ALWAYS been my favorite resort! However, this was DH's first time staying on property at a Disney resort. I wasn't sure if he would feel the same way about POR that I do, but I shouldn't have worried because he completely fell in love with POR as well. We did the monorail tour of GF, Poly, and CR, and he kept talking about how POR was his favorite and he thought it was the prettiest. Went ahead and booked our BB and will be back to POR next November. It wasn't hard to convince him that was where we should stay

Thanks to everyone for all the advice, especially Andre and Venom! I'm excited to keep up with this thread as we prepare for our stay next year!

What were your requests in your fax? And what was the difference between what you had already booked, and what you wound up with?

The reason I ask, is we're about 90 days out and I'm curious if our request is too different from what we booked. We booked a Garden view room, and I am hoping to request a corner room in Magnolia Bend, king size if at all possible (I know this is a different category than what we booked, but since we're an adult couple with no kids, I was hoping for some pixie dust there).

Thanks!

 

[Zentra]

What were your requests in your fax? And what was the difference between what you had already booked, and what you wound up with?

The reason I ask, is we're about 90 days out and I'm curious if our request is too different from what we booked. We booked a Garden view room, and I am hoping to request a corner room in Magnolia Bend, king size if at all possible (I know this is a different category than what we booked, but since we're an adult couple with no kids, I was hoping for some pixie dust there).

Thanks!

I'm also curious as we are 9 days out and I was preparing my fax letter to fax off next week. We are also just 2 adults with no kids looking for a King size if at all possible in Magnolia Bend, and corner room would be great! We also reserved a Garden View room and this will be a first time stay so hoping for some pixie dust ourselves!

 

[lmcarr49]

There are no Preferred Locations in the Royal Rooms, the only 'preferred' buildings are in the Alligator Bayou section (buildings 14, 15, 18 and 27). It's always worth keeping your eyes open for discounts though, in case any do happen to become available in the meantime. If they do, you can look to see what room categories might be included in any offers and re-book accordingly.

Don't count on it though, Port Orleans has been missed out from a number of discount offers recently, and at other times the allocation of discounted rooms has been pretty limited. Ironically this is partly because people make boo0kings in advance anyway, so Disney may see the occupancy rate as high enough to not warrant any further discounting.

Andre

Thanks for the reply! Hopefully I can at least get free dining. If not, I'm still excited to finally stay on property.

 

[disdream]

Great, glad you found them useful.

I did an update on the building floorplan maps recently by the way, in case anyone wants to download the newer versions from www.portorleans.org/floorplans.php.

Some of the connecting rooms were not indicated correctly (specifically those with certain types of Accessible features) and also the resort let me know a few extra rooms with Connecting doors that were not previously listed on their master document.




Generally no, most rooms are assigned on the guest's checkin day, using the Ready Room system. That happens a few hours before you are due to arrive if you have done Online Checkin, or when you actually get to the front desk if you have not.

Even if rooms are pre-blocked (for special requests or larger groups for example) they won't normally give out that information out until the room is actually vacated and ready for the new guest, just in case something has to change at the last minute (for example if there is a problem with cleaning a room, or a previous guest has not yet checked out, etc).


Oh, I forgot to mention that the 'Direct to Room' checkin trials that were carried out earlier in the year were deemed to be generally successful, and there are plans to roll the service out permanently early in the new year. There will be a few tweaks made to the system before it goes live again, and I'll let everyone know when I know more.

It will remain optional of course - anyone who prefers to check in at the front desk rather than being texted with their room number just prior to their arrival will always be able to do so.

Andre

I'm glad you mentioned the "Direct to Room" check-in. We are due to check in on January 22nd and are very excited. Do you think there are any real advantages to doing the Direct to Room check-in? I was kind of thinking that if we checked in at the front desk, we might have one last chance to ask for a specific building or other request. If we do the Direct to Room, we probably would not be able to do that. We're not really picky anyway but I was just wondering. Any thoughts on that subject? Has anyone actually participated in the "Direct to Room" check-in?

 

[andrewilley]

If we do the Direct to Room, we probably would not be able to do that.

As I said, it's completely optional, even once you arrive at the resort. So even if you get texted with a room number and you are not happy with the location, you can still go to the Front Desk and see if they can find anything different for you.

