Disney's PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE RESORT Information & Questions

[Sue M]

I appreciate the insight. Yep, we spend very little time in the room anyway and if we are there, the blinds are closed. Just wanted to make sure a standard view RR, interior look and size, was the same as a pool or river view room. Thanks for saving me some money

We aren't going to pay extra for a water/pool view either, but since they split the Garden & standard view (used to be one category) we book Garden View. It's not much more $ and we don't want to be facing parking lot. Hearing horn beep and car doors slamming every time someone comes or goes.

 

[RustManFan]

I have always asked for a specific building number.....AB and a standard view

 

[mistysue]

I'm sending you some specific contact details for the head chef by direct message, let us know how you get on.

Andre

Good News- it's been a few pages but I was the one concerned because the last allergy/specialty orders sheets had zero offerings being ordered in for Port Orleans. I got another response from the special diets department telling me to wait until we got there to find out if my son could eat on property and I was just starting to give up hope when Monday morning the chef got back to me with good news. Basically a hiccup in the system made POR's order just not show up on the list. Nothing has changed and they will still have all of the offerings other on-site resorts tend to have which is what I needed to know. I know it sounded like a silly thing to worry about, but lack of food for a 6 year old can really mess with the enjoyment of your vacation.
In the past reports have suggested to me that POR is one of the better resorts for multiple allergy situations. Thank you so much for the contact info you shared!

 

[McFlea]

For those that have stayed AB river view - which building do you prefer? I did online check in and requested corner room, but am thinking of sending a fax a few days out to say our preference would be building 14 or 27 first, then corner room only if possible. Meaning, I'd rather stay in a non-corner room in one of those buildings than a corner room in 38. Or is 38 just as good a location? Our last two trips to POR we were in building 28 (in the EXACT SAME room if you can believe it!) and the walk was fine, but I'm looking forward to the river view and closer proximity to the main building. What has your river view experience been?

 

[Rivermonster]

Sorry if this has already been covered, but...

...the the people who have stayed in POR Royal Rooms, what were your impressions? Was it worth the extra expense? How spectacular are those headboards?

I feel like my 9 year-old would love staying in one of these rooms; however, she found our stay at POP absolutely magical, so I wonder if we did splurge for a Royal Room, if it would really be for my own magical experience than hers [since anything at WDW is spectacular to her]...if that makes sense? My husband and three year-old daughter could care less, I'm sure, but I'm just torn over what to do. A Royal Room would stretch our dollar to the max, which concerns me, but at the same time, my parents will also be accompanying us our next trip, and I know that they will almost certainly insist on footing our expenses once we get there. (We will be paying for park tickets, accommodations, and most dining.)

In short, I guess I should say, if we get a Royal Room, it would result in limited spending money on the trip. Not to mention, that's money we could have left over in general. Nevertheless, we have no problem paying the extra expense, but ONLY if it truly provides an exceptional, never-forget experience.

Okay, I'm totally rambling, but I get a little neurotic about spending "extra" money." So please forgive my nuttiness, and TIA for any replies!

(OMG my crazy is showing through )

 

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

For those that have stayed AB river view - which building do you prefer? I did online check in and requested corner room, but am thinking of sending a fax a few days out to say our preference would be building 14 or 27 first, then corner room only if possible. Meaning, I'd rather stay in a non-corner room in one of those buildings than a corner room in 38. Or is 38 just as good a location? Our last two trips to POR we were in building 28 (in the EXACT SAME room if you can believe it!) and the walk was fine, but I'm looking forward to the river view and closer proximity to the main building. What has your river view experience been?

Did you pay for preferred rooms? I think buildings 14 & 27 are considered preferred & you pay extra for them. Check page one of this thread. I know I only book preferred when staying at POR & always request 14/15/18 which are preferred. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong through.

 

[Flynnismine]

We aren't going to pay extra for a water/pool view either, but since they split the Garden & standard view (used to be one category) we book Garden View. It's not much more $ and we don't want to be facing parking lot. Hearing horn beep and car doors slamming every time someone comes or goes.

Thank you for sharing this info. I didn't think about vehicle noise late in the evenings with the standard view and your right, a garden view isn't that much more. Garden view RR it is then

 

[McFlea]

Did you pay for preferred rooms? I think buildings 14 & 27 are considered preferred & you pay extra for them. Check page one of this thread. I know I only book preferred when staying at POR & always request 14/15/18 which are preferred. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong through.

