I booked a preferred room at POR, it will be DH,2 DD's (3&6) and myself. My question is where are the preferred rooms located and which is the best section to stay in. I know we will be coming back to the room late at times and the girls will probably be asleep. Which buliding is closest to the best pick up/drop off location. There is nothing worse than trecking across the resort while carrying a sleeping child and huffing puffing praying to make it back to your room. If anyone can chime in, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!;)

I booked a preferred room at POR, it will be DH,2 DD's (3&6) and myself. My question is where are the preferred rooms located and which is the best section to stay in. I know we will be coming back to the room late at times and the girls will probably be asleep. Which buliding is closest to the best pick up/drop off location. There is nothing worse than trecking across the resort while carrying a sleeping child and huffing puffing praying to make it back to your room. If anyone can chime in, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!;)

No matter what, you're going to walk. POR is a huge spread-out resort.

There is a map here:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/port-riverside.htm

There are 4 bus stops at Riverside, and from the times I've stayed there none of them are any different or better than the others as far as the late-night-trek-to-the-room. I prefer to stay as close as possible to the main building, so that I can hop on the bus after breakfast.

I've stayed in Acadian House and Magnolia Bend. Five minute walk at most to the shuttle stop for us -- you don't need to go to the main area unless you want breakfast first or need to go to the gift shop.

I don't recall if "Preferred location" is just the Alligator Bayou buildings closest to the main building, or if one (or parts of one) of the Magnolia Bend buildings is preferred also.

But either way, if you booked preferred (and are paying a premium for that) - you're going to be close to the main building, main bus stop, and the main pool.

No matter what, you're going to walk. POR is a huge spread-out resort.

There is a map here:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/port-riverside.htm

There are 4 bus stops at Riverside, and from the times I've stayed there none of them are any different or better than the others as far as the late-night-trek-to-the-room. I prefer to stay as close as possible to the main building, so that I can hop on the bus after breakfast.



OMG, the resort is huge!!! I don't remember it being that spreadout. Now i am wondering if i should change my reservations to a smaller resort?????

OMG, the resort is huge!!! I don't remember it being that spreadout. Now i am wondering if i should change my reservations to a smaller resort?????

That map has both Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter on it, so don't let that scare you too much.

Yes, it is a bit spread out, but Caribbean Beach and (I think) Coronado Springs are even MORE spread out, IMHO - so the only resort in the same price range that isn't is French Quarter, and it often sells out quickly because it is so much smaller.

Unless your trip is a long way off, I would't change.

Our trip is October 8-13, so i could change resorts possibly. I think that the reason i picked the Riverside over the French Quarter is because we live close to New Orleans and although we love Mardi Gras and all the French Quarter motif, we wanted to stay at something a little different than that. I have stayed at CB and i did not want to stay there because the last time we did, i just found the resort looked "dated"

Hi neighbor! (I live in Metairie, work across the street from the Superdome)

I'd still keep your POR reservation - preferred location will keep you in nice and close.

Thanks Drince, i will keep my reservations at POR. You seem to be an expert at WDW so i trust your judgement. I live in Thibodaux, so i am just a hop, skip and a jump away. I can't believe that you work across from the superdome. The traffic...i can't imagine!!!! Do you have any suggestions on were to take my girls to eat on the first day?? I am going to book the 11:30 a.m. flight, but by the time we land, magical express it and check in, i did not want to waste money on a whole day ticket. I wish you could buy half days.....what about DTD??? Any good places there that they would enjoy??
How is the pool at POR? Do they have a kiddie pool?

Agreed that Drince is our WDW expert!

As for POR, AB bldg 14 is our favorite. Just a personal preference, but we like the themeing better in AB and it's very close to the food court and busstop. It's also not a bad walk at all to 'Ol Man Island, it's a great pool and they also have a small playground there.

As for your first day, it's fun to take the boat from POR to Downtown Disney and you could shop around and eat there.

As for your first day, it's fun to take the boat from POR to Downtown Disney and you could shop around and eat there.

That's what I'd recommend, too. There's the World of Disney store, Once Upon a Toy (they have places you can buy a box you fill of Mr. Potato head stuff AND a My Little Pony (or so I've heard about My Little Pony - I have nephews, so I don't pay attention to that). AND build your own light saber, if they're into that (I mean Leia did have a light saber, too!). And there's a lego store with these big creations outside that can be fun to look at.

As far as food in DTD - I went with some of my nephews (4, 8, and 10 at the time) to Raglan Road, and they liked it well enough, but nothing out of the ordinary. There's a Rainforest Cafe, but it might be a bit loud for yours (I've never tried it - I don't need loud sensory-overload while dining!). Earl of Sandwich is a nice counter-service place with (you guessed it) sandwiches that's nice for a quicker bite.

Plus there's Boatwrights and the food court in the hotel there. If you want to do Boatwrights, I'd recommend making ADRs before you leave home.

