Hi everyone. I'm new and so confused with all the Disney planning. Hubby and I just decided to take our first trip to Disney together. He hasn't been there since 84 and I haven't been since 93. I stayed at CBR back then. We're thinking about PO - either Riverside or French Quarter. We can't decide. What would you recommend? Any and all recommendations/suggestions welcome and appreciated.
Thanks! 
Jeanette
Hi JeanetteK! Welcome to the boards. My hubby and I stayed at POFQ for our honeymoon in 2009, and we loved it. Very quaint and romantic. Plus it is a smaller resort than most, and we loved the compact feel.
My favorite is Riverside. My husband loves French Quarter. Riverside is much bigger and has more dining options. I love the gardens at Riverside. My husband loves the style of the French Quarter and the fact we only had to wait 5 min for our bus to the parks.
Hi! JeanetteK and 
to WDWFG I have stayed at POFQ before and loved it, but I have never stayed at POR. so I can't compare but many here have stayed at both and this is such a great forum that I am sure they will join in with their recomendations. Please tell us all about your plans and expectations and we in turn will be more than glad to help you and your planning. Also as you may have noticed the food aspect of WDW is a great part of our forum.
I think you can't go wrong either way. You'll have a great time in either. It's quite a different place since the last time you've been I'd think. Anything else you're confused about? If French Quarter vs. Riverside is your only concern you've got no worries. It's a win either way! 
Oh and:
Another vote for POFQ - thsi will be our third time there come April, and we just love it. But I do agree, you cannot go wrong with either one, I think
And welcome!!!!
Thank you all for the warm welcome! And which resort to choose is definitely not my only question/concern/wigging out moment! LOL. DH and I are both foodies, so we plan to do the Deluxe dining plan so we can try some really great restaurants. So, we need help there as well -- choosing great places to eat. He's pretty adventurous as far as food goes, but I'm more reluctant to try new things. I usually sample his stuff and that's how I try new things (or off a buffet). We also plan on the park tickets, but just can't decide on how many days to get them for. We will arrive on Saturday, 4/21, and depart on Friday, 4/27. Early flight on arrival day and late (5:00 p.m.) flight on departure day, just so we can squeeze in the most fun as possible.
What are your thoughts on park tickets? Should we get them for all 7 days, 6 days, or 5 days??? I really need ideas with food too. Since we'll have the 3 meals and 2 snacks per day, we plan on using some of those credits to double up on either signature meals or dinner shows.
LOL and you thought I only had questions about where to stay 
I just didn't want to overwhelm you all on my first post.
Jeanette
First since food is my favorite topics I'll list some of my favorite Table Service places to eat off the top of my head. I'll think of more:
Magic Kingdom
Liberty Tree Tavern (both Lunch and Dinner are great)
Epcot
Rose and Crown
Via Napoli
Hollywood Studios
50's Prime Time
Sci-Fi Dine-In (It's fun at least once)
Animal Kingdom
Yak and Yeti is not bad
Resort Favorites
Beaches & Cream
Citricos
Whispering Canyon Cafe
Flying Fish
ESPN Club
If you have a car we can go into offsite places too!
As far as the tickets. Do you think you'll want to spend all day at the parks, or are you more of a go see a few things and then relax type of visitor?
we will not have a car. relying on Disney bus to get us everywhere.
as far as the parks go, I love walking around and looking, seeing, tasting. The rides don't really matter to me, although I know we will do rides because we are, after all, visiting WDW! DH and I are not on the skinny side, by any means, so how much we do in consecutive days will be determined on how bad our feet/legs hurt after that first day at Magic Kingdom. I'm leaning more toward 5 day tickets so we can have rest/relaxation/resort hopping on alternate days.
Have you ever tried Fulton's Crab House (I think that's the correct name) in DTD? I absolutely love crab, so any great crab places we should try?
As far as tickets go, we always plan on a couple of "off" days per week. I've always found that I need to decompress once and a while during the trip. Besides, there's plenty to do at WDW outside of the parks. You can always add more days to your tickets if you find you want more park-time. We always get the hopper option so we can start the day at a non-EMH park and hop to the EMH park for the evening.
Conversely, if you find you have purchased too many park admissions, you get the unused days converted to the never expire type and save them for your next trip.
Don't fall into the trap of thinking you have to do and see everything in 7 days. It just can't be done with out manipulating the time-space continuum. Some of our friends on their first trip just killed themselves (and their kids) trying to do it all. Also try not to over-schedule yourself.
I've adopted a low stress philosophy regarding packing.... When in doubt leave it out; you can always buy a new one there.
Lastly, if you wake up and it's raining, get thee to a park quickly. The crowds are usually smaller and why did you think we told you to bring/buy ponchos and extra socks.
If you're up for dining options at the different resorts, I'm a big fan of the Kona Cafe at the Polynesian and the California Grill atop the Contemporary (of course that one is a 2 credit meal but well worth it). Some of my Epcot favorites are the Coral Reef and Restaurant Marrakesh in Morocco. You'll get lots of feedback on food around here. Its one of our favorite topics.
Hi Jeanette, and welcome.
i just in WDW in january, and i have a few tips for you. you metioned being worried about sore feet & legs. i have back issues and somehow survived 9 park days. Start walking now, in the shoes you plan on wearing. do a few laps around your local mall, with shopping breaks. the walk then stand of shopping is pretty good training. i also used my treadmill alot in the months prior to our trip. I found having a morning off from the parks & walking made it harder to get going again. those legs just dont want to work in the morning after that much walking.
