Trip Reports

• Time of Year: Spring
• Travel Method: Plane, Shuttle Service
• Resort: PO
• Accommodations: Standard Room
• Ages Represented in Group: Elementary, Adult
• WDW Experience Represented in Group: Unknown
• Comments: Dennis and his family stayed at Port Orleans during their recent visit. This is a shorter summary-style report, but it does give a lot of details about Port Orleans and the attractions the family enjoyed the most.

My family (wife Sandi, son Nathan age 9, daughter Lydia age 6) stayed at Port Orleans Resort, in room #4329, between April 5-12 and had a wonderful time, thanks in large part to the information contained in sources such as yours!!

To begin with...

After a rough connecting flight through Denver, we were all pretty tired when we arrived in Orlando at about 9:30pm on Saturday, April 5. As we headed down the escalator towards Baggage Claim, I was very pleased to see Norman from Florida Town Car holding up a sign with my name on it!

He had a delightfully smooth accent, the car was spacious, air-conditioned, and a welcome change from the cramped airplane seats. It took little time for the luggage to be collected and we were soon whisked off in comfort to WDW!

I had some doubts about whether or not we should have rented a car for our stay. I DO know that in reality, we had little need for a car, and that FTC's service certainly beat waiting in line for a rental. I also had the rare opportunity to enjoy the ride instead of wondering exactly where to go and what exits to take! The cost was comparable to the shuttle buses to and from Orlando, and Norman was waiting for us exactly as he (and J. C.) promised!

What did we like about PO?

The resort had a smallish, personal feel. Areas such as the store and registration did not seem as massive and impersonal at PO compared to other resorts we visited, such as WL and DL. Interestingly enough, the check-in area for PO seemed about the same scale as the Beach Club where we had dinner the last night of our stay.

We were in the building adjacent to Sassagoula's, with a view that looked out over the pool and onto the river, with a clear view of the searchlights from Pleasure Island.

We visited Dixie Landings for dinner once and was amazed at the size of that complex! We much preferred the intimate feel of PO, especially the pool area (DL's was amazing and very large but the longer you looked at it, the less personable it became...in particular, the slide at DL seemed to start far away from the pool whereas at PO the slide is part of the dragon decor and is wonderfully colorful and whimsical!)

Miscellaneous PO Observations:

The backdoor to the resort entrance area is a courtyard and has some wonderful overhead PO logos that are perfect for picture-taking. Whimsical alligators accentuate the walk to the pool and also offer a nice venue for lighthearted snapshots.

The baggage holding area is adjacent to the resort's front entrance and is a wonderful place to store luggage in order to make a last minute visit to a park or the Marketplace after checking out. The staff is very efficient and I was impressed (and delightfully surprised!) when they politely declined my tip.

Mailboxes are in the gift shop (inside front entrance) and in the registration area adjacent to the information counter. Mail appears to be picked up around 10:00am.

We asked for and received a refrigerator the day after our arrival without any bother or fuss. We did not appear to get charged for this!

Though the telephone charge schedule is enough to make one scared to even touch the darned thing, all calls dialed 9+1+800 went through fine without any charge.

The regular maid was away Sunday and Monday and the service during those days was minimal, to say the least. When she returned, the room was made up earlier in the day (by 2pm) and more Disney goodies (shampoo, soap) were left compared to her substitute.

Care should be exercised around the upper story railings, which end in fairly sharp-edged 90 degree bends, as I discovered several days into our visit (I still have a 2" long scrape as an additional memento).

The gift shop opened at 7:30am during our stay.

The Sassagoula River Barges are recommended for travel between PO, DL and the Marketplace, and during the morning to mid-afternoon, seats are not a problem. As dinnertime approaches, the lines get longer but the barges zooooom along, and nighttime trips are fairly frequent (about every 20 minutes), nimble (the pilots do know their routes and thankfully so, because the river gets very narrow in spots) and chilly (pack along a windbreaker or sweater; the barges are open to the elements)!

Other than the bicycles, very few people took advantage of the recreational equipment offered. Paddleboats were great fun, especially up to DL and back. Figure on about ½ hour round-trip time if you're in any kind of shape for the PO-DL journey. Exercise caution when dealing with the wakes left by the barges and larger motor boats; my son and I chose to hug the shoreline and rode out most wakes with little effort.

