Port Orleans Riverside or Old Key West?

[808momof4]

Aloha! Our family of 6 (Me, DH, DD 10, DD 8, DD 7, and DD 2) are making our first trip to Disney World EVER! I have narrowed our choices down to Port Orleans Riverside Preferred Room or Old Key West 1 Bedroom. If we do Riverside, we'll do the deluxe dining plan with the three meals. If we do the Old Key West 1 Bedroom, we'll just do the 2 meal meal plan and make our own breakfast.

Please help me out with making this decision. We aren't doing park-hopper passes, but are doing 8 days of tickets.

What are some considerations I need to think about when choosing which resort? How do we get to the parks from each? DH and I are doing the Dark Side Challenge, so we'll be running a 10k that Saturday and a half Marathon that Sunday.

 

[jolene63]

I love POR, but I think six people in one room would be way too cramped. There are only four of us in our family and our stuff definitely feels up a room. Also, when we have done the regular dining plan we always have extra credits left over at the end of our trip. I can't imagine having three meals a day with the deluxe dining plan. You can use your snack credits to get something small for breakfast so maybe y'all want to think about just getting the regular dining plan and saving some money.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Congratulations, they are both nice resorts. We stayed at POR and loved it, but also visited OKW and found it has many of the things we liked about POR. Room size will be a difference, since a room at POR will be very tight with 6 people, even if one is considered an infant. The preferred rooms have a third bed, but it is small and takes up a lot of the open space when it is down. OKW will give you more square footage since it would be a 1 bedroom.
From either resort you'd get to the parks via buses. The bus service is about the same between them, but you might have a slightly shorter walk to the bus stop at POR since the preferred rooms are the closest to the lobby and main bus stop. You will have some time spent on the buses going through the resort either way since both resorts have multiple stops. For visiting Disney Springs they both offer boat transportation (which we really enjoyed) and OKW is probably a little closer but the docks it uses are on the other side of DS from the ones POR uses.
The Deluxe dining plan could be a lot of fun, but on a running trip I might not want to take full advantage of it. We have always done the regular dining plan and it works out well for us. Some people will definitely have other opinions, but for us it is a good fit and saves a little bit over what we would have spent where we eat, but for me the big deal is not having to fork out the high prices each time we eat. Speaking of food, POR has one of the best Quick Service restaurants on property and you can also walk over to French Quarter. At OKW your choices are more limited, but you still have some QS options, a TS restaurant, and a drink refill station.
POR probably feels a little busier, and OKW a bit more quiet and spread out, but that's pretty subjective. Either way, have a great time and enjoy your trip.

 

[HopperFan]

For that long and with that many I would choose OKW and have breakfasts in the room.

We always do breakfast in room in shifts while folks get ready, means less rushing to make it to our ADR.

Bus service is the same for all resorts so you will have no issues getting to parks.

You will need to check with resort to find out what time buses start to run to the races, they start VERY early. Are you bringing along someone else to stay with the children while you run or are you each doing a different race? I am asking because it will impact your occupancy of where you pick.

 

[808momof4]

Thanks for all the great responses! My sister lives in Orlando and is going to babysit the girls for us each morning. We planned for her to babysit in the room until they wake up and then perhaps get them to the course or finish lines after.

 

[808momof4]

We were thinking the room size would be fine because we are used to cruising (this is our first land based vacation LOL). However, I will take that into consideration.

 

[HopperFan]

Thanks for all the great responses! My sister lives in Orlando and is going to babysit the girls for us each morning. We planned for her to babysit in the room until they wake up and then perhaps get them to the course or finish lines after.

Sounds like fun.

I will assume you will see your sister in advance. I would get her a parking pass for her car no matter where you stay so that when she is entering the resort in the "middle of the night" there won't be any hassles for her. Do your homework on the race locations she can get to, it's not as easy as it used to be. I went with DS last year and found it much less spectator friendly than the other races he did a few years ago.

 

[adisneyaunt]

I think you d love POR. The resort is lovely. Very kid friendly and a myriad of things for them to see/do. The food court is one of the best on property imho. The restaurant is good too. There are Quiet pools and the main pool, the kids will love. Bar area outside and in. Yeehaw Bob free show, kids love it. Preferred is excellent location (bldg14!!) close to main ( south Depot) bus, food area, pool area.
The boat ride to Disney springs is a lovely relaxing ride and it also goes to sister resort POFQ, which u can use ( great pool for kiddos). It is more lively, more family centric from our experience.

As far as food plans, we d not repeat the Deluxe.. way too much food, 1-1/2 hours each sit down is so time consuming and oh the food... unless one is a true foodie, for a foodie trip, I'd suggest regular dine plan ..
enjoy ur visit wherever you stay. And best of luck on ur Runs!!

