Disney's PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE RESORT Information & Questions

[andrewilley]

I hope they are going to fix it!!! I love that wheel, haha

Don't worry, the wheel gets stopped for maintenance work quite often. Often it's to do with the pumping system and the trough that the water flows through (the wheel is 100% water driven, the only electrical power involved is the water pump to feed water down the headrace).

We always stay deluxe, and I've been questioning our decision! I'm paranoid about the the cleanliness of the room and bed bugs. (I know, I sound neurotic.) Your live review just helped me relax!

There is no more risk of bed bugs at a Moderate than at a Deluxe. Bed bugs aren't concerned with the price Disney charges for the beds, they arrive uninvited with guests. And I think overall cleanliness is a Disney-wide standard, rather than varying by different resort category levels. You'll be fine, honest.

@andrewilley , I wanted to say thank you for all the wonderful information you provide, both here and on your great website. Your time, energy and enthusiasm are greatly appreciated!

You are very welcome. I really enjoy talking about Port Orleans anyway, and I'm happy that other people seem to find my information useful too.

Andre

 

[Vaninou]

Hi,
We always stayed Deluxe... but decided to give a chance to POR this time
I was reslly stressed and afraid to be disappointed and to regret our choice
But with reading you all made me feel happy that we decided to go POR this summer
Can't wait !!!

 

[tgarre06]

Are there servers at the main Riverside pool? TIA!

 

[mmouse50]

Has anyone seen or done the glow with flow pool party it is listed in the June newsletter and I was just wondering if I needed to bring anything for the pool party - glo sticks?

 

[1911]

Are there servers at the main Riverside pool? TIA!

AFAIK just a bartender
at least it was like that 5 years ago

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Has anyone seen or done the glow with flow pool party it is listed in the June newsletter and I was just wondering if I needed to bring anything for the pool party - glo sticks?

We happened to be at the pool when this was on one night. Lots of games, music, lights-- very fun. You don't need to bring anything.

 

[andrewilley]

Are there servers at the main Riverside pool? TIA!

Sometimes, usually about noon-7pm ish, but it's one of those things that they might not do if there isn't much demand.

Andre

 

[Sue M]

Soooo, the first time I come and browse this thread for info on my POR stay and there's chat about bed bugs

I know it's a possibility wherever you stay

Anyway, the resort looks beautiful and cannot wait to stay Just slightly concerned about the bus situ, we will have a car but plan on using the buses. Any advice on when we may be better off using the car?

Getting to MK it's better to use bus. To drive to MK you have to park at TTC, wait for parking lot tram then wait for either boat or monorail to get to park. WDW busses go directly to MK.
We always prefer using the WDW transportation. I had a car once because WDW was a mid trip visit and we were going to Ft Lauderdale after. Car remained parked in lot. At Por I prefer the satellite bus depots over main South Depot. Less crowded.

 

[Sue M]

That's it! Are they going to bring back the comforters once "it gets cold?" (does it get cold in Florida?)

It can get cold in winter. They get cold snaps, usually not prolonged. Once at Por we woke to frost on the grass. When temps dropped our very thoughtful mouse keeper left extra blankets on our beds.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

It can get cold in winter. They get cold snaps, usually not prolonged. Once at Por we woke to frost on the grass. When temps dropped our very thoughtful mouse keeper left extra blankets on our beds.

We brought fleece blankets for the beds, but we drove and also used them in the car. I personally would have been uncomfortable sleeping without the extra blankets from home. We did not ask but I am assuming they will give you extra blankets if you ask. We are leaving tomorrow, so summer weather.

 

[Sue M]

We brought fleece blankets for the beds, but we drove and also used them in the car. I personally would have been uncomfortable sleeping without the extra blankets from home. We did not ask but I am assuming they will give you extra blankets if you ask. We are leaving tomorrow, so summer weather.

We didn't even have to ask. They just appeared! Wish I was close enough to drive!!

 

[wishes-fireworks]

We brought fleece blankets for the beds, but we drove and also used them in the car. I personally would have been uncomfortable sleeping without the extra blankets from home. We did not ask but I am assuming they will give you extra blankets if you ask. We are leaving tomorrow, so summer weather.

Last time we went (in August!!!) and stayed here, my mother got really sick, essentially fainted in the middle of Adventureland from the heat, and then had a fever and was fairly weak for the rest of the trip. Because of the fever, she was really cold a lot of the time, so we requested an extra blanket. Someone came to our door and informed us that they were out of spare blankets! We weren't even mad about it, honestly, more curious about who was using all the spare blankets in what is often the hottest month of the summer!

