Where to stay in Alligator Bayou?

[jfoster]

We want to stay in whatever building will be convenient; our primary concern is the busing. I read that often the South depot has a bus that will get that depot alone, whereas the West, north and east run on the same one. Trying to decide whether the Preferred Room is worth it to stay near the South depot. Thanks for any adivce!

 

[niffer5150]

We want to stay in whatever building will be convenient; our primary concern is the busing. I read that often the South depot has a bus that will get that depot alone, whereas the West, north and east run on the same one. Trying to decide whether the Preferred Room is worth it to stay near the South depot. Thanks for any adivce!

south gets its own bus? i'm curious about this now too. i booked preferred just because i wanted to be SURE we'd get bayou because i like the rooms better than the mansion buildings.

last time i was there buses weren't a problem at all(jan 2010). we never had to worry about a seat unless it was coming back from the parks during a high traffic time.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

We have stayed in a few different buildings but my favorite is building 14, which is a preferred room. Building 16 is also great because its close to the parking lot too and since we drive it comes in handy for us.

Here is a map of the resort for you to look at. I believe buildings 14, 15, 18 and 27 are all preferred.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/port-riverside.htm

What I normally do is while i am on the phone booking our trip i request to be close to the food court. So far it has worked well for us with or without requesting a preferred room, but there is no guarantee. We are a family of 5 so we are always in the AB section.

 

[Daphne W]

We have stayed in buildings 34 and 37. 34 is beside the parking lot and a quiet pool. 37 has been our actual favorite because it is really close to the East Depot. We have booked a preferred room for our next stay. I'm not sure that is what we will keep because we are driving this trip and would like to be closer to the car. I do like the preferred buildings to be closer to the main building and the drink fountains.

 

[nikki7680]

Definitely go with a Preferred Room. You will not regret it! We had building 14 last year and LOVED it! Close to buses, food court and pool. Have a great trip!!

 

[nkereina]

south gets its own bus?

It depends. It worked out that way many times when we would get the bus in the morning. The south depot is by far the busiest one, so an empty bus would come to the south depot in the morning, fill up, and then be on its way to the park. I would imagine that the bus they would send to the other three depots wouldn't get as full.

When we would get the bus at an off time, like in the afternoon, it would hit all four depots.

No matter what, when we returned to the resort from the park, the bus always went to all four depots

 

[elaw]

Definitely go with a Preferred Room. You will not regret it! We had building 14 last year and LOVED it! Close to buses, food court and pool. Have a great trip!!

We did too ... in April of this year

 

[camandjacksmom]

We have always paid for a garden view and requested building 16 and loved it. It saves a few dollars and is not that much more of a walk especially if you go the back way thru the parking lot to the back entrance to the south depot. We put the request on our reservation for alligator bayou. Then when we arrive we request it again and let them know we will wait for a room in building 16 if we have to and they have accomidated us 3 times now!!!

 

[goofyredraider]

We have always paid for a garden view and requested building 16 and loved it. It saves a few dollars and is not that much more of a walk especially if you go the back way thru the parking lot to the back entrance to the south depot. We put the request on our reservation for alligator bayou. Then when we arrive we request it again and let them know we will wait for a room in building 16 if we have to and they have accomidated us 3 times now!!!

Yep I was going to say building 16 or 17 if you don't want to pay preferred upgrade...

 

[a1tinkfans]

We want to stay in whatever building will be convenient; our primary concern is the busing. I read that often the South depot has a bus that will get that depot alone, whereas the West, north and east run on the same one. Trying to decide whether the Preferred Room is worth it to stay near the South depot. Thanks for any adivce!

if you go preferred AB section, you will have an easier time IMHO
with being centrally located and better with buses....
Have a great time, AWESOME resort

 

[jfoster]

Thank you all for your input. It seems as though building 14 seems to be a favorite of a lot of people. Perhaps we will try to request that one and pay for the Preferred Room. Our main concern is not food and pool location. Honestly, at AKL last year we only swam once for about 45 min. We always take breakfast with us and eat lunch and dinner out in the parks, so food isn't a concern either. Really, we just want a bus stop location that will be conveniently located from our building and will have frequent enough stops. Thank you, you have eased my fears about the negative busing reviews about POR.

 

[POOHsie]

I can definitely see the advantages of Building 14 and 15. We stayed in Building 15 two times. You cross the parking lot to the "secret sidewalk" that leads directly to the South Bus Depot (Main Building). We loved it. It was a trifle farther to the food court than Building 14, but still very close.

I recommend to people to get on the buses at the South Bus Depot, to get the best chance for a seat during busy hours, since it's the first stop. Guests at the Mansions can cross the river to get there easily.

 

[KonaKaiTom]

I can definitely see the advantages of Building 14 and 15. We stayed in Building 15 two times. You cross the parking lot to the "secret sidewalk" that leads directly to the South Bus Depot (Main Building). We loved it. It was a trifle farther to the food court than Building 14, but still very close.

I recommend to people to get on the buses at the South Bus Depot, to get the best chance for a seat during busy hours, since it's the first stop. Guests at the Mansions can cross the river to get there easily.

I stayed in Building 14 back in January and it was so easy to use the sidewalk referenced above -- and there were no more than 15 minutes wait time for rides to any of the parks.

Tom