Early Admission morning bus rides to MK and Epcot were 10 minutes, to Epcot 10 minutes IF the bus is full and the driver skips DL. At other times, the buses will generally stop at all 4 DL stops, which means you should plan on the ride taking 30 minutes minimum.

There was some confusion about which bus stop was for Blizzard Beach. While we were there, a maintenance person taped over the BB name at the Epcot stop. Therefore, use the MK stop if you are trying to get to BB.

The ONLY transportation problem we had at PO during our week's stay involved traveling to WL. We missed the barge and took the bus to the Marketplace but had to wait 1+ hour for the WL bus to appear! We wondered if it would have been faster to go to Epcot or MK and transfer to the WL bus connection from that point!

Miscellaneous Food Comments

Sassagoula's opened at 6:00am but did not serve any breakfast entrees (other than the bakery) until 7:00am. This made early admission mornings a little spartan in terms of 'eats'.

The beignets were a wonderful treat, but do plan on getting them after 7:00am or insist on fresh, hot offerings. Nothing could turn off an appetite faster than a cold/lukewarm beignet.

In order to save a little food money, we had three dinners at the resort 'cafeterias'. The PO pizza was fine if somewhat greasy and thin. The PO dinner entrees were fine if not particularly interesting. The DL offerings were more varied. The chicken in particular was tender and very flavorful.

The flow pattern at PO's Sassagoula's seemed the opposite to what most of us were accustomed to. People lined up at cashiers and picked up their food at the serving area behind the cashiers, which resulted in a crowded queue of customers. In contrast, DL's cafeteria had individual areas specializing in entrees or desserts or beverages with everyone then heading for the cashiers. This made much more sense and seemed to handle a higher volume of patrons without traffic snarls.

The DL facility had individual towelettes as part of their condiment offerings.

In Epcot, the Innoventions and Met Wonders of Life Pavilion food areas had little packets of Mrs. Dash which were great flavor enhancements.

I am one of those people who were confused by the 60 day advance/priority seating reservation suggestions recommended by some books. I honestly do not know (and I am a type A personality!) how someone could know what restaurant or cuisine would sound good 2 months in the future! I made reservations around 7:00am-8:00am and never had a problem finding an available opening, though later in the day options would be naturally more limited. As important as making the reservation was coming a few minutes early to check in. We never had to wait longer than a few minutes to be seated.

We were looking forward to the Artist's Point Cafe in WL and started out an hour early but ended up arriving ½ hour late because of the bus transfer problems noted above. We were resigned to a long wait, but were pleasantly surprised when the maitre d', after listening to what happened, promptly seated us!

Ratings of Restaurants Visited (1-5 *s):

Akerhaus: **(*) Nice variety of offerings but dishes were small and many offerings were either unavailable or in limited supply. Good selection of fish entrees, vegetables and salads, meat dishes tended to be somewhat dried out. Not much of interest to a 6 and 9 year-old. Nice touch: large platter of cheeses, fruit (grapes, strawberries) and flat breads for patrons to sample on while waiting to be seated. The longest wait for a reservation; service was polite but somewhat disorganized.

Artist's Point: ****(*) Wonderful decor, imaginative, flavorful approach to dishes. HUGE servings; if you're interested in the venison osso bucco, have one order for two persons. Sandi's halibut was cooked to perfection with a delicate glaze sauce. Salads were equally large but featured a flavorful blend of common and unexpected ingredients (such as smoked duck in my Caesar Salad).

We were all famished after an afternoon of swimming, but the breads (three varieties, wonderful grain combinations) and spreads (honey butter, salmon, plain) were generous in portions and flavorful.

Waiters are efficient and very family-friendly; ours listened carefully to our son's request for a hamburger with specific trimmings and promptly delivered all that was asked for, much to his delight! Good selection of regional wines and beers (we should know!). The coloring page given to kids can be easily converted into a "framed" picture.

Chef Mickey's: ***(*) Airy, zippy decor; efficient layout of entrees, fruits, cereals. Nice variety to breakfast offerings (several different types of egg dishes and potatoes), everything offered at appropriate temperatures. Juice refills offered regularly; coffee thermos on tables. Chip, Dale, Goofy, Mickey and Minnie were in attendance and accommodated all autograph and picture requests. Be careful that juice glasses and coffees are out of range when the restaurant explodes in periodic rhythmic napkin twirlings and "boogying".

Cape May Cafe: **** Wonderful decor and setting; affable, efficient staff. We had a reservation for two groups of 4 but the staff accommodated all 8 of us at one table.

