RubySlippers
Registered: May 2008
Posts: 13
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Review Date: Sun September 16, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? No
| Rating: 4
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Pros:
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Gorgeous grounds, food court
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Cons:
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Rude management, broken bathroom door, lack of service
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I've stayed at POR at least a dozen times - even back when it was still Dixie Landings and always had nothing but positive things to say about the resort. My last experience however, has made me rethink whether or not I would choose POR again.
My friends and I (four adult women) had a delayed flight and didn't arrive at the resort until after 1 am. Even though I'd stayed here before, it was difficult to navigate the resort in the dark, with our luggage and we were offered no assistance in finding our room. It took us nearly a half hour to find it after checking in. The room we were given was a handicap accessible room (which we neither needed or wanted) and nothing was said to us about this prior. The bathroom configuration made it difficult for four women to get ready in the morning and the sliding door for the bathroom was broken and wouldn't close completely or lock.
I called the front desk the following day to ask about getting our room changed. I requested a specific building, building 14(which I had requested prior as well) and was told (rudely) by the manager that rooms in that building were considered an upgrade. I'd stayed in that building many times prior and it had never been considered an upgrade before, and this was not mentioned to me when I originally made my request. I also mentioned how we had been provided with no assistance in finding our room or getting our luggage there, and the manager didn't offer so much as a sorry.
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mommalovesdisney
Registered: November 2011
Location: central new york
Posts: 10
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Review Date: Thu September 13, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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the southern charm and decor
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Cons:
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none comes to mind
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My DD, 2 DS, and mom stayed at Riverside (always will be Dixie Landings in my heart) for the 4th time. We have stayed at two other resorts (Deluxe) and this is still our favorite. The castmembers did everything to help us with our reservations and requests. We stayed in building 18 and were steps away from the quiet pool.
We never had to wait more than 10 minutes for any bus. My only request would be to only get one travel mug. Our vacation had to be placed in two reservations. There was nothing the cast members could do to compensate the mugs. My family came home with 2 mugs each. The activities at the big pool were entertaining, however, it would have been nice to be there without the activities person chatting into the microphone all afternoon. Will go back to this resort. It is large, but the preferred room cost is worth every penny.
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bernsjoy
Registered: February 2010
Posts: 8
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Review Date: Sat September 8, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Theming, Mosuekeeping, Pools, Carriage Rides, boat access, and other amenities
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Cons:
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Bus
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Overall, my party loved this hotel, during my most recent visit. My party consisted of my two daughets (20 and 16) and one of their friends (16), alongside me. This was our first time staying here, so everything was new to us. We stayed for about two weeks in the Princess Suites. The theming was adorable, and we stayed to celebrate my daughter's Sweet 16. The boat access to Downtown and the sister hotel was very convenient, and quick. The quick service spot had a nice variety. Mousekeeping left towel art on most days, and assured that the needs we left in notes were reached (ex: a light bulb that went out, our need for extra hangers). We were smack dab in the middle as far as room location, so walks to the store and such weren't a problem. We were actually right by the nightly movie, which we rarely heard commotion from. The store was a nice size, compared to French Quater's store. We booked a carriage ride, which was quite nice. The pools weren't very crowded. My only con about this was the bus stop. Depending on the bus driver, we were normally the last or second to last drop off. For pick up, we were normally second to last, so there was rarely seating for all four of us. Too boot, South Dept was normally the last pick up spot, leaving the bus extra crowded, since that depot was normally full. Despite that one problem, I would recommend staying here, and plan on doing so again.
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evilqueenT
Registered: September 2009
Posts: 9
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Review Date: Wed August 22, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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amenities, mousekeeping, pool/activities
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Cons:
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bus stops
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We stayed 3 times this year. 1st trip in royal room Oak Manor March 2012 for long weekend near east bus depot. Adorable room, fun, love it (was chosen by my granddaughter for my birthday). We were near bus stop but long waits for bus at times. Kind of a bother to use main pool and go to food court to do drink refills. But we were near quiet pool.
2nd trip July 2012 Alligator Bayou section building 15 preferred room for 7 days and 3rd trip mid August 2012 same type of room and also in building 15 but for 2 nights. Fantastic location, of course being close to main and quiet pool, south/main bus depot, and food court/store was fantastic. Mouse keeping was fantastic. All 3 rooms were clean, met expectations. Very quiet. No problem being on second floor. Loved having the children's murphy bed in the ab rooms but you really give up storage space. Beautiful grounds. Would stay again in a heartbeat.
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GinaDD
Registered: September 2007
Location: Clarksboro, NJ
Posts: 28
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Review Date: Thu August 16, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Friendly, great mousekeeping, recently refurbished
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Cons:
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Too many bus stops
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We really loved our two royal rooms in Oak Manor. We stayed on the first floor, which we like. The resort is spread out which makes for lovely, quiet walks or long journeys to get to and from...it depends on your needs.
