Highs & Lows - onsite stay

[Disneydreamer29]

So we arrived back this morning - we had a 2 week stay at Port Orleans Riverside and I always love reading highs & lows - so here's ours.

Before I write these, it's probably worth noting this wasn't our first time, it was actually my 15th and my 3rd with my fiancé.

Highs

Port Orleans Riverside - we last stayed here in 2008 and I remember things looking a little tired, well not this time. We were in the mansions and the rooms had recently been refurbished. They were very modern looking and loved the wood floors. It was really nice being able to walk to French Quarter, it's a little bit too small for my liking, but nice for a visit.

I will say that whilst the FQ food court was a lot smaller, it looked like it had recently been refurbished. It had the coke freestyle machines (and beignets too) whereas Riverside food court could have done with a bit of a refresh - maybe that's up next.

Buses - The buses to Riverside were great, we waited no longer than 5 minutes and the times displayed on the board at the resorts are accurate - bar our last 2 days. These last 2 days were after the skyliner incident, the wait times for buses shot up. Perhaps because the drivers had to make up for the skyliner being shut?

Exchanging housekeeping for the gift card - we had two rooms so got 2 lots of $130. We took our own rubbish out and rang for towels. It was nice coming back knowing mousekeeping wouldn't be in the room. We didn't miss it.

Ale & Compass - a lovely atmosphere and really great food. We also ate at Narcoossees and Yachtsman, and once again Narcoossees was our favourite signature. Truly sensational food. We were also pleasantly surprised with the nine dragons restaurant in Epcot. It was a new one for us but I'd definitely return.

Observations

Dogs - Riverside is a dog friendly resort and there were lots of them around. We didn't see any mess nor hear any barking mind.

Beignets - wouldn't be worth a separate visit for. Basically a poor version of a hot seaside doughnut?

Alcohol - See lows for Epcot Food & Wine nights, but I noticed alot more alcohol around this year.

Skyliner - despite the incident, I think it's a really great way to travel. Thoroughly enjoyed the trip we had.

Lows

Riverside refurbs - it's great when they're done (see highs at having such a lovely room), but man are they annoying when they're happening. The pool next to us was shut as it was being resurfaced, as was the entire block next to us. It was quite noisy and the workers were quite loud when on their break. It didn't affect us too much as you kind of get used to it, but something to bear in mind. We also didn't know they were refurbing.

Delay on way out - There was a child on the flight that was vomiting quite profusely. She had a stomach bug and the stewardesses gave her water which she couldn't keep down. In the end doctors came on board and said she wasn't fit to fly and had to be offloaded. This caused us an hours delay. The parents weren't very happy, but it was the right decision because imagine how poorly she'd have been in the sky?! Not really a low as it can't be helped, but when you're on your way to Florida you get rather impatient.

Housekeeping on the last day - knocking at 8am when it was an 11am checkout!

Epcot food and wine - Epcot of an evening is a write off for us. We aren't teetotal by any means, I'm in my 20s and fiancé in his 30s. But every time we ventured out of an evening there was groups of adults drunk. I'm all for people having a good time but at one point security were trying to get a woman to stop driving her scooter as she was so intoxicated she kept going up the flowerbed type kerbs.

Ohana - They've had their fair share of chances over at Ohana. We've tried breakfast, we've tried dinner and we've only had one good occasion. This time was really poor. Portions were tiny for four adults, service was non existent and all in all one of the worst meals we've had on property for a long time.

Oga's cantina - we were really looking forward to this, but they cram so many people in there you just can't enjoy it. We were in and out within ten minutes

[ERICSMUM]

Sounds like you had a fab time, apart from a few niggles. The increase in alcohol in the parks is a surprise to me, I naively thought Disney would keep it ‘family friendly’ by not attracting people who just like to booze it up at every opportunity 😡

I’ve never eaten at a table service restaurant on-site but I’m tempted now !

Shame about the little girl on the plane - it must have started suddenly, unless her parents knew but boarded the flight anyway.

[Guest]

The lows do seem disappointing but overall sounds like a fab trip!

I’m glad you’ve made an honest observation about the beignets, they look amazing but sounds like it’s not worth the trip over.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Disneydreamer29

Epcot food and wine - Epcot of an evening is a write off for us. We aren't teetotal by any means, I'm in my 20s and fiancé in his 30s. But every time we ventured out of an evening there was groups of adults drunk. I'm all for people having a good time but at one point security were trying to get a woman to stop driving her scooter as she was so intoxicated she kept going up the flowerbed type kerbs.

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I have often said this on here ( and been told it was all in my mind as it as these same people had not seen it )

We find Epcot after dark when the F&W festival is on turns very dark, people drinking to get smashed, we have seen fights between groups of blokes, it reminds me of walking through at UK town late at night on the weekend

[3disneykids]

Great report , glad you had a good time, Agree about people drinking too much there was a few bunch of drunks one lot in HS waiting (barging through the line for slinky dog) created for an unpleasant atmosphere fortunately they are a minority

[Miss_Tangled]

Sounds like we were at POR a similar time to you, we were there for two weeks from the 11th Sep in building 85 which was being refurbished.

The room was fantastic but the they were literally working on the rooms either side, below us and in the walkways painting the bannisters. They were drilling shutters back on until 10pm some nights and the smell of paint was terrible in the room, they also kept blocking the walkways with barriers so we couldn’t even get into our room at some points.

After a week of it we eventually asked to be relocated as we have a ten month old and a three year old and the constant noise and smell was too much but other than that the new rooms are brilliant

[Disneydreamer29]

Originally Posted by Miss_Tangled

Sounds like we were at POR a similar time to you, we were there for two weeks from the 11th Sep in building 85 which was being refurbished.

The room was fantastic but the they were literally working on the rooms either side, below us and in the walkways painting the bannisters. They were drilling shutters back on until 10pm some nights and the smell of paint was terrible in the room, they also kept blocking the walkways with barriers so we couldn’t even get into our room at some points.

After a week of it we eventually asked to be relocated as we have a ten month old and a three year old and the constant noise and smell was too much but other than that the new rooms are brilliant

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Ah yes we were there fro the 23rd Sept and in building 80. I didn't realise anyone was even staying in 85 as the whole block is like a building site!

I also found them quite "undisney". Some of the female painters were blaring Spanish music out at 8am.

[Disneydreamer29]

Originally Posted by matt987106

I have often said this on here ( and been told it was all in my mind as it as these same people had not seen it )

We find Epcot after dark when the F&W festival is on turns very dark, people drinking to get smashed, we have seen fights between groups of blokes, it reminds me of walking through at UK town late at night on the weekend

See more...

We were talking to a cast member on the way back from a DVC tour and she was saying that she finds it surprising, as Disney closed Pleasure Island yet Food & Wine is fast becoming a drinking venue.

At one point, we were walking through Mexico and one group starting chanting, then another, then another. I felt like I was at a football match

[MinnieMrsA]

Super overview of your trip - glad to see the Ale & Compass on there as we think it is a hidden gem!

[Sandraoh40]

Myself and my dh had our first taste of the F&W on Saturday there. We didn’t particularly like the atmosphere. We were there around 2:30 ish and already it felt pretty rowdy. We went to go on the show at the America Pavillion but left as there was an extremely loud American girl shouting and trying to sing louder than the group who sing. Even other Americans were looking at her and commenting.
We quite enjoyed the food we had but we wouldn’t rush back. Dread to think what it would be like at night.