Originally Posted By jmishica OK- We were gonna stay at the Contemp, but the rooms were already booked. Then we were gonna stay at the Poly, but the kids' friends do not have jobs, so we've got to drop it down a level- so we are at the moderates- Carribbean vs. Port Orleans FQ- which is better and why>?
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom You first understand that they are all part of the same resort. Just different sections. The both share the same buses and amenities. POFQ is a much smaller resort, with fewer rooms. The building are three storys tall and each building has an elevator ( which can be helpful ). POFQ is less spread out, has no sitdown restaurant and a limited food court. This resort has only one pool, which is small and not deep. This resort is perfect for families with smaller children or todlers. Or, couples who seek a romantic more intimate resort experience away from the hustle and bustle of the busy hotels. POR is large, has many rooms all of which open to the outside. POR has two sections to it, they include Alligator Biyou and Magnolia Bend. It has a large, busy food court with a great selection or various food choices. It has a sitdown restaurant with great food choices. This resort also has a bar/ lounge area with a ragtime piano player at night. There are lots of activities to do, various pools, boat rental, bike rental, fishing. There is a arcade for teenagers. Caution, you are going to have to walk to/ from your room to the food court and bus stops. You can do a lot of walking depending on where your room location is. This can be a hastle when its raining. The buildings are mostly two story. I think Magnolia Bend buildings are three story. There are no elevators. This means you will be carrying your luggage up / down stairs to your assigned room. The grounds of this consistently win landscaping awards. This resort is home to rabbits, birds and various "critters". Supper incredible themeing. This resort is surrounded by golf courses on three sides. So its quieter than many other resort choices at WDW. This resort is great if you plan on spending a day just relaxing at the resort as there are lots of activities to do. You want to keep in mind that POFQ shares the grounds of POR ( you have to travel under a bridge to get from POFQ to POR, but POFQ is definately within walking distance of its sister resort POR ). This resort has several pools. The largest of which is "Ol Man River" swimming Hole. With a themed play area and large swimming pool on an island. There is also an outdoor bar is your want to booze it up while at the larger pool. Several of the smaller building share smaller pools also. This resort is ideal for families with teenagers, or adults who want to be at a resort with amenities within a few foot steps ( as opposed to dropping down an elevator as in all the deluxe resorts on property ). Anyway, enjoy.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom Opps I must realized you ment CBR.... ooppps never mind! Just kidding. CBR is a large spread out resort ( with its own inter bus system ). Lots of amenities, lots of great themeing. Great food court, large excellently themed pool, smaller pools shared among "island" or clusters of buildings. Close to EPCOT ( the resort is directly in back on Germany, I believe ). To get to EPCOT you still have to enter through EPCOTs main entrance. This resort is better suited for families with teenagers. Its pretty much going to be on the scale of a POR. The room themeing is going to be colorful carribean decor. Lots of fun.
Originally Posted By smeeeko personally I don't care for CBR.. yes it's spread out and has lots of ammenities and very little shading! The foodcourt was refurbed a few years back and is shiny and new but not very good.. Port Orleans FQ/ Riverside is more intimate and while older the FQ side did have it's foodcourt refurbed rather recently. Between the 2 resorts Port Orleans has a more relaxed laid back feel and while the sit down restaraunt is overprised and not very good at either place (we tried Shutters at CBR when if first reopened so unless it changed since Dec 2003, it's not worth it as also the "new orleans style" food they serve at Boatwrights is even worse and not worth your time..) however, the foodcourst at Port Orleans French Quarter was pretty good and had an interesting variety of sandwiches, soups, and beignets (as long as they are made fresh!!) as well other items that you'll see at other food courts.. Perhaps it isn't saying much but of all the foodcourts on property we've encountered Port Orleans FQ's was well above par of the rest (including the Riverside foodcourt).. Also there is plenty to do at FQ.. Among the moderates Port Orleans gets my vote! =)
Originally Posted By jmishica Well, I'll have about 9 teenagers with me, and with the dining package, we'll be slumming it at Ohana, Le Cellier, Teppanyaki- the usual places. I heard that the rooms are a bit larger at Carribbean than PO, which is good considering that there will be 5 boys in one room. Thanks Guys! We are going during Marathon week, so shade will not be an issue
Originally Posted By mouse of the south We just got back from 10 days at POFQ, it was nice resort, we were in a great location rooms 4237 & 4238. The lines at the bus stop for POFQ were long, one night our bus stop number was 6 at MGM and we were waiting in line all the way past bus stop 7. That is the only complaint we had during our stay. If we had to pick our favorite resort from POFQ, Carribbean or Coronado, we would pick Coronado.
Originally Posted By jkayjs Actually the only mod that allows 5 to a room is PORS and only those with trundles and they are limited. You may want to consider trying for 2 of the AS suites. I believe they sleep 6. You are a brave soul taking 9 teenagers to WDW hope you have adult back-up.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>Carribbean vs. Port Orleans FQ- which is better<< Neither. Go to the Wilderness Lodge. >>and why>?<< Because it offers a safer, more elegant enviroment. I do not like the way the CBR or POR are set up... Outside hallways to every room and the expansiveness of these hotels, make it easy for felons to access your room. I much prefer to stay in hotels that feature indoor hallways and windows that do NOT look towards the front of your door.