The beds and pillows were very comfortable. Plenty of towels. Very clean room and attentive mousekeeper. Please note that the room has an electric COOLER, not fridge. It is great to keep drinks chilled but if you need it for milk I don't know if I would trust it. We went to the food court or resort shop for milk each morning. Go to the shop for quarts as it is cheaper.
If not on dining plan, buy the refillable mug for the room especially if you are there longer than 3 days.
We found the staff friendly. We also enjoyed a couple of the movies out on the lawn in the evenings.
Having said this I would probably return to the French Quarter over this resort simply because I prefer the smaller size of FQ. It only has one bus stop vs. 4 at RS. If I fully compare though, Riverside has a better run food court and better mousekeeping.
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reginacrawley11
Registered: August 2012
Location: Camp Shelby, MS
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Thu August 2, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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We came back in May and we loved the resort. Everyone was so friendly and rooms were awesome. We are planning on coming back and this will be the resort we stay at.
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nikmole
Registered: May 2010
Location: Alabama
Posts: 20
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Review Date: Mon July 9, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Beautiful grounds, great rooms, awesome staff
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Cons:
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none
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We stayed at POR for the second time the last 2 weeks of June. We were in one of the newly renovated rooms in Alligator Bayou... in fact, we were the first people to stay in that room after the refurb.
I love the rustic decor, and the quiet around the rooms is wonderful. The pull-down bed that replaced the trundle bed was really nice- my 8 year old daughter enjoyed sleeping under the alligator mural.
The food court was wonderful as always, and cast members were sooo helpful. When my 3 year old was having a meltdown while we were paying for our meals, 3 cast members came over with bead necklaces and stickers for him. He forgot all about his tantrum!
Buses were great- crowded at times, but I enjoyed the fact that there was almost always a cast member at the bus depot, and extra buses were quickly dispatched when needed. At times, the buses were really crowded, but that's what happens when there are lots of people wanting to go the same place!
Mousekeeping was also wonderful- the 3 kids' stuffed friends were always creatively arranged while we were out for the day, and one day we had a towel animal- a nest with 5 birds!
Honestly, my only (small)complaint would be that more in-room storage would be nice- 3 drawers was not really enough for a family of 5 over 2 weeks.
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rpayer
Registered: December 2006
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 17
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Review Date: Sun June 24, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Royal Guest Rooms
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Cons:
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Occasional noise from other guests walking by room
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My DD (14) and I stayed in Royal Guest room 9412, in the Oak Manor Building from June 18th to June 22nd. This was on the third floor, but close to stairs leading to parking lot and to bridge leading to main building. We loved, loved, loved the Royal Guest rooms. The fireworks show in the headboard was lots of fun. Since these rooms are new, everything was perfect. The Royal details were quite creative. The refrigerator was perfect for breakfast stuff which we ate in our room to save time. We also liked the free WiFi. We checked in around 9am and had no wait since we had done the online check in. Though the regular line was short too. Our room was ready at 11am. The check in area is being refurbished, so the temporary area is a bit smaller, but was not a problem at that early hour. We had a rental car, but used the buses to go to AK and MK. The AK bus also stops at Blizzard Beach which made the trip a bit longer. On the return trip, the bus also stopped at the French Quarter. The MK bus was only for Riverside as was the Epcot bus. Bus waits were less than 10 mins and we only had to stand once. We ate two dinners at the food court which were both enjoyable. We did not have any trouble finding a seat. We purchased the refillable mugs and used them for morning tea and afternoon drinks and felt we got our money's worth. The grounds are beautiful and quite peaceful. The gift shop had a wide variety of Disney gifts and snacks. Unfortunately, we did not have time to enjoy the pool, boats or horse drawn carriage ride. We checked our luggage for our flight at the Riverside which is a great time saver. Housekeeping was thorough and all cast members were friendly and helpful. We had a wonderful trip and will definitely stay here again.
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3tbells
Registered: June 2012
Posts: 8
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Review Date: Thu June 21, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Quiet & the scenery
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Cons:
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construction EVERYWHERE
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We stayed at POR June10-16. This was our 2nd time staying here & we really do love it!!! It's very quiet even though a lot of people stay here you really can't tell. Our only con was that they're doing construction work everywhere. And not just a little, they've got whole buildings wrapped up. It just would've been nice if we had knew this before hand. The buses were fine. Waits not to long. We would stay here again!!!
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cyanity
Registered: June 2012
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Tue June 19, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Location, amenities, landscaping
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Cons:
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Drawer space
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We just returned from our trip 6/9/12 to 6/17 and we enjoyed our stay here very much. It was our first stay at a moderate; having stayed at All Star Movies and All Star Sports previously. As my son stated,'We're never going back to an All-Star resort again.'
