Riverside vs CBR

[BecuzImaLady]

Hi y’all-
I hate to be a pain especially when there are already a ton of “where should I stay?” threads, but I really need some opinions here. I am my family’s sole planner of trips. My husband just says “whatever you think is best” when I ask him a question, and my daughter is 12... so yep, sole planner here. Anyways, I am looking to book a trip July 24-31. We went last year at this exact same time and loved it. Here is my question, I was pricing packages and budget wise, it looks like it is between Port Orleans Riverside or Caribbean Beach Resort. We have stayed at PO FQ and CBR before. Can anyone offer up a personal opinion on which resort might be a better option? We are planning a resort day, pool time, we always take Disney Transportation, and we are doing quick service dining plan only.

 

[Sue M]

My fav moderate is POR. We love the mansions. And that area (Acadian House and Magnolia Terrace) are very centrally located. Close to Old Man Island foot bridge. It’s a beautiful resort along the river. Nice main themed pool plus quiet pools. I love strolling along the river path. The food court is very good and it’s also a short walk over to POFQ.
POR has a little extra to offer than CBR. A boat to Disney Springs, evening entertainment in the River Roost. Bob Jackson puts on a fun show, family friendly. And carriage rides around the resort.
There’s also The Fishing Hole, open mornings. It’s a beautiful area even if you don’t fish. I went in one morning just to check it out. Wound up having a wonderful conversation with the CM who has been there for years. He pointed out a lot of different birds around the area. And had a ton of Por history!

 

[BecuzImaLady]

My fav moderate is POR. We love the mansions. And that area (Acadian House and Magnolia Terrace) are very centrally located. Close to Old Man Island foot bridge. It’s a beautiful resort along the river. Nice main themed pool plus quiet pools. I love strolling along the river path. The food court is very good and it’s also a short walk over to POFQ.
POR has a little extra to offer than CBR. A boat to Disney Springs, evening entertainment in the River Roost. Bob Jackson puts on a fun show, family friendly. And carriage rides around the resort.
There’s also The Fishing Hole, open mornings. It’s a beautiful area even if you don’t fish. I went in one morning just to check it out. Wound up having a wonderful conversation with the CM who has been there for years. He pointed out a lot of different birds around the area. And had a ton of Por history!

I am pretty sure you sold me! We stayed at POFQ and had an absolutely wonderful time. We stayed at CBR and had a good time too, but our only real complaint was that we booked a standard room and the walk to and from transportation and Ole Port Royale was too much. After a long day, I would dread the walk back to the room. I noticed the only category of room left for POR is standard as well, please tell me the walk to and from transportation and eating places is not as bad as CBR.

 

[jacque20]

Hi y’all-
I hate to be a pain especially when there are already a ton of “where should I stay?” threads, but I really need some opinions here. I am my family’s sole planner of trips. My husband just says “whatever you think is best” when I ask him a question, and my daughter is 12... so yep, sole planner here. Anyways, I am looking to book a trip July 24-31. We went last year at this exact same time and loved it. Here is my question, I was pricing packages and budget wise, it looks like it is between Port Orleans Riverside or Caribbean Beach Resort. We have stayed at PO FQ and CBR before. Can anyone offer up a personal opinion on which resort might be a better option? We are planning a resort day, pool time, we always take Disney Transportation, and we are doing quick service dining plan only.

Check for free dining that was released this morning. That may help sway you. Good luck!

 

[Sydney2977]

For your family I'd say try POR. The dining options are great, plus you have POFQ a close walk or boat ride away. The boat to DS is nice as well. As Sue M mentioned, there are more fun things to do at POR on your resort day. I think they'll still be working on construction of the Skyway Gondolas from CBR when you visit, so that may be a factor as well. We found the walk from room to main building better than CSR and there is so much shade vs. CBR and CSR that it's not bad even in summer. There are multiple bus stops around the resort too after coming from the parks at night.