As for food, the buffets are great for trying new things. i loved Boma. i was worried about the spices and heat, i do not do spicy food (medium salsa is too hot), but i enjoyed everything i tried there, skipped the curry dishes. Unless you really like german food and no veggies with your meals i would skip beirgarten. the entertainment was good, the food was not.
if you let us know what kind of food you like/dislike we will have lots of suggestions.
i stayed at POR in 2007, we loved it there, in the morning the mist would be coming off of the water. it was so peaceful. the only issue we had was the buses, there was no lines, so there was alot of cutting in. hopefully this has changed.
its a great bunch on here, and i found their advise invaluable on our trip. ask away
Welcome Jeanette! I haven't stayed at either of the Port Orleans (I'm a Pop Century girl). I can speak about Disney food.
My favorite signature dining restaurant is Hollywood Brown Derby at Hollywood Studios. I have eaten at Fulton's Crab House, I'm allergic to seafood so I had a burger (it was a good burger and my friends like their meals, although I don't remember what they had but it contain seafood). Fulton's is now included on the dining plan as signature dining.
If you are interested in a character meal, I recommend Tusker House (Animal Kingdom) and Crystal Palace (Magic Kingdom). I haven't tried Cape May Cafe but I hear it's good too.
Some of my favorites are Liberty Tree Tavern (MK) and Chefs de France (Epcot).
We are staying at POR on our next trip and think its a beautiful resort. So I would recommend that one for sure. As far as dining goes Boma at AKL is awesome and its a buffet so you can be as adventurous as you would like or be as simple as you want. I suggest spending sometime at DTD is a great escape from the parks and trying Raglan Road. Magic Kingdom day I recommend Kona Cafe at the Poly or Grand Floridian Cafe. Epcot has so many choices we like San Angel Inn true authentic Mexican food not tex-mex plus it beautiful inside the restaurant. HS 50's prime time and Sci-Fi are both fun. Animal Kingdom would be Yak and Yeti. My family really enjoyed our meal there last year. We do the Deluxe Dining Plan also and its awesome because you have so many choices. I am sure this group can answer your question. They are awesome! 
on going to Disney World! Enjoy!
wow, so many great suggestions. Thank you all so very much! I've read about the Body Glide stuff that you can put on too to prohibit chafing and blisters. I will definitely look into that. I'm not concerned about chafing so much as blisters on my feet.
I looked at the menu for a couple places already, but will definitely check out the other places that you all have mentioned. Some of favorite types of food are Chinese, Mexican, hubby loves Italian so I see spaghetti in my future and of course, American. We love to have a good breakfast too. So we're thinking of having a good breakfast most days and then a good dinner. So where are the best breakfast places? Any good breakfast buffets we should try?
You all are so helpful and friendly. So glad I subscribed to this forum and I am really getting excited. Only about 2 1/2 months to plan all of this so I'm going to be busy I think! 
We've also considered POP, and may have to go that route if they keep raising airfare. So, what are your thoughts on Pop Century?
Tusker House has a good breakfast buffet and as I mentioned above I hear Cape May Cafe is good as well. For a non-character sit down breakfast, I like the Kona Cafe at the Poly.
For Italian, try Via Napoli or Tutto Italia in Epcot.
I love Pop Century. My favorite section is the 50s. If you get a room in building 1 you can see the fireworks from Illuminations at Epcot. Pop also has a good pool bar. The CMs do the Hustle every evening in the lobby and the Twist in the Everything Pop Food Court in the mornings (they may do it other times as well but I've only seen in the morning).
I think POP is unanimously the favorite value resort (if anyone disagrees let me know). I'd normally argue a moderate is worth the money but I always think it's better to set your budget for Disney World at a comfortable level. You'll always have more fun if you don't feel pressured because of the expense. I see a lot of people who are stretching their budget for a trip and they are miserable because they feel like they have to have the best time ever because they're spending so much. So typically if we're on the fence finance wise we go with the cheaper hotel.
Cape May is probably the most relaxing buffet for me, but it can be inconvenient to get to since it's not in a park. Tusker House is a great breakfast, because I love the Safari characters.
I just realized it's only 79 days til our departure date. Good golly, will I be able to plan all this in that amount of time??? LOL I have a lot of research to do. Nothing is booked yet. I have to get this ball rolling and FAST. I love this site though, lots of great help and useful information. And the people are fantastic! Thank you all so much. I know I'll be posting more soon
Hi JeanetteK and welcome to the WDWFG's! Regarding your question about Fulton's, we just had dinner at Fulton's last week and it has totally changed since Jan 1st when it started taking the dinning plan. The entire menu has changed and apparently so has the attitude of the wait staff & the management. I used to love Fulton's, it was always our favorite non-Disney restaurant, but that apparently will change now. If you were never there before, you may like it, but it is definitely not worth the 2 meal credits they now charge. If things had not changed, I would have said it was worth it, but not now. I would rather see it go back to the way it was and not take the dinning plan. It was a very classy restaurant before & I'm sorry to see that gone now.
Hello JeanetteK!! Welcome to the boards! You've gotten a great deal of information, I'm not sure that I have anything to add, except for Hello!!
Check out the website: portorleans.org
This gives you a really great feel of both Port Orleans resorts. If you are more into the rural Louisana feel, then Riverside is your best bet. If you like the "Mardi Gras" theme, then French Quarter is for you. Both are amazing resorts. You can't go wrong. It's all a matter of what theme you like best.
You are going to have a great time planning on this board - and at WDW!
If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.
J. R. R. Tolkien
Hi Jeanette and welcome! I'm a little late to the party, but wanted to say hey just the same! I can't vote in the POR or POFQ debate. I've never stayed at either, but have visited both. They're simply gorgeous!
As for food, if I were planning for restaurants, my must haves in the deluxe category would be California Grill, Jiko, and Artist Point. I don't know if Earl of Sandwich at Downtown Disney is on the Dining Plan, but I would suggest it, too.
RE: tickets, if I were visiting after such a long absence, