1200 pics, 1100 miles, 15 deluxe dining meals, 1 great time at POR *Completed 9/5*

[PrncessA]

I know! Every time we walked anywhere everything was so picturesque. Do you like the Alligator Bayou section better or the Magnolia Bend?

I had requested a room in the Magnolia Bend area, which was granted, and so other than to bike through it we didn't explore much of the Alligator Bend area (we were only there for one full day, really). I loved the "old south" feel of Magnolia Bend. Our goal on our biking was to make it to POFQ, so we didn't head back into the AB just passed by it on our way. We really did not like the feel of POFQ's buildings or pool. We really enjoyed POR!

I heard on the podcast this week that they are testing at POR, check-in where you go straight to your room. With a resort as large and spread out as POR I was surprised. It would be very easy to get lost, especially if you are trying to find your room for the first time!

 

[maybeecatlady]

I made it here! Now to go back and read.

 

[AmyKat]

Fellow Alabamian and POR lover subbing in!

 

[goofyashlandguy]

Following along. I love por, it was i stayed my first visit to the world and it holds a special place in my heart. We stayed in the same building and i loved getting up early and sitting by the fountain waiting on everyone else to get going.

 

[Koh1977]

Saw you had a TR going over on the POR thread. Can't wait to see all your pics!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[Cinderella2006]

Loving your tr, we are staying at POR next year

 

[pigletgirl]

That's disappointing regarding the sushi! They should reconsider that!

 

[SusieBea]

I'm in. I agree with you about the beauty of the grounds at your resort. We've never stayed at Riverside, but we did stay at French Quarter shortly after it opened. I also think the food court at Riverside is the best one on property. Write on ....

 

[Venomhatch]

I'm in. I agree with you about the beauty of the grounds at your resort. We've never stayed at Riverside, but we did stay at French Quarter shortly after it opened. I also think the food court at Riverside is the best one on property. Write on ....

Yeah the FQ food court is a 1/8th the size of POR's with seating, drink area, and food stations. We first stayed at POFQ as guests and found ourselves going to POR for every meal.

 

[andrewilley]

Yeah the FQ food court is a 1/8th the size of POR's with seating, drink area, and food stations. We first stayed at POFQ as guests and found ourselves going to POR for every meal.

I wouldn't go quite as far as to say 1/8 the size, overall nearer half I'd have said. The FQ food court seats up to 300 people, while Riverside seats up to 450 (plus a breakfast-time overflow into Boatwright's seating area).

Andre

 

[Venomhatch]

I wouldn't go quite as far as to say 1/8 the size, overall nearer half I'd have said. The FQ food court seats up to 300 people, while Riverside seats up to 450 (plus a breakfast-time overflow into Boatwright's seating area).

Andre

There is so much space in POR where POFQ feels cramped and not enough room to eat. Feels like everyone is on top of each other at POFQ. Seating is not what I base my feeling on, it is if I can eat without feeling like I am rubbing elbows with strangers.

 

[Disneymaddness]

Thanks for the link over here. I'm loving your report so far and your pictures of POR, my favorite place , are wonderful!

 

[alan_renfroe]

I am glad to see you enjoy your trip! It is a collective knowledege group there in the POR thread. It just helps, me being a CM on the inside, to guide guests to a better experience.

Well my experience at POR with CMs was all wonderful. Everyone there was very friendly and helpful. The girl who checked us in, Aimee, was very sweet but she was misinformed about the boat to DTD stopping at 5pm. We were going to change our plans but then I happened to notice the boats were still running at 6pm and there was a line, so we did get to take the boat to DTD. I'm glad we did...I really enjoyed it!

following along, great so far. counting down the days till my trip and this just makes it so much harder.

Glad to have you here with us! How much longer until your trip?

The POR group is the best! I couldn't imagine staying anywhere else!

Yeah we just absolutely loved it there!

Yes we loved POR it is one of my favorites It is kinda cool we were there at the same time even if you were arriving and we were leaving
We were in line for the magic express around 10:00am May 30th

Oh wow we really did just miss each other! I was at registration around 9am and was in our room by 9:10 or so. Hope you all had a wonderful time!

I had requested a room in the Magnolia Bend area, which was granted, and so other than to bike through it we didn't explore much of the Alligator Bend area (we were only there for one full day, really). I loved the "old south" feel of Magnolia Bend. Our goal on our biking was to make it to POFQ, so we didn't head back into the AB just passed by it on our way. We really did not like the feel of POFQ's buildings or pool. We really enjoyed POR!

I heard on the podcast this week that they are testing at POR, check-in where you go straight to your room. With a resort as large and spread out as POR I was surprised. It would be very easy to get lost, especially if you are trying to find your room for the first time!

We had originally thought we would book at POFQ, but the more research I did I preferred POR. Also, right after the first of the year, a 20% discount on rooms was made available at POR vs. a 5% room disount at POFQ...so that sealed the deal. Now I'm just in love with POR!

I made it here! Now to go back and read.

Hi maybeecatlady! Welcome!

Fellow Alabamian and POR lover subbing in!

Yay! Hello fellow Alabamian and POR lover! Welcome!

Following along. I love por, it was i stayed my first visit to the world and it holds a special place in my heart. We stayed in the same building and i loved getting up early and sitting by the fountain waiting on everyone else to get going.

