I think POR has some very good qualities and a few lacking qualities. My family stayed there for 10 days in August.
The room itself was great. We have two boys along with my wife and myself and we requested a room with a pull down bed. Received our request and found the room to be perfect. We don't spend a lot of time in the room when we are on vacation, so as a place to sleep, shower and shave it was perfect. Also, the walls seemed much thicker and more soundproof than when we stayed at BC in 13 and 14. Our trip to BC was a nightmare in 13 because the people in the room next to ours had a SCREAMING child that they did nothing about every night.
The bus service was challenging, but that might be more due to my family having only stayed at BC before. We were used to being able to walk to DHS or Epcot and only having to take the bus to AK or MK (and the nightmare bus to DTD) so we never really cared about the buses. Having to take the bus everywhere was a new wrinkle, and it led to a lot of frustration. The buses were always crowded, and it's not very fun to have to share a seat with someone who doesn't quite fit in theirs, which seemed to happen to my wife every time we got on a bus. Also, we are a very quiet, talk amongst ourselves family, so being on a bus full of people who feel the need to have very loud conversations about themselves is very off putting. Also, the waits seemed to be long at times. The one positive about the bus system was the screen at the south depot that had the arrival times for the next bus. Why they don't have something like this at every station is beyond me.
The food court was a disaster. The food was fine, with a lot of variety for my vegetarian wife, but it was always slammed. 8 in the morning? Slammed. 8 at night? Slammed. All points in between? Slammed. This is where the "walk to Epcot" factor came in. In the past, we could walk to Boardwalk and get something, walk to Epcot and get something. There were dozens of choices. Here there was one food court and EVERYONE was eating there. If you don't mind feeling like you are in a high school cafeteria, the food is good, but the stress caused by the food court was not worth it.
However, Boatwrights was AMAZING. We had the best server (Kevin) and this was our favorite meal of our entire trip. The atmosphere is great, and the BBQ shrimp appetizer was fantastic.
Also, the live music in the lounge was one of the more fun nights we had. We grabbed a table, had some food from the food court, a few drinks, and had a blast. Amazing night.
The staff at the front desk was great. I went down every night and paid off my purchases for the day using cash and gift cards, and it was painless every time.
The pool was another thing that was a bit of a mess. Always busy, not anywhere near large enough for the amount of people there, and really not enjoyable.
The boat ride to Disney Springs was great. We spent a lot more time at Disney Springs than we had in the past, partially due to the new shops and restaurants, but also because it was easier to hop on the boat instead of getting back on a bus to go back to a park. Beautiful ride. Also, the carriage ride is worth it as well. Had a great trip around POR and FQ and really relaxed.
All in all, I think it's a nice resort but it wasn't for my family. We were probably spoiled by going to BC first, which is the most first world problem thing ever. "oh, we didn't like it because the buses were busy and the pool and food court were nuts."
