Port Orleans Riverside vs French Quarter vs All Star Music????

[TwMuise]

Hi Everyone:

What is everyones opinion on PO French Quarter vs Riverside? Which is nicer? Hubby and I are going alone for the first time is this better than the All Star Music or Sports, Pop Century is not available. Should we spend the extra for Port Orleans or just stay at one of the All Star Resorts. We are wondering how loud and crowded they would be as opposed to PO. We have not stayed at any of these so any feedback is great.

Thanks, and looking forward to all of your comments.

Wendy & Tony

 

[cdnmickeylover]

It depends what you are looking for. We like Port Orleans Riverside because we like the theming and the boat to DTD. DH didn't like Port Orleans French Quarter -- I thought it was fine but he didn't really like it.

Port Orleans is a moderate so it has a sit down restaurant and a slide in the pool area. Not sure if these are important to you or not and actually Port Orleans FQ doesn't have a sit down restaurant. The moderate rooms are slightly larger and have a fridge in the room.

We actually like All Star Music and we stayed in the Country Music section and it was fairly quiet. The food court was manageable but it depends on the time of day. Same with the food courts at Port Orleans - depending on the time of day they could be quiet or loud.

It also depends how much time you would be staying at the resort and in your room. If I was using the room only to sleep I'd pick All Star Music. If I was going to spend some time at the resort I'd pick Port Orleans Riverside - also depending on the cost difference as well.

 

[TwMuise]

Did you do the Dining Plan? we haven't in the past but are considering it.

Wendy

 

[tnkr mom]

As cdnmickeylover posted depends what you want - We stayed at Riverside (because we had 5 on that trip) it was tight with the trundle in the room but was adequate and we LOVED the surrounds, beautiful lush landscaping everywhere and so peaceful! Most rooms look over some greenery which is nice. Pool at Ole Man Island is cool and the catch and release pond put my kids & HUSBAND over the moon! The walk along the river is really nice and boat to DTD. We requested a preferred room and were pretty close to bus and dining hall. The All Stars are fine but not much landscaping, attract more families aka noisier, food court, but again are totally adequate. If money weren't an object, I'd choose Port Orleans, either FQ or riverside. I've not stayed at French Qtr but we have used the pool there and their food courts. Sister says FQ is romantic???!?!? We loved Riverside for the peacefulness of it very relaxing

 

[cdnmickeylover]

We have used the dining plan and again it really depends how you eat. I would suggest looking at the menus and deciding whether or not it's worth it. With the regular dining plan you get one counter service, one snack and one table service so it's important to have ADR's for your table service meals.

We like to plan our meals and have sit down dinners so the dining plan works for us although it doesn't work for everyone.

We are going in May and are doing the deluxe plan for the first time. We are trying to eat in all the restaurants so this trip we are eating at a lot of the 2 credit restaurants. We looked at the menus and decided what we were probably going to eat and figured out the cost. The deluxe dining plan is cheaper than paying OOP for this trip so we are getting it. We've also made all of our ADR's as well so that we know that we'll use the credits.

If you don't like to plan out your meal times and location then the dining plan probably isn't for you.

Fiona

 

[TwMuise]

Great feedback. We will be celebrating our 25th anniversary on that trip. Also I think the quick service dining plan would be better for us as we are not real big eaters. can you exchange two counter service meals for a sit down with this option?

Thanks again everyone.

 

[cdnmickeylover]

I don't think that you can change 2 counter services to make one table service meal.

Fiona

 

[Jen M]

We are staying at the french quarter when we go in Sept. I was told that it very nice there and not a big resort. We stayed at all star sports 2 years ago and it was very busy. I would say spend the extra money and stay at the french quarter or the riverside.

 

[dancin Disney style]

POFQ is beautiful!!!! It was always my dream resort and finally in 2007 we stayed there. It did not disappoint.

It is very romantic and would be fantastic for a special anniversary trip. There is live jazz music played in the bar at night. Incredible magnolia trees everywhere. Horse and carriages circulating around the resort. The main things we liked were the room decor and how small the resort is. It's half the size of the other resorts. We also found the boat to DTD a very nice alternative to the bus.

Is it better than an All Star??? It really depends on the type of vacation you plan to have. If you are going to the parks everyday it probably is not worth the extra money. We have stayed at the mods only on R&R trips because we will mainly be at the pool and have the time to enjoy the extras and atmosphere that is offered.

If this is going to be a park trip how about doing some special meals or a show? Something that you would not normally do.

 

[Limmer]

I really love POR. I found it very romantic and relaxing and lush. We stayed there for our honeymoon and ur first trip to WDW. Our favourite part was taking a walk in the evening; the smells, the sounds and the atmosphere was a very special part of our honeymoon.

 

[i12go2wdw]

We have actually stayed at all 3. We travel with kids so your milage may vary. We are very comfortable walking, but I did not enjoy the size and layout of Port Orleans Riverside, I thought all the buildings looked the same and I always felt lost. The resort is not set out on a grid (like city blocks) so the beautiful paths meander and twist all over the place. Now if you have a good location this may not be an issue. We did like the pool and the food court.
We most recently stayed at the All Star Music in a family suite so we had a very good location and we all really enjoyed this resort, it may be a bit kid oriented for an anniversary trip though.
Now onto my favorite, the Port Orleans French Quarter. A nice, quiet, small, adult oriented resort. The buildings are all close to the lobby and pool, the food court never seemed too crowded and best of all it is very easy to navigate. The boat to DTD is very romantic too.
I am sure where ever you stay you will have a great time.
We have also been on the Dining Plan just husband and I on a quick trip and we enjoyed it very much. It was a lot of food but we liked being able to try new places that we may have not tried because of the price (we probably enjoyed it even more because we didn't have the kids with us)

 

[PrincessTrisha]

2 words on why to stay at a moderate over a value: Hot Tub.

Whatever you choose, have a great trip.