Disney's PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE RESORT Information & Questions

[Ensusieasm]

What's the difference between a royal room and a garden view room. I just booked a garden view room for October...is the only difference the price and the décor? My friends and I will seriously only be in the room to sleep and will be out at the parks all day. I'm trying to figure out if I should change our room or not...

Yes, two of the differences are decor and price, but there is one other big difference. Booking a Royal Room guarantee's that you will be in the Magnolia Bend (mansions) section. If you book a garden view room, you could be in Aligator Bayou even if you request the Magnolia Bend mansion section.

 

[dansdad]

Has anyone recently purchased a case of water from Fulton's? I was wondering how much they're charging and the case size. Arrive next Saturday and it looks like we're avoiding a grocery order this year but we'll still need some bottled water.

I appreciate any responses.

$6.99 for twenty-four 12oz bottles of Dasani.

 

[mhartman09]

We've got a preferred room booked for our June 3rd thru June 10th trip. It's just myself, DH and our 5 year old son. This is our first time staying at POR (and only our 2nd Disney trip ever) and we are so excited. We'll be celebrating DH's 33rd birthday on June 8th also.

I see we will definitely be in building 14, 15, 18 or 27 in AB because we booked preferred. We are looking forward to the murphy bed as I know my son would just love it, however, I have seen the posts stating there is a slight chance we could end up with one of the few rooms in the AB section without one since we only have 3 in our room. That would be ok as well since technically we don't need it for just the 3 of us.

I'm trying to narrow down any possible room requests based on what I've been reading. I'm thinking of requesting a corner room on the ground floor mainly for the ease of not using the stairs (we'll have a stroller with us for park days so it would be nice to not have to lug it up and down if we don't have to). Only concerns would be possible noise from above and maybe foot traffic near our room. Has anyone experienced any excessive noise being on the ground floor? I'm leaning towards this not being an issue and think the convenience of ground floor would trump any possible noise. What about any extra foot traffic near the room, as compared to being on 2nd floor? I would imagine the 2nd floor would be a bit more private where that's concerned, but from what I can tell from pictures the walkways aren't right up next to the buildings anyway.

I'm trying to decide if we should request to be closer to the main buildings or not. I know this really comes down to personal preference, but since I've never been to this resort I'm not sure what to expect and it's a little hard just looking at a map. Buildings 14 and 15 are obviously closer to those main buildings, but the views from buildings 18 and 27 (from pics on touring plans) appear to be a bit better. I can't imagine the walk from there to the main buildings could be that much longer than 14 or 15, right?

I know I'm probably overthinking this way too much....LOL. Just wanted to check with the POR experts here for their experiences and suggestions.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I'm thinking of requesting a corner room on the ground floor mainly for the ease of not using the stairs (we'll have a stroller with us for park days so it would be nice to not have to lug it up and down if we don't have to). Only concerns would be possible noise from above and maybe foot traffic near our room. Has anyone experienced any excessive noise being on the ground floor?

We have stayed in ground floor corner rooms both times when we were at POR and there was very little foot traffic. Just about the only noise we heard was when the kids in the room next to us decided to play on the walkway right outside of our door on a rainy night. Neither of these rooms was near a staircase, which I think helped to keep them from getting foot traffic. The most noise we heard was from laundry carts being rolled down the sidewalk outside of our room when we stayed in building 14. But that was during the day and we usually heard them only when we were in the room changing clothes for swimming.

The reason you don't get a lot of foot traffic in front of the ground floor rooms is that there are a lot of places that have steps up from the ground to the walkway, thereby allowing people to use the steps that are closest to their room instead of walking past other rooms.

 

[MMSRunner87]

Hi Everyone,

We are currently booked at the Contemporary within the next few weeks with a Theme Park View, but we saw a Royal Room Garden View open up at POR (which is our first choice for a moderate, but was booked already when we were deciding). Can someone tell me where Royal Rooms with a Garden View are typically located? We have both resorts booked, but have to make a decision tonight. Always nice to save a little for other fun experiences! Thanks.