 

[apress]

Just returned home today(boo) from our family vacation at Riverside. We were there from 6/6-6/15. I had posted earlier about being disappointed in our room but everything ended up being fine. I know some worry about how far the buildings are from the food court and it really is not that bad. We had a farther building in alligator bayou and we were in building 34. I timed the distance and time one morning from our door to the food court and it was about 5 1/2 minutes and around .30 miles. We didn't mind the walk as every morning we would walk over to the French Quarter and back. As far as the busses go they were great, we usually some how managed to time it that a bus was also there when we needed it. Most days we did not wait more than 5 minutes. One day was bad with a wait of over 40 minutes(not sure what happened there, but that was our only bad experience all trip). We had a great trip and my husband and I will return in November and hoping for a family trip in 2018. Any questions, I will try and answer.

 

[Sue M]

Just returned home today(boo) from our family vacation at Riverside. We were there from 6/6-6/15. I had posted earlier about being disappointed in our room but everything ended up being fine. I know some worry about how far the buildings are from the food court and it really is not that bad. We had a farther building in alligator bayou and we were in building 34. I timed the distance and time one morning from our door to the food court and it was about 5 1/2 minutes and around .30 miles. We didn't mind the walk as every morning we would walk over to the French Quarter and back. As far as the busses go they were great, we usually some how managed to time it that a bus was also there when we needed it. Most days we did not wait more than 5 minutes. One day was bad with a wait of over 40 minutes(not sure what happened there, but that was our only bad experience all trip). We had a great trip and my husband and I will return in November and hoping for a family trip in 2018. Any questions, I will try and answer.

There's always that one day when 5 of each bus comes but yours! No matter what resort you're at! Glad you had a great trip.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Quick report on our stay 6/3-11.

Our flight arrived at 8:50AM, ME to hotel, and then right to the bus to AK. We got our room ready text at 11:53 AM Acadian House 8216. This was very disappointing because we had requested AB for the extra bed. Yes, yes, I know it is just a request (and if I could afford deluxe I would do that but I can't) but I have a 14 yo boy and everyone else in the party is female and we are not into boys and girls sleeping together. He ended up sleeping with grandma anyway because he did not want to sleep on the hard floor. Our room was categorized as garden view and per the map on Andre's sight was the first/last room in this category on this side of the building. I would say this was a total misnomer because the view was way more parking lot with a tree off to the side. I am calling this a total ripoff. We thought the walk to the food court was long especially after hours of walking in the parks. We used the North Depot and our luck with busses was not great. We would see 2 or 3 for every park except the one we were going to visit.

We arrived back to our room on arrival day at 4:30 and our luggage had not been delivered. Called bell services and they said the luggage was at the resort and would be delivered. We were still waiting 45 minutes later and I was stuck hanging out sitting on the toilet because I took a shower and had no clean clothes. We had dinner reservations at Disney Springs for 7 so this was getting ridiculous. Called bell services again and they said they would get it to us. It showed up about 15 minutes later and we all made a mad dash to change for dinner.

Our room was a bit on the dingy side. The curtain separating the bathroom had 2 large stains on it. Also, the wall area next to the dresser had some stains. Our housekeeper was not very good at her job and we spent the week watching a spot of chocolate on the table that never got wiped up. Yes, we could have done it ourselves when we finally noticed but the point is that she obviously did not dust or wipe the table at all. We only got soap and other items replenished once at mid-week. Good thing I had some small bottles of shampoo in my bag.

We only used the pool once because of all the rain. The food court could get busy and not all the CM's were friendly but we had no complaints on the food we ate. The coffee is abominable. It would be nice if there were more than one diet/zero soda option.

I think I am over the very large, spread out resorts. As much as I like the queen beds I think we will stick with Pop for our next trip. It's going to be a girl's trip for my niece so we can deal with the smaller beds.

 

[Sue M]

Quick report on our stay 6/3-11.

Our flight arrived at 8:50AM, ME to hotel, and then right to the bus to AK. We got our room ready text at 11:53 AM Acadian House 8216. This was very disappointing because we had requested AB for the extra bed. Yes, yes, I know it is just a request (and if I could afford deluxe I would do that but I can't) but I have a 14 yo boy and everyone else in the party is female and we are not into boys and girls sleeping together. He ended up sleeping with grandma anyway because he did not want to sleep on the hard floor. Our room was categorized as garden view and per the map on Andre's sight was the first/last room in this category on this side of the building. I would say this was a total misnomer because the view was way more parking lot with a tree off to the side. I am calling this a total ripoff. We thought the walk to the food court was long especially after hours of walking in the parks. We used the North Depot and our luck with busses was not great. We would see 2 or 3 for every park except the one we were going to visit.

We arrived back to our room on arrival day at 4:30 and our luggage had not been delivered. Called bell services and they said the luggage was at the resort and would be delivered. We were still waiting 45 minutes later and I was stuck hanging out sitting on the toilet because I took a shower and had no clean clothes. We had dinner reservations at Disney Springs for 7 so this was getting ridiculous. Called bell services again and they said they would get it to us. It showed up about 15 minutes later and we all made a mad dash to change for dinner.