Yes, the resort is large and holds a large number of guests. However, we felt that the landscaping made us feel as we were really staying in the bayou, and did not feel as though there were multitudes of people. Our room was in Builing 37 in the Alligator Bayou; very close to the North Bus Depot and a short walk to the main pool.
So much to do, we did not have enough time to try everything. Mousekeeping was wonderful, my children loved seeing the different 'animals' each night. As my husband stated the only con out of 99 positives was the limited draweer space(3 drawers for clothes.)
I had read reviews about the buses, we had minimum wait times - nothing ever more than 10 minutes. Since, we were at the North Bus depot we were always able to get on the bus and have a seat while leaving the resort. 1 night as we were leaving MK there was a very long line for PO Riverside with a POFQ bus ready to depart with space. We hopped on the POFQ bus deciding to walk the distance between the 2 instead of waiting for another bus(we weren't the only ones.) Our bus driver (after he made the stops at POFQ) dropped us all off at the South Depot:)
We would love to come back and stay here again.
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MinnieMouseMama
Registered: March 2009
Location: Princeton, IL
Posts: 41
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Review Date: Fri June 15, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Princess Rooms
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Cons:
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roll away bed issues
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Let me begin by saying that this was our 4th stay at Port Orleans. We love this resort as the boats to DTD are great and the landscaping is smashing.
Pros: The new Princess rooms are beautiful. DD ages 6 & 12 were blown away. Even my Disney resistant husband had to admit that they were impressive. He even took video of the cool fireworks headboards. The pool is tons of fun and many Club Med-type games have been added for the kids. We enjoyed the free movie in the court yard. The food court at dinner was a hit for everyone. The make your own pasta can serve two easily.
Cons: There was a huge SNAFU with my roll away bed request. HUGE. I requested a bed when I booked the room and again at check in. After a long wait, no bed arrived. I called housekeeping and discovered that roll aways are not allowed in the queen bed rooms. Hmmmm.... Then how was I able to request one, TWICE? We were given a mattress for the floor and charged $15. Honestly, had I known about this policy I would have requested an Alligator Bayou room and saved some cash.
Will we stay here again? Probably! The resort is beautiful and other than problems with reservations we had a fantastic stay.
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mamandragon
Registered: May 2011
Location: Peterborough Ontario Canada
Posts: 8
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Review Date: Sat June 2, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Beautiful, Peaceful, Gorgeous Property
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Cons:
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none
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Stayed here May 12 to 14 before heading up to Disney Hilton Head. Second time staying here. It is my favourite of the "moderate" resorts. Landscaping is awsome, pools are great. We did online check in before arriving and I recommend that to everyone. Staff was great. This resort is large so be prepared for the walk - not a negative - it gives you time to enjoy your surroundings!
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Jen S
Registered: May 2012
Posts: 8
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Review Date: Thu May 31, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Beautiful grounds, variety at food court
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Cons:
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housekeeping
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Just returned from a 5 night stay from May 14th-19th, just myself and my boyfriend. This was my first time staying on Disney property but not not my first visit to Disney. We were given a room in Building 24 in Alligator Bayou upon our arrival around noon, and were told room was ready. We hiked to the room, which seemed about as far from anything as you can get. The room appeared clean, beds made, etc, but trash(papers and receipts) was still on the table, and there looked to be snacks and things near the fridge. I called the front desk and they said they would be happy to give us a new room, and since I was on the phone I asked if it would be possible to get a room closer to the main building. Normally I would prefer the quiet of being so far away, but for this trip I could see the advantage of being closer to the main building. I told them we were planning to get lunch, so they said would call me when a new room was ready. Before we even got to the food court, I got a call that they had given us a refurbished room in one of the mansions. We ended up in Building 85, with a beautiful room on the 2nd floor facing the courtyard and river, and very close to everything with just a short walk over the bridge. We used Magical Express and our luggage was in our room when we returned late that night. I was a little worried it would be sent to the first room we had been assigned and we would have to track it down at midnight, but it was there! There was an issue redeeming the voucher for our Park Hopper tickets at the registration desk that ultimately ended up needing to be resolved at the will call window at the parks, but the hotel cast member and the cast members at Hollywood Studios where we picked them up were patient, kind, and helpful.
Housekeeping seemed hit or miss over the week and was our only big issue. We returned to the room on our second day around 3pm for a nap and the room had not been serviced yet. We figured returning that late in the day it would have been done by then. We saw staff working on rooms near us, so we went to the food court to fill up our mugs and have a snack, but still no service when we returned 45 minutes later. We put up the privacy sign on the door so we could nap, and found they did leave us a bag of towels when we left to go to dinner. I called to request extra towels for swimming in the quiet pool, but we never seemed to have enough between swimming and taking showers since our pool had no towel exchange. We also left dirty glasses on the dresser next to the TV one day and they were not replaced until we put them by the sink the following day. We received a towel Mickey on the bed upon arrival, and some little washcloth bunnies with soap in them near the sink at the end of the week, but that was it-maybe because it seemed obvious there were no kids in the room? It was just myself and my boyfriend. It was my first time staying in Disney resort rather than outside the park, and even as an adult I had been looking forward to that.