You gotta love those fountains in Magnolia Bend. It really makes you feel like you're staying in an old South mansion.

Saw you had a TR going over on the POR thread. Can't wait to see all your pics!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Lots more pics to come!

 

[alan_renfroe]

Loving your tr, we are staying at POR next year

Thanks Cinderella2006! Hope you all will love it as much as we did!

That's disappointing regarding the sushi! They should reconsider that!

Yeah I was a little disappointed also, but I sort of expected that it might not be an option for an appetizer on the Deluxe Dining Plan. I didn't expect them to not have sushi offered at all at lunch.

I'm in. I agree with you about the beauty of the grounds at your resort. We've never stayed at Riverside, but we did stay at French Quarter shortly after it opened. I also think the food court at Riverside is the best one on property. Write on ....

Welcome! Glad to have you along for the ride!

Yeah the FQ food court is a 1/8th the size of POR's with seating, drink area, and food stations. We first stayed at POFQ as guests and found ourselves going to POR for every meal.

We only ate at each food court once, but they were both really good.

I wouldn't go quite as far as to say 1/8 the size, overall nearer half I'd have said. The FQ food court seats up to 300 people, while Riverside seats up to 450 (plus a breakfast-time overflow into Boatwright's seating area).

Andre

Hi Andre! Glad to see you here! I've got many more POR pics to post throughout this trip report. And as I said to Venomhatch, I cannot thank you all enough for all the great information provided on the POR thread and the portorleans.org site. You guys are great ambassadors for our beloved newfound Disney home.

There is so much space in POR where POFQ feels cramped and not enough room to eat. Feels like everyone is on top of each other at POFQ. Seating is not what I base my feeling on, it is if I can eat without feeling like I am rubbing elbows with strangers.

What we liked about the POFQ was that we could get biscuits/gravy and beignets as snack credits on the dining plan.

Thanks for the link over here. I'm loving your report so far and your pictures of POR, my favorite place , are wonderful!

Thanks Disneymaddness! Glad to have you along for the ride! A new chapter is coming right up.

 

[alan_renfroe]

After a wonderful lunch at Kona Cafe it was finally time to get to a park! Since we only had a few hours to do a park on this day we decided to do Animal Kingdom. We arrived about 1:30pm on Friday, May 30th.



We joked that our first ride at Disney World was the tram at Animal Kingdom!



The skies were looking like we might get an afternoon shower, but it held off.





We had a FP+ scheduled for Kilimanjaro Safaris from 1:45-2:45 so we made our way into the park, crossed Discovery Island, and into Africa. The park was really crowded on this day.























to be continued in next chapter...

 

[alan_renfroe]

Here are just a few pictures from Kilimanjaro Safaris. I didn't take a lot of pictures because our CM was the best one I've ever had on this ride. She was very knowledgeable and presented a lot of interesting information.













After the safari, our next FP+ was at 2:45pm at Expedition Everest. As we were leaving the Africa area I checked to see if the new Harambe Theatre, the new home for Festival of the Lion King, was open yet. Nope...walls still up behind Tusker House. Oh well, I didn't expect it to be open today, but hopefully it will be open when we come back in a few days. (We'll be back at AK on Tuesday, June 3rd.)





Coming up next: Expedition Everest!

 

[Venomhatch]

Nice pics!!! The vulture shot reminded me the other day we rode that ride and we got to the trees near the hippos also and we got held up for a few minutes. A little girl one row up from us said, " Momma, what are the birds doing?" I didnt even hesitate and said, "Waiting", right after the girls statement. The mom and everyone else on the safari car broke out laughing. It was the best!!! Even the CM Guide loved the joke. They now sometimes use it as part of their joke routine.

 

[alan_renfroe]

It was about 2:40pm on Friday, May 31st when we entered Asia. We had a 2:45pm FP+ scheduled for one of our favorite Disney World attractions: Expedition Everest!

















This is one of my favorite views in all of Disney World. You can see Epcot, the Swan and Dolphin, Tower of Terror, the Hollywood Studios water tower, etc.



Love this ride!



It was now 3pm and our next FP+ was for Primeval Whirl at 3:45pm so we headed over to Dinoland USA.



Since we had some time, there was only a 10 minute wait for Triceratop Spin, so we hopped on.



After riding Triceratop Spin the skies were looking like rain was imminent and there was a distant thunder. DS wasn't feeling too great so we decided to skip Primeval Whirl and get on back to POR.

Our timing was just right! We immediately got on a tram and got back in the van just before it started an afternoon shower. We had hoped to get in some pool time, but a small nap sounded good also.





We had dinner reservations at Raglan Road at 7:30pm and had planned to ride the boat to DTD, but CM Aimee had informed me that the boat stopped running at 5pm. It was about 5:45pm and I was still seeing boats operating and folks standing in line for more boats. So, I went back to the room and told the family we were going to get in that line. I guess Aimee was misinformed because the boats ran constantly. I'm glad I checked!

Coming up next: a relaxing boat ride down the Sassagoula River to Downtown Disney and dinner at Raglan Road!

 

[bellesBFF]

i'm a little late, but i'm reading along

 

[TinkLovinMomma]

Joining in! I am all caught up and excited to read more! Your family is beautiful!