I assume you're taking Southwest. Make sure you get your boarding passes 24 hours ahead of time so you can (hopefully) get an A board and get on first and together. They've changed it so families board between A and B. If you're doing Delta - never mind. If another airline - look into those two because nobody else does non-stop!

I think Rainforest Cafe is the best table service choice for small children at DTD but Drince is right, it is loud in there. It's a different number to book it than Disney ADR's but you can still book in advance.

Unless something has changed, POR does not have preferred room locations that you can book and pay for. What is considered preferred and an additional price are both king bed(not an option for your size party) and water view. Water view can be river or fountain or pool-I wouldn't pay more for a "view" option at any moderate. What you can request is something like "close to food court/pool/bus stop"-and then take your chances that it would be granted.

You may also want to take a look at which part of POR you'd like to request-Mansions or AB. Again, it's only a request but in my experience, Disney will do their best to honor it when they can.

DTD is also what I'd recommend for your first night. But, I'd do Wolfgang Puck Express(a counter service) over Rainforest. Sorry, I know others love it-I loath it-loud...expensive...loud...average at best food...loud.

tjrj-you took the words out of my mouth. I booked POR for June and the 3 room catagories they offer are standard, water view, and king. Water view can mean a pool or river view. It appears that any building could have any of those catagories. None of the catagories puts you closer to the main building, unlike the value resorts. Just for the record, we have a standard room.

Thanks for all the info., i truly appreicate your input. I will have to check with my travel agent, i could've sworn she said preferred. I guess it would be on my confirmation from Disney also??? What about DTD, than a 7:00 dinner at Chef Mickeys at the contemporary? Maybe that is too much running around for 1 afternoon??:confused:

My wife and I are headed for Disney in just 14days. The first time there w/o the kids, guess that means we are getting older!!. We are also staying at PO-Riverside, so it was great to hear the responses to your question. I am going to call Disney and request Acadian or Magnolia. I like the idea of the mansions but don't want to be so far away from the Restaurant and Check-In. Also, the last time we went to Disney we stayed in PO and as a runner I found that the path around both FQ and Riverside was very nice for my runs.

I have really enjoyed reading all the good information here!

We stayed in the Alligator Bayou area building 24. It was a quick walk to the pool, bus stop, and laundry facilities. We loved staying here!:)

Any recommendations on which building to stay in (Riverside). Going May 20-26! Does it really matter in regard to transportation and close proximity to food court area? Thanks...

I always liked Oak Manor or Parterre Place, both close to the main area and the pool. I stayed once in the Magnolia Bend area, but I like the mansion theme much better.

Riverside was the first place we stayed (in '84) and it still is one of our favorites. BTW, it was called "Dixie Landings" back then. (Why'd they change that, anyway?) We would still be staying there if it weren't for Boardwalk -- we fell in love with that place, and have mostly stayed there since. But what we really liked about POR:
1) the ambiance - extremely pleasant layout, landscaping, building design
2) those moonlight boat rides back from Downtown Disney
3) on-site entertainment in the lounge area
4) the food court: good food, fast self-serve, not that expensive, everyone found something they like
5) real nice pools
6) night-time walks around the grounds
7) everyone there (guests) seemed real happy to be there

So now we sold our Boardwalk DVC a few years back and have stayed off-site the last two times. Believe me, it is NOT the same! So now we're trying to decide if we should buy back into the Boardwalk or just stay at POR. So far no decision.

what rooms have trundle beds???

what rooms have trundle beds???

The Alligator Bayou rooms in Port Orleans Riverside.

The Alligator Bayou rooms in Port Orleans Riverside.

great thanks!

Riverside was the first place we stayed (in '84) and it still is one of our favorites. BTW, it was called "Dixie Landings" back then. (Why'd they change that, anyway?)
They market the moderate resorts as having an on-site table service location, as one of the distinctions with the values. To do that, they had to do something with French Quarter (I can't recall the original name to that part), so they named them both Port Orleans, and added the tag for the two parts. That way it's all 'one resort' and they still meet that marketing distinction for Moderates.

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom. It was Dixie Landings, with its dining room, Boatwright's. Another kingdom, Port Orleans, was its neighbor. Port Orleans had a restaurant too, Bonfamilie's. It was quite tasty. The two kingdoms merged, becoming Port Orleans, French Quarter and Port Orleans, Riverside. Bonfamilie's was sadly closed. But the kingdoms lived happily ever after, except for the unreasonable bus waits.

The end.

Seriously, though, I wish they'd re-open Bonfamilie's. I HATE walking all the way over to Boatwright's. The food could easily be divided between southern specialties at POR and Cajun/Creole at Bonfamilie's. The room still sits there, with the little podium outside the doors.

Maybe, with the popularity of POFQ they'll reopen someday. Resort hopping and resort dining hopping is becoming more and more commonplace. I think there would be a niche for it, especially with the dining plans....