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

[Venomhatch]

So jealous!!! Enjoy!! We have 35 more days!

Jealous but enjoy your vacation

Thank you both. Heading to DTD for some family down time.

 

[disneymommy1979]

Hi all!

Thinking about staying at POR in the princess rooms (2 DD's 4 and 6!). How far of a walk is it to the main building from these rooms? Also, do they offer a crib? (DS 1). This will be our first stay and wanted to stay in a princess room before our son is 3 (room only fits up to 4). Thanks!

 

[hunmcbunny]

Hi all!

Thinking about staying at POR in the princess rooms (2 DD's 4 and 6!). How far of a walk is it to the main building from these rooms? Also, do they offer a crib? (DS 1). This will be our first stay and wanted to stay in a princess room before our son is 3 (room only fits up to 4). Thanks!

The royal guest room (princess rooms) can only have 4 people. Unless I'm wrong I'm pretty sure the rooms do not have room for a crib in them.

edited to add:
I stand corrected.
Prior to the closure of the last few double-bedded rooms in the Magnolia Bend mansion buildings it was possible to request a wheeled fold-up ‘roll-away’ bed for a fifth person, or to allow two older children to avoid having to share the same bed, but now that the refurbished rooms include new, slightly larger, queen beds this facility has been withdrawn as from Sunday 11 March 2012. It is no longer possible to have five people allocated to any of the mansion building rooms (including the new Royal Guest Rooms) unless that fifth person is a toddler under the age of three. The same has applied to the refurbished rooms at French Quarter for a while.

 

[disneymommy1979]

The royal guest room (princess rooms) can only have 4 people. Unless I'm wrong I'm pretty sure the rooms do not have room for a crib in them.

If the child is under 3 we can stay in a room for up to 4 guests..... At least I was told that by a cm.

 

[AmyKat]

Under 3 years old doesn't count as a person, so you absolutely can stay in a royal room and you can get a pack 'n play in there.

We stayed in a royal room in february - me, DH, DD7, DD4, and DS10months. We pushed the table all the way up to the air conditioner and put the pack 'n play between the table and the dresser. It worked very well for us.

The walk wasn't bad at all. I never felt like I was too far away from anything.

 

[siskaren]

CMs on site have always told me buses run an hour before park opening till about an hour after park closing. They also say to allocate at least 45 minutes of travel time between any where on property.

As for the order that they run, it's my understanding that most go South, West, North, East. Buses going to MK goes West, North, East, South.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

You're wrong, at least with regards to when the buses start running. Buses start running at 6:30 every day, although they run about every 30 minutes until about an hour before park opening, when they start running about every 20 minutes.

 

[Venomhatch]

Here is our view from our room in building 14.

If you can't see it try here: http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l...E-15B2-4176-A2D0-7DF1D77FCE0C_zpsdt1a2fxd.jpg

 

[Devster]

Or the courtyard right behind that area close to the bridge and dock. Lol either way I will need to walk to the main building. Thanks for the info. Do you know which characters might be there? Is it just one or several?

I was wondering the same - we're also there for Easter!

Based on this page I found, it was Donald and Daisy last year...

 

[FungLu]

Have you tried ear muffs made for shooting?

They work great until she feels the concussion, then freaks. She loves to shoot our 20ga shotgun, but there's something about fireworks. Thanks for asking!

 

[andrewilley]

When do the buses start running in the AM? Some said an hour before park open but others say earlier due to ADR's (we have CRT at 8:05 and MK opens at 9). How often do the buses run in the morning, is it still 10-15 mins regardless

Please see www.portorleans.org/buses.php which I think answers all of your bus questions (and a few more too). For the 8:05 CRT I would suggest being at the South bus stop no later than 7am, maybe a little earlier as the regular 20 mins service won't have kicked in at that time. The route varies by park, but for the MK it's normally the outer circle stops first, then South, then the park.

When you order from the Sassagoula Pizza Express Delivery Service it says an 18% service charge is added to all orders. Is that the gratuity or do you still tip the delivery person?

Also, how big are their pizzas? It says large, so I'm guessing the standard 14" pizza you'd get from Pizza Hut?

Answered on the other thread, but basically the large two-share pizzas are 16" and I assume an 18% service charge (on top of the $3 delivery charge) covers the delivery person's tip.

I dont mind tiny frogs just scared of big ones that could jump on me and eat me, this phobia is very irrational i know.

It's alright, they have special Disney hunting parties to cull all the man-eating frogs...

Seriously though, it's Florida and it's outdoors, which means you can find wildlife including small frogs, lizards, etc. And bunny rabbits, squirrels, ducks, and others. I can't promise that you won't see a frog, but it's very, very unlikely that they will jump on you (and even more unlikely that they will eat you).

Thinking about staying at POR in the princess rooms (2 DD's 4 and 6!). How far of a walk is it to the main building from these rooms?

You don't say what room category you are in? Some of the River View Royal Rooms are right next to the footbridge to the main buildings, and the Pool View Royal Rooms are all very convenient. The others vary, with the most distant being Standard View (but even then, a lot still have very easy access through the centre of the buildings). It could be anywhere between 250 and 500 yards from your room to the foot court door or bus stop.

