Port Orleans Riverside FAQ thread --- 2012, Part Three --- NOW FULL / CLOSED

[PeanutButterMom]

Originally Posted by Disney-Kim

I have a room question. We haven't stayed at POR in a few years and with all the new room changes...

we thought for the best chance to get a mansion room (non royal) we booked a river view. Is our thinking correct?
we would have preferred a king bed but....we prefer the mansions over the Bayou.

did we think right??? thanks

Andre, I've been absolutely enthralled with yuor website. The pictures have me going crazy! I'm finally out of the 300s to our trip (290 to be exact ). I have a similar question to what's posted above - I absolutely do not, under any circumstance, want a AB room Totally not our style, at all. I really want to stay in the Magnolia Terrace building - right now our reservation has us with a Garden view - what are my odds for the end of October? I'm planning on sending in a fax request, and/or calling or whatever else we have to do (sending baked goods? ). Is there anything that shows what rooms are what view (I know I found something similar for AKV, which is where my parents are staying for their stay).

[Momto2PrncChrmgs]

9 days and I'm starting to really freak out-I just ordered some clothes for the kids (they wear uniforms so don't have too many "normal" clothes), I'm making list after list, and really hoping the weather stays in the 70's like it looks now! And I'm REALLY praying it doesn't rain on Saturday for the 1/2 marathon.

Andre-I just checked your website with the room numbers, and did not realize how small the buildings were. We paid for preferred and was going to request building 14 a river view, but didn't realize just how few rooms there were per section! I guess I'm used to POP where there seems to be hundreds of rooms per building.

I'm so excited I can't stand it! (Cue Pointer Sisters music here...)

[ShesAPirate]

Originally Posted by ThreeKMom

We will be checking in 2/3!

We're checking in on the same day

[Grumpy Grandma]

Checking in 1/8!!!!

[ThreeKMom]

Originally Posted by ShesAPirate

We're checking in on the same day

Maybe we will run into each other!
I noticed you booked flights, are you flying out of Newark?
Did you get a good rate?

I think we are renting a car and driving, but if we could get a great rate I might be able to talk DH into flying!

We are staying from 2/3 - 2/9 - what are your dates?

[ShesAPirate]

Originally Posted by ThreeKMom

Maybe we will run into each other!
I noticed you booked flights, are you flying out of Newark?
Did you get a good rate?

I think we are renting a car and driving, but if we could get a great rate I might be able to talk DH into flying!

We are staying from 2/3 - 2/9 - what are your dates?

2/3 - 2/8. Yes, we're flying out of Newark. Two RT tickets on United came to $399.60. Pretty decent. I'd seen a total of $360 about a month ago and wish I'd jumped on it then, but other than that, the price I got seems to be about average. 400 bucks is well worth not spending the money on gas -- or the tremendous amount of TIME in the car, ugh

[andrewilley]

Originally Posted by andrewilley

I'll update the existing mansion building plans into the same format shortly, to maintain a consistent style.

Now done, all of the buildings at Port Orleans (Alligator Bayou, Magnolia Bend and French Quarter) are now listed in detail, clickable from the main maps.

Originally Posted by ThreeKMom

Which bus stop would you recommend?

If you're near to the northern end of Oak Manor, or the parking lot side of the buildings, it might be worth trying the East Depot stop. Otherwise I'd stick with the South Depot (it's actually quite a short walk across the bridge). Give both a try and see how you get on (and coming back, get off at whichever stop is dropped off first, to save yourself some time).

Originally Posted by ScoMar

We stayed there from Dec. 25 - 30. POR was awesome! We had four rooms, two and two connected, first floor, two were corner rooms, right by the pool, short walk to bus depot and a little bit of a longer walk to main lobby, bigger pool, cafeteria, etc., but I didn't mind as I loved seeing parts of the resort on our walk.
We had our Christmas dinner at Boatright's. It was delicious! My fiance (we got engaged during our stay at POR!), and I went on a carriage ride and purchased one for my brother and sister-in-law for her birthday. Fiance says this was the highlight of his trip! There were a couple of nights that we ate in the cafeteria, prices were not horrible, and food was good!... I can't say enough good things about POR. We loved it and will be back, hopefully for a honeymoon!

