We just returned from a 9 night stay at Port Orleans Riverside(3/4-3/13). We had two days in the high 60's and low 70's which was a little chilly, but compared to the winter storm that we left behind in Tennessee, it was still great. Most days were nearly perfect weather wise. This was the third trip that we've done using Magic Bands and using fastpass+, and although there were a few glitches, overall both worked fine. My wife got blue Mickey entering the parks about 3 days in a row and a cm ended up "resetting" her fingerprint identifier and the problem was resolved. CM's overall were very nice and helpful.
We only had 3 complaints throughout our stay.
1. We had 2 ADR's (Ohana and Tony's Town Square)which we checked in for 10+ minutes early, but ended up being sat for 30+ minutes after our reservation time. I understand the whole idea that you reserve a time slot and that sometimes people sit longer than expected, but when your getting into times that are over 30 minutes late, I think somebody is doing something wrong. If I make a reservation and show up 35 minutes late, they most likely will cancel the reservation on me and charge me $10 per person for the missed reservation, however when they keep me and my family waiting for that amount of time after our reservation time they don't even offer an apology?
2. Bus service at Port Orleans Riverside was very disappointing. Disney saves money by combining up buses for Riverside and French Quarter at 3 of the 4 parks, with the exception being Magic Kingdom. This is all fine and good during the slower periods, but during the peak times they don't add enough buses to accommodate the large number of people. Since we've been to Disney numerous times and we had 8 days in the parks we took things slow and easy and didn't try for rope drop or park closings. Even going into the parks around 10:00 or 10:30 and coming back a couple of hours before the night shows or park closing, I don't think we got a seat on the bus more than a handful of times and most times we played the sardine game. On more than one occasion, we had to wait for a second or third bus and then they compacted us in so tight that when we got to French Quarter a number of people going to Riverside who were standing in the aisles or who had strollers actually had to get out of the bus with their strollers so that the French Quarter people could get out. Meanwhile while waiting for the second or third buses to come we would see numerous Coronado Springs buses come and go with only a handful of people on board. Maybe they had a big dollar convention going on or something, but it really seems like some of those buses could have been better utilized.
3. Last complaint. When did Disney just start randomly closing rides for the day? We went to Magic Kingdom on 3/5 and the crowds were very reasonable and we had a good time. I noticed that a couple of rides that I don't believe were scheduled for refurbishment were closed for the entire day(Buzz Lightyear and Peter Pan's flight). Is this a new way to economize and save labor on slower days?
Even though my 3 complaints make up the bulk of this posting, we really did have a great time overall. Don't want to start arguments or anything just making some observations.
We only had 3 complaints throughout our stay.
1. We had 2 ADR's (Ohana and Tony's Town Square)which we checked in for 10+ minutes early, but ended up being sat for 30+ minutes after our reservation time. I understand the whole idea that you reserve a time slot and that sometimes people sit longer than expected, but when your getting into times that are over 30 minutes late, I think somebody is doing something wrong. If I make a reservation and show up 35 minutes late, they most likely will cancel the reservation on me and charge me $10 per person for the missed reservation, however when they keep me and my family waiting for that amount of time after our reservation time they don't even offer an apology?
2. Bus service at Port Orleans Riverside was very disappointing. Disney saves money by combining up buses for Riverside and French Quarter at 3 of the 4 parks, with the exception being Magic Kingdom. This is all fine and good during the slower periods, but during the peak times they don't add enough buses to accommodate the large number of people. Since we've been to Disney numerous times and we had 8 days in the parks we took things slow and easy and didn't try for rope drop or park closings. Even going into the parks around 10:00 or 10:30 and coming back a couple of hours before the night shows or park closing, I don't think we got a seat on the bus more than a handful of times and most times we played the sardine game. On more than one occasion, we had to wait for a second or third bus and then they compacted us in so tight that when we got to French Quarter a number of people going to Riverside who were standing in the aisles or who had strollers actually had to get out of the bus with their strollers so that the French Quarter people could get out. Meanwhile while waiting for the second or third buses to come we would see numerous Coronado Springs buses come and go with only a handful of people on board. Maybe they had a big dollar convention going on or something, but it really seems like some of those buses could have been better utilized.
3. Last complaint. When did Disney just start randomly closing rides for the day? We went to Magic Kingdom on 3/5 and the crowds were very reasonable and we had a good time. I noticed that a couple of rides that I don't believe were scheduled for refurbishment were closed for the entire day(Buzz Lightyear and Peter Pan's flight). Is this a new way to economize and save labor on slower days?
Even though my 3 complaints make up the bulk of this posting, we really did have a great time overall. Don't want to start arguments or anything just making some observations.
