Disney's PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE RESORT Information & Questions

[Jadyreen1282]

Seems like there's a CM with a clip board hanging at the main stop in the early morning. We talk to them when the busses are late. Seems they send extras when the buses are a problem to the main stop. Maybe just me.

 

[disneyfreak202]

So Ive noticed this bus conversation and how they are a problem. This is making me nervous for my trip in September. We normally stay at Sports and never have bus issues at all. Should I be concerned? I don't want to have to wait a while for a bus throwing off the timing of things. Should I be looking into changing my resort?

 

[DaisyDuck001]

So Ive noticed this bus conversation and how they are a problem. This is making me nervous for my trip in September. We normally stay at Sports and never have bus issues at all. Should I be concerned? I don't want to have to wait a while for a bus throwing off the timing of things. Should I be looking into changing my resort?

If you're not prepared to wait a while for buses on occasion, then you might want to either rent a car or consider another resort. Or build extra time into your schedule to allow for possible waits at the bus stop.

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

I will be staying at POR mid-August. I just received an email about renovations regarding some rooms and at least 1 of 5 pools. Before I call for more information, does anyone here have any detail? I looked back a few pages but didn't see anything. Thanks!!

This is information from portorleans.org
https://www.portorleans.org/rehab.php
I am also going in August, but don't think it will affect our trip too much.

 

[Kippa-Dee-Do-Dah]

Hi - just to clarify we didn't receive an upgrade to a River View Royal Room....I changed our reservation to that. But, I hope you do receive lots of pixie dust! We still absolutely loved POR and would stay there again. I just know now that the buses can be a huge issue and will need to plan accordingly.

Oh, gotcha, I misread it then! I wish we could afford to do our own upgrade, but I'll just keep my fingers crossed otherwise!

 

[Lsdolphin]

So Ive noticed this bus conversation and how they are a problem. This is making me nervous for my trip in September. We normally stay at Sports and never have bus issues at all. Should I be concerned? I don't want to have to wait a while for a bus throwing off the timing of things. Should I be looking into changing my resort?

You can go to West Depot to catch a bus it's the first bus stop. There is also Uber or Lyft. I took Uber to Poly of $7.81 last week and then took Monorail to MK.

 

[twinsplusone]

We were there June 14-16 and always went to the last bus stop. We always got on the bus. We did have to stand, but we didn't have to wait for a bus.

 

[Woody412]

Are the boats to DS currently running? I know there was/is construction affecting some of the boats but I can’t remember if POR was affected.

 

[andrewilley]

I will be staying at POR mid-August. I just received an email about renovations regarding some rooms and at least 1 of 5 pools. Before I call for more information, does anyone here have any detail?

Mid-August one or two of the Alligator Bayou buildings (37, 38 and maybe 39) will be closed for room refurbishments (37 might even be done by then) and also the quiet pool out by building 24 will be closed from 13 August until early October. The other five pools (four quiet and the main feature pool) will be open as normal. You can find the latest info at https://www.portorleans.org/rehab.php . It should't affect your stay as long as you don't want to be in those areas.

Regarding the comments about whether the bus stop near the lobby is the first stop or the last stop -- I once asked about this at POR, and was told it can be either way, sometimes it's the first stop, and sometimes it's the last stop.

The normal route for the theme park buses is West > North > East > South > Theme Park , and for Disney Springs it is South > West > North > East > French Quarter > Disney Springs. They sometimes add buses which can have a different order if there are too many people waiting to fit on the first bus.

So Ive noticed this bus conversation and how they are a problem. This is making me nervous for my trip in September.

We normally stay for the last two weeks in August, and I can honestly say I've never experienced the issues that you refer to. I know this because for the past 6 or 7 years (since smartphones made it easy) I've logged the exact wait and journey times for every Disney bus we've taken. I have no idea why I've been so lucky, or why other people seem to report having really bad experiences, but I think it's fair to say there doesn't seem to be a completely consistent pattern! We aren't often rope-drop people, and I avoid leaving the parks straight after fireworks with the rest of the crowds (much better to hang around the parks for a while and enjoy the atmosphere or do some shopping) so maybe that helps?

