The New and Updated Port Orleans Riverside FAQ Thread for 2008 --- NOW CLOSED

[mr.bungle]

There are four stops, one at the main building and three perimeter ones.

To get nearest the one at the main building, it is now considered a "preferred" room, so it will cost more. But it also gets you close to the food court, marina, and main pool.

The other three are perimeter spots. One at AB; one between AB and Acadian House; and one at Magnolia Terrace. Usually I stay in the mansions in Oak Manor, so I use the main bus stop, because it is nice to stroll over, eat breakfast at the food court and then go right out to the bus stop.

One year I stayed at the Acadian House facing the parking lot and it was very convenient having the bus stop right there, if I opted to eat at the parks instead of the food court.

So it actually depends on which side you would like to stay on - AB or the Mansions.

Here is a link to the resort map; POR is in Green.

http://allears.net/acc/portorleansmap.jpg

Thanks for the info. I've been reading that the stop nearest the main entrance is the first pick up so if you board there, you'll have to stop at the other 3 before heading to the parks. Alternatively, I've heard that getting on at stops 3 or 4 can lead to a full bus and having to wait longer. I just simply don't know what the better scenario is. We'll be shipping a box with breakfast food to the hotel so we'll be eating in our room and proximity to the food court really isn't an issue.

 

[scottmel]

TAHNK YOU MissyTara! Fantastic information. I appreciate it Cool that there is a dedicated website to POR. Is there one for other disney resorts? I tried Yacht Club and got nothing...

 

[Missytara]

TAHNK YOU MissyTara! Fantastic information. I appreciate it Cool that there is a dedicated website to POR. Is there one for other disney resorts? I tried Yacht Club and got nothing...

Not that I know of - you can thank Andre Willey; who started that webpage - that is a true lover of the resort and its amentities.

 

[Missytara]

Thanks for the info. I've been reading that the stop nearest the main entrance is the first pick up so if you board there, you'll have to stop at the other 3 before heading to the parks. Alternatively, I've heard that getting on at stops 3 or 4 can lead to a full bus and having to wait longer. I just simply don't know what the better scenario is. We'll be shipping a box with breakfast food to the hotel so we'll be eating in our room and proximity to the food court really isn't an issue.

Also, POR and POFQ share buses at busier times of the day, and POFQ is the first pick-up and the first drop-off.

 

[scottmel]

Not that I know of - you can thank Andre Willey; who started that webpage - that is a true lover of the resort and its amentities.

LOL well then I should start one for Yacht Club b/c that is how I love that place! what an awesome idea. Again thank you missy for the help!

 

[andrewilley]

LOL well then I should start one for Yacht Club b/c that is how I love that place! what an awesome idea.

Go for it! That's how and why I started portorleans.org.

Andre

 

[nkereina]

Please forgive me if this has already been addressed in this thread (it's a long one!), but since Disney is one of the few places that charges extra for a King bed, what are the odds of getting one with no upcharge if we request it when checking in? I can only assume they charge for King beds since they are few and far between, but I would think they'd like to get rid of those before double bed rooms so families don't get stuck with King rooms. I'm traveling with my boyfriend so we'd love a King room but will not pay extra for it. What do you think the likelihood of them upgrading us with no upcharge would be?

 

[andrewilley]

You could ask, certainly. There aren't a lot of King Bed rooms to go round, but you never know your luck. People have got upgrades from Standard to Water View rooms, so keep your fingers crossed.

Andre

 

[downsouthca]

We spent Dec 16-22 at the Port Orleans and we all had a great time. I would love to come back here again and add more time just hanging out at the resort.
and Andrew, thanks for setting up the Portorleans website, great information and detail.

Here is a picture of us with Piano Bob



and a couple of towel animals that the Mousekeepers made for us:

 

[snykymom]

TAHNK YOU MissyTara! Fantastic information. I appreciate it Cool that there is a dedicated website to POR. Is there one for other disney resorts? I tried Yacht Club and got nothing...

There is one for Coronado Springs:
**************************************
and Animal Kingdom Lodge:
http://www.aklresort.com/

And thanks so much, Andre, for the POFQ/POR website! All of these take a lot of work, and certainly help us who are trying to figure out where to stay!

ETA: sorry, didn't know that the CSR one wasn't allowed. You can google it to find it if so desired.

 

[andrewilley]

There's a great unofficial site for the Poly too, which I think the DIS also frowns upon (just Google "Polynesian Unofficial" and I'm sure you'll find something). One of the problems of a big site like the DIS is that sometimes you have to remember that, at the end of the day, it is being provided by a major commercial travel agent - and they naturally don't take too kindly to people using it to point to sites which have relationships with their competition. (The CSR site issue was very different though, to be fair)

Personally, I like to play fair and expect other sites to do so too. I do what I do because I enjoy helping people, and I really don't want to get involved in the politics. I don't take sponsorship on portorleans.org (other than a PayPal Donate button, if anyone wishes to use it to help defray the server costs, etc) and so what I write on there, or where I link to, is my honest opinion without worrying about offending an advertiser.

Andre

 

[Chicago Mo]

There's a great unofficial site for the Poly too, which I think the DIS also frowns upon (just Google "Polynesian Unofficial" and I'm sure you'll find something). One of the problems of a big site like the DIS is that sometimes you have to remember that, at the end of the day, it is being provided by a major commercial travel agent - and they naturally don't take too kindly to people using it to point to sites which have relationships with their competition. (The CSR site issue was very different though, to be fair)

Personally, I like to play fair and expect other sites to do so too. I do what I do because I enjoy helping people, and I really don't want to get involved in the politics. I don't take sponsorship on portorleans.org (other than a PayPal Donate button, if anyone wishes to use it to help defray the server costs, etc) and so what I write on there, or where I link to, is my honest opinion without worrying about offending an advertiser.