 

[nkereina]

Since you've stayed at CBR before, my vote would be for POR because I'm a proponent of trying new things. POR is one of our favorite moderates, with CBR being our least favorite moderate. At POR, we love the food court and the boat to Disney Springs.

 

[TOBS2010]

We haven't stayed at CBR---but we have stayed at POR twice and loved it. We love the main pool---but the quiet pools are nice and low key too. The kids like the slide at the main pool too. There are four bus stops scattered on the perimeter of POR, so there is likely one that will be reasonably close for you. we liked walking and using the main bus stop most of the time because it allowed us to stop at the food court or convenient store to and from our room. The hotel is on beautiful grounds and it is really nice to walk at day and night. We loved the boat transportation to Disney Springs too. It was a change up from using the busses all the time. POFQ is a much smaller resort compared to POR if you are looking for comparison between the two. You can still use the pool and food court of POFQ with just a walk over the bridge to get there. We might try another hotel next time we go---but it will be tough, we have really loved our stays at POR.

 

[karen4546]

i have stayed at CBR-i didn't like it. We were pretty far from the food court. I have stayed at POFQ - love it. I have visited RIverside many times. Love their food court, restaurant and gift shop. The grounds are Beautiful. So my vote is Riverside. Enjoy your vacation

 

[Sue M]

I am pretty sure you sold me! We stayed at POFQ and had an absolutely wonderful time. We stayed at CBR and had a good time too, but our only real complaint was that we booked a standard room and the walk to and from transportation and Ole Port Royale was too much. After a long day, I would dread the walk back to the room. I noticed the only category of room left for POR is standard as well, please tell me the walk to and from transportation and eating places is not as bad as CBR.

Standard view will put you in the back of the building which is actually closer to the satellite bus depots. I prefer them to the main depot. Less crazy. We request Acadian House or Magnolia Terrace upper floor, close to Old Man Island foot bridge. So you’ll be in the side of the building closer to foot bridge. From bridge it’s a short walk to main pool, and past pool to main buildings. And boat dock. Have a look at the resort map and you’ll see what I mean.
There is also posted in the info on pg 1 a resort fax #. Lots of info on the POR thread. Por is one of the few resorts that really does look at faxes to room assignor and I have been successful getting the area I requested all but once. I fax 5 days before arrival.

Our first stay we were in CBR. We liked it, just like POR a bit more. At CBR we were in Jamaica and bus stop was across parking lot, so it was a short walk. And not far from the bridge going over to OPR. With a lot of WDW resorts, location is everything!

 

[a1tinkfans]

LOVE por but Only stay if we can grab Preferred area ( AB section, n love to ask for bldg 14 or 18)
With ur choices I’d stay POR. Your daughter will enjoy it greatly and sooo many positives!
Enjoy!!!!

 

[BecuzImaLady]

Thanks everyone for all of your great replies! A special shout out to giving me the tip free dining was back. I hopped online to price the different offers that came out today...and... Stitch are my page. I can’t get any info. Here is to hoping all the rooms aren’t gone by the time I can actually book a room.

 

[Babsy]

As you haven't yet stayed at POR, my vote is also to give it a try. POR has lovely grounds, lots of activities for a resort day with horse and carriage rides, fishing hole, boat to DS, surrey bike rentals, a great food court, a TS restaurant and multiple quiet pools as well as a nicely themed main pool. Also, you can walk to POFQ (maybe 10 minute stroll along the river) to enjoy the amenities over there, including the pool... AND beignets!

The mansions would be your best bet for a reasonably close standard room, so include a request for one of those on your reservation. (Be prepared that some standard AB rooms are a bit distant from the main building, but not as far as the furthest rooms in CBR, IMO.)
REMEMBER: A room in the mansions is a request and not guaranteed. So, if little walking is super important to you, I would keep a lookout in case a preferred room became available. These are really close and convenient.

We have loved our stays in POR! But we also quite like CBR, so it is a tough choice.

Enjoy whichever you choose.