Personally, I'd suggest that if you've never been to POR before, use the Front Desk checkin, it's all part of the fun (not to mention help in finding the room!)

Andre

 

[erinkristen04]

I'm also curious as we are 9 days out and I was preparing my fax letter to fax off next week. We are also just 2 adults with no kids looking for a King size if at all possible in Magnolia Bend, and corner room would be great! We also reserved a Garden View room and this will be a first time stay so hoping for some pixie dust ourselves!

We had booked a preferred room and requested that, if possible, we be assigned to one of two particular preferred buildings. We also asked for a second floor, corner room. I also made a note that, if it all possible, we would be thrilled to avoid a view of any parking lots.

We ended up receiving a room in one of the buildings we had asked for, as well as a second floor, corner room. We were far from any parking lots, as we had a river view from out both windows. Just loved every single thing about our location, couldn't have asked for anything better. Best of luck with everyone else planning to try for a few requests!

 

[NeverlandBelle]

Has anyone recently had something delivered to POR?
I am having surprise custom sweatshirts made and there is no time for international delivery (im in UK and etsy seller is CA) so was hoping to just give the seller POR address.

So my questions are:

What is the correct format for the address including my name and res number (if required) ?
How long will they store my delivery for ?
Would anyone recommend that I DONT do this?

Thanks

 

[andrewilley]

What is the correct format for the address including my name and res number (if required) ?
How long will they store my delivery for ?
Would anyone recommend that I DONT do this?

Works fine for me - as long as the sender actually ships within the timeframe you need of course. If a package arrives after you have finished your stay, the resort will return it to sender.

See http://www.portorleans.org/services.php#Mail for all the details, address, etc.

Andre

 

[Luv2Run]

How late can we request to check out? Should we put that on our fax request, as well? Our flight home isn't until 8:15pm (DME around 5:15pm, I would imagine), but standard check-out time is 11am. I'm not sure what we'll do between the time we have to be out of our room, and when it's time for us to board DME back to the airport. I suppose we could leave our luggage with bell services and then make one last trip to DTD for a late lunch & last minute souvenirs before we have to leave; I was just curious. Thanks!

(I feel like I'm way overthinking this trip, lol. )

 

[keahgirl8]

How late can we request to check out? Should we put that on our fax request, as well? Our flight home isn't until 8:15pm (DME around 5:15pm, I would imagine), but standard check-out time is 11am. I'm not sure what we'll do between the time we have to be out of our room, and when it's time for us to board DME back to the airport. I suppose we could leave our luggage with bell services and then make one last trip to DTD for a late lunch & last minute souvenirs before we have to leave; I was just curious. Thanks! (I feel like I'm way overthinking this trip, lol. )

That's what I usually do. I just go wander around at DTD, grab lunch, and get a sandwich for the plane at EoS.

 

[disdream]

As I said, it's completely optional, even once you arrive at the resort. So even if you get texted with a room number and you are not happy with the location, you can still go to the Front Desk and see if they can find anything different for you.

Personally, I'd suggest that if you've never been to POR before, use the Front Desk checkin, it's all part of the fun (not to mention help in finding the room!)

Andre

Thank you. We should probably just do the regular check in. It will be our first trip to POR. Getting excited.

 

[buzznina]

Here are the 3 answers we have been given in the past.
1) No - Resort is totally booked
2)12:00 - This by far is what we normally get told
3) 1:00 (rare only during real slow times)

I would just leave your bags with bell service and go have fun for a few hours.

 

[Dis703]

How late can we request to check out? Should we put that on our fax request, as well? Our flight home isn't until 8:15pm (DME around 5:15pm, I would imagine), but standard check-out time is 11am. I'm not sure what we'll do between the time we have to be out of our room, and when it's time for us to board DME back to the airport. I suppose we could leave our luggage with bell services and then make one last trip to DTD for a late lunch & last minute souvenirs before we have to leave; I was just curious. Thanks!

(I feel like I'm way overthinking this trip, lol. )

When we stayed at BWI last year we were told 1pm was the absolute latest checkout they could give us. But we also only asked for it because at breakfast that morning one of my 2 year olds got a fever and was absolutely miserable.