Disney's PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE RESORT Information & Questions

[Sue M]

Our friends land at 6:35 pm. We have an adr at Boatwright's for 8:05. Will that be enough time for them to get to the resort and get to dinner? They're using magical express amd picking up their luggage, so they don't have to worry about it arriving in the room too late.

90min may be cutting it close.

 

[ncc1701]

90min may be cutting it close.

Agreed by the time they get off the plane down to ME plus the wait for the bus and then the ride. We have had 10 minute waits at DME up to close to an hour (it was a Saturday morning & we were on the 3rd bus since the line was so long). Not to mention if there are flight delays.

 

[andrewilley]

Our friends land at 6:35 pm. We have an adr at Boatwright's for 8:05. Will that be enough time for them to get to the resort and get to dinner? They're using magical express amd picking up their luggage, so they don't have to worry about it arriving in the room too late.

If everything goes their way, they might just about make it. But I wouldn't bet too much on it working (at least you won't get charged any ADR no-show fees for them, as long as at least some of your group show up). It would only take a short flight delay, or storms preventing baggage coming though quickly, to mess up that timing though. They will probably have to go straight from the bus to the restaurant, as there most likely won't be time to get to their room and freshen up first.

Andre

 

[andrewilley]

I've just updated my Port Orleans Bus Info page (www.portorleans.org/buses.php) with some background data that I recently received about the routine order of the stops, and the times of day that the routes are shared between POR and POFQ. I've also cross-checked this with my own research from the past few trips, and added my timings to each of the parks. I think it's pretty thorough now - although service adjustments are constantly made, so as always these are much less rules than guidelines.

Hopefully it'll help some people to plan anyway - although as a 20+ veteran of using the system, I still tend to just turn up at the closest stop and wait for the next bus (apart from the MK, when I try to use the outlying Depots if I can, as the buses can get a bit crowded at the South Depot).

Andre

 

[disneyjr77]

90min may be cutting it close.

Agreed by the time they get off the plane down to ME plus the wait for the bus and then the ride. We have had 10 minute waits at DME up to close to an hour (it was a Saturday morning & we were on the 3rd bus since the line was so long). Not to mention if there are flight delays.

If everything goes their way, they might just about make it. But I wouldn't bet too much on it working (at least you won't get charged any ADR no-show fees for them, as long as at least some of your group show up). It would only take a short flight delay, or storms preventing baggage coming though quickly, to mess up that timing though. They will probably have to go straight from the bus to the restaurant, as there most likely won't be time to get to their room and freshen up first.

Andre

Thanks everyone! I'm gonna go in and see if I can get a 8:30-9ish ADR. If I can't, can they join us when they arrive or what happens if we're a little late?

 

[disneyjr77]

Thanks everyone! I'm gonna go in and see if I can get a 8:30-9ish ADR. If I can't, can they join us when they arrive or what happens if we're a little late?

I just went in and was able to get a 9:05p ressie i'm assuming that will give them enough time.

 

[andrewilley]

I just went in and was able to get a 9:05p ressie i'm assuming that will give them enough time.

That sounds much safer.

Andre

 

[CableKC]

I figure I would add this here.

We got in 2 days ago and we were located at Arcadian Manor. We were close to the bridge to Old Man Island and just a quick walk to the North Depot....great location for a Standard room.

Unfortunately, we were also located in the wing and corner where there were 3 bus loads of teenagers from some tour group. You can probably guess where this is headed. Both nights, around 11pm...these kids came back to the hotel and would do what normal teenagers do....they ran around upstairs, talked ( loudly ) outside with each other and even sing at times for up to 90 minutes.

I usually would let it go, cuz I understand the way kids can be and that ( sometimes ) loud neighbors can be expected when u stay at a hotel. But after the 2nd night of the same kids doing the same thing ( seriously, where is the adult supervision? ), I had enough.

The next morning, I decided to ask the Front Desk to see if they can move my family to a different room in a different manor. Anywhere was better than the location we were staying at. They were about to move me to a different room when I asked how much it would cost to move to one of the Royal Rooms cuz I thought that my DD ( all decked out in her usual Princess outfit ) would love the upgrade. I had no problem paying for the upgrade ( cuz I get that the rooms cost more ), but the person I spoke to ( Jackie ) had asked whoever at reservations if any Royal Rooms were available...and they not only moved us over....they upgraded us without charge!

Nothing much to say here other than to show you another shining example of Disney and POR customer service.

 

[Sue M]

I figure I would add this here.

We got in 2 days ago and we were located at Arcadian Manor. We were close to the bridge to Old Man Island and just a quick walk to the North Depot....great location for a Standard room.