Our room was a bit on the dingy side. The curtain separating the bathroom had 2 large stains on it. Also, the wall area next to the dresser had some stains. Our housekeeper was not very good at her job and we spent the week watching a spot of chocolate on the table that never got wiped up. Yes, we could have done it ourselves when we finally noticed but the point is that she obviously did not dust or wipe the table at all. We only got soap and other items replenished once at mid-week. Good thing I had some small bottles of shampoo in my bag.

We only used the pool once because of all the rain. The food court could get busy and not all the CM's were friendly but we had no complaints on the food we ate. The coffee is abominable. It would be nice if there were more than one diet/zero soda option.

I think I am over the very large, spread out resorts. As much as I like the queen beds I think we will stick with Pop for our next trip. It's going to be a girl's trip for my niece so we can deal with the smaller beds.

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your stay. But.....it seems you just accepted things as they were and didn't Do anything to remedy the problems.
If I was unhappy with my room location I'd have gone back to the front desk And ask for a better location. Poor housekeeping can also be fixed. Again, if you don't have toiletries a simple push of a button on phone connects you to housekeeping and ask for more. I never travel with shampoo or conditioner. Never need to at WDW.
We've stayed at Acadian House several times and love the location. I found it's a quick walk to main pool on Old Man Island and just over another bridge to main buildings, food, etc. But I've noticed walking time perceptions vary from person to person.

 

[apress]

Quick report on our stay 6/3-11.

Our flight arrived at 8:50AM, ME to hotel, and then right to the bus to AK. We got our room ready text at 11:53 AM Acadian House 8216. This was very disappointing because we had requested AB for the extra bed. Yes, yes, I know it is just a request (and if I could afford deluxe I would do that but I can't) but I have a 14 yo boy and everyone else in the party is female and we are not into boys and girls sleeping together. He ended up sleeping with grandma anyway because he did not want to sleep on the hard floor. Our room was categorized as garden view and per the map on Andre's sight was the first/last room in this category on this side of the building. I would say this was a total misnomer because the view was way more parking lot with a tree off to the side. I am calling this a total ripoff. We thought the walk to the food court was long especially after hours of walking in the parks. We used the North Depot and our luck with busses was not great. We would see 2 or 3 for every park except the one we were going to visit.

We arrived back to our room on arrival day at 4:30 and our luggage had not been delivered. Called bell services and they said the luggage was at the resort and would be delivered. We were still waiting 45 minutes later and I was stuck hanging out sitting on the toilet because I took a shower and had no clean clothes. We had dinner reservations at Disney Springs for 7 so this was getting ridiculous. Called bell services again and they said they would get it to us. It showed up about 15 minutes later and we all made a mad dash to change for dinner.

Our room was a bit on the dingy side. The curtain separating the bathroom had 2 large stains on it. Also, the wall area next to the dresser had some stains. Our housekeeper was not very good at her job and we spent the week watching a spot of chocolate on the table that never got wiped up. Yes, we could have done it ourselves when we finally noticed but the point is that she obviously did not dust or wipe the table at all. We only got soap and other items replenished once at mid-week. Good thing I had some small bottles of shampoo in my bag.

We only used the pool once because of all the rain. The food court could get busy and not all the CM's were friendly but we had no complaints on the food we ate. The coffee is abominable. It would be nice if there were more than one diet/zero soda option.

I think I am over the very large, spread out resorts. As much as I like the queen beds I think we will stick with Pop for our next trip. It's going to be a girl's trip for my niece so we can deal with the smaller beds.

We had similar problems with housekeeping. We didn't receive shampoo and soap everyday and thought that was weird. Housekeeping definitely wasn't the best this trip. We were at the west depot and had the opposite experience with buses. I guess we got really lucky.

 

[Sue M]

We had similar problems with housekeeping. We didn't receive shampoo and soap everyday and thought that was weird. Housekeeping definitely wasn't the best this trip. We were at the west depot and had the opposite experience with buses. I guess we got really lucky.

We prefer the satellite depots too. If you don't get toiletries just phone housekeeping. Easy peasy.

 

[andrewilley]

Acadian House 8216. Our room was categorized as garden view and per the map on Andre's sight was the first/last room in this category on this side of the building. I would say this was a total misnomer because the view was way more parking lot with a tree off to the side. I am calling this a total ripoff.

Really? Looks pretty much garden/courtyard to me. There is a circular roadway off to the extreme left, but hardly a parking lot view:



I assume you spoke to the front desk and asked to be switched to an Alligator Bayou room though. Usually they would be able to do that, although sometimes it needs to be a move the next day. Could they not offer you anything more suitable for your party, especially if you had already faxed them to request AB as we always suggest here.

Andre

 

[trvlgirlmq]

I'll refrain from posting MY opinions in the future.