Port Orleans Riverside & Royal Guest Rooms???

[Squigglove]

I would love any and all feedback on POR and their Royal Guest Rooms.

Firstly, I'm hearing that POR does not have elevators - is this true for the buildings with the Royal Guest Rooms too?

If you have photos of the mansions I'd love to see!

I read that it takes approximately an hour to take the ferry ride from POR to Downtown Disney, is that correct?

Also hearing that the FQ is "quieter" than RS, is that even possible? I assumed FQ and RS were equally as peaceful and serene.

What else can you tell me about POR?
And what can you tell me about POR vs POFQ?

Thanks a bunch!!

 

[princessmommy]

POR does have elevators. CBR doesn't.
The Royal Rooms are well themed. Both my son and daughter enjoyed them.

 

[Tuvalu]

The buildings with the Royal Rooms have elevators and are very quiet. I personally find the decor regal and plush, similar to staying in a deluxe resort. And the headboard fireworks are great!

I have stayed at both POR and POFQ numerous times and have found "peace, relaxation and quiet" to be the same at both resorts.

The boat ride to DTD takes less than an hour from the time the boat arrives until the time you disembark.

You will probably find this site helpful~ portorleans.org. There are room pictures and other information.

 

[SuzieN]

I think the boat ride is a lot closer to 20 minutes than an hour! I have stayed at both of the Port Orleans resorts and found them both to be peaceful and relaxing - but I would actually give the edge to Riverside in that category. Both of the Port Orleans resorts are fantastic, but Riverside is my absolute favorite and I have a hard time getting myself to stay anywhere else!

 

[jdnetone]

My wife and I love Riverside, it is very peaceful and relaxing.We book the royal rooms when we go they are very nicely decorated with Disney theming. The boat ride is about 20 minutes and a nice change to the buses

I highly recommend Riverside.

 

[DizneyPryncess]

I'm a FQ girl, but both sides are great. The ferry boat ride is not an hour, much shorter. I mainly prefer FQ because of it's smaller size, and because of it being quiet. The Royal Rooms were pretty awesome, my daughter loved them! If your staying at Riverside, give them a shot. I thought they were very well done.

 

[Tinkerbella16]

I have been staying at both POFQ and Riverside since 2007 and I can say they are both equally peaceful and relaxing- even when POFQ is 100% booked, it is still quiet. Riverside is bigger and much more spread out, so it has a more relaxing feel to it. I love both of these resorts and won't stay anywhere else. I was supposed to stay at WL in Nov and ended up switching back to Riverside, not only to save the money, but because I just feel at "home" at Port Orleans. I do love the small size of FQ, but Riverside has all of the amenities, like bike rentals, horse drawn carriage rides.. and the grounds are so nice and spread out, so we love going for walks and walking alongside the river. Riverside also has the better food court. It is actually our favorite out of all of the value and moderate resorts.

I have stayed in a royal room and they are my favorite rooms I have stayed in, in all of my trips to WDW! I am booked to stay in one again this year. There are elevators in those buildings. I personally loved building 90- Oak Manor. It is only a few minutes to walk to the main building, food court and South Depot bus stop (if you prefer to use that one). The decor in the royal rooms is just beautiful. They did an excellent job with these rooms. The boat ride to DTD is about 15-20 mins once you are on the boat. We love taking the boats over, just to get away from the buses… it is such a relaxing ride. Coming back to the resort though, can be long in the evenings. Thats when we like to hit up DTD, and the lines for the boats can be very long.

 

[Dafid Duck]

We stayed in the Royal Guest rooms for our 20th anniversary, with our 15 year old daughter, over Christmas. Basically, we were all ''grown ups'' who love Disney. I liked that the furniture was dark wood and the room was mainly blue and purple. Our daughter loved that it featured all the princesses, not just Tiana. My wife loved the gold faucets and the upscale feeling. It was a great place to stay over Christmas and we had a wonderful time setting up decorations and a small Christmas tree.

 

[fireworksandfairytales]

I LOVEEEEE the Royal Rooms at Riverside. I've stayed in them twice now and I'm a HUGE fan.
You're right about no elevators, but if I recall correctly none of the moderate resorts have elevators.
The entire resort is absolutely beautiful. Their food court is really amazing with lots of options (including create your own pasta dishes, which were so good). They also have a full service restaurant called Boatwrights, which I haven't personally been to, but I've heard great things about. I'm a big fan of the pool at Riverside too (especially the waterslide). They have horse drawn carriage rides which are a bit pricey but it's neat to see the horses around the resort (my boyfriend and I took pictures with one of the horses last summer; it was a neat magical moment).
As far as the rooms themselves, there's all kinds of magical touches. Aladdin's carpet is on the floor, the water faucet is Genie's lamp, the headboard lights up, there's pictures of all the princes & princesses on the walls. And you get a letter from Tiana herself when you check-in.

FQ and RS are equally peaceful to me. I've stayed at both and I love both. I'm obsessed with princesses, so I'm a bit biased towards Riverside, but they're both amazing. Riverside is my favorite resort on property overall though

 

[Tuvalu]

You're right about no elevators, but if I recall correctly none of the moderate resorts have elevators.

