Race Weekend Resort Question

[Sleepless Knight]

So I'm registered for the 2017 Dark Side Challenge at WDW and am now trying to decide on my resort.

As it currently stands, I have a reservation for Art of Animation in a standard room. However, I'm strongly considering switching to one of the Port Orleans resorts.

While my preference is Riverside, it's not such an overwhelming preference that I'm ruling out French Quarter.

Is there a clear advantage to staying at POFQ vs POR? Especially for race weekend. I'm not doing a split stay, so whichever resort I start at is the resort I stay at. Is there a difference between the 2 if I decide to visit Universal for a day to see the Harry Potter stuff?

I read a lot of mixed reviews on the buses. Is one vastly better than the other for bus service? Or am I just overthinking this?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Ariel484]

I prefer French Quarter - it's smaller, so there's only 1 bus stop. Riverside has internal bus stops. Both are very nice though.

 

[rteetz]

I have stayed at POR for WDW marathon weekend and didn't have any problems. I have heard that POFQ for a race weekend is also very nice so you should be fine there too.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I prefer French Quarter - it's smaller, so there's only 1 bus stop. Riverside has internal bus stops. Both are very nice though.

The internal bus stops is the biggest thing preventing me from making the switch, but I want to decide this week.

I have stayed at POR for WDW marathon weekend and didn't have any problems. I have heard that POFQ for a race weekend is also very nice so you should be fine there too.

How were the buses to the parks after the race? Does one stop get so full that it's difficult to get on a bus at the next internal stop?

Thanks again.

 

[wilkeliza]

I prefer French Quarter because there is no internal bus issue. You get picked up and dropped off at French Quarter. With Riverside I had a rental car so I didn't have to deal with all of that.

 

[rteetz]

How were the buses to the parks after the race? Does one stop get so full that it's difficult to get on a bus at the next internal stop?

Thanks again.

At POR I never had an issue really. Marathon weekends aren't that crowded in my opinion but with Star Wars being in April and with spring breaks and such that might be different for you. Busing to the races at POR I walked to the main bus stop instead of waiting at one of the other internal stops. During the week going to the parks using Disney transportation was no different than going during a non-race weekend. Like I said though crowds may be increased a little bit due to the timing of the race.

 

[cavepig]

Do French Quarter and Riverside still share buses sometimes for the parks? Not sure if it's changed but they used to share except for maybe at MK or busy times, in Jan we stopped at both I know when we went to riverside to eat.

 

[LSLS]

As others have said, only positive I can think of is being a smaller resort so shorter walk from the bus stops for the FQ. But it's not going to be that big a deal (at least to me).

 

[Ariel484]

Do French Quarter and Riverside still share buses sometimes for the parks? Not sure if it's changed but they used to share except for maybe at MK or busy times, in Jan we stopped at both I know when we went to riverside to eat.

Yes. MK they were separate, Epcot they shared. I'd imagine they would share for DHS and AK.

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

I stayed at POR during Dark Side weekend this year and had no issues with the bus. Few in line when I got there, bus almost right away.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I really appreciate all the feedback. I have decided to go with Riverside. It appealed to me a bit more than French Quarter. In the end, your feedback helped me conclude that there wasn't a huge difference between the two so go with the choice I liked better.