A toddler under 3 is extra to the four-person occupancy level, you will be fine and can easily fit a pack'n'play in.

Here is our view from our room in building 14.

Doesn't get much better than that mate. And you could just about jump over to the food court in an single bound from there.


Andre

 

[Ravenne]

Thank you, Andre. You're awesome as always.

 

[Mom2darlingboys]

This is my daughter and she's 10! She hates the loudness. They are't as loud at Disney as the ones on the 4th of July at home, but she still doesn't like them.

You can't see the fireworks, but you can hear them, even in the rooms - the boom. It's obviously not as loud as when you're in the parks, but just something to prepare you for. She should be fine, though. We always find ourselves on our first night saying "what was that?" before realizing!

 

[ToyStory3]

It looks like if you reserve a River View room it wouldn't be a very far walk, to the food court and main pool, from any of those rooms. Is that a fair assumption?

 

[maxsmomamy]

We are arriving at POR at about 7pm and have reservations at TRex at 9:30. Any suggestions on how to get there? Is the bus or the water taxi better?
Sons and husband plan to got to Disney Quest while daughter and I shop- hope we can get it all in that evening!
Only 1 month to go- Yippee!

 

[Ravenne]

I was looking at the pics of the refurbished AB rooms on Andre's site vs the rooms on WDW's site and WDW doesn't show any pics of the refurbished AB rooms at all. I was left wondering...well, what if you wanted to specifically book the AB rooms, how do you do it? Do you book it as a standard room (or whatever view you want) and put in a request for AB rooms in hopes you'll get it?

 

[hunmcbunny]

I was looking at the pics of the refurbished AB rooms on Andre's site vs the rooms on WDW's site and WDW doesn't show any pics of the refurbished AB rooms at all. I was left wondering...well, what if you wanted to specifically book the AB rooms, how do you do it? Do you book it as a standard room (or whatever view you want) and put in a request for AB rooms in hopes you'll get it?

you can always book the preferred room since those are in AB. Or you can book whatever catergory you want and then fax in your request for AB.

 

[JamieLM]

Can someone tell me, if free dining is offered is it for a specific room? I booked standard in POR, and worry now we won't be able to get the deal

 

[Ravenne]

you can always book the preferred room since those are in AB. Or you can book whatever catergory you want and then fax in your request for AB.

Ah thank you!

Can someone tell me, if free dining is offered is it for a specific room? I booked standard in POR, and worry now we won't be able to get the deal

Resorts block out a certain amount of rooms in pretty much all categories that qualify for any given promo, including free dining. Yes, you can get free dining with a standard room at POR...if you can snag one in time. Typically, they are the first to go. If that's the case you may need to upgrade your room and pay the difference to get a qualifying room for free dining.

 

[snorkelyn]

I love this thread and it just clarifies my reasons for wanting to stay at por.
So i have a kind of strange question....frogs.
I have a huge phobia of frogs and i saw a comment from somebody saying por had alot of tree frogs. Needless to say i am worried i will be seeing alot of them on our trip.
Im crazy i know lol

We had a big frog ON our door this morning! Room 1416. It just about jumped into the room...the kids saw it and shut the door real quick! We all watched it for a while and it jumped from the door to the wall above the window. If I can figure out how to post a picture, I will! (do I have to use photo bucket? Is there an easier way? I'm not very technologically savvy)

Venomhatch: We had a similar view in building 14! We could have been neighbors! I used your fax form and was given the BEST room in all of AB section! (ok, maybe just my opinion!) Thanks again! We booked preferred and requested a pleasant view such as a garden or river in building 14. I felt so lucky to get this room! It was perfect! I loved everything about this resort. We checked out this morning

We went to DTD last night too! Raglan Road.

We had the best time at POR! The kids really loved the pool party in the afternoons! And we loved the Muddy Rivers bar! Food court was great. Mousekeeping was great. We got lots of towel animals and even a towel basket with our toothbrushes in it!

 

[andrewilley]

It looks like if you reserve a River View room it wouldn't be a very far walk, to the food court and main pool, from any of those rooms. Is that a fair assumption?

A very fair assumption, yes. The non-Royal River View rooms are located directly facing the main pathway around the island area, and so are generally fairly short walks.

We are arriving at POR at about 7pm and have reservations at TRex at 9:30. Any suggestions on how to get there?

Water ferry would be a nice way to do it, and as long as you don't have to wait too long before you board (they come every 10 minutes or so in the evening, but you might not get on the first one if there are a lot of people waiting) then it's probably a bit quicker than the bus which might get snarled up in the DTD traffic. If you find you are really tight on time, get a cab.

Can someone tell me, if free dining is offered is it for a specific room? I booked standard in POR, and worry now we won't be able to get the deal

IF it is offered, then you would technically change your current booking into a new promo-based booking, rather than "adding" the offer to your current room (although they will often retain your old booking reference). Not all room categories get offered in all promotions though (and sometimes in very limited quantities) but often people find that it still works out better value to switch from an existing Standard View room to perhaps a River View which has a better offer available.


Andre