Port Orleans Riverside! Thoughts and opinions!

[LisaTC]

We (me, DH & DD, then 7) stayed at POR in October of 2011, the last full week of the month. We LOVED IT. Never one single time did I think about the walk to the food court, pool or anything. It is lovely and peaceful and serene. We are returning this December and can't wait. It is large, but making a leisurely walk didn't bother us because we were always looking around at wildlife and the beautiful grounds, I guess. Unless you are spending a lot of time at your resort and not the parks, walking 5 minutes to refill your soft drink probably wouldn't be as convenient, but we didn't spend a lot of time there...only 1 down day at the pool.

We ate at Boatwrights and we had a great meal. DH said the Prime Rib was really good. My DD had her birthday button on and they fussed over her, brought out balloons and tied them to her chair - we never even asked or mentioned anything. Put a candle in her dessert and sang to her.

We stayed in the Mansions - had reserved a waterview room. We were in Acadian House near the quiet pool, 1st floor and it was super. Pretty equidistant to bus stop & food court and very quiet. We had a car, but ALWAYS, took the Bus to MK - even took the bus to MK then the Boat to Fort Wilderness for HDDR and it was always very efficient. I don't recall waiting any longer than 10 minutes. If you are going 1st thing in the am when everyone else is or leaving Wishes at night, you will have to adjust your thinking and "assume" bus waits could be longer. We just went with the flow and never had any issues.

Took the boat to DTD and that was convenient and nice to see the other resorts on the way. We never waited more than 5-10 minutes for the boat, either.

The bartender at River Roost makes a killer Bloody Mary, btw, and they are so friendly and have good stories. They made my DD a virgin one and couldn't believe she drank it, hot peppers and all! I thought the CM's at POR were great & helpful as well. They printed our boarding passes and checked is in online for our return flights. Mousekeeper was awesome and sweet. DD lost a tooth and got some blood on her pillow case, she brought her icepack and made her a cute pumpkin towel animal and asked about her tooth everyday. She was sooooo sweet!

 

[Missoutandabout]

We had our first stay at POR (in a Royal Guest Room) a couple of weeks ago. It was our first moderate and our first experience with the buses. I have a little write-up of our stay linked in my signature if you're interested.

It's a gorgeous resort. Loved the room. We didn't have a single issue with the buses or the walk -- though I think our building was quite close to the main building compared to some others, Parterre Place. The walk to/from POFQ was nice, as well. We'd happily stay there again if given the opportunity.

 

[elaw]

I think you've made a great choice.
I've stayed at all 4 of the WDW moderate resorts and POR is my favorite. Below are some pics from our April Trip

 

[goofyintoronto]

POR is my fave moderate! soooo peaceful and pretty! Love that resort. I personally dont find it a very big resort despite what others say. We stayed in Arcadian and thought the walk was fine. Not long at all. The rooms itself were gorgeous. The pool is gorgeous, and the slide is fun. I love the choices at the food court. The make-your-own-pasta is super yummy.

A bonus at POR is the bike/boat rentals onsite. Also the horse drawn carriage ride, as well as the boat to DTD (POR is the FIRST pickup). You dont know how many times we had to by-pass POFQ cause the boat was too full, or we'd only pickup two to four people. Also POR has a restaurant onsite, and yehaw Bob!

 

[Patrickprincess]

thanks so much everyone! your posts reassured me that i made the right decision. i just love the theming of POR so much, more than the other moderates (which of course all look beautiful too!). it seems a bit more disney, to me CSR looked more like a regular resort. anyways, i wasn't too worried about the walking but some people seemed to really find it to be a big problem, so i thought i'd get some more opinions! and a few people have commented about bus wait times, but since we are going in early february i'm hoping it won't be so crazy that we ever have to wait 40 mins for a bus at 7:30 am! (which someone said they did and that seems like a slight bummer so early in the morning!)

no matter what i am sure it will be a fantastic trip. i don't know how i am ever going to wait 125 days! i am sooooo excited!

Just take a breath, you will. I just back from a two night stay and i loved it. the only thing was i forgot to inform house kepping when i wanted the room made up my miskate. I'm retunding next june and this time i will infrom them when i need the room made up have a great time. by the way i've been to wdw three times and this is the only resort that i've ever stayed. The food isn't too bad. Try the breakfast platter it was pretty good,

 

[bluejasmine]

I'm enjoying this thread we have reservations for AB in Dec and wasn't looking fwd to the resort I was being fussy after being use to Poly and GF..

I'm now looking fwd to it!

 

[melissarose]

just returned Friday from a stay at riverside. be sure to try the -build your own pasta- in the food court. Very good and can feed 2 easy. Every morning we saw little brown bunnies munching on grass and a giant turtle in the river while crossing the bridge to get to the pool.
Tip: the most disapointing experience is the fishing.

this is great advice, because i was going to try the fishing - my boyfriend likes to fish. i wondered if it would be boring compared to all the "real" fishing we do lol.

also i am very excited for the build your own pasta, i've seen some pictures and it looks awesome!

and seeing little bunnies every morning is the best news of all. i hope i get that lucky!!

