Sell me on Port Orleans

[MindyLuvsMickey]

DH has surprised me with a trip to Disney for Valentine's Day. We are tenatively planning the trip for September . . . hoping for free dining!!

I need to hear all of the wonderful, glorious things about POR. Tell me about the grounds, transportation, pools, preferred rooms.

we're traveling as a family of 3, DH, myself and DS who will have just turned 4.

Thanks so much!

 

[DW-Admin]

I love this place. The food has a lot of good choices. There are cafeteria style things to walk up to and then they cook it right in front of you. We had our counter-service dining credit almost every day at our hotel. The grounds are beautiful with large areas to walk around and admire the scenery.

Check out my site for some pictures and a small review. ill post some more pictures of the grounds and stuff on my site here in a minute. Check it out.

DISNEY-WISHES.COM

Thanks and let me know if I can answer anything else.

 

[Bill&Sandy]

DH has surprised me with a trip to Disney for Valentine's Day. We are tenatively planning the trip for September . . . hoping for free dining!!

I need to hear all of the wonderful, glorious things about POR. Tell me about the grounds, transportation, pools, preferred rooms.

we're traveling as a family of 3, DH, myself and DS who will have just turned 4.

Thanks so much!

I think you will love POR! We spent Christmas holiday at POFQ, which we

loved, bur POR was just as nice. Depending on which section you are in,

the grounds will be lush (Alligator Bayou) or manicured (Mansions). There

are several quiet pools in addition to Ol Man Island. The transportation was

superb at POFQ, and we went to POR a couple of times to pick up there. In

the mornings, we went directly to the park without going to POR (they had

their own bus) but if we came back to the room to rest and then went back

later in the afternoon, we made the loop at POR. Am I making that clear?

I don't think POR or POFQ has preferred rooms. I believe they are standard

or water-view only, and both can be located anywhere within the resort.

Be sure to go see Bob the piano player in the lounge-he's for kids and

adults both-a hoot! Take the boat to D'town Disney, too. We ate at

Boatwright's (at POR) one night and thought it was very good. I hope you

are lucky and they offer free dining! This was our first time to stay on-

site, and I am glad we chose one of the PO resorts. I give credit to the

DisBoards members for helping me choose!

 

[Bill&Sandy]

Sorry about that format. I think I fixed it!

 

[angeleigh]

We have stayed at POR twice and loved it. We got a waterview both times and were close to the pool and dining. If your son is like mine he will love it there. There are ducks everywhere and you can also rent poles for fishing. One year we stayed in a first floor room and one year we were on the second floor. We we never in the mansions section but we loved the AB section.
Enjoy your trip

 

[Shmily1]

We were just there a month ago and it was awesome!!! We stayed at Parterre Place and were very close to everything. The grounds were beautiful and the design of the resort was awesome!! We had to wait on a bus for 5 minutes once. The buses were full, but not crowded. Once we were on a bus that stopped at POFQ and POR. The rest of the time, the bus was just for POR. We had to wait on the boat to DTD for about 20 minutes.

Things to do and see:

The boatride to DTD--it takes about 25 minutes once you get on the boat, but it was awesome!!! You will see the treehouses that were built as Walt wanted. They are very nostalgic.

Eat breakfast at Boatrights--Lots of variety and banana stuffed french toast. What could be better???

Ol' Man's Island--lots of fun for everyone!!!

Fishing--fun especially for your guys!! Good photos for you!!!

Rent a surry--ride around the grounds and see what you've been missing.

Rent a water mouse-- these are not fast, but lots to see and fun for little boys!!!

Look for deer--we saw 11 deer on the way to MK in one day. They were just standing by the road very close to the highway, but they know they are protected! They were beautiful. I think they thought we were the attractions!!!

Have a great trip!!!

 

[UAB master]

We are planning to stay at Port Orleans in Sept. I think I read somewhere that the Boatwright restaurant was only for 10 yrs. and older. Does anyone know about that?

 

[jesmith12]

I'm pretty sure you can bring children. Allears.net has a childrens menu from 11/2007 listed.

 

[Shmily1]

There is no age limit on Boatwrights. It's for anyone, and really good I might add!!! Enjoy!!!

 

[tejasranger]

We were just there a month ago and it was awesome!!! We stayed at Parterre Place and were very close to everything. The grounds were beautiful and the design of the resort was awesome!! We had to wait on a bus for 5 minutes once. The buses were full, but not crowded. Once we were on a bus that stopped at POFQ and POR. The rest of the time, the bus was just for POR. We had to wait on the boat to DTD for about 20 minutes.

Things to do and see:

The boatride to DTD--it takes about 25 minutes once you get on the boat, but it was awesome!!! You will see the treehouses that were built as Walt wanted. They are very nostalgic.

Eat breakfast at Boatrights--Lots of variety and banana stuffed french toast. What could be better???

Ol' Man's Island--lots of fun for everyone!!!

Fishing--fun especially for your guys!! Good photos for you!!!

Rent a surry--ride around the grounds and see what you've been missing.

Rent a water mouse-- these are not fast, but lots to see and fun for little boys!!!