The grounds and buildings were beautiful. We had planned to take the boat shuttle to Downtown Disney but ended up taking a bus instead and regretted not taking the boat. The quiet pool near our room was great, we took a swim one night while doing a load of laundry, which was a great thing to have on site. We had no trouble with the buses to the parks. We had amazing timing in that the one we needed was always either arriving as we got to the stop, or arrived within just a few minutes. Even returning from the parks at night, we always got a bus quickly and never had to stand during the ride. It might have been luck, or due it not being a peak time of year, but it was definitely a positive experience. Longest ride was to Animal Kingdom, about 15 minutes. Even though the East Depot was right behind our building, we usually ended up getting the bus at the South Depot near the main building, since we would head out to the parks after breakfast, or stop to refill our mugs or pick up something in the store on our way back at night. This also seemed to guarantee us a seat when the bus looped around the rest of the resort before heading to the parks.
We enjoyed the food court and the variety of choices-we ate breakfast there every day but one, when we walked to French Quarter for beignets. The food court alone makes this resort a top choice if I were to return and stay on Disney property. We never had trouble finding a seat, the food was tasty, and there were so many options I can’t imagine staying somewhere with fewer choices.
We used Magical Express and the resort airline check-in on our departure day and had no trouble with either-all the information left on our door was complete and helpful.
Overall a great first Disney resort experience!
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ruthann
Registered: May 2012
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Tue May 22, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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tropical setting, quiet pools,food court, rooms
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Cons:
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none
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My husband and I have always wanted to stay at WDW around Christmastime to see the lites and sights! We are both in our 60's and made this trip on our own. We stayed at Port Orleans, Riverside, from December 11 thru the l8th, 2011.
We always stay at Port Orleans, we love the easy going atmosphere, the setting, all of it. We've stayed at the Coronado, and it was very nice and clean, but too big and spread out for us. Port Orleans, Riverside, is our home away from home now.
We stayed in 18 and had a room away from the action. The room was always clean. Yes, it was an older room needing renovation, but we have no problems with it. The maid service was excellent. We had a different towel animal every day, from big exotic flowers, to little flowers, to MM, Donald, a fleet of ducks, etc. It was a treat even for our older eyes to find these delights every day. We requested maid service in the am, as we come back after noon to rest up, no problem.. Still managed to walk 5 to 7 miles a day!
I know others have complained about the transportation at PO, but we never have had a problem. If more buses were needed, there was always a cast member there to call for more. We never had to wait longer than 10 or 15 min. for a bus from PO. Our longest wait off the resort was at Hollywood Studios for appx 30 min. I think WDW does an excellent job considering the amount of people they have to move!
The food court was excellent also. We split the pasta bowl and salad bowls and still had too much.
I researched the best time to come to WDW at Christmastime, and this week 2 weeks before was perfect!!! We didn't have the big crowds and didn't have to wait in lines for rides at all. The lights at HS, the Osborne lite show, was awesome. We saw it twice! I was a little disappointed that there were not more Christmas lites and decorations around the parks. I was expecting more, I guess, being Disney. Each park had a tree decorated in their theme and they were beautiful.
We enjoyed touring the parks and resort at our leisure, shopping, riding rides, visiting with other people from all over the world, eating at fantastic places - all at our pace!
Our favorite restaurants were Liberty Tree Tavern in the MK, and Tutto Italia in Epcot, of course the Crystal palace too. The Cirque de Soleil at DTD was fantastic, as was the shopping and boat ride from PO.
All in all, we had a magical time and will be back next year with our grandkids and kids. Of course, we will be staying at our "home", Port Orleans Riverside!
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tgrupa
Registered: May 2012
Posts: 10
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Review Date: Sun May 20, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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bus stops were close
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Cons:
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room on the corner
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We stayed here with a 5 and 6 yr old. First time at Disney, and everyone was so helpful and nice. We loved the pools, lifeguards were amazing, we saw one jump in after a kid that couldn't get his footing. Clean rooms, and the trundle bed was great for one of the kids. We definitely will be back to riverside.
The only down fall, the lady next to us would always smoke right off the balcony which we could smell, we are not smokers, but she refused to walk to the area for her to smoke. The room on the corner was loud at night with people coming back late, and their kids yelling, or in the morning with strollers bouncing down the staircase. We would request one not near a staircase nect time.
Overall for our first time traveling with the kids, it was wonderful!
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