 

[MMSRunner87]

Hi Everyone,

We are currently booked at the Contemporary within the next few weeks with a Theme Park View, but we saw a Royal Room Garden View open up at POR (which is our first choice for a moderate, but was booked already when we were deciding). Can someone tell me where Royal Rooms with a Garden View are typically located? We have both resorts booked, but have to make a decision tonight. Always nice to save a little for other fun experiences! Thanks.

I see the posts above, is there a "specific mansion" I should request for a Garden View Royal Room? Thanks!

 

[andrewilley]

I see the posts above, is there a "specific mansion" I should request for a Garden View Royal Room? Thanks!

There are only two, Oak Manor and Parterre Place, and both have lots of Garden View rooms spread out around the buildings. Oak Manor probably gives you the better chance of being located nearer to the main building, but the very best few rooms are in Parterre. Just request what you want rather than asking for any particular building.

Andre

 

[MMSRunner87]

There are only two, Oak Manor and Parterre Place, and both have lots of Garden View rooms spread out around the buildings. Oak Manor probably gives you the better chance of being located nearer to the main building, but the very best few rooms are in Parterre. Just request what you want rather than asking for any particular building.

Andre

Thanks, Andre! Still weighing pros and cons between the CR and POR. I really enjoyed POR, but it has been a long time since I stayed there. I appreciate your information.

 

[Gitts2008]

We've got a preferred room booked for our June 3rd thru June 10th trip. It's just myself, DH and our 5 year old son. This is our first time staying at POR (and only our 2nd Disney trip ever) and we are so excited. We'll be celebrating DH's 33rd birthday on June 8th also.

I see we will definitely be in building 14, 15, 18 or 27 in AB because we booked preferred. We are looking forward to the murphy bed as I know my son would just love it, however, I have seen the posts stating there is a slight chance we could end up with one of the few rooms in the AB section without one since we only have 3 in our room. That would be ok as well since technically we don't need it for just the 3 of us. .

I believe that ALL AB rooms have the Murphy bed. Remember to get a birthday pin for DH from the front desk or any guest services. Try to make time to see Ye Haw Bob at the River Roost. The show starts at 8:30 pm on the 3rd, 7th, 8th, and 9th. Get there early to get a seat. He is a must see. Have a magical time!

 

[siskaren]

I believe that ALL AB rooms have the Murphy bed.

I think the handicapped accessible ones don't, but there aren't very many of those, and while I have heard of it happening, I would assume the chances of someone getting one of those rooms who doesn't need it has got to be extremely low.

 

[jaycns]

I'm hoping you wonderful POR lovers are willing to help me with a surprise for my kids. I would like to make a photo scavenger hunt for my them. I've done this before at both the Boardwalk and at the Polynesian (many years ago) with the help of many kind DISers on their resort fan threads.

To that end, I'm looking for information about Port Orleans' iconic or fun places or unique items at the resort (a few hidden Mickey's thrown in would be grand). If you have a picture of the place/thing that would be awesomely helpful for me, but even just an idea with a short description would be helpful. Especially important, in either case, would be the location (so I know how to phrase my clues and in which order I should put them).
The prior photo scavenger hunts I put together were very magical moments for our family! Last time, I took pictures of them doing things like finding certain items such as the elephant that squirts water from his trunk in the BW's pool area or the hidden Mickey in the floor at the Poly's lobby. I also had them make a purchase in the gift shop, play a game in the arcade, and eat a treat from the BW bakery. I cherish the pictures I took during those scavenger hunts! My then 9 year old (who is now 17 ) still references those photo scavenger hunts as some of the most fun he's ever had at Disney.

Now that my younger three children are approaching the age that my older three enjoyed doing that sort of thing, I'm hoping to recreate that same magic for them during our upcoming stay at POR! We'll be staying in two Royal rooms at the POR, but I am willing (and wanting) to include both POR and POFQ in the hunt.

Thank you in advance for any hints or tips you can give me so that I can put together another fun photo scavenger hunt! Your help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Gitts2008]

I think the handicapped accessible ones don't, but there aren't very many of those, and while I have heard of it happening, I would assume the chances of someone getting one of those rooms who doesn't need it has got to be extremely low.

Thank you! I stand corrected.