Look for deer--we saw 11 deer on the way to MK in one day. They were just standing by the road very close to the highway, but they know they are protected! They were beautiful. I think they thought we were the attractions!!!

Have a great trip!!!

We just got back from POR Feb 2nd. We were in the alligator Bayou section. I agree with you Boatwrights was very good. We had the deluxe dining plan and I ended up cancelling alot of reservations because my husband enjoyed the banana stuffed french toast . I got the recipe for him to make at home. I enjoyed the breakfast better than the dinner. They have excellant prime rib. I did not like the buttermilk fried chicken. As far as the boat ride that was my favorite thing to do. I wished we could have seen deers. I tell all of my friends and relatives how beautiful POR was and highly reccommend it.

 

[tejasranger]

The alligator bayou section is very close to the dining. My husband is handicapped so our travel agent booked building 14. It is as close to the dining as possible. We very much enjoyed being close to the river and watching the ducks. That was my husbands favorite thing to do in the mornings. The eatery has big giant muffins you can use on your snack plan. We did that one morning because we had a reservation at the the flying fish which requires 2 dining tickets too make up for it. I promise that big muffin will fill you up. We also liked the river roost they have entertainment on Wed through Friday. After a long day at the park we would just stop off and have a relaxing drink. The mansions are very pretty, they look like the old south but they do not seem to be as conveniant to the dining. If I can figure out how to do it I will post pictures.

 

[MindyLuvsMickey]

Thanks for the info, everyone. I'm looking forward to staying there!

 

[aeroc33]

What does everybody think about a split stay betwen POR and POFQ? We are taking an 8 Day trip in April and think maybe it would be nice to mix it up a little.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

The alligator bayou section is very close to the dining..[/QUOTE

This is not really true. We had AB side and had one of the WORST rooms in the resort and one of the farthest rooms I've ever had at any resort. We were not close to anything, except a quiet pool that was never quiet. Also, AB buildings don't have elevators, and we were on the third floor! ug!

Also, as AB rooms can hold five, nearly every room around us had five people in it!

Some of the Mansion rooms are considered preferred location, so it REALLY depends where your room is located. POR is a big resort witha lake in the middle - so if you are on the far side of the lake you are going to have hike to the main building and the main pool. Somehow, even our nearest bus stop was far!

The food court has changed since I was there a few years ago. It was pretty typical food court food - mainly focused on American + pizza.

POFQ has a smaller food court, but has some New Orleans specialities.

 

[Bill&Sandy]

The alligator bayou section is very close to the dining..[/QUOTE

This is not really true. We had AB side and had one of the WORST rooms in the resort and one of the farthest rooms I've ever had at any resort. We were not close to anything, except a quiet pool that was never quiet. AlsAB buildings don't have elevators, and we were on the third floor! ug!o,
Also, as AB rooms can hold five, nearly every room around us had five people in it!

Some of the Mansion rooms are considered preferred location, so it REALLY depends where your room is located. POR is a big resort witha lake in the middle - so if you are on the far side of the lake you are going to have hike to the main building and the main pool. Somehow, even our nearest bus stop was far!

The food court has changed since I was there a few years ago. It was pretty typical food court food - mainly focused on American + pizza.

POFQ has a smaller food court, but has some New Orleans specialities.

Forgive me if I am wrong, but isn't the AB section only 2 stories?

 

[tejasranger]

The alligator bayou section is only 2 floors. Since my husband is handicapped we had the bottom floor. The alligator bayou section is very big, but building 14 where we stayed is very close to the dining and bus stop, south depot.

 

[chatty]

We will be at the FQ's in one week and this is our 10th stay there within 5 years... It's got to be Great for us to stay so many times at one resort. We have stayed at all the Mods. and many of the Deluxe resorts including the S/D.. So Enjoy..
Chatty

 

[estnh]

What does everybody think about a split stay betwen POR and POFQ? We are taking an 8 Day trip in April and think maybe it would be nice to mix it up a little.

We have stayed at both several times, and love them, but they are so similar in the amenities offered that I don't think it would be worth the time to change. You can share experience both resorts by staying at one of them and just spending some time at the other's restaurants, food courts, etc. As I recall, you can even use pools at both resorts.

IMO, if you were going to change resorts, changing to CBR or CSR would give you a different theming experience.

 

[CleveRocks]

Some of the Mansion rooms are considered preferred location

Actually, Port Orleans Riverside (POR) does not have a room category called preferred location. You can book a water view room for an extra cost, and you can book a room with a king-size bed for an extra cost, but at POR you simply can't book a "preferred location" room because the category doesn't exist.

Because of the layout of the resort, a water view room in Building X will usually tend to be ever-so-slightly closer to the food court and restaurant and main pool than a non-water view room in Building X ... but "preferred location" just doesn't exist as a room category at that resort. Perhaps you were thinking of a Value Resort or Caribbean Beach Resort.

 

[casper_jj11]

Do the mansions have elevators? I prefer to not be on the bottom floor but with three kiddos and two strollers, I really don't want to drag everything up stairs.

Joanne