Lost on Alligator Bayou

[Drachengeist]

Greetings and Salutations all.

We just finished 4 very nice nights at POR. We wound up at Bldg 28 which wasnt as close as I would have liked to the bus stops and or front area. But it was not as far away from either as it could have been. But my concern was not so much for ourselves as other guests we ran into at the resort. On three separate occasions, in two evenings we came across families that were either frustrated beyond reason, or Just At Wits End lost. Simply put they could not find their rooms. Alligator is laid out to give maximum theme effect and privacy. And they do a magnificent job of it. But to people toting tired children and or luggage through the semi dark; the relationship of the map to the twisting sidewalks among endless identical trees bushes and spanish moss, is not apparent. The signage is more than appropriate...for somebody that has already been there done that. I know that they cant send somebody with each group of guests headed for their room but I would think they could at least send a regular "patrol" out along the paths to help reorient lost guests. Thoughts?

[KatrinaJ91]

I would think the only way you could be lost is if you got off at the wrong bus stop. Each bldg has the number on it in several places and there are signs at every intersection. We didn't have any problems the first time we stayed there and found it to be fairly easy to get around. Like I said, if you get off the wrong stop, though....it would be confusing.

[Mitzie]

I feel for those folks. If it hadn't been for some people who put Halloween decorations in their window we would of been lost a few times. Still love the place though.

[#1donaldfan]

...did you know that the sidewalks are color coded (two colors)??? I cannot remember the specifics, but anyone reading this who may think they may get lost can ask a CM and I'm sure they will set them straight before they head out into the resort....I've never been lost yet, but I suppose it can happen......

[AJ Springfield]

I totally agree that it's hard to find your way around POR!!! We love it there...but have specifically requested certain "lodges" because they are closer to the food court or a bus stop. On our first trip to POR in 2004 we were in #26 and it was exhausting. After that year, we learned. We request three certain buildings when we make the reservation... and if we are assigned a distant room at check in, we have asked for a change to a different building .

[massachusetts]

DH and I stayed there once when POFQ was being refurbished. We were lost all the time. One night we came back late and not only did we get lost but the sprinklers turn on. All we could do was laugh. Fortunately it was during the summer.

[Drachengeist]

Actually that is kind of my point. If there was a CM to ask, the issues we witnessed would have been resolved rather quickly. But the worst of the cases we saw was a family with Mother, Dad, and several kids. It was dark, they were turned around, they had made it to one of the pools but didnt know which one or which way their room was from where they were at. Dad about lost it and after telling the rest of the family to stay put he took off down one of the paths. 15 min later he still had not returned. I am sure that this is not typical but its sure not a Disneyesque experience I would want to endure.

[Frog]

Hahaha! This post makes me laugh! As I recall all of our family at one point or another getting confused on the way back from the pool or the food court!! In fact, one night, oldest daughter and I went to the food court to get take out while DW and the others took baths etc... We ended up in some parking lot ten buildings away tote-ing heavy food bags in hand, and laugh about it still to this day!! Good times, good times... Wouldnt trade a second!!! Not to scare anyone, its really not that hard to find where you need to go, it just seems that every time out you think you could turn here to make a short cut, the path never seemed to work the way you wanted it to.

[darthmacho]

Though I have sympathy for anyone that has gotten lost, I'm looking forward to exploring POR this summer. I wouldn't mind getting lost for just a little while...

[dinahvixen]

We've gotten lost there, too - but never that bad - not for more than a minute to get our bearings. But we wouldn't change it - love the private exotic feel of the place. DD8 ran ahead once and got to what she thought was our building (also 28), and when we got to 28 we could see her on the second floor several sidewalk turns away, but we couldn't match up and get her. Turns out she was at the building next to us and b/c of the twists and turns of the building structure itself, it looked like she was on the same building as us. It was like a sitcom!

[Mousemates]

lost at POR...well been there and done that. I'm not sure we ever took the same route twice in any of our meanderings there....fortunately we were in an upper floor room and could see the Christmas lights in our windows from quite a distance away...bit without the lights it would be like ancient mariners trying to navigate on a cloudy night.

[crltkcagle]

We didn't get lost on our last trip. Maybe we got lucky? THere were signs along the paths that led us to the right building. Hopefully we won't get lost this time. We will be there in two weeks! What building does everyone request?

[princess mommy]

We were there in Building 28 also in March and got lost several times always late at night but never more than a few minutes. Always look for the signs and there are no real shortcuts just meandering paths. My kids ran ahead and did the same as the other post and were on the front porch of what we thought was our building. However they were the next one over but there was no direct way to get to them so we just laughed and took our time circling around until we got to them. Just look for the signs especially at night as it is very dimmly lit. I did see 1 family with a flashlight. Enjoy-it's beautiful there.

[Gregandmel]

We were at POFQ end of April this year and went to visit POR several times. Both times, we saw families with lots of luggage over by the pool area just stop and look at their map with frustration in their faces. POR is very large indeed.....I guess if I were staying there, I would definitely study a map before I got there to sort of familiarize myself with the layout. I saw signs everywhere of course, but since we weren't staying there have no input on how easy it is to maneuver, but I can see why people could get turned around, especially at night! It was daytime and some people still looked lost.

[Scorpiosammy]

In all my 26+ visits, POR is the ONLY resort I have EVER gotten lost in o_O

But, hey, at least its Disney and you wont wander far

[finaldynasty]

Though I have sympathy for anyone that has gotten lost, I'm looking forward to exploring POR this summer. I wouldn't mind getting lost for just a little while...

DITTO! My family and I are a little over a month away and I'd rather get lost at WDW then anywhere else in the world.!

[pixiesmimi]

I've never been to POR but we got lost like this at CBR. We walked around and around (in our own building) until we finally found our room. The signs were not good and the building was very confusing. I was tired and about ready to cry. It even took us a while to find the right building from the parking lot because of lack of signs. So I know how you feel. It took us several times coming and going to finally find the closest stairs to our floor because there were no elevators.

[Advnt05]

My wife and I just returned from POR Riverside on Saturday. We did get turned around upon checkin as our checkin person said go out the entrance and go across the main bridge. Apparently we took the wrong main bridge but after wandering for a while figured it out. We then got lost again the first time we returned on the bus as we got off the wrong stop. It was never super clear which stop to get off for people.
Our last night we found two elderly ladies confused about the stop and found out they were in our building. They followed us off the bus and then said they were supposed to go to the next building. After asking them what there room number was, it turned out they were one floor above us and were in the right place afterall.
Once we explored for one day, we got the gist of the place but it is not as apparent as other Disney resorts.

[#1donaldfan]

...just got the below from a POR site under trivia.....:

The grey concrete walkways (which feature wooden plank effects) at Port Orleans Riverside are the main routes from the waterside area through to the parking lots — so if you get lost, just follow one of these.

....I mentioned earlier that they were color coded, that's probably not accurate, however the main routes are marked, as stated....I hope this helps someone, someday .... !!

[wdwvacationeer]

We have stayed at POR twice-both times in the Alligator Bayou area. We could always find our way to the buses and usually would get lost after coming back from the parks. One time we walked the outside perimeter, passed several parking lots, saw the mansions sections, realized we had gone to far, turned around and somehow eventually found our building. We have also stayed at the CBR twice and although it is large and spread out too, we never got lost there.