 

[melissarose]

We love POR! We stayed in Feb 2011 and going back Feb 2013. We were located in the Magnolia Bend area just around the corner from a quite pool. It was wonderful. The walk wasn't too bad, we enjoyed the walks. This was before renovations so I can't wait to stay there in 2013. We will be in a water view room next time so I'm looking foward to that as well. We don't care if we are in mansions or AB so no requests for us. We enjoyed the food court and loved the make your on pasta. The kids loved it also. It has just enough Disney theming for us without being in your face. We love it, hope you will too.

it's nice to hear such good experiences and i am sure i will love it too!

 

[melissarose]

We stayed at POR back in January and loved it. Which part are you staying in, Mansions or where we stayed - Alligator Bayou? Completely different themes but same beautiful location. Just fyi, I'm an early riser and on my morning run through POR and POFQ I saw plenty os wildlife and the grounds are spectatular.

I thought the food court was good, but the TS - Boatwrights wasn't impressive. The food was okay, but it didn't seem up to DisneyWorld TS standards. I'd suggest taking to boat to DTD and finding better and less $$$ food down there.

Anyhow, You've probably seen lots of people complaining that moderates have a long bus wait. I will agree with posters that refer to that as every other resorts line is shorter phenomenom -- I don't think we waited at any park, nor at POR for a bus any longer that 20 minutes and I know twice we had less than a 5 minute wait.

I think you will enjoy yourselves quite a bit, I will definitely stay at POR again.

Tom

this post made me happy! i have requested a room in AB, but who knows what we will get. i like the feel of those rooms better, but i'm easy on stuff like that so i wouldn't mind if we were put in MB.

i am so excited for the beautiful grounds and to spot some animals.

we have booked a reservation for boatwrights for the night we arrive, but i might talk to my boyfriend about changing it. i've heard a lot of people say it was "just ok". we are on the dining plan so i'm not worried about price or anything, but if i can go somewhere better at DD i will! any suggestions? we are already booked at portobello and house of blues for later in the week.

also, i'm very pleased to hear about your experience with the bus! as we are going in february i'm hoping that any wait won't be that long. 20 minutes is really not that long to me, so i don't mind. i ride the bus at home since i don't have my own car yet so i'm used to it! haha

 

[melissarose]

We (me, DH & DD, then 7) stayed at POR in October of 2011, the last full week of the month. We LOVED IT. Never one single time did I think about the walk to the food court, pool or anything. It is lovely and peaceful and serene. We are returning this December and can't wait. It is large, but making a leisurely walk didn't bother us because we were always looking around at wildlife and the beautiful grounds, I guess. Unless you are spending a lot of time at your resort and not the parks, walking 5 minutes to refill your soft drink probably wouldn't be as convenient, but we didn't spend a lot of time there...only 1 down day at the pool.

We ate at Boatwrights and we had a great meal. DH said the Prime Rib was really good. My DD had her birthday button on and they fussed over her, brought out balloons and tied them to her chair - we never even asked or mentioned anything. Put a candle in her dessert and sang to her.

We stayed in the Mansions - had reserved a waterview room. We were in Acadian House near the quiet pool, 1st floor and it was super. Pretty equidistant to bus stop & food court and very quiet. We had a car, but ALWAYS, took the Bus to MK - even took the bus to MK then the Boat to Fort Wilderness for HDDR and it was always very efficient. I don't recall waiting any longer than 10 minutes. If you are going 1st thing in the am when everyone else is or leaving Wishes at night, you will have to adjust your thinking and "assume" bus waits could be longer. We just went with the flow and never had any issues.

Took the boat to DTD and that was convenient and nice to see the other resorts on the way. We never waited more than 5-10 minutes for the boat, either.

The bartender at River Roost makes a killer Bloody Mary, btw, and they are so friendly and have good stories. They made my DD a virgin one and couldn't believe she drank it, hot peppers and all! I thought the CM's at POR were great & helpful as well. They printed our boarding passes and checked is in online for our return flights. Mousekeeper was awesome and sweet. DD lost a tooth and got some blood on her pillow case, she brought her icepack and made her a cute pumpkin towel animal and asked about her tooth everyday. She was sooooo sweet!

aww, that's really cute about the tooth! thanks for your input, i am getting REALLY excited now!

 

[melissarose]

thanks everyone for all your comments and pictures!

 

[dreamcruiser]

I'm enjoying this thread we have reservations for AB in Dec and wasn't looking fwd to the resort I was being fussy after being use to Poly and GF..

I'm now looking fwd to it!

My sentiments exactly~
We are downgrading from Deluxe and I am a little anxious that we are going to be very sorry to be in a Mod. However, this thread is helping..

 

[pepe of ohio]

My sentiments exactly~
We are downgrading from Deluxe and I am a little anxious that we are going to be very sorry to be in a Mod. However, this thread is helping..

We did the exact same thing last trip.... Deluxe to moderate, but we chose POFQ for its compactness ! POR is too huge and spread out, sure didn't want a huge resort to traipse around after walking all day in a park, and we're room to pool to food court to lounge to pool to room people in a day... do compactness was important!

