Port Orleans Riverside room questions... Help!

[KenziesMommy85]

Hi, helpful Disney pros! My boyfriend, his 9 year old, and our 1.5 year old (and me) are going to be staying at riverside... We are booking next week... The cheapest room they have now is garden view.. How long of a walk is it from these type of rooms to the bus stops and the boat, eating and lobby? Is it worth it pay the extra money (30$ more per night) for the "preferred room"? Is it much much closer to everything? I have read on many sites that the resort is spread out... I guess I am just wondering how far exactly we are talking that the standard garden view rooms are from transportation. Plus, as we will have suitcases and a stroller to push from the lobby would like not to have to walk miles (exaggeration =P) to our room. Thanks!

 

[Babsy]

YES it is worth it for preferred location, IMO!

POR is a large spread out resort. Garden view rooms are spread throughout the resort. If you book a preferred room you will be in the Alligator bayou section in one of the buildings closest to the main building where check in, shopping and dining are located. Bus stops are located around the resort so the walk to a bus stop shouldn't be too bad. Royal rooms are also fairly conveniently located in Parterre Place or Oak Manor, both of which are in the mansions section of the resort. They are more expensive, however, so I wouldn't book this unless you really want the themed decor.

I always try to book a preferred room at POR or CBR or CSR. I have had to do standard rooms at all three and been lucky to get reasonably located rooms. With a standard room, though, you are taking chances that you will have a long walk (maybe 10 mins?) to the main area of the resort.

Good luck!

 

[KenziesMommy85]

Thanks so much! I think we are definitely going to book a preferred room. One more question, what sort of views do you get from a preferred room?

 

[schwaa]

Hi. If you're strapped for cash, I don't personally think the preferred location at port Orleans is worth it. The food court is smack dab in the middle of the resort. I don't think it even is a 10 minute walk from the farthest room. It may be 7. Plus if I need to walk at disneyworld (which is everywhere) my second favorite walk is from my POR room to the food court. The resort is so beautiful.

I say roll the dice and see what you get. I have never been disappointed with any of my stays at POR and I've always booked standard rooms. Garden is a guarantee you won't be on the parking lot side. Bonus!

 

[buzznina]

We have stayed there 6 times and have never paid for preferred. There are 4 bus stops so your usually within 5 minutes from one of them. The farthest possible room at the back of the resort (standard view)to the lobby is less then a 1/2 mile, a nice 10 minute walk. But we have no issues walking, even our DD's and that includes stroller(s). It really depends on you, if you do not go preferred request a room clost to the lobby and follow up with a fax 5 days before check-in.

 

[DWorldOrBust]

We stayed at POR and loved our garden view room. Everyone talks about the walk, but it really isn't that much of a walk unless you are handicapped or just plain lazy. It certainly isn't worth the extra money that could be spent on other things! They have several bus stops and the resort is so incredibly beautiful that walking is really nice.

 

[jcemom]

I almost never pay for a preferred location at any resort. POR is pretty big. The last time we stayed there our room was one building away from the furthest building from the lobby area. It was a pretty long walk. We didn't mind it too much if we were only going one way...like to the food court and then on to the bus stop. But if you plan to do a lot of "round trip" walking, like going to the food court and then back to your room with the food. (Sometimes we like to eat in the room, or with small kids it's easier for one adult to get the food while the other bathes the kids, or one adult gets breakfast while the others are getting dressed, or whatever.) It can be a LONG round trip walk.

If you will eat in the food court together then I wouldn't worry about preferred. There are bus stops all around the perimeter of the resort. The only potential long walk would be to the lobby (where you really only go for check in and Magical Express), and the food court.

 

[Barbanellie]

I think "very spread out" is so subjective. We went to POR last May, and had also been told it was very spread out. But it really didn't feel that way to us. Granted, we have no children or strollers, but my husband and I soon found ourselves getting off the buses at the first stop (lobby) instead of the one closest to our room (North Depot) because we enjoyed the walk

 

[jcemom]

I wanted to add...length of stay might have some bearing on perception as well. If we're only staying for a few nights nothing feels too spread out. When we stay for ten days, well, what didn't feel so far away on day two feels VERY far away on day eight LOL.