 

[Deb & Bill]

You'll have a full kitchen at OKW in a one bedroom and that makes meals really easy. You'll have a king bed in the master, plus a queen sleeper sofa and twin sleeper chair in the living room. I guess you are doing this on cash since nothing is available at OKW for any night except Sunday night after the marathon. You'll need to catch the bus to the start of the race at the Epcot parking lot no later than 3:30AM from the Hospitality House at OKW (the race bus doesn't go around the resort picking up runners like the theme park buses do). The roads around Epcot and along the course will be closed off to any traffic, so your sister will need to arrive pretty early to get to OKW before you need to leave. She will have to take a bus with the kids to the finish lines. She can't stay with you because that puts you over occupancy at OKW (five plus one under the age of three) and you'd need a two bedroom villa in that case.

 

[MichaelWill&Megan'sMom]

Hi! You can't go wrong with either resort, but there will be a lot more room at Key West.

Deluxe dining plan is more food than you can imagine eating in a day. It takes up most of your day - and you will dread having to eat again! The regular dining plan usually leaves my family (DD10, DS11, DS14) with several remaining credits at he ended the trip. Keep that in mind! My husband and I tried the deluxe dining plan during a kid free food and wine trip - it was more than we could handle!!

 

[Wood Nymph]

We have stayed at both Old Key West and POR and really like them both. But with a family as big as yours the 1br villa would be so much nicer than the resort room. The villa is probably 3 times bigger than the room at POR. The villa has a full kitchen, large kitchen table, big porch with a table big enough for your family to eat at, a full size washer and dryer, a large whirlpool bathtub and a shower stall. We had seven people in a 2vr villa and loved it. We cooked a nice breakfast every morning and then ate lunch and dinner out.

The buses for both POR and OKW have to travel around the resorts, but the OKW was never as crowded as the POR buses get. We liked the buses at OKW much better than POR.

But the POR food court is much nicer than the quick service options at OKW.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

There's no way I would squeeze 4 kids into a moderate. And imo DXDP takes up too much time. My kids wouldn't/couldn't sit for 3 meals a day while at wdw. Takes too much time away from the parks and pool. I would go with OKW.

 

[jimandami]

There is zero chance I would stay at a moderate with 6 people, so I would definitely go with OKW. Another thing to think about is that you will need to wake up around 3ish each morning you are running. If you stayed at OKW, you could put the kids to sleep in either the master or living room, and you could sleep in the other. You could quietly get up and ready in a separate room, decreasing the chance your kids would wake up in the middle of the night!

 

[bumbershoot]

For that long and with that many I would choose OKW and have breakfasts in the room.

Yep.

My sister lives in Orlando and is going to babysit the girls for us each morning. We planned for her to babysit in the room until they wake up and then perhaps get them to the course or finish lines after.

OK but she knows she'll need to be there by 3am-ish? And that roads are going to be closing that morning?

I will assume you will see your sister in advance. I would get her a parking pass for her car no matter where you stay so that when she is entering the resort in the "middle of the night" there won't be any hassles for her.

Agreed.

You'll have a king bed in the master, plus a queen sleeper sofa and twin sleeper chair in the living room.

I had to count it up, too, LOL.


The early mornings of the races are not to be discounted or underestimated! You need a plan to get up and out on time.

I personally don't have my family meet me; it just seems like a lot of work *for me* to find out exactly how and when and where, and then tell the person in charge those things...I'd rather just see them when I get back to the room.

 

[TraceyPoppins]

Aloha! We are a family of 4 and have stayed at POR in a princess room and OKW in a studio. We preferred OKW overall. The room was MUCH bigger and had a kitchenette for quick pre-park breakfasts. The bathroom was quite large for a hotel and we had a little balcony. I don't think POR has balconies. Honestly, I can't think of one reasons I'd recommend POR over OKW. It's a beautiful resort inside & out. Enjoy your trip!!!

 

[Chrelaine]

A one bedroom at OKW is huge and has a washer & dryer in it, with a kitchen. We loved our stay there. We were booked in a 1 bedroom close to Hospitality House so it was incredibly convenient. The boat to DS is a fun way to spend and afternoon. Both properties are very large with multiple bus stops within the resort. I would think POR would be very close quarters with 6 bodies. OKW is more limited on QS but has a great TS in Olivia's. We would choose OKW in your situation if finances allowed for it.

 

[kaspurr]

I love Old Key West. I am a big fan of the over all atmosphere of the resort.

 

[Disneypapa]

I am a DVC member and my home resort is OKW. So I am a little bias. I love the theming at OKW, the décor, the laid back atmosphere, the larger rooms(a big big plus) and parking in front of the building you are staying in.

Whatever you choose, hope you have a great vacation.

 

[Meldev]

I've stayed POR never OKW, but have considered it often - also a family of 6...
Without hestitation I'd go OKW, we loved POR but only had 3 kids at the time and didn't even realize we had a trundle in the room. Rooms are tight for 8 days I'd go for he space and the kitchen. Honestly my family would fit perfectly into a 1 bed at okw now if only disney would let us!
Enjoy a 1 bed with washer/dryer and full kitchen while you still can! You'll be in the two bedroom group soon!