I know that both Port Orleans resorts share a bus to the parks. Which resort does it visit first on the way to the resorts in the morning. We are trying to narrow things down and my mother-in-law is very worried about the bus situation. If we decided to stay in POR, where does the bus stop first? (nearest which building) Does anyone know?

While I believe the bus stops at the front of POFQ first, I also believe it stops near the Alligator Bayou section of POR first afterwards. Then it goes clockwise around the resort with the last stop being near the main building. Drop offs is pretty much the same route.

Personally, I find the bus service to/from both of the PO hotels to be good to very good. Yes, like anywhere you go, there will be some times that are somewhat more crowded, but most times, it's fine.

I thought it stopped at the main POR stop before going to the others in Riverside.

During the morning, each resort has it's own bus to the Magic Kingdom, if that makes a big difference to you. They might all day long, but for sure in the morning. Sometimes other parks had dedicated buses in the morning, too.

If you REALLY want to be the first on the bus at the resort, stay at FQ.

going to the parks, i'm not sure it ever really has dedicated buses. if the bus fills up at POFQ however, it won't go to POR - mostly depends on the driver, but i've definitely had the bus stop at POR in the morning to pick up. or it might only do 1 or 2 POR stops. the resorts do have dedicated buses when leaving the parks during peak hours though.

I thought it stopped at the main POR stop before going to the others in Riverside.

Now that you mention that, Im not 100% sure. But something in the back of my mind that, at least at times, it was the last stop before going on to the parks. Im second guessing myself.

...the resorts do have dedicated buses when leaving the parks during peak hours though.
I do recall commenting to Mrs. GusMan that this was the case but only for certain parks, such as MK. I want to say that there were separate pick up points for FQ and RS at MK and possibly Epcot. I believe at Studios and AK, the stop was shared for the two resorts.

But like mentioned above... I am going to have to check my notes but I believe that is what we experienced last time we stayed.

not to confuse it, but... there are 2 separate stops for POR and POFQ respectively at the parks. for example, at MK, stop 4 is POFQ and 5 is POR (I think). however, during non-peak times, they merge them so only 1 stop is used for both. so when you look at the board at the stops, sometimes it will say Port Orleans French Quarter and Port Orleans Resort and sometimes it just says Port Orleans.. same with all stars. it changes throughout the day.

at least it does at MK. now that i think about it, i know i've never used any other stop but 14 for POFQ at MGM. can't necessarily say it's true for Epcot (which I believe is normally stop 8).

bottom line is that there are only 2 resorts that never share buses and have only 1 stop at the resort.. POP and AKL

When I was there for the ToT race, the bus stopped at the main building Riverside stop first after stopping at French Quarter. Then the bus went around to the other stops at Riverside.

We did have a case where it filled up after the main stop at Riverside, and we went directly to the park.

Yep, it depends on the time of the day.

MK always had separate busses while were there.

We shared busses with POR (we were at POFQ) and usually went to JUST the main bus stop at POR. We were usually full by then, with even no standing room. This occurred anywhere from 8:00 am to 10:00 am. There was very little room this time on busses. They were, however, fairly frequent and the WAIT was not long. Just be sure you don't have claustrophobia, because Ladies & Gents, it was CLOSE quarters 90% of the time.

Now we went back to the rooms a lot in the heat of the afternoon. It was usually quiet and mostly empty then. On the way TO the parks in the afternoon, we stopped (started, really) at POFQ, then made all 4 stops at POR. It took nearly 40 minutes to get to AK and Epcot on two separate occasions.

In the evenings, it was mayhem. I read to slow your walk to the stop and then by the time you get there, the masses have reduced. Worked very, very well at MGM one evening (waiting about 40 minutes after Fantasmic was over), but did NOT work TWICE at Epcot. One night, we had dinner at Le Chefs. We didn't leave the restaurant until 9:30 (Illuminations was over around 9:15). We shopped, stood around, and didn't get to the bus stop until 10:15. The line was horrendous and after another 30 minutes without a bus in sight, I bailed and took a cab back to the hotel.

I have ALWAYS been a bus person, but I'm thinking it might almost be easier to drive everywhere except MK and DTD now. I've only recently come to this conclusion, and I HATE to drive when I'm there, so I don't know if I would really rent or just deal with the busses.

BTW, we were there in the quieter time of year, October.

I thought it stopped at the main POR stop before going to the others in Riverside.

It stops at FQ first, then th POR Main, then to alligator bayou and beyond. The stops in each section of the resort are always really less crowded then the main one for the resort, ive learned over the years. i dont know why, people just fell that the main stop is better in some strange way, i dont know