Are the boats to DS currently running? I know there was/is construction affecting some of the boats but I can’t remember if POR was affected.

I've not heard of any closures.

Andre

 

[Wood Nymph]

Are the boats to DS currently running? I know there was/is construction affecting some of the boats but I can’t remember if POR was affected.

There was construction on the bridge between Boardwalk and Swan/Dolphin that prevented the Friendship boats from going to Hollywood Studios but that has ended and the Friendship bots are running again. Maybe those are the boats that you heard about. But there wasn't any construction going on for the POR or POFQ boats to Disney Springs when we took the boat on June 15th. They were running just fine.

 

[Sydney2977]

Just to share our bus experiences from our trip 6/9-6/16:

From our room we used North depot. We never waited more than 15 minutes for a bus, and that was when we were leaving later than 10:00. The earlier we left we noticed the quicker the turnaround time. Leaving the parks at night when we left at park closing (along with the thousands of other guests) depending on when we got to the bus line we may have gotten on the next bus that pulled up but at most had to wait 15 minutes for another one. Twice it happened that the first bus filled, but then the next time two buses actually showed up. They started loading handicapped guests on one and filled the other at the same time. Really the only unreasonable wait we had the whole trip was waiting for the bus from DHS to Epcot, an I think that was about 20 min. I figured as soon as we started walking though a bus would pull up!

 

[Sydney2977]

In case anyone is interested, I started a trip report. I will post pictures from POR and our experiences that might help some of you.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/4...n-our-june-trip-report.3690655/#post-59409282

 

[Shula]

In case anyone is interested, I started a trip report. I will post pictures from POR and our experiences that might help some of you.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/4...n-our-june-trip-report.3690655/#post-59409282

Thank you! 26 day til I arrive

 

[disneyfreak202]

I feel a little better about the busses now. We will be RDing every day, but unknown how late at the park we will be staying each night. The multiple stops is something that made me a little nervous. I am so used to the one stop at Sports so you can usually determine how many busses you might be waiting for.

 

[SL6827]

I am not 100% certain, but I believe the 5th sleeper option is for those parties of 4 that want the Murphy bed. Families that have 2 kids of opposite sex sometimes want 2 different sleeping surfaces so the kids don't have to share a bed. Now with this new category, the can actually book a standard room with a Murphy bed instead of it just being a request.

So if you're a party of 5, and book standard, you will get a room in Alligator Bayou section that has the Murphy bed without paying for the upcharge of the new category.

So if a party of four that had a room only booking and wanted in AB, couldn't they just add a "ghost" child to their reservation to get the AB without having to pay for the "fifth sleeper" room?

 

[andrewilley]

So if a party of four that had a room only booking and wanted in AB, couldn't they just add a "ghost" child to their reservation to get the AB without having to pay for the "fifth sleeper" room?

Technically they could, yes.

Andre

 

[SL6827]

Technically they could, yes.

Andre

So basically, the "fifth sleeper" charge is pretty much a way for a family of four, who doesn't want to go the route of a "ghost" guest, makes certain they will get a room in the AB? This applies at CBR as well, correct?

 

[andrewilley]

So basically, the "fifth sleeper" charge is pretty much a way for a family of four ... makes certain they will get a room in the AB?

Correct. Whether at some point inn the future the system will require parties of five to book this option is unclear at the moment though.

Andre

 

[Jgeauxmo]

We just switched to Riverside In October from a garden wing at the contemporary. We were able to add a night with the dining plan and still saved about $1K. Sort of nervous about the buses, but we are looking froward to the boat to DS at night!

 

[HolRae]

Are they still doing the painting classes at POR? Has anyone done it? What did you think?