Now for being a devout deluxe person, thought the mod of POFQ was pretty decent all around, we still missed the deluxe for its close proximity to a park aspect... We're fans of WL, over 12 stays the and really enjoy the boat over and back a few times a day...plus we feel the theming and atmosphere at the deluxe is better than a mod but where we do care about are the inside corridors and under one roof the deluxe offers us in the WL....but this was a cost saving trip for our daughter and family which they wanted us to be along with our grandchildren.... Ok but not our cup of tea... We're spoiled deluxe snobs and proud of it!

 

[nikki7680]

My family and I just stayed there in November 2011. We had an AB room in building 14. Beautiful resort! My only suggestion is to pay for a "preferred room". This guarantees you a room in the one of the buildings closest to the food court and pool. Also, if you have time when you are there, take a walk along the river to French Quarter. It's a beautiful walk and you get to experience a little of both resorts. Have fun!!

 

[dreamcruiser]

We did the exact same thing last trip.... Deluxe to moderate, but we chose POFQ for its compactness ! POR is too huge and spread out, sure didn't want a huge resort to traipse around after walking all day in a park, and we're room to pool to food court to lounge to pool to room people in a day... do compactness was important!

Now for being a devout deluxe person, thought the mod of POFQ was pretty decent all around, we still missed the deluxe for its close proximity to a park aspect... We're fans of WL, over 12 stays the and really enjoy the boat over and back a few times a day...plus we feel the theming and atmosphere at the deluxe is better than a mod but where we do care about are the inside corridors and under one roof the deluxe offers us in the WL....but this was a cost saving trip for our daughter and family which they wanted us to be along with our grandchildren.... Ok but not our cup of tea... We're spoiled deluxe snobs and proud of it!

Us too! Love the proximity to the parks that a deluxe affords. This trip will be at POR for two reasons...one, no discount was available for WL (our first choice) and two, we like to go more than once a year, so discounts are doubly needed!
We love the WL too...not as many stays there as you, but several, and we really enjoy the warmth of the theming.

 

[pepe of ohio]

Us too! Love the proximity to the parks that a deluxe affords. This trip will be at POR for two reasons...one, no discount was available for WL (our first choice) and two, we like to go more than once a year, so discounts are doubly needed!
We love the WL too...not as many stays there as you, but several, and we really enjoy the warmth of the theming.

Yeah, good discounts have been few.... Was kicking around squeezing in a 4th trip in this AP at the lodge and the only thing doable at a decent rate was the WLV in a studio, it's just the wife and I... We've done a studio before and I really prefer the main lodge but want a better discount!! I ran the numbers thru David's point rental for the studio and though you do not get maid service everyday it was very cheap for 6-8 nights....( I rather use his service over trusting someone I don't know in renting their points).

But again, based on location... For us, it's WL over all the other resorts in the MK area... And we are big MK fans!

 

[TandLMommy28]

Pay for preferred or River view. From what I could tell, river view rooms in the mansions were all pretty close to the main pool (not counting the river view Royal rooms, which are pretty far from the main pool). Before this trip I thought it was crazy to pay more for a preferred room or river view. After the trip, I totally get it!

We just spent eight wonderful days at POR. I really can't imagine staying anywhere else (except pofq!). We had two years to save for this trip and could have done deluxe but I really didn't want to. The Port Orleans resorts are just so awesome.

 

[LONES]

I'm sure you'll love POR! We are a POFQ family all the way, but stayed at Riverside last January due to no discounts being available at FQ. I was very stressed out thinking that I would spend the whole vacation wishing I was over at FQ. Honestly.... next time we go I will be very torn as to which side I want to stay. Riverside is absolutely beautiful. We stayed in the inner courtyard (garden view) of Magnolia Terrace. The walk to the main pool and food court did not seem bad to me. I'm 41 years old, and other than being a little on the "pooh size" side of things, I'm in pretty good shape. My parents are in their late 60's, and traveled with us. They really liked Riverside, but would have preferred to be back at FQ. They both have some health and mobility issues, and the walk was pretty hard for them. I made quite a few runs to the food court for them. I know some people think that anyone that can manage the parks all day for a week shouldn't have a problem with walking around a large resort... but for my parents it takes everything they have to manage around the parks. By the time we get back to the resort, they are done! If my parents ever went back to Riverside, they would absolutely need to spend the extra $30.00 per night for Preferred. At your age, and assuming you're in relatively good shape... I would not spend the extra money.

Enjoy your trip!!!! You will love it!!!!!

 

[KonaKaiTom]

We stayed at POR back in January -- we wanted to stay CBR, however, no room at the inn -- lucky us as POR was spectacular. We did pay for Building 14 in AB and it was worth the extra $ as we constantly ran back there at night with our mugs for hot chocolate, coffee, etc. The grounds are beautiful and we started our mornings with a walk to POFQ to get beignets as they are not available at POR, the walk woke us up and was not very far.

Enjoy it, you will have a great time.

Tom

 

[bluejasmine]

How long would you say the walk from POR to POFQ is?