There are elevators in the POR mansion buildings (both with the Royal rooms and without). The buildings at POFQ have elevators, as do the buildings at CSR. CBR is the only moderate without elevators.

 

[Wags14]

Normally we stay at CBR, but due to us getting a screaming deal for POR we decided to stay there this time and are extremely excited. Our deal allowed us to get the Royal Room + River View (Oak Manor) so we are extremely looking forward to it. Just hoping it isn't too "princessy" themed as we are bringing our two young boys. The rooms do seem rather neutral though from the pictures and do seem nice... oh and, both boys are excited for the fireworks before bed. Can't wait!

 

[BigRedDad]

We loved and stayed in a Royal Room. I can tell you about all of the good, but it has been pretty much beat to death. It is an excellent resort.

Now for the bad. The premium for the room wears off quickly. The Royal rooms are nice, but not worth the premium they are charging. People can say how great the buses are, but the buses our entire trip were horrible. When there was not a shared bus with FQ, we took the FQ bus. The first time at MK, there were about 100 people in line for POR and no one in line for FQ. 3 buses pulled up and left with almost no one on the FQ bus. A 4th bus showed up just as the POR bus showed up after waiting 45 minutes. Everyone in line by that time couldn't fit. We hopped on the FQ bus. It was about an extra 10 minute walk and we still got back before the POR bus got to our stop. At AK, we were waiting for the bus. After about 30 minutes, the POR/FQ bus shows up. We load up, then we were told to unload. As we get back in queue, they take the people from the Contemporary and Poly line to get on the bus we just got off. The Cont/Poly bus left about 5 minutes ago. We then wait another 20 minutes for a bus. The reason "the POR bus was just here and left". My response to the idiot was that he loaded us on the bus, unloaded us, loaded a different group from another resort, and then made us wait. And to top it off, another Cont/Poly bus showed up before another POR bus.

My advice, if there are separate buses to the resorts, take the FQ bus.

 

[Wags14]

My advice, if there are separate buses to the resorts, take the FQ bus.

Good tip, thanks!

 

[DanUK86]

We stayed in these rooms for 3 weeks in August. Im at work currently but if i remember when i get home, i will post some of the pics and vids of the rooms and also the head boards with the fireworks going off.

 

[Much-Pixie-Dust]

Love both POR and POFQ! The princess rooms are precious with oodles and oodles of whimsical charms. If there is a princess lover in your group, I totally recommend staying getting the room if it's possible. Upon arrival, check-in gave my DD a letter from Tiana about the room and she just loved it. It was rolled up like a scroll. It is just one of the little touches that makes Disney magical.

POR has more activities - cane pole fishing, boat rental, surrey bikes, hair braiding, Yee-Haw Bob, horse and carriage rides (it will also take you through POFQ). You can always come over from FQ and do these activities too. At check-in they gave DD chocolates coins and several strands of Mardi Gras beads. We loved the greeter. He was such a charming man that fit the theme perfectly.

FQ is so compact and the cobblestone pathways are charming with the lush landscape all around.

We found both to be quiet, enjoyed the food court more at Riverside because it was larger and we didn't feel jammed-packed, even when it was crowded.

Can't speak to the transportation. We always drive a rental car. We do enjoy the boat ride to DtD.

Honestly, I don't think you can go wrong with either.

 

[RonAnnArbor]

Be sure to check back when reserving from time to time -- the closer it gets to departure, you might find Royal Rooms being discounted bigtime, as they are usually the last to be booked and sometimes remain empty when the entire rest of Riverside is full...I just stayed in a Royal Room last week for 5 days with a three-week booking time out, and it cost with my annual pass 197.00 a night, which was FAR below the usual rate for these rooms...

 

[DarthVader]

I loved the Port Orleans, its not too big, its nicely themed. Its one of my favorite resorts on property. My girls loved the royal guest room when we stayed.

 

[JasonDeyoung]

I've always stayed at FQ and I stayed at RS this past January for a few nights over marathon weekend. I didn't get to fully enjoy the resort so I am debating switching to RS from FQ to give it another try. The only thing available however are the royal guest rooms. My only real question about the resort and room type is how are the rooms with the bus stops? Last time I was literally right next to the bus stop so it was very convenient. These look like it might be a bit of a walk between two possible bus stops?

 

[Tuvalu]

The only thing available however are the royal guest rooms. These look like it might be a bit of a walk between two possible bus stops?

Actually, the walk is not bad. We've stayed in both Oak Manor and Parterre Place (the mansions with the Royal rooms.) Because of our room location in Parterre, we found it was quicker to walk across the bridge and use the South Depot (main) bus stop. Usually, whenever we stay at POR, we end up using the South Depot first thing in the morning because we eat breakfast in Riverside Mill first.

 

[JasonDeyoung]

Actually, the walk is not bad. We've stayed in both Oak Manor and Parterre Place (the mansions with the Royal rooms.) Because of our room location in Parterre, we found it was quicker to walk across the bridge and use the South Depot (main) bus stop. Usually, whenever we stay at POR, we end up using the South Depot first thing in the morning because we eat breakfast in Riverside Mill first.

Perfect, good to know Its a little hard to tell from the map. I stayed in the building right next to Oak and it was an awesome location. It's just not available :/ I've read the royal guest rooms are near two bus stops, one being south.