The Friday Evening clambake is huge, replenished regularly and features wonderful, freshly steamed seafood (a minor complaint: I wish the clams were smaller in size), a variety of other excellent entrees (the sliced leg of lamb was succulent with just a hint of mint jelly), a large salad bar and colorful, lightly steamed veggies.

Kudos to the creative Children's Buffet, presented in the same classy copper shells as the rest of the buffet and containing all of the kids's favorites. An added nice touch: crayons and paper on the tables for the kids (or young at heart!) to draw to their heart's content.

The desserts are equally extensive and varied. I could identify chocolate cake, jello, puddings, strawberries, angel's food cake and whipped cream, rice krispies squares, apple pie, and at least four different types of cheesecake (raspberry chiffon (?), chocolate swirl, key lime and plain). The chocolate cake was a little sweet, while the strawberry cheesecake was awfully good (I sneaked an extra piece).

Attractions (Totally arbitrary and personal ratings, 1-5 *s, other family opinions where noted)

"El Primo" (The Best) *****

* Body Wars
* Honey, I Shrunk The Audience
* IllumiNations 25 (we saw it twice and enjoyed it even more the second time!)
* Muppetvision 4D
* Space Mountain (come early to see the mad dash! we went after Spectromagic and had no wait! Nathan thought he was going to die but survived)
* Spaceship Earth
* Splash Mountain (come early to see the mad dash!)
* Star Tours
* The Timekeeper

"Almost 5 but not quite!" ****(*)

* Cranium Command
* Ellen's Energy Adventure

"Enjoyable, Wonderful!" ****

* Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
* Dumbo, The Flying Elephant
* Haunted Mansion
* Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular
* Legend of The Lion King
* Peter Pan's Magic Flight
* Spectromagic (could be a little lower in volume!)
* The Epcot Fountain displays on the quarter-hour
* The fountains at the Disney Marketplace
* The Living Land
* Typhoon Lagoon
* Voyage of The Little Mermaid

"Worth the Time and Effort" ***(*)

* Food Rocks
* Honey I Shrunk The Kids Playground
* Liberty Belle Steamboat Ride (especially when it rains)
* Maelstrom
* Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse (Lydia and Nathan ****)

"Fun" ***

* Astro Orbiter
* Cinderella's Magic Carousel (Lydia ****)
* Country Bear Jamboree (SA)
* It's A Small World (SA)
* Jungle Cruise (SA)
* Mad Tea Party
* MGM Studios Backstage Tram Tour
* Snow White's Adventures
* The Great Movie Ride
* Tom Sawyer Island
* Tram Ride back to the Epcot Parking Lot after IllumiNations (Nathan *****)

"Disappointing/Okay but nothing to write home about" * or **

* Journey into Imagination
* Pirates of the Caribbean (SA) (Sandi ***)
* Tomorrowland Speedway (SA) (Lydia ***)

(SA)- we thought these were showing their age and could stand some revamping or tightening up.

And by the way, whatever you have heard about the merits of organizing a plan of attack and utilizing early admission mornings to catch some attractions early is very true! We had a plan for each day and used it as a guideline for each park visit.

It did require getting up early and leaving PO by at least 7:10am! But our average wait for a ride was less than 10 minutes, often less (only one, Little Mermaid, had a longer wait and that's because we just missed the first show). The smaller crowds at MK for early admission meant that when Lydia finished Peter Pan's Magic Flight and wanted to see it again, we just hopped back in and were whisked back to Never-Never Land!

We generally quit in the early afternoon and returned back to PO for either a nap, swim or some other laid back activity.

And while you're at the MK, do take 15 minutes to visit the Visitor's Center and register for your free limited edition lithograph (16 x 20). Ours is framed and mounted in our family room and is a wonderful reminder of our week's adventure. If you were like us and fortunate enough to have seen the Hale-Bopp Comet in the night sky over MK, you will find the lithograph particularly memorable.

PS: The birds were not a problem during our visit. Signs were posted everywhere and the only fowl in evidence at Aunt Polly's (also a great place for lunch) were a couple of well-behaved duck families.

__________________
You just read a trip report that was originally published in our MousePlanet Trip Reports column.

Reader-submitted trip reports have always been an extremely popular feature here at MousePlanet. In order to improve the search functionality and shorten the time from when you submit a trip report and the report gets published, you can now post your trip reports directly to our Trip Report forums. The forums are moderated, but reports should become available for reading very quickly.