I'm still agonizing over where to stay for our Christmas 2008 trip! So please don't hate me for starting another where should we stay? thread. :confused:

I think I have narrowed it down to POFQ or POR. Totally different from my original three choices, but hey, I'm a girl. I'm allowed. So I know that POFQ and POR are connected, but I've been reading that they each have a different feel to them. As far as the "Mansions" (in POR, correct?), is that a preferred-room, or just a request? This will be our first venture off of Value Resort property so I want to make the right choice.

Any input, opinions, suggestions will be hugely appreciated! I want to book this weekend if possible.

Thanks in advance! :)

There are two 'related' resorts, with 3 different 'areas' to them.

POFQ is like the city. Compact, cast iron railings, pretty color paint, fountains and little 'courtyards' tucked amongst the buildings. It's the smallest in terms of number of rooms and acreage of the moderates. It also only has one bus stop, and no table service restaurant.

POR is like the country. The 'mansions' part is like big plantations - roses, archways, gazebos, big white buildings.

The Alligator Bayou part is a little more backwoods feeling - pine trees, more rustic looking buildings, etc.

There ARE some preferred buildings in POR, but I believe they're all in Alligator Bayou. Other than that, requests for AB or Mansions are requests only - UNLESS you have 5 people in your group, then you'll get AB since those are the only ones with the trundle beds.

All of POR is served by a food court and a table service restaurant (try the banana stuffed french toast if you go there for breakfast). There are multiple bus stops for POR - and sometimes POFQ and POR share a bus, othertimes, they're dedicated.

POR is the best! (Cathy covered everything important, so that's my $.02...) ;)

I think POR is best if you have children between the two. We have staied there twice.

We liked Riverside because although it is a large resort, it was very quiet and peaceful (even when filled to capacity while we were there)

POFQ had a very fun, lively vibe to it, but we thought it was nice after a long, exciting day at the parks to return to the serenity at Riverside.

Another vote for POR. After a hectic day at the parks, it was lovely to come back to this hotel.....I wish I was there now.....:D

POFQ hands down.

IMO it is much cooler visually, but then again I am more of a city boy than a country boy.

Personal opinion aside: POFQ is a lot smaller, therefore the walk to your room will probably be a lot quicker (also the walk from your room to the lobby). That of course will depend on where your room is, but the odds are obviously better at a smaller resort.

Also, in the morning the bus stops at the POFQ first, so you're guaranteed a seat. There are 4 bus stops in the POR, and if yours is one of the last ones, you'll find yourself standing on the bus (or worse, waiting for the next one).

Also the POR has a lot of reptiles and amphibians roaming around. They don't bother me, but they creeped a few of the girls out on my last trip, especially this little fella (http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee160/beautiful_tomorrow/Disneyworld%20-%20Day%208/P1010958.jpg)!

IMO the only advantage POR has is you can fit 5 people in one room. In fact, that's the only reason we stayed there instead of POFQ last time! Oh, it also has a sit-down restaurant in addition to a food court, whereas the POFQ just has a food court.

That all said, POR is still a nice resort. I just much prefer the POFQ.

I've stayed at POR twice. We're staying at POFQ in October (the night before our DCL trip).

The only thing I can comment on are the shuttle stops: POR has more ... but I think the resort is more spread out than FQ.

I'll have to let you know in nine months. :)

When we stayed at POR, POFQ rode the same buses.
They stopped first at FQ and picked up folks, who had all the seats.

Then they also stopped there first coming back, so we were on the bus longer every time while they unloaded and picked up new folks.

Once we got off and walked back to Alligator Bayou, but I don't recommend that.;)

This is a great thread! We just booked our trip not too long ago to stay at FQ.. I loved look of the "city" feel to it.. and was questioning the critter/bug factor over at POR.. I know, lame..but that type of stuff creeps me out but the resort as a whole looks like so much fun! :o)

So here is my question.. breakfast.. What are your folks thoughts? Those banana stuffed pancakes sound like heaven! Is the place where they are served accessable to where we will be?

You can walk from POFQ to POR - it's a little bit of a stroll, but not bad. Or there is a boat that goes between the two, but I don't recall what time it starts running.

Boatwrights is the restaurant I mentioned - but because it is a table service, if you REALLY want to eat there, I recommend making ADRs so you don't have a huge wait. (I'm not sure how hard it is to get in without an ADR, though.)