Yes, we paid for river view, so we know we'll be in 14, 27 or 38. Really was just curious about bldg location vs corner room, and whether bldg 38 was significantly further away than the other two.

 

[Sue M]

Thank you for sharing this info. I didn't think about vehicle noise late in the evenings with the standard view and your right, a garden view isn't that much more. Garden view RR it is then

We requested Oak Manor, River side of building near foot bridge. Got a great room location. The Royal Rooms are super cute. We were there 10 days, and I played with the headboard daily,lol. Never got old!

 

[andrewilley]

Monday morning the chef got back to me with good news. Basically a hiccup in the system made POR's order just not show up on the list. Nothing has changed and they will still have all of the offerings other on-site resorts tend to have which is what I needed to know. I know it sounded like a silly thing to worry about, but lack of food for a 6 year old can really mess with the enjoyment of your vacation.

It doesn't sound a silly thing to worry about at all - enabling your son to eat while on vacation sound a pretty major requirement to me! I'm glad they managed to get to the bottom of the problem for you, and that it was only a reporting glitch and they still offer guests with special dietary needs all the help and support that they always have done in the past. At least you can relax and get on with your other planning now, and I hope you all have a great time.

...the the people who have stayed in POR Royal Rooms, what were your impressions? Was it worth the extra expense? How spectacular are those headboards?

In short, I guess I should say, if we get a Royal Room, it would result in limited spending money on the trip. Not to mention, that's money we could have left over in general. Nevertheless, we have no problem paying the extra expense, but ONLY if it truly provides an exceptional, never-forget experience.

I think the Royal Rooms offer some really nice, cute touches - and yes the headboards are fun. The overall feel of the room décor (aside from just the theming) is slightly more upmarket too. I'm sure both your daughters would love them.

That said, the regular Port Orleans rooms are very nice anyway, and you can do a lot of Disnifying of your own with all those extra spare dollars you could save. I think I'd suggest that if you can afford it then it'd definitely be fun, but if it means missing out on other things you'd really like to do then you might want to consider the regular rooms. Also, if your daughters don't already know about the RRs, then they won't miss them...

Did you pay for preferred rooms? I think buildings 14 & 27 are considered preferred & you pay extra for them.

River View category overrides the building location option - so if you have booked River View you could easily be assigned to riverfront rooms in buildings 14 or 27. The same applies with King Bed and Pool View rooms incidentally (although there are only 6 Pool View rooms allocated in that area, all in building 18).

Yes, we paid for river view, so we know we'll be in 14, 27 or 38. Really was just curious about bldg location vs corner room, and whether bldg 38 was significantly further away than the other two.

It doesn't make a massive difference, as all of the Alligator Bayou River View rooms (for your family of five) overlook the pathway that leads to the main building anyway. Building 38 is about 250 yards further than the closest rooms in building 14, so about 2-3 minutes extra walk - however it's very convenient for the main Ol' Man Island pool, and for the North Depot bus stop. I think given the choice though, building 14 would be my preference.

Andre

 

[Rivermonster]

It doesn't sound a silly thing to worry about at all - enabling your son to eat while on vacation sound a pretty major requirement to me! I'm glad they managed to get to the bottom of the problem for you, and that it was only a reporting glitch and they still offer guests with special dietary needs all the help and support that they always have done in the past. At least you can relax and get on with your other planning now, and I hope you all have a great time.




I think the Royal Rooms offer some really nice, cute touches - and yes the headboards are fun. The overall feel of the room décor (aside from just the theming) is slightly more upmarket too. I'm sure both your daughters would love them.

That said, the regular Port Orleans rooms are very nice anyway, and you can do a lot of Disnifying of your own with all those extra spare dollars you could save. I think I'd suggest that if you can afford it then it'd definitely be fun, but if it means missing out on other things you'd really like to do then you might want to consider the regular rooms. Also, if your daughters don't already know about the RRs, then they won't miss them...




River View category overrides the building location option - so if you have booked River View you could easily be assigned to riverfront rooms in buildings 14 or 27. The same applies with King Bed and Pool View rooms incidentally (although there are only 6 Pool View rooms allocated in that area, all in building 18).




It doesn't make a massive difference, as all of the Alligator Bayou River View rooms (for your family of five) overlook the pathway that leads to the main building anyway. Building 38 is about 250 yards further than the closest rooms in building 14, so about 2-3 minutes extra walk - however it's very convenient for the main Ol' Man Island pool, and for the North Depot bus stop. I think given the choice though, building 14 would be my preference.