Unfortunately, we were also located in the wing and corner where there were 3 bus loads of teenagers from some tour group. You can probably guess where this is headed. Both nights, around 11pm...these kids came back to the hotel and would do what normal teenagers do....they ran around upstairs, talked ( loudly ) outside with each other and even sing at times for up to 90 minutes.

I usually would let it go, cuz I understand the way kids can be and that ( sometimes ) loud neighbors can be expected when u stay at a hotel. But after the 2nd night of the same kids doing the same thing ( seriously, where is the adult supervision? ), I had enough.

The next morning, I decided to ask the Front Desk to see if they can move my family to a different room in a different manor. Anywhere was better than the location we were staying at. They were about to move me to a different room when I asked how much it would cost to move to one of the Royal Rooms cuz I thought that my DD ( all decked out in her usual Princess outfit ) would love the upgrade. I had no problem paying for the upgrade ( cuz I get that the rooms cost more ), but the person I spoke to ( Jackie ) had asked whoever at reservations if any Royal Rooms were available...and they not only moved us over....they upgraded us without charge!

Nothing much to say here other than to show you another shining example of Disney and POR customer service.

Excellent!! We love that location at Acadian House, have had it twice. Once facing pool and once with a river view both close to the bridge. But with bus loads of teens I'd be moving too. I hope for others sake someone at the resort had a word with the trip organizers about lack of consideration late night.
Last Jan we had a Royal Room in Oak Manor. Loved it!
POR has the best customer service! Enjoy.

 

[twoolle]

I would word your request "corner room" and "close to food court" in the order of preference.



We have found it's definitely not faster to drive to MK over the bus. The other parks may be slightly faster to drive, but we've never felt the couple of minutes saved to be worth the hassle of driving. That's just our opinion though.

We will be there in September and plan to drive to all parks except MK. But we have 4 kids, all 5 and under, so it is just less stressful for us to drive. Waiting on buses and then folding up the double stroller in a rush is hard for me, and I hate holding anyone else up. But if our kids were older and more independent I think we would definitely just bus it everywhere!

 

[andrewilley]

Waiting on buses and then folding up the double stroller in a rush is hard for me

Do remember that if you need to use the parking lot tram to get from an outer parking space to a park, you'll still need to fold your stroller. I tend to mostly use the trams at AK and DHS, but usually just walk at Epcot.

Andre

 

[MouseMama11]

40 days until our WDW trip!!!! It will be my 1.5 year old's first trip and I'm so excited!!! We're staying at POR for 10 DAYS!!!

 

[Dug720]

POFQ came open for all my days, so I am back there. Still in the vicinity though.

 

[twoolle]

Do remember that if you need to use the parking lot tram to get from an outer parking space to a park, you'll still need to fold your stroller. I tend to mostly use the trams at AK and DHS, but usually just walk at Epcot.

Andre

Thank you for the heads up! Last year we had a AAA parking pass and didn't have to use the trams...but I think they may have discontinued those.

 

[twoolle]

Are there step stools available from mousekeeping to keep in the sink area for toddlers that can't quite reach the water yet?

 

[crmscotland]

We arrived back in Scotland yesterday from our 3 week trip to the U.S. We stayed at POR July 7-13 & thought it was a really beautiful resort, we had a Royal Room in Parterre Place - loved the theming. We were given a corner room, it was nice having 2 windows for extra light.

We found the POR bus service to be very good indeed - so much so that we never used our car at all from when we arrived on the Tuesday until we departed the following Monday.
We had several meals at other resorts & Disney transport got us to them all in good time.

In the months before our trip l found this thread & the links to the other POR pages very useful. Thankyou to everyone who has contributed information, particularly Andre.

 

[amss14]

Are there step stools available from mousekeeping to keep in the sink area for toddlers that can't quite reach the water yet?

Great question! I would love to know this too!

 

[lttlmc3]

Can anyone tell me what's the best way to get from the resort to AKL for dinner reservations?

 

[baddogchalet]

Could anyone confirm that has been to POR recently confirm that cases of water are available in the gift shop? If they are, what is the current price? Thank you!

.

I am curious about this is well...are there cases of water available at POR and, if so, what is the going rate? TIA

 

[crmscotland]

Can anyone tell me what's the best way to get from the resort to AKL for dinner reservations?

I would get the bus from POR to AK (or another park that is still open if AK is closed) then the bus from there to AKL. We got the bus from AK to AKL when we had a 6pm dinner at Boma, AK was still open then. After dinner we got a taxi back from AKL to POR (cost was $22 + tip), we had planned on getting the bus to an open park then getting the POR bus, but saw taxis when we exited AKL, we were tired after a long day.