garden view vs river view at POR

[JoDisney]

I understand the garden view is never a parking lot view, which is great. However, is a riverview better? It seems the river is far from the rooms. Anyone, have a garden and/or river view?

[#1donaldfan]

I've had every single view imaginable there and none is any better than another. For me, the river view rooms or garden view are not worth it. I do like the preferred rooms that are closer to the food court and main bus depot and have paid extra for those, otherwise, it's not really worth it. :cool:

[magicofdisney]

I've never felt the "views" were worth the up-charge at any resort level below a deluxe. Even at a deluxe, I'd heavily weigh my options before paying extra. The moderates and values don't exactly have a balcony to sit on to take full advantage of those "views."

[BrowncatP]

The first time I stayed there I had the garden view. Without a balcony it is a waste of money. If you want a river view then just sit on a bench outside and look at the river.

[BigRedDad]

Here is my take on views at Moderate and Value resorts. Unless you are going to have your main window open for people to stare into your business, there is no need for a view. The reason is you have exterior entrances and people walking by. At least in a Deluxe, you have a patio or balcony to sit on and can keep the room private. If I want to see a garden or river at one of these resorts, I will walk out of the room.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

I've stayed in every view at POFQ.

The only reason why we pay to book a pool view is so that we're in the "main court" close to the pool and the main building. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't care.

So ... I'd stick with a standard view instead of a garden view. For me, I don't care if I look at grass or the parking lot, or the laundry room!

The river is pretty, and we were "upgraded" to a river view last time. It was lovely when you opened the door, but you really don't spend much time enjoying the view, since you don't have a private area. One advantage of river view rooms is that they are usually rather quiet, since they are at the "back" of the resort, as compared to the parking and main building. But, as you thought, there is a path between you and the river, so it isn't like you're right on the bank.

[Disneyfun]

With resorts such as POR and all of the values (outside entrances from a breezeway), I find that what makes the biggest difference is which floor you are on.

The ground floor will be closer to foot traffic and all of the noise associated with it. We stayed at All Star Music a number of years ago during the cheerleading competition and had a ground floor. When it wasn't cheerleaders practicing their cheers at almost any hour of the day, it was families trying to shepherd their children past the numerous visual distractions (pool, statues, etc) on their way to the food court or the bus stop. To add insult to injury, just after midnight began the running of the pargos/utility golf carts that were being used by overnight maintenance of who knows what.

After that, we vowed that we would never want a ground floor that was along the main traffic paths. This meant that we would most likely have a room with a parking lot view. It also meant that we saved money too! Win win situation with a decent night's sleep as well.