Originally Posted By bloona I loved the CBR, I was worried it would be too spread out, but walking aroung property was a pleasure, the food court was nice, the shop great, the decor great, I just loved how close it was to everywhere! especially MGM, it took us 3 minutes to drive to Blizzard Beach entrance too...lol...quite a drive to the gates of Epcot considering it's next door.well about 12 minutes...lol. the room size was very very good too, we had a corner room too, so had two large windows, brilliant. I really liked how you park behind your block of rooms too, so it was a couple of minutes walk from your car to your room at the end of a busy day, at the AKL it was a 20 minute walk from the car park to our room!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I liked it lots.......can you tell?
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<Neither. Go to the Wilderness Lodge.>> That's not exactly a helpful answer, as the OP said that their budget was the reason for stepping down from the Deluxe Resorts. I think the only substantial difference between CBR and PO is room size. CBR was Disney's first attempt at building a moderate resort, and they designed it with slightly larger rooms; 340 sq. ft. vs. 314 sq. ft. Personally, I like the theming of PO better than CBR; POFQ really does evoke New orleans, where as CBR comes off as a bit more generic looking.
Originally Posted By CMDad AS surprising as it may seem to others, I prefer POR over CBR - though I certainly don't dislike CBR at all. I like the fact that at POR you can rent a boat and take it down the canals, or take the water taxi downtown. I also like the food court better at POR. My daughter actually agrees with me, although she does get to work MUCH quicker when we are staying at CBR. (Although she is on a temprary deployment and working at the Team Disney building now which I guess might be slightly closer to POR?)
Originally Posted By Chelledun Arrg...I just wrote a very long thing but it all got erased. To summarize, my family was addicted to POFQ for years and years, but our last stay at CBR was so gorgeous I've converted and that is now my favorite of the moderates. (We've stayed at all four.) The rooms were nice, the tropical atmosphere made me feel like I was on a serious vacation, and I loved the hammocks. I thought the food court was very nice too and it felt surprisingly airy for its small size. Of course, those are my two favs so you can't go wrong either way!
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom <<Of course, those are my two favs so you can't go wrong either way!>> Thanks Chelledun thats my opinion too. Either way you can't go wrong! Both have an huge offering of amenities and activities sure to keep any troop of teenagers busy for days.
Originally Posted By sherrytodd I have stayed in all the Moderates and love them all, but my fav is the POFQ and second is POR. If you're trying to fit 5 people in one room, you may be limited to POR, as I don't think you can do that at any other resorts. I feel that we do a lot less walking at POFQ and POR then we do at CBR and CSR. The foodcourts are foodcourts. My least favorite for eating is CSR as they have very limited seating for the amount of people who stay at the resort and you can often end up waiting to get a table at a food court. I think the pools are better at POR and CSR. The pools at CBR and POFQ are a little small, though the theme of the pool at POFQ is pretty fun. I would go for POR, but that is just my opinion. You guys are going to have fun regardless of where you finally choose to stay!!
Originally Posted By BlazesOfFire Ive stayed at both, and the CBR is my favorite of the two, however it has been a long time since I have been at POFQ. I loved CBR so much that the day we came back, I made our next reservation for our next trip to stay at that resort. Its beautiful and I thought the food theyhad to offer was delicious. Also the family pizza deal wasnt bad at all in price! The only thing that disappointed me was the arcade but heck, I aint going to Disney for the arcades so it didn't bother me lol. CBR also has a pool area my family loved. We did not use the bus system though. We drove everywhere and I would do the same at POFQ. It is a very spread out resort but just request a room in the building next to Old Port Royale or near the bridge on the other side of the lake (which was a very nice and short walk too)
Originally Posted By MinnieSummer POR or POFQ, either one, over CBR anytime. Actually I really do not like CBR. We've stayed three times to give it a hance but I just don't like it. It's too big, too crowded, the food court is only so-so and the pool is ridiculously small for a resort that size. With PO you can use the pools at either riverside or french quarter, the food courts are much better, as is the sit down restaurant at riverside, and you can take the boats to DTD or rent mice boats and go to DTD. Much better place for teenagers. The size of the room shouldn't be an issue since teenagers can pretty much sleep anywhere and you did say boys right? so there will not be as much stuff as there would be if it was teenage girls.
Originally Posted By BlazesOfFire <<and the pool is ridiculously small for a resort that size.>> I thought it was a bit small but there are other pools around the resort to use too. I loved it!
Originally Posted By jmishica Thanks kids! I went with CBR, strictly for the room size- we will be staying in preferred location, and in packing 5 boys into one room, allows for the parent's their own king size rooms, which is ideal. Don't care about food and january is not condusive to swimming- I booked the rooms over the weekend- I'll book the package next month. I've3 stayed at the POP and the Contemp-Never in the middle though.
Originally Posted By Chelledun ^^You will really enjoy it! The rooms are honestly very nice, I love the troical colors. Make sure to request which "Island" you want to stay at. We stayed at Jamaica and loved it, but it depends what you want to be close to.
