Just got back from our 3rd stay at POR. Sad to say it was not the best. Water wheel was not working most of the time, several food service employees seemed unhappy to be there, ice always out in most machines, employees chatting among themselves outside when we arrived (no welcome home). We also had poor cleaning staff. Our beds were always sloppily made, once time they forgot to put the bedroll on the bed, no refills on shampoo and conditioner until the last day (5 nights) when ours were empty, trash taken out but trash can left in middle of bathroom area, etc. We noticed towel animals in the rooms windows next to us. We do expect them, and have never had them but thought we might get lucky. With they said the mousekeepers have always at least rearranged the kids Disney stuffed animals. At the very least set them on the bed by the pillows. My kids brought 6 in anticipation of such and they were always in the same pile we left them on the table. It would seem cost cutting is in effect. We did complain on day 4 , when the bedroll was also left on the floor, and were given 2 fastpasses for our last day. Unfortunately, being Animal Kingdom with small kids we did not need them. They said they have been instructed not to give any shampoo and conditioner unless it was empty or very close to. The gal at the front recommended hiding them to get more! We also waited 25 minutes for buses on our opening MK day and AK day. The MK bus being so late made us arrive while the Welcome show was going on. Really disappointing. I am so sad to see service going down at our favorite place.
Sitting at the airport waiting to board our flight home after an awesome first stay at POR.
So many wonderful things to say and a few things that I noticed could use improvement.
This was our first trip back in 5 years so we were just super excited to be back in the World.
Check in was quick and painless. We had 2 back to back reservations (a Room Only for 2 nights followed by a 5 night package) and were allowed to stay in the same room.
We had room 3833 in building 38 of Alligator Bayou. It was just lovely. Clean and tidy. We never had any complaints about the room itself.
Mousekeeping came every day and emptied our trash, left clean towels and always left more shampoo and conditioner (we stashed the extras away!).
We used the food court a lot as we were on the QSDP. The food was always good and hot and plentiful. The one thing I noticed is that like the poster above, the ice machines were not working and the utensil machines were often empty.
Also, quite a few Cast Members seemed as though they were not happy to be at work. As I recall, it was mostly the younger people, 25 and under. With the exception of one lady, all of the more mature (35 and older) Cast Members that I interacted with seemed happy and enthusiastic to be serving their customers.
Our room location was about a 3 minute walk from the North bus depot and about a 7 minute walk from the main building.
We used the pool a few times as it was quite hot all week. No complaints there.
Overall, we had a truly wonderful experience at this resort! I would not hesitate to return!
Any questions, please feel free to ask here or PM me.