I just booked POFQ for August today! I can't wait. I have never been to Disney in August before, so I am a bit nervous about the weather, but we didn't want to take the kids out of school again.

We stayed in POR in Nov 07 and we loved it. We were in the mansions side, Parterre Place. It was a bit of a walk to the food court and pool, so if that is an issue for you I'd book a closer building. If I was staying there again I'd go for the Alligator Bayou side, but I have no complaints about the mansions... just a personal preference. As for creatures, the only ones we saw were bunnys. My boys wanted to take one home! The restaurant, Boatwrights, was really good, and we ate there twice, once with an ADR and once we walked right in (it was early Nov, not too crowded.)

I really wanted to book Wilderness Lodge, but without a discount code of some sort I just can't justify it, especially when I know that these moderate resorts are so nice.

I love to stay in the Port Orleans French Quarter! Our Family did say in the Port Orleans riverside!

This is a great thread! We just booked our trip not too long ago to stay at FQ.. I loved look of the "city" feel to it.. and was questioning the critter/bug factor over at POR.. I know, lame..but that type of stuff creeps me out but the resort as a whole looks like so much fun! :o)
The two parts really are quite close to each other - but I can't recall if POFQ uses pine straw (as in Keith's picture) for landscaping or not. That difference, if it exists, would be the only reason the critters would be different between the two!

Riverside gets my vote. We stayed there on our last trip to WDW and was so impressed we are staying there again. Nothing like coming back to a quiet and somewht secluded resort after a long day in the park or waking up to the seclusion. We really like how the resort feels spread out.

POFQ--Size matters and for me, the smaller resort is better. I don't eat much at the resort anyway, so I don't need the sit down or food court super size at POR. I LOVE the POFQ pool and it is rarely busy (at least when we've been there).

Elliot Dyson is a terrific musician and it is wonderful to be at POFQ to hear him several times each trip. Both the pool bar and the hotel bar are nice & quiet and out of the way.

I LOVE being close to the bus stop and for reasons already stated, getting the first on/first off privilege. The staff has always been great.

The biggest reason, other than theming, is how incredibly QUIET and romantic the place is. It is truly my home away from home, and while spending time at the deluxe resorts and enjoying their amenities, I don't know if I would flip for the higher price in those HUGE places.

The walk to and from POR along the river is really nice and quick (or you could grab any bus). If we wanted to go to Boatwrights or use the pool at POR, go for it. It's not a deal-breaker.

I agree with all of the POR votes! (But I am a big fan of the mansions, and that is where we requested and got in too). I absolutely LOVED it there and we walked over to the POFQ and it was really neat too, but didn't have the same ambiance and beauty of the POR. But within the same price range I also stayed at the Coronado Springs and thought that was awesome too. Although POR is my tops for moderate resorts...Coronado Springs was great and the food at the food court was much better. Either way you'll have fun! The grounds of these hotels are beautiful.

Good Luck.

POFQ hands down.


Also the POR has a lot of reptiles and amphibians roaming around. They don't bother me, but they creeped a few of the girls out on my last trip, especially this little fella (http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee160/beautiful_tomorrow/Disneyworld%20-%20Day%208/P1010958.jpg)!

Ok, so if there was ANY chance I was going to stay at POR it went out the door when I saw that picture--NO WAY NO HOW NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS! I would not have to worry about whether I would tucker out at WDW because I would be DEAD from a heart attack!

Ok, so if there was ANY chance I was going to stay at POR it went out the door when I saw that picture--NO WAY NO HOW NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS! I would not have to worry about whether I would tucker out at WDW because I would be DEAD from a heart attack!

POFQ has bunnies living in the hedges. :)

We liked POFQ because it was more compact & had shorter walks to/from the buses, pool & food court - a consideration after a hectic day at the parks. The bus stop is right by the main lobby while 3 of the POR stops are in secluded wooded areas away from the buildings. I did get tired though of the small POFQ food court choices by the end of our stay.

One of my kids' favorite things about POR was the abundance of critters!

We had frogs on the walls and railings outside our room, and lizards everywhere. We thought it was great!

(And I was comfortable with the wildlife outside, but when we stayed at Ft. Wilderness last year, we found a small from INSIDE our cabin:eek: I wasn't too thrilled about that!)

