Port Orleans - Riverside

[MScott19]

Planning on staying at the Riverside/09. Want to hear the good, the bad and the ugly, tips, hints, etc. and when should I book it?
THANK YOU!

 

[bedepp]

i loved it there, we stayed there last Feb. 08 didnt have any problems, maybe except for slow buses but i think that is at every hotel. very quiet, very unique, nice pool area. you can take a boat to downtown disney too. i would definitely stay there again and I actually might in May when I go again so.....

 

[klmorg]

We are staying at POR in just a few weeks and we would love hear stories too!!

 

[McKelly]

We were just there over Xmas this past year and LOVED it!! Beautiful grounds, great food court, loved the boat to downtown disney. We took a carriage ride which was so relaxing. They have a huge arcade, which my son loved and I guess my DH, considering the amount of money they spent in there!! Yikes! We never had a problem with busses. We were right by the west depot and always had a seat and this was over Xmas!!

We stayed in the AB side (which I requested) and I loved the theme of the rooms. The room was perfect for our family of four, me, DH and two kids, boy and a girl. The only downside I would say about POR are the double beds, BUT with the trundle bed and an airbed (which fit perfectly between the two beds) my DH and I each took a double and all was well. They also have the privacy curtain by the sinks which worked great and tons of storage area in by the sinks as well.

We will definately be back. We have also stayed at the Poly, WL, AKL, FW and AS-movies and loved POR as much as everywhere else we stayed. We especially loved the price tag!! The deluxes are getting so expensive!!

 

[tink2007]

We stayed at POR in June of 07. I was just looking at out pictures the other day. We loved it. It was the first moderate we had ever stayed at and enjoyed it as well as WL. I loved the walk to Boatwrights in the morning to eat breakfast. Our room was very clean and quiet. I was nervous about the bus service but never had a problem. Im sure you will find POR is a great place to stay.

 

[sjms71]

We will be staying there in 4 Days for the first time. I am so excited I can't stand it.

 

[GOLFDISNEY72]

We have stayed there twice and we love it. We are going back in a month but are staying at POP with another family. I have one evening set aside just to hang out at POR.

 

[thumperjr9]

We stayed at POR last Oct. and loved it. The only negative I can think of was the transportation. We never waited long for a bus but....most of the time they were very crowded and we had to stand several times. We had a rental car and ended up using that some days.

I tried to booked POR for our trip in late April, but it wasn't available, so we will be staying at CSR. I was a little disappointed but I think we will like CSR too.

 

[ScrapperBelle]

We stayed there last May.

The good: The staff, food court, pool areas, and we loved our location in Acadian House. Our room was clean and mousekeeping did an excellent job throughout our stay.

The bad: The buses are a negative, but not so bad that I wouldn't stay here again. See my tip about how we handled the buses.

The ugly: Can't think of anything ugly. I was walking around the resort one night and I heard some screaming off in the AB section, "snake! snake! snake!". That's the closest I can come to an ugly incident. (I HATE snakes!)

Tip: If you are staying in the mansions, use your "local" bus stop whenever possible. We found out a few days into our trip that when the buses fill up at POFQ and the main POR stop, they often send new buses that begin pick up past the main POR stop. They only make those few stops and then head to the parks.

 

[mmouse1239]

Before becoming DVC members, we always stayed at POR. We love the serenity and feeling that you can get away from the crowds some of the time. I would request a room close to the restaurant and food court. You can check out maps on this site so you can request certain buildings. Another thing, don't pay extra for any view. There are no private balconies, so you don't really have a view anyway. I never saw anyone sitting outside to enjoy theirs because it's a walkway. The pool area is great. We liked the sit down restaurant, but I heard somewhere that they aren't serving breakfast anymore?? Once, though, we were walking back from the bus through the woods very early in the morning (EMH at the MK....maybe 2 in the morning) and we saw this animal run across the path in front of us. It looked like a very large cat, but much bigger than a domestic cat. We just kept walking, but I was a bit nervous...even though he had no intention of meeting us...he was bolting. Really, I do love this resort and would not hesitate to stay here again.

 

[scottny]

I only say positive things about it. My favorite resort.

The rooms and grounds are gorgeous.

the boat to DTD is fantastic.

If you can request an AB room building 14, 15 or 18 they are really close to the main building

we had room 1845 and it was perfect.