 

[KenziesMommy85]

Thanks for all the replies!

We are staying 7 nights/8 days. So not an excessively long time but not short either, lol.

We aren't strapped for cash... We definitely have the means to get a preferred room but since it's an extra 210$ or something wondered if it was worth it! I guess I didn't know if we were talking like a 15 minute walk or something to the transportation. I personally don't mind walking so much but my boyfriend definitely wants to be near everything. =P

I highly doubt we will be doing any round trips to the dining area... I imagine that for the most part we will be eating breakfast in the park we are visiting for the day, and even we don't we would go eat and then hop on a bus.

Pool view and preferred room are the same price. Is pool view more worth it? If money wasn't so much a factor would preferred room be "preferred"? lol.

I feel so confused on what room to get

Oh, also.. Are the rooms pretty nice? Beds okay? I fell in love with the royal rooms but thats out of the budget thanks to paying the airlines, lol.. But how are the regular rooms?

 

[jcemom]

I don't think even the furthest room is a 15 minute walk to anything. We walked over to POFQ in under 15 minutes.

Since there are bus stops all over the resort it doesn't sound like you need a preferred room. I wouldn't pay for pool view. Without a balcony it doesn't really matter to us which direction our room faces because we don't look out and usually have the drapes closed so people can't see in.

I would just go with a regular room and request to be near whatever is most important to you: a bus stop, the main pool, a quiet pool, etc. There also are the two different themes to consider. Some of the buildings are mansion themed and others are bayou themed. We've only stayed in the mansions section.

 

[jcemom]

Not sure if you have checked out the FAQ thread, but there is a lot of info there and a lot of pictures... http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3245277

 

[correctcraft97]

We always try to stay in alligator bayou in building 24. You never feel over crowded being a little further away. I like standard rooms for convenience to the parking lot and bus stop. From our room we could step right off the sidewalk to our car or take a 1 minute stroll to the west depot. Fyi...the west depot is usually the first stop on the bus route and the food court is about a 10 minute walk. Its nothing compared to walking in the park all day.

Check out. www.portorleans.org lots of good info

 

[IBLarsen]

Thanks for all the replies!

We are staying 7 nights/8 days. So not an excessively long time but not short either, lol.

We aren't strapped for cash... We definitely have the means to get a preferred room but since it's an extra 210$ or something wondered if it was worth it! I guess I didn't know if we were talking like a 15 minute walk or something to the transportation. I personally don't mind walking so much but my boyfriend definitely wants to be near everything. =P

I highly doubt we will be doing any round trips to the dining area... I imagine that for the most part we will be eating breakfast in the park we are visiting for the day, and even we don't we would go eat and then hop on a bus.

Pool view and preferred room are the same price. Is pool view more worth it? If money wasn't so much a factor would preferred room be "preferred"? lol.

I feel so confused on what room to get

Oh, also.. Are the rooms pretty nice? Beds okay? I fell in love with the royal rooms but thats out of the budget thanks to paying the airlines, lol.. But how are the regular rooms?

I see you mention you loved the Royal Rooms, We have booked for Mid March staying in the Royal Room, Garden View, and booked through Orbitz. Even now for our dates, this room is cheaper than the preferred.
Could be different for your dates, but if you haven't looked at Orbitz, may be worth double checking They currently have the code Review15 for another 15% off the Disney rates. (Sorry if you already know all this)

 

[KenziesMommy85]

Thanks for all the great advice!

Idk how easy it will be to request a room location when we are going - for the 4th of July

Decisions, decisions..

Thanks again!

 

[dminnie]

You can google it and look at a map of the resort. We had a garden view royal room. We asked to be near a footbridge. That put us really close to the dining area. Another time we booked a standard room and then ask for a building that looked relatively close on the map. Both times it worked out fine, without paying for "preferred". You do so much walking at WDW, a few more steps at the resort is no big deal, especially since the resort is so pretty.

As far as your luggage, that's also a non-issue. Just use their bell hops.

 

[Disneylover99]

I would pay extra for a preferred room in the summer when it's hot. An extra five minute walk can break you in the heat.