We love POR! With that being said, we are staying at POFQ next week-yay! I'll let you know which one we preferred when we get back!

...but when we stayed at Ft. Wilderness last year, we found a small from INSIDE our cabin:eek:

I just HATE it when those smalls try to take over a cabin!!!







;)

We stayed at POFQ last May, Carribean Beach in August, and got back last Monday from a week at POR. Of the three, we greatly prefer POFQ. Based on the positive reviews of POR from other people, I guess what we experienced was bad luck, and to some extent different tastes, but we had real issues at POR. Four of us (wife, two sons - 6 and 8), checked in on MLK day. The Magical Express bus made three stops before ours, which wasn't that big a deal, but after flying for hours you really don't want to be on a crowded bus for an hour and a half. Check-in was friendly and easy, and we were assigned a 1st floor room in Acadian House (one of the mansions). The room was filthy. There was some type of brown substance (sure hope it was coffee) splashed above one of the headboards. Sorry to be gross, but the toilet had blood in and on it. We didn't bother to complain, since in our experience housekeeping is a hit or miss proposition anyway. We unpacked and went to Epcot. Just as we went to bed that night (around 10:30), the party started outside. Screaming, probably drunken Brazilian teenagers everwhere. You cannot imagine the noise. It was like I picture Ft. Lauderdale to be during spring break. We walked outside to see what they were doing, and they laughed and yelled something at us in Portuguese. We called security, and about 45 minutes later the noise stopped. But they knew who called, and went into the room above us and slammed the heavy steel door probably 100 times. They pounded on the floor until I really thought they were going to come through. We called security again, and they were back outside around 2:30. At 7:00 I staggered to the front desk and demanded to be moved. In a very honest, non-Disney (but very appreciated) discussion, the front desk told me that they've had nothing but problems with these Brazilian groups. They moved us to Alligator Bayou. Great room, but it wasn't ready, so we had to store our stuff and come back mid-day to unpack. Unfortunately, when any toilet around us flushed, it was so loud that we would wake up. We could her the little girls crying and talking in the room next door. In our stays at the other moderates, we've never heard a sound. I would think that Disney construction is basically the same throughout the moderates, so maybe we just had good luck with our neighbors on other trips and bad luck this time. Regardless, it's hard to enjoy 12 hours of walking in a theme park when you're sleep deprived!

Now, the postives - Great trip, regardless of these problems. Parks were really crowded, similar to August. So much for the crowd calendars in the Unoffiical Guide to Disney World (a book that I love and still recommend). But hitting the big attractions early and using fastpass minimized the crowd's impact. Again, though, the Brazilian teenage tour groups would descend upon a ride or counter service food stand and innondate it (with much pushing, shoving, and yelling). It became a great way to make friends in line; the Americans would bond by talking about how poorly behaved the Brazilians were.

Buses were not an issue. Despite all of the bad reviews I read, we almost never waited for a bus. On Sunday, the bus line for the Magic Kingdom was insane, so we took the boat to POFQ and got a bus from there. Other than that, no bus issues at all.

The housekeeper in Alligator Bayou was great. Did fun things with the stuffed animals, so I tipped well. Room was spotless. It's nice that someone still takes pride in their work.

We greatly preferred the more laid back atmosphere (ie., much fewer people) at POFQ, and that's where we'll stay the next time we go.

Buses were not an issue. Despite all of the bad reviews I read, we almost never waited for a bus. On Sunday, the bus line for the Magic Kingdom was insane, so we took the boat to POFQ and got a bus from there. Other than that, no bus issues at all.

Brilliant thought! If the boat wasn't right there, you could even have walked it, if the bus line was out of control.

I was there a few years ago (I think Jan 2000?) and had similar experiences with the tour groups.

And I think you maybe were just lucky with your neighbors before. I think all the moderates I've stayed at you could hear the toilets flushing. Fortunately, I'm not a light sleeper, so in general, it didn't wake me up unless I was already tossing and turning.

:):):)

Glad I found this thread, it affirms that I made the right choice. I get to make my first ever trip to WDW in March, and we'll be staying at the POFQ.

I'll at Microsoft's Convergence 2008 at the Orlando convention center from 3-11 to 3-15 and then checking into the POFQ the evening of the 15th. My wife joins me that evening and we get to spend 3 days without our girls (it tuff, but they're in school ;))

I'm really looking forward to this trip. Thanks for the great info.



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