 

[mhartman09]

We have stayed in ground floor corner rooms both times when we were at POR and there was very little foot traffic. Just about the only noise we heard was when the kids in the room next to us decided to play on the walkway right outside of our door on a rainy night. Neither of these rooms was near a staircase, which I think helped to keep them from getting foot traffic. The most noise we heard was from laundry carts being rolled down the sidewalk outside of our room when we stayed in building 14. But that was during the day and we usually heard them only when we were in the room changing clothes for swimming.

The reason you don't get a lot of foot traffic in front of the ground floor rooms is that there are a lot of places that have steps up from the ground to the walkway, thereby allowing people to use the steps that are closest to their room instead of walking past other rooms.

I believe that ALL AB rooms have the Murphy bed. Remember to get a birthday pin for DH from the front desk or any guest services. Try to make time to see Ye Haw Bob at the River Roost. The show starts at 8:30 pm on the 3rd, 7th, 8th, and 9th. Get there early to get a seat. He is a must see. Have a magical time!

I think the handicapped accessible ones don't, but there aren't very many of those, and while I have heard of it happening, I would assume the chances of someone getting one of those rooms who doesn't need it has got to be extremely low.

Thanks for the responses. I did see that it appears only the handicapped accessible rooms in AB don't have the Murphy bed. I'd imagine they would only put us in those rooms if there happened to be one vacant while we are there and another family of 5 needed a preferred room. Either way, we'd be just fine....but glad to know the chances are very high of us getting a room with the Murphy bed. I'm going to go ahead and submit my online check-in room request for a ground floor corner room. It really seems to be a good selection that would be very convenient for us, even though I know it's not a guarantee. I'll continue to weigh out other options as our trip draws nearer so I can fine tune any other requests to submit in the 3-5 day window before we arrive.

Gitts2008, I do plan to get DH his bday pin when we arrive. On our last trip we were celebrating DS's bday as well as our anniversary, so we had pins for those. Everyone in our group (my parents came with us) had 1st trip pins too, since none of us had every been before besides DH, but his only trip was during the week of his 1st bday so he honestly didn't remember a thing...LOL. We have a dinner booked at Whispering Canyon the night of his bday. He doesn't really want me to make a big deal of it, but I want to at least tell our server and hopefully he might get a little pixie dust......even if it's in the form of someone poking fun at him more than normal there. I've been reading a lot about the entertainment at POR. We look forward to checking out Ye Haw Bob.

 

[mhartman09]

Sorry for all the questions. Want to make sure I have this straight regarding a preferred room booking. I know King bed and River View are separate booking categories. Does this mean by booking preferred, we definitely would not be put in a room with a king bed or a river view room? I wasn't sure if those might be something that can still be requested through a faxed room request and still be possible to get, based on availability of course.

 

[FelisLachesis]

Sorry for all the questions. Want to make sure I have this straight regarding a preferred room booking. I know King bed and River View are separate booking categories. Does this mean by booking preferred, we definitely would not be put in a room with a king bed or a river view room? I wasn't sure if those might be something that can still be requested through a faxed room request and still be possible to get, based on availability of course.

Don't apologize for all the questions, that's what the thread is for!

King bed and River view rooms are considered their own categories. King bed category is, on average, about $7 cheaper than a Preferred Room. River view, on average, is about $5 more than a Preferred room.* These aren't things that can actually be put on your room request, as they are separate categories, and not just asking for a particular subset within your booked category.

Now upon check-in, if the CM at the front desk wants to spread some pixie dust (and if there's availability), you might get a river view room. If there's suddenly a bunch of 5-person families coming in, you might get put into a King Room, though that's technically a downgrade at worst, and a sidegrade at best. If thou dost protest, you might be able to wiggle out of a King room, if assigned.

*Room rates can be found here: http://www.portorleans.org/roomrates.php

 

[andrewilley]

I think the handicapped accessible ones don't, but there aren't very many of those, and while I have heard of it happening, I would assume the chances of someone getting one of those rooms who doesn't need it has got to be extremely low.