I didn't know this!! if it wasn't for the Poly web site i would have been lost on on first trip to Disney... we are going back for our second trip this year and staying at the POR. if it wasn't for your site i would be scared about staying there.. do not know what to expect. and now i do. if it weren't for such sites the newbies to Disney would be very lost and confused. this including this board. any and all information on Disney is greatly appreciated by people like myself and my family!!! so i thank you and those that do have these web sites. and i thank those that have these boards!!!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I'm signing onto this thread!

We just booked my birthday trip to WDW in March and we're staying at POR!

We haven't stayed there in years and booked the preferred room category so I'm hoping we get a good building near the main building and pool!

Does anyone know what the bus stop routes are?

When we stayed at CSR, we were the 2nd to last bus (the one just before the main building stop), just curious as to what PORs were like if anyone knows??

EDIT:
It says on the main page that the bus stops at the main building and then continues to the other stops before heading to a park..so that answers my question unless that has changed?? I know it read that it will stop at POFQ first before POR during busy times too.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Sorry..another question!!

Does anyone know if the "spring break" teen crowds or athletic teams typically stay at POR in March?

My brother and I went last year and had to stay our first night at AS Sports and we walked into the food court and it was a nightmare of high school kids not being supervised and crazy + running/screaming outside at night. We were glad to head to POP the following day where it was like a whole different world without the kids around.

I know for POP Warner in Dec they typically stay at AS and POR but is that the case in March too?? We'll be there the same weekend as last year March 17-21st. I think it's great that kids get to go that might not be able to go otherwise but there's that and not behaving properly!

I might not otherwise mind...I'm 25 and know what it was like to be a teen and without adults on trips but after seeing what we saw for a night last year..I'd rather not have it if possible!

Thanks

 

[iixheartxyouxox]

I'm signing onto this thread!

We just booked my birthday trip to WDW in March and we're staying at POR!

We haven't stayed there in years and booked the preferred room category so I'm hoping we get a good building near the main building and pool!

Does anyone know what the bus stop routes are?

When we stayed at CSR, we were the 2nd to last bus (the one just before the main building stop), just curious as to what PORs were like if anyone knows??

EDIT:
It says on the main page that the bus stops at the main building and then continues to the other stops before heading to a park..so that answers my question unless that has changed?? I know it read that it will stop at POFQ first before POR during busy times too.

I just got back from POR last week and the bus routes changed many times. Most of the time the bus would stop at the west, north and east depots before stopping at the main building (im assuming this was to empty the bus before more passengers got on). But a few times we stopped at the main building first. also, most of the time the bus went to POR then POFQ but i can remember at least twice stopping at POFQ before going to POR. So it seems to be up to the bus driver or situation. I could never really figure out a concrete pattern and it was annoying bcuz it interests me to know how things work lol

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I just got back from POR last week and the bus routes changed many times. Most of the time the bus would stop at the west, north and east depots before stopping at the main building (im assuming this was to empty the bus before more passengers got on). But a few times we stopped at the main building first. also, most of the time the bus went to POR then POFQ but i can remember at least twice stopping at POFQ before going to POR. So it seems to be up to the bus driver or situation. I could never really figure out a concrete pattern and it was annoying bcuz it interests me to know how things work lol

Thanks!

When we stayed at CSR in Oct, it was always consistent of stopping near the convention center, 2 "middle stops", and the main building was always the last stop. I'm assuming that's because of the back gate that they have into CSR. We were the 3rd out of 4 stops and it was never an issue but I was just curious as to PORs ran which seems to be different!

 

[Pixiedust34]

The buses always run the same way as CSR. That's one thing I really like about that resort! If you have a far flung room there, you can hop on a bus to get to the main building/food court. It's a nice system, and is probably in place because CSR is a convention resort.

As mentioned, the bus stop order varies greatly at POR. There is no way to predict if the bus will start at the South Depot or one of the other depots first. Sometimes POFQ is the first stop.

 

[Yarna]

I just got back from POR last week and the bus routes changed many times. Most of the time the bus would stop at the west, north and east depots before stopping at the main building (im assuming this was to empty the bus before more passengers got on). But a few times we stopped at the main building first. also, most of the time the bus went to POR then POFQ but i can remember at least twice stopping at POFQ before going to POR. So it seems to be up to the bus driver or situation. I could never really figure out a concrete pattern and it was annoying bcuz it interests me to know how things work lol

I will back up this post. We have stayed at POR a few times and sometimes the bus would stop at west first, sometimes at main first. Sometime POFQ was on the route, sometimes it wasn't. We couldn't figure out a pattern. Like this post says, maybe it's up to the bus driver or situation, or which entrance to POR is closer. Again, we couldn't figure it out.

I read many posts on these boards indicating that the bus routes at POR are consistently the same, but in my experience that is not accurate. The bus routes were anything but consistent.

My advice to POR guests trying to determine which bus stop to frequent in order to get a seat - stop trying. Just enjoy your time at POR and Disney and stop worrying.

Except for the main bus stop. That stop was always SLAMMED!!

 

[andrewilley]

My advice to POR guests trying to determine which bus stop to frequent in order to get a seat - stop trying. Just enjoy your time at POR and Disney and stop worrying.

Absolutely! Stop trying to second guess where the Disney system routes the buses, I don't think even they fully understand it! LOL

Andre

 

[sherriepaul]

Does anyone know where I can see pictures of the rehab rooms?