Never had an issue with any of the buses. Went in January and July.

 

[janiejake]

Planning on staying at the Riverside/09. Want to hear the good, the bad and the ugly, tips, hints, etc. and when should I book it?
QUOTE]

POR is a lovely, relaxing resort. I myself prefer the mansion side of the resort (Magnolia Bend, with the 4 mansion complexes). Alligator Bayou is the other section, with a bit more rustic, woodsy setting. Should you be in need of the trundle bed, you'd be put in AB. AB buildings do NOT have elevators. The mansion buildings DO.
The resort is beautifully landscaped. You can do alot of enjoyable walking, exploring the resort, Ole Man Island, etc. The French Quarter is just a stroll away along the river, or you can take the boat to the FQ. The boat will also take you to Downtown Disney. A pretty ride in the daytime, and lovely to ride into DTD at night, with all the lights twinkling. We enjoy the food court, and find it very relaxing to stop in and grab a cup of coffee in the morning, and then just sit at a table outside and watch the world go by. There is a table service restaurant that will serve dinner. Breakfast is no longer an option there, but you can still grab BF in the food court. One night, when I was there with just 2 youngsters, it was raining--just a dark and dreary night. So nice to be able to pick up the phone and order a pizza to be delivered to our room from the food court.
The piano bar/lounge is very enjoyable. Bob, the piano man, provides good entertainment. We are making sure to catch him again next week.
The buses can be crowded at times, and you may need to stand. There are bus stops nicely arranged around the resort (4 of them), so one is likely to be close to your room. The gift shop is well-stocked with sundries, food items and Disney stuff. And, if you make purchases at the parks, you can have them sent back to your resort. They will be held here (they used to be delivered to your room, but that is history, now, sadly.) .
There is a theme pool on Ole Man Island, along with a wading pool, and a hot tub(yum!). While I love the hot tub, my favorite swimming hole is the quiet pool (fairly close to most buildings). The quiet pools are open 24/7, and are wonderful for a late night dip after closing the parks. A laundry is located in the building at each quiet pool, so if you need to refresh some of your things, it is easy to do while you swim or sun. Lots of lounge chairs, and tables and chairs. Like to bring my ice bucket with some cold soda, a good book, and just relax. Sigh.
Mousekeeping has been good. Have had a smattering of towel creations over the years. Very responsive to phone calls for problems.
As I said, we love the place. Will be there for our 7th stay later this week. You can't go wrong. I'm sure I've left lots of good stuff off...

 

[Pixiedust34]

You might want to check out this thread.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1920531

It's loaded with POR info.

 

[skater]

The landscaping is beautiful and parts of the resort make me think I'm still in MK. Its just that pretty. The pool is very nice with a relaxing feel to it. The boat to DTD is wonderful and I'm almost to the point where I won't go to DTD without a boat (we've had awful experience with the buses back from DTD to other resorts). Piano Bob is great fun - try not to miss him!


Last year we had some negative experiences, but I'm thinking it was probably jsut some bad luck. The buses are not great and you'll want to be out there early if you're planning to make rope drop. You'll also need to be patient . If you have an early morning breakfast, let the front desk know the night before - I was told last year that there were no breakfast buses because guests didn't let them know . We also had some bad luck at the food court. When I asked for a burger that was not sitting in a puddle of grease, the CM scolded me - telling me that all burgers are greasy (I can laugh about it now, but it was irritating at the time). I would suggest sticking up for yourself if you need to (I caved in a little too quickly on that one). The CM's running the registers were great - very patient with the confusion people have about the dining plan.

I have decided to take a year off from POR because of some of our experiences, but overall I think its a nice resort with a good Disney feel yet very relaxing. And you can have less than perfect things happen to you at any resort. I think you'll have a wonderful trip there.

 

[YesMickey]

As you can see from my signature below we have stayed there 3 times. It is great. But remember Boatright's does not serve breakfast anymore so you have to go to the counter service. My suggestion is to get there early (7am or so) because it will be that much more crowded. Also busses are fine if, again, you get to the bus stop early. We are park openers, and usually get back to the resort early afternoon, so we never have probs with busses. Since Boatright's no longer serves breakfast, POFQ will now be my favorite. Alot smaller resort and it is the quickest boat ride back and forth from DTD.

