Just Back from 1st visit with family - stayed at POR 6/20-6/27

[viking042900]

Good Evening-

We got back last night from our family's first visit to the World. It was great! Thanks to everyone on these boards for helping make it such a great experience. I learned a lot on here that made a big difference in our trip. If anyone has any specific questions about current conditions, I'll try my best to answer.

It was, of course, extremely hot. I'm a native of the south and thought we were ready for the heat, but it made a much bigger impact on us than I anticipated. It became essential for us to take a mid-day break back at the resort. In the past, I've resisted pulling the kids out of school to go when it's cooler, but that now seems like a pretty viable option.

It was crowded, but at least in my opinion not unbearably crowded except for on a few occasions. Fastpasses were definitely a must though for the big name rides.

Prior to going, we had read some threads about bad experiences with cast members or issues with uncleanliness in the parks. I can tell you that we experienced neither of these. Most of the cast members we encountered were extremely helpful and freindly, and we didn't encounter any who were rude or anything like that. To us the parks seemed to be in extremely good shape.

The one unique thing was seeing firetrucks in the middle of Future World in Epcot on 6/24 as there looked to be a small fire in Innoventions. I never heard exactly what happened, but I'm sure that's in another thread.

Got to go work on our next trip. Thanks again!

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Glad to read that you and your family had such a wonderful first trip to WDW.

 

[crabbygal902]

Thanks for the report! Even though I am a Carolinian and am used to the heat and humidity, what I am hearing is that it isn't even close to the way Florida is in the summertime. I think we'll avoid June-September trips! I'm glad you had a great time.

 

[smashley]

It is nice to know that the crowds weren't totally unbearable! We're going in two weeks and I'm crossing my fingers for the same kind of luck.

 

[LMN]

OP- welcome back! It is hard to come back to reality, isn't it?

Just one question: how did you like the POR? We will be staying there in Dec and have never stayed there before. We have stayed at the Poly, but are looking for a more affordable place to stay this time, although we LOVED the Poly. Did you like the location of your room at POR? Where are the bus stops?? We want to request a building that is close to the bus stops, but are unfamiliar with the property. Did you find the resort to be clean? Thanks for your help!

 

[JKnLydia]

OP- welcome back! It is hard to come back to reality, isn't it?

Just one question: how did you like the POR? We will be staying there in Dec and have never stayed there before. We have stayed at the Poly, but are looking for a more affordable place to stay this time, although we LOVED the Poly. Did you like the location of your room at POR? Where are the bus stops?? We want to request a building that is close to the bus stops, but are unfamiliar with the property. Did you find the resort to be clean? Thanks for your help!

http://www.portorleans.org/

We'll be at POR in TWO WEEKS! Wahooooo! Website above is a great source for POR info, but I'd love a quick review from someone who stayed there recently. OP...can you help?

 

[wdwtheplacetobe]

OP- welcome back! It is hard to come back to reality, isn't it?

Just one question: how did you like the POR? We will be staying there in Dec and have never stayed there before. We have stayed at the Poly, but are looking for a more affordable place to stay this time, although we LOVED the Poly. Did you like the location of your room at POR? Where are the bus stops?? We want to request a building that is close to the bus stops, but are unfamiliar with the property. Did you find the resort to be clean? Thanks for your help!

POR was my favorite resort until I bought DVC next door at OKW. I like building 85 or 90 (close to the bridge to walk to the main building) and used the first bus stop outside Fulton's Store. You have to go around the resort in the morning, but are first to get off after a long day at the park. There is a peaceful boat down to DTD. To gain even MORE info about the resort....go to AllEars.net and check out resorts section. It tells you everything!

Have a Magical Trip!

 

[Mama to Three]

Sounds like you all had a great trip!

I'm from SC, live in NC, and lived in GA for a few years, but I'm still trying to mentally prepare myself for the FL heat.

And I, of course, have to say... GO DAWGS!!!

 

[viking042900]

OP- welcome back! It is hard to come back to reality, isn't it?