I'm glad you had such a lovely time, and you found time to experience the what the resort has to offer too - which would have been a good deal less hectic than the parks at times I guess. Congratulations to you and your fiancé on your engagement - and now the wedding and honeymoon planning can commence!

Originally Posted by PeanutButterMom

I absolutely do not, under any circumstance, want a AB room Totally not our style, at all. I really want to stay in the Magnolia Terrace building - right now our reservation has us with a Garden view - what are my odds for the end of October?

Garden View rooms are in both AB and the mansion buildings, so it's possible you could be put in either. However if you make your request known in advance, and fax 3-5 days before you go explaining your reasons, hopefully you'll get a little Port Orleans pixie dust coming your way. Especially at the end of October which shouldn't be too high occupancy rates.

Originally Posted by Momto2PrncChrmgs

Andre-I just checked your website with the room numbers, and did not realize how small the buildings were. We paid for preferred and was going to request building 14 a river view, but didn't realize just how few rooms there were per section!

The Alligator Bayou lodges in particular are actually quite small - only 64 rooms, 32 rooms per floor. The overviews tend to make them look more complicated than they really are - which is basically just 4 square blocks with 8 rooms back-to-back on each floor; the four blocks are just shuffled around a bit for each building.

Andre

[Caseystigger]

Originally Posted by andrewilley

I hope people will find it useful once it's done, as we get a lot of questions on the subject here.

Andre

We LOVE it! So much more info all right in one place. Keep up the great work! Will be down there in 2 weeks so if you need anything let me know.

[ShesAPirate]

Originally Posted by andrewilley

As I hinted here a few days ago, I've been a busy bunny over the Christmas break, and have finally managed to complete all of the remaining room layout plans for Alligator Bayou for my site, to accompany the Magnolia Bend mansion building plans which have been on there for a few years. This has been a very regularly requested resource, so I hope people will find it useful.

So as a New Year's present here are the first few (preferred) buildings as an example...









I won't paste all sixteen in here, but the rest can be found via hotlinks on the map at www.portorleans.org/alligator-bayou.php.

The process involved cross-referencing quite a lot of photos and other research material (Google Earth helped with the locations of stairways, etc) and trying to spot the errors in some basic plan information that I'd been sent a while ago. I think it's now fully accurate, but if anyone spots any errors please let me know.

I'll update the existing mansion building plans into the same format shortly, to maintain a consistent style.

Andre

This is amazing, and so is your website. Thank you so much!

I hesitate to ask because you've provided so much information already, but do you happen to know which room #s are the King bed rooms? Just trying to get an idea where we might be.

Thanks again!

[PeanutButterMom]

Originally Posted by andrewilley

Garden View rooms are in both AB and the mansion buildings, so it's possible you could be put in either. However if you make your request known in advance, and fax 3-5 days before you go explaining your reasons, hopefully you'll get a little Port Orleans pixie dust coming your way. Especially at the end of October which shouldn't be too high occupancy rates.
Andre

thank you SOOOOOOO much! Your site is really great, and these threads are awesome! I can't wait to stay at Port Orleans!

[livinlife25]

Does anyone know when the Christmas decorations will come down?

[andrewilley]

Originally Posted by ShesAPirate

I hesitate to ask because you've provided so much information already, but do you happen to know which room #s are the King bed rooms? Just trying to get an idea where we might be.

Can I come back to you on that one, need to ask some questions first...

Andre

[Disney-Kim]

Originally Posted by andrewilley

There are 45 official River View rooms in Alligator Bayou versus 27 in the non-Royal mansions, so the booking logic probably works the other way around. There are actually a lot more River View classed rooms in the Royal buildings (92 in fact) due to the configuration and orientation of the buildings. King Bed rooms are more evenly spread (54 in AB vs 40 in the regular mansions) and can include all view types, including the river. If I were you I'd go with a King Bed booking if that's what you ideally want, and request the mansion buildings.
Andre

looking at the map we thought the only AB river views could be in bldg 38...so are you saying the preferred rooms in AB are also part of the room pool??

thanks !

[Disney-Kim]

Does anyone have current pics of the AB room with a King bed?

thanks

[Venomhatch]

I am back from a day of house cleaning I will be answering all PMs here shortly!