Thank-you so much for the reply. I am sorry I misunderstood your "Yes." for yes the boats run back to POR from DS at 11:30 pm. Not "Yes." as in you were answering my question as to when the last boat leaves from POR to DS. Sorry for the confusion (I have a busy 4 year old), and thanks again for answering my questions.
I just stayed in the Magnolia Terrace Building in a standard room on two separate vacations this winter. It's a great location because the East Bus Stop is right behind the building's parking lot. Also, from the front of the building, the bridge on the right will take you quickly to the Feature Pool and food court, while the bridge on the left will take you to the Main Lobby. Both walks would be under 5 minutes easily.
Thank you so much for your reply and input! It puts my mind at ease. We are so excited to be staying here for the first time yet know what we are used to at POP. We usually go in April or May but my DD is now teaching school so June it is. The buses last year in June at POP were miserable. Hoping for a little better experience here. Thanks again.
Yes, you'll have to go through your travel agent for your requests except for the ones on the online check in form. Those you can make yourself.
does anyone who typically stays in the Preferred section have a particular favorite request? We transferred over from CBR (my "home" 
) due to construction for our next trip. We have a bit, it's coming up 6/2-6/13. We transferred over Preferred for less room location stress (in not being familiar since we've never stayed here before). I've been playing with Touring Plans room finder (whatever its officially called lol) in trying to get a "feel", but it's never the same as actual experience. Of course riverside seems lovely, but I understand that's a category of its own (and wonder the probability of a "Preferred" booking actually getting it when booked full capacity? Thank you ever so much CBR
) And, if I truly had to pick the #1 convenience factor for us, it'd be location to the closest Preferred bus stop. I'm sure this is a general option when I can do my check in on line soon. But, I typically also enlist the help of my sweet TA in submitting a more specific request (like building/rooms etc) about a week or so prior to coming (oddly enough, they've all been honored to this point
...knock on wood)... Any helpful suggestions? My cake & eat it too would be the pretty riverside and close to the bus. But, I'd scrap a 10 second view to still be close to the bus any day (especially after closing a park down bc we're night owls).
While I know requests are just that (lol) and subject to pixie dust
Yes, you'll have to go through your travel agent for your requests except for the ones on the online check in form. Those you can make yourself.
. It's been four years since our last POR stay and I am so excited to be going back.
As soon as anyone has a one-off bad experience it's easy to get worried, and the internet tends to melt down and decide the sky is falling.
Yes they do, but the elevators are located in the middle sections of the buildings (which are set some way back from the river) so all of River View Royal Rooms, except for a few central third-floor ones, are a bit of a trek from the elevators to the actual room. I would definitely contact the special needs department in advance and get them to put in a request for one of the centrally located River View rooms near the elevators.
The ferry boats are fully accessible, and guests can remain seated in ECVs for the trip.
There is a bus stop (East) not far from Oak Manor, but from Parterre Place it would probably be easier to use the footbridge over to the main buildings and the South Depot.
Andre
Thank you all for putting this into context. We have been to wdw many times but have never stayed at POR and keep second guessing our choice.You really shouldn't worry too much about it. Plenty of people have wonderful experiences there and you can get a 'bad room' anywhere. Had we been staying any longer I would have asked to be moved and pointed out the issues. We were in one of the mansion rooms. The resort is beautiful, we've just been fortunate to stay in other WDW resorts when they were brand new or had just been refurbed so I think this one suffered by comparison. I've learned not to prejudge anything at WDW too harshly based the occasional off or bad experience post. It's when a place starts to have consistent issues that you should be concerned and that certainly doesn't seem to be a problem here.