 

[PoohsFan1]

POR is our favorite moderate. We love the ferry that takes you to DTD, the pool/waterslide, Boatwrights, the Food Court, the beautiful grounds...Everything about it. The only thing that we don't like is how BIG it is. We have been lucky that we had rooms close to the marina, food court, and main building but if we had a building way in the back, that would be a long hike to the front....I know you can take a bus, but who wants to just to go to the Food Court. Anyway, we were planning on staying at POR for our upcoming trip but decided that we would upgrade to a deluxe because 1)we are celebrating our anniversary and wanted to splurg a little 2) my DH was afraid since it is during Spring Break time that we would not get our preferred building (bldg. #14). But all in all, I would not worry about it, there is so much to see and do there.

 

[Mom3girls]

Planning on staying at the Riverside/09. Want to hear the good, the bad and the ugly, tips, hints, etc. and when should I book it?
QUOTE]

POR is a lovely, relaxing resort. I myself prefer the mansion side of the resort (Magnolia Bend, with the 4 mansion complexes). Alligator Bayou is the other section, with a bit more rustic, woodsy setting. Should you be in need of the trundle bed, you'd be put in AB. AB buildings do NOT have elevators. The mansion buildings DO.
The resort is beautifully landscaped. You can do alot of enjoyable walking, exploring the resort, Ole Man Island, etc. The French Quarter is just a stroll away along the river, or you can take the boat to the FQ. The boat will also take you to Downtown Disney. A pretty ride in the daytime, and lovely to ride into DTD at night, with all the lights twinkling. We enjoy the food court, and find it very relaxing to stop in and grab a cup of coffee in the morning, and then just sit at a table outside and watch the world go by. There is a table service restaurant that will serve dinner. Breakfast is no longer an option there, but you can still grab BF in the food court. One night, when I was there with just 2 youngsters, it was raining--just a dark and dreary night. So nice to be able to pick up the phone and order a pizza to be delivered to our room from the food court.
The piano bar/lounge is very enjoyable. Bob, the piano man, provides good entertainment. We are making sure to catch him again next week.
The buses can be crowded at times, and you may need to stand. There are bus stops nicely arranged around the resort (4 of them), so one is likely to be close to your room. The gift shop is well-stocked with sundries, food items and Disney stuff. And, if you make purchases at the parks, you can have them sent back to your resort. They will be held here (they used to be delivered to your room, but that is history, now, sadly.) .
There is a theme pool on Ole Man Island, along with a wading pool, and a hot tub(yum!). While I love the hot tub, my favorite swimming hole is the quiet pool (fairly close to most buildings). The quiet pools are open 24/7, and are wonderful for a late night dip after closing the parks. A laundry is located in the building at each quiet pool, so if you need to refresh some of your things, it is easy to do while you swim or sun. Lots of lounge chairs, and tables and chairs. Like to bring my ice bucket with some cold soda, a good book, and just relax. Sigh.
Mousekeeping has been good. Have had a smattering of towel creations over the years. Very responsive to phone calls for problems.
As I said, we love the place. Will be there for our 7th stay later this week. You can't go wrong. I'm sure I've left lots of good stuff off...

I hate to rain on your parade but I just read that Piano Bob just had back surgery and is hoping to be back at River Roost around March 18th.

 

[njfamilyof6]

WE stayed at POR last April and love it, Everything about the place was amazing. We have always stayed at value resorts in the past, but do the size of our family, we outgrew then. WE are once again stayin at POR this year May 2-9th and we are looking forward to another great time. we will be celebrationg my dd's 8th baday while we are there.
I dont know about the buses, since we drive from Nj and always use our own car, but we stayed at building 14 last year and it was close to everything and we have requested to stay at the same building this year. Hope you enjoy your trip

 

[MScott19]

Thank you for all the information.
We are two families travelling in Oct. 1 family with 4 people and 1 with 5 so that is why Riverside is our choice.
And it sounds like we will be in AB. Right?

 

[maryann92201]

We stayed in the AB side (which I requested) and I loved the theme of the rooms. The room was perfect for our family of four, me, DH and two kids, boy and a girl. The only downside I would say about POR are the double beds, BUT with the trundle bed and an airbed (which fit perfectly between the two beds) my DH and I each took a double and all was well. They also have the privacy curtain by the sinks which worked great and tons of storage area in by the sinks as well.

What size airbed did you have that fit between the beds? I have a four people going in December.