Andre

Thank you, Andre! Your thoughtful, wonderfully articulated insight is HUGELY appreciated.

 

[StatlerNotWaldorf]

Bus questions:

What is the pick-up and drop off order for the POR bus stops?
If I am in a AB preferred room what is my best bus stop to get on/get off at? I know which one is closest but does that make it the best.
Can it be quicker to get on or off at ROFQ?

 

[karamay]

For those that have stayed AB river view - which building do you prefer? I did online check in and requested corner room, but am thinking of sending a fax a few days out to say our preference would be building 14 or 27 first, then corner room only if possible. Meaning, I'd rather stay in a non-corner room in one of those buildings than a corner room in 38. Or is 38 just as good a location? Our last two trips to POR we were in building 28 (in the EXACT SAME room if you can believe it!) and the walk was fine, but I'm looking forward to the river view and closer proximity to the main building. What has your river view experience been?

Husband and I stayed in bldg. 38 last May and the location was fine. Nice walk thru the pool area to the main bldg./food court and view was nice of the river. Hope you enjoy your stay.

 

[Sue M]

Sorry if this has already been covered, but...

...the the people who have stayed in POR Royal Rooms, what were your impressions? Was it worth the extra expense? How spectacular are those headboards?

I feel like my 9 year-old would love staying in one of these rooms; however, she found our stay at POP absolutely magical, so I wonder if we did splurge for a Royal Room, if it would really be for my own magical experience than hers [since anything at WDW is spectacular to her]...if that makes sense? My husband and three year-old daughter could care less, I'm sure, but I'm just torn over what to do. A Royal Room would stretch our dollar to the max, which concerns me, but at the same time, my parents will also be accompanying us our next trip, and I know that they will almost certainly insist on footing our expenses once we get there. (We will be paying for park tickets, accommodations, and most dining.)

In short, I guess I should say, if we get a Royal Room, it would result in limited spending money on the trip. Not to mention, that's money we could have left over in general. Nevertheless, we have no problem paying the extra expense, but ONLY if it truly provides an exceptional, never-forget experience.

Okay, I'm totally rambling, but I get a little neurotic about spending "extra" money." So please forgive my nuttiness, and TIA for any replies!

(OMG my crazy is showing through )

We have stayed in the regular rooms in the mansion section a few times and love it. Last January we tried RR and loved those too. Super cute. I've satisfied my curiosity, lol, so next visit I'll prob go back to regular room.
I did enjoy the RR, but if it's going to make it tight on your budget, I'd suggest booking a garden view in the mansion section. ️POR is a magical resort, so beautiful and peaceful. And it has extra things like a boat to dtd, evening entertainment, and horse & carriage rides. I've never taken a carriage ride but it adds to the resort ambience and I love seeing them go by.

 

[dansdad]

Bus questions:

What is the pick-up and drop off order for the POR bus stops?
If I am in a AB preferred room what is my best bus stop to get on/get off at? I know which one is closest but does that make it the best.
Can it be quicker to get on or off at ROFQ?

From Andre's awesome portorleans.org website.

The Routing Dilemma



The exact route that the buses take around the resort can vary somewhat, even during a single day, as the dispatch system is computer assisted and the buses are tracked around property using a GPS locator system. New buses can be added to a route if a driver reports that there are long lines at a particular location and guests are being left behind, and routes can also be adjusted based on other factors such as driver shift changes, etc. So think of the follow as not so much Rules but more Guidelines.

Generally, the Magic Kingdom buses operate separate services from Riverside and French Quarter. The Riverside buses usually arrive at the West Depot first, then do North Depot, East Depot, South Depot and then back to the Magic Kingdom.

Most of the other parks have combined POFQ/POR services (except at some busy times, such as park opening or closing) and the normal route is Theme Park → (French Quarter) → South Depot → West Depot → North Depot → East Depot → Theme Park. Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney rarely have separated services and French Quarter and Riverside almost always share.

Some Epcot buses are currently trialling an experimental route, via an alternate service road, of Epcot → East Depot → (French Quarter) → South Depot → West Depot → North Depot → Epcot.

Generally speaking, Riverside guests are probably best to choose either the South Depot or the stop closest to their room, but for Magic Kingdom buses in particular there is a lot of merit in selecting the outer stops over the South Depot, as that way the bus is less likely to be full when it arrives at your stop. The East Depot is usually the least crowded. But remember, Guidelines not Rules!