Just one question: how did you like the POR? We will be staying there in Dec and have never stayed there before. We have stayed at the Poly, but are looking for a more affordable place to stay this time, although we LOVED the Poly. Did you like the location of your room at POR? Where are the bus stops?? We want to request a building that is close to the bus stops, but are unfamiliar with the property. Did you find the resort to be clean? Thanks for your help!

Thanks! It's actually been suprisingly easy to come back. Our visit was awesome, but 7 days was plenty of time for us, especially with 5 and 6 yo's in that heat. Now it's on to planning the next trip.

We really liked POR. The ambiance of the resort as a whole was great. The grounds were kept up extremely well, and the buildings were in great shape. Our room was cleaned very well each day and the staff always did something fun with the kids stuffed animals and dolls. We even found one of my DD's dolls lounging on a towel hammock set up between two light fixtures one night. We didn't spend a lot of time enjoying the ammenities of the resort as we were in that first timer rush to do everything, but we did hit the big pool on ol' man island one day. It is nice, but be forewarned that if you go during a peak pool time, you may have trouble finding a chair. If you don't want to worry about that, just use one of the many quiet pools scattered throughout the property. If proximity to a bus stop is your main priority, I would suggest buildings 24,25 or 34. They are the closest to the West depot, which during our week was normally the first stop. The website that someone else posted is very good and includes a map of the property to assist with requesting a building. If you're looking for a combination of proximity to the bus stop, pool, and lobby, I would request 14 or 18. We were at 17 which is not very close to anything on the map, but it wasn't a terribly long walk to get to the bus stop, lobby or pool. Maybe a five minute walk to each.

One thing to mention: If you are staying in the Alligator Bayou area, the walkways pass over scattered man made ponds, which have some algae in them. As far as I know, the algae is supposed to be there as part of the bayou feel. It took me a day to realize that for some reason. At first I was suprised that the ponds had been allowed to get dirty like that.

I would have no problem staying there again, but I think next time we are going to try a value resort to see if the savings is worth the crowds and smaller room.

 

[viking042900]

Thanks for the report! Even though I am a Carolinian and am used to the heat and humidity, what I am hearing is that it isn't even close to the way Florida is in the summertime. I think we'll avoid June-September trips! I'm glad you had a great time.

Hopefully the temp's will be a little better for you. The first few days of our trip the temps were running 97-99 with heat index up to 110. And we weren't even getting the normal showers to cool things off. The locals were even complaining about it.

 

[Renee1061]

We were there the same time (at the Polynesian). I have been in July and I don't remember it being as hot as it was Sunday and Monday. It was almost unbearable. It is always our custom to stay for Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom on the Sunday that we arrive, but we were too drained by the heat. We left before midnight. Luckily, after the storm came in whatever morning it was (Tuesday?), temperatures came down a little. Still hot, but at least bearable.

We were also at Epcot the night of the fire. Didn't know anything about it until we were on our way out of the park after IllumiNatons. We could see smoke and smell an odor like electrical wires burning. We watched IllumiNations from Canada and some of the speakers were not working on that side. I think they cut off some of the electrical power due to whatever happened. Also, the fountain was drained for the rest of the week. I hated that....the fountain is one of my favorite parts of Epcot.

 

[rainydayplay]

Hey! We just came back from a POR June 20-27 stay! I left my LGMH at home by accident, but kept a lime green ribbon on the outside door handle for just in case. We were in Oak Manor (building 90, I believe).

For those asking opinions about the resort...I loved it. I thought it was beautiful (or, at least, Magnolia Bend area was...I did not venture into Alligator Bayou). It was a relatively short walk to the East bus depot (or, well...it didn't seem like the 7 minutes it was clocked at...), and I felt it was about the same for the walk to the main building.

The first bus stop in the morning is at South depot, the one closest to the main building. The first morning, I took my DD for breakfast at Riverside Mill, then we went back to the room, gathered our stuff, and headed for East depot. After that, I realized best idea was to get everything ready before breakfast and head straight for South depot afterwards -- you are more likely to get on a bus. Friday, the bus we boarded didn't make another stop because there were so many people on it already!

We did the quiet pool between Oak Manor and Parterre Place. We took a look at the main pool and it was so crowded...but the playground that is right next to that pool was absolutely deserted, and my DD had a great time playing.