Correct. All regular AB rooms have the murphy beds expect for the wheelchair accessible rooms (which I highlight in red on my flootplan maps). These do not have enough space to fit the bench seat / murphy bed due to the extra wardrobe that needs to be added to compensate for the lack of the regular hanging rail space in the wash area. Also the table is slightly wider than normal to provide easier access for wheelchair users:

It's unlikely that guest who do not need wheelchair access would be placed in those rooms, but when the resort is at 100% capacity it can happen.

Andre

 

[andrewilley]

I would like to make a photo scavenger hunt for my them.

You could start with the one I have on my site if you wish: http://www.portorleans.org/scavenger-hunt.php . There's also a Word Search if you want to try it: http://www.portorleans.org/wordsearch.php

Andre

 

[igrsod]

I'm hoping you wonderful POR lovers are willing to help me with a surprise for my kids. I would like to make a photo scavenger hunt for my them. I've done this before at both the Boardwalk and at the Polynesian (many years ago) with the help of many kind DISers on their resort fan threads.

To that end, I'm looking for information about Port Orleans' iconic or fun places or unique items at the resort (a few hidden Mickey's thrown in would be grand). If you have a picture of the place/thing that would be awesomely helpful for me, but even just an idea with a short description would be helpful. Especially important, in either case, would be the location (so I know how to phrase my clues and in which order I should put them).
The prior photo scavenger hunts I put together were very magical moments for our family! Last time, I took pictures of them doing things like finding certain items such as the elephant that squirts water from his trunk in the BW's pool area or the hidden Mickey in the floor at the Poly's lobby. I also had them make a purchase in the gift shop, play a game in the arcade, and eat a treat from the BW bakery. I cherish the pictures I took during those scavenger hunts! My then 9 year old (who is now 17 ) still references those photo scavenger hunts as some of the most fun he's ever had at Disney.

Now that my younger three children are approaching the age that my older three enjoyed doing that sort of thing, I'm hoping to recreate that same magic for them during our upcoming stay at POR! We'll be staying in two Royal rooms at the POR, but I am willing (and wanting) to include both POR and POFQ in the hunt.

Thank you in advance for any hints or tips you can give me so that I can put together another fun photo scavenger hunt! Your help would be greatly appreciated!

We are leaving for POR tomorrow. I will try and get a few pics for you.

 

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

Correct. All regular AB rooms have the murphy beds expect for the wheelchair accessible rooms (which I highlight in red on my flootplan maps). These do not have enough space to fit the bench seat / murphy bed due to the extra wardrobe that needs to be added to compensate for the lack of the regular hanging rail space in the wash area. Also the table is slightly wider than normal to provide easier access for wheelchair users:

It's unlikely that guest who do not need wheelchair access would be placed in those rooms, but when the resort is at 100% capacity it can happen.

Andre

We have actually gotten this room twice when staying at POR in a preferred room. We didn't mind it as the set up felt quite different.

 

[mhartman09]

Don't apologize for all the questions, that's what the thread is for!

King bed and River view rooms are considered their own categories. King bed category is, on average, about $7 cheaper than a Preferred Room. River view, on average, is about $5 more than a Preferred room.* These aren't things that can actually be put on your room request, as they are separate categories, and not just asking for a particular subset within your booked category.

Now upon check-in, if the CM at the front desk wants to spread some pixie dust (and if there's availability), you might get a river view room. If there's suddenly a bunch of 5-person families coming in, you might get put into a King Room, though that's technically a downgrade at worst, and a sidegrade at best. If thou dost protest, you might be able to wiggle out of a King room, if assigned.

*Room rates can be found here: http://www.portorleans.org/roomrates.php

Thanks so much. DH was actually hoping for a room with a king bed, especially since we don't really have a need for 2 queens with the Murphy bed. I booked our room before I realized we'd need to book "King Bed" as it's own category. Though, I'd still prefer being guaranteed a preferred location, so it's not a problem. I just wasn't sure if booking preferred basically meant there was no way you'd end up with either a king bed or river view (or both if that's even a possibility, I'd have to look back at the room plan). Not getting either of those things would not put a damper on our trip, as we will get what we paid for in a preferred location regardless. Just didn't want to include a request for a king or river view if that's not an acceptable thing to do. Again, thanks, I appreciate the insight.