Operational Information: It might help to understand how the Disney bus system works if you realise that the buses do not technically run from a resort to the parks and back, but rather from a specific park to the resorts and back. While this might sound like a purely semantic difference, the operational ‘Hubs’ from which the buses are despatched are located at all of the parks and at Downtown Disney (plus a few backup locations, one of which is at French Quarter by the way). Thus a bus which comes from Animal Kingdom needs to return to its own base hub, even if there are a lot of guests at the resort waiting to go to a different destination. The buses are routinely re-routed from their hubs, based on demand, but generally cannot switch to a different park destination once they get to a resort.

 

[andrewilley]

Bus questions:

What is the pick-up and drop off order for the POR bus stops?
If I am in a AB preferred room what is my best bus stop to get on/get off at? I know which one is closest but does that make it the best.
Can it be quicker to get on or off at ROFQ?

It varies, there is no 100% rule, see http://www.portorleans.org/buses.php for some general guidelines.

It is never quicker to get off the bus early at POFQ (unless maybe you happen to be in a very close building to the separating bridge, e.g. Royal Rooms in Parterre Place). However it can be quicker returning from the MK (where there are separate buses for POR and POFQ) and there's a long line for the POR route and you take the first POFQ bus rather than waiting for the second or third POR bus.

Andre

 

[Sue M]

It varies, there is no 100% rule, see http://www.portorleans.org/buses.php for some general guidelines.

It is never quicker to get off the bus early at POFQ (unless maybe you happen to be in a very close building to the separating bridge, e.g. Royal Rooms in Parterre Place). However it can be quicker returning from the MK (where there are separate buses for POR and POFQ) and there's a long line for the POR route and you take the first POFQ bus rather than waiting for the second or third POR bus.

Andre

And the MK POR bus stop is so far down the loop :-( behind all the 3 Allstar resorts, ugh. Hate the new bus location.
When we were in the far end of Parterre we just took whatever bus arrived first (pre RR and new MK bus loop).

 

[A2Cmommy]

Ok, two more questions I want to confirm the answers on. Going on a large family trip in May. We are the only family of 5 in the group. MIL is adamant we stay in the Magnolia Bend section, and had been told they can put a roll-away bed in there for our family (and the others who want one). I didn't think roll-always were allowed anymore, but I want to hear from someone who is more experienced/informed than me.

Secondly, if she requests Magnolia Bend for all of us, and we have to be in Alligator Bayou (being a family of 5), will they relocate the whole party to AB (or will they just move us)?

Thanks for any help!!

 

[dansdad]

Ok, two more questions I want to confirm the answers on. Going on a large family trip in May. We are the only family of 5 in the group. MIL is adamant we stay in the Magnolia Bend section, and had been told they can put a roll-away bed in there for our family (and the others who want one). I didn't think roll-always were allowed anymore, but I want to hear from someone who is more experienced/informed than me.

If everyone in your party of 5 is over the age of three, you won't be put in MB because those rooms have a max occupancy of 4. I am not 100% sure, but I don't believe they have roll-aways any longer.

Secondly, if she requests Magnolia Bend for all of us, and we have to be in Alligator Bayou (being a family of 5), will they relocate the whole party to AB (or will they just move us)?

Thanks for any help!!

They will most likely have your family in AB and keep the rest in MB if that is what they all requested.

 

[Sue M]

Ok, two more questions I want to confirm the answers on. Going on a large family trip in May. We are the only family of 5 in the group. MIL is adamant we stay in the Magnolia Bend section, and had been told they can put a roll-away bed in there for our family (and the others who want one). I didn't think roll-always were allowed anymore, but I want to hear from someone who is more experienced/informed than me.

Secondly, if she requests Magnolia Bend for all of us, and we have to be in Alligator Bayou (being a family of 5), will they relocate the whole party to AB (or will they just move us)?

Thanks for any help!!

Gotta love mother in laws, lol. I would take matters into your own hands and make your room request yourself! As other poster said, if you have a child 3 or over that is too old for a pack & Play you'll be in AB. You'll have a Murphy bed. I can't see a roll away even fitting comfortably in mansion room. But don't think they have them. The CMs on the phone freq give wrong info!
If you look at resort map on pg 1 you'll see there are a couple of AB buildings next to Acadian House which is the last building in mansion section. And maybe a little distance is a good thing