POR review from the fall

The other thread reminded me to post this in case this interests anyone!

It was just my DS and me. We went in October for a quick last minute trip over a long (non holiday) weekend. We had a wonderful time and made a lot of great memories.

I highly recommend checking portorleans.org for detailed info on everything including the refurbishment schedule, which is in process now (I think, unless it's done by now) if you care about things like getting a refurbished room or quiet pool closures.

The resort itself and amenities: The resort is as gorgeous as everyone says it is. It's very lush and the buildings are very scenic. The food court was fine - busy at breakfast, but manageable if you bring a little patience. We were never in a rush on this trip so it didn't really matter. The food was good overall and some of it was excellent. (The french fries were surprisingly good - we got them there twice and they were always hot, crispy, and fresh!) The main pool is a lot of fun with a big water slide - standard at the mods. Pool time is important to DS so most of our afternoons were spent there. They have a lot of games and he met a boy his age from England that he spent hours with over two days. The bar is right next to where they play the games and I could just see him out of the corner of my eye while I grabbed a drink. It was lovely! I read somewhere that there was poolside food service but it wasn't happening while we were there. The pool bar has a limited food menu as well. My main beef is that there is one hot tub in the entire resort. For almost 2,000 rooms I think there should be more than one. I only went in it once because everyone was on top of each other. But I knew it only had one when I booked and it was fine. There are other amenities there that we didn't use like surrey bikes, carriage rides, etc. but they looked like fun.

Rooms and how to pick your room location: The room was fine - very clean and the beds were super comfortable, which is all I really care about. I would have sprung for a preferred room but they were sold out since I planned last minute. I ended up requesting a room in Magnolia Bend (building 80 or 85) and got exactly what I asked for. We were in Acadia House, room 8264. DS has inherited my dislike of heat so even mid October is a little hot for us, and I really didn't want to walk far, particularly to the pool which I knew we'd use heavily. These buildings don't cost extra and are relatively close to the main pool. I did everything they recommend on portorleans.org to make a room request - I noted it in my reservation and I both called and faxed when it got close. I highly recommend shooting for those two buildings and doing it this way if you're willing to roll the dice because the other thing is you are near the second bus stop on the loop, the North Depot. We never had an issue getting a seat which I was happy about because we wanted to save our energy for the parks! The last of the four internal bus stops is actually the one near the preferred rooms and often those people didn't get seats. I would be annoyed that a preferred location meant I had to stand but maybe others wouldn't care. If/when I stay again I think I'd do it the same way because we really ended up in the best location for the money.

Boat service/Disney Springs: The boat service to Disney Springs was lovely. If you have dining reservations, allow plenty of time because the waiting plus the trip itself can take a while. I like it especially because Disney Springs is big with little shade and the boat brings you to the part that interested us the most which minimized walking. (I wanted to hit the Christmas store, he wanted to hit the Star Wars store, and I really wanted to eat at Earl of Sandwich, which BTW was delicious and so cheap!) It's also only a 5 minute trip to FQ and it brings you right by the pool, which looks fun although we didn't check it out.

Service: Service overall was just excellent, as usual for Disney. Everyone was so genuinely friendly and we even got a couple of freebies at the food court. We were actually able to use the MDE app to bypass the check in desk and go straight to the room by unlocking it with the phone so I didn't even go to the front desk until the next day, and only because I heard that you could get a $10 Disney gc per night by forgoing mousekeeping (only for values and mods.) I was happy to do that because I reuse my towels anyway and it was a short trip. The CM helped me quickly and I had the GC emailed to me within minutes. That covered a few Mickey pretzels!

Overall, I would definitely go back, although for my next trip I'm eyeballing renting DVC points and staying at Beach Club. We rented points many years ago and I would love to do it again but like someone said on the other thread you have to plan way in advance. But if you can do that it's worth it because you literally get deluxe amenities for the same price as a moderate. Otherwise, for any on property trips not planned far in advance Riverside would definitely be on the top of my list. We go relatively often so I'll be back eventually - as long as DS doesn't tire of Disney like DH has lol.

POR review from the fall

Thanks for the review! We’ll be staying at POR in 2 weeks! And we can’t wait!

Re: POR review from the fall

Nice! We stayed there in July. I thought it was very convenient (via bus) and I really liked their pool. Kids loved the “water park” area next to the pool with the slides, water bucket and water guns. We went every day.

I thought the rooms (we were probably in a refurbished part) were awkwardly designed with a curtain (?!?!?!) separating the bathroom sink area, but were very clean and new looking. I also liked the wood floors. I loved the look of the resort: it is very, very pretty.

That said, it was convenient for staying on resort. It was better than Carribean beach (which I had stayed at). I usually stay off site (except last time when I was solo w 3 small kids)... but would rebook for staying on site.

Re: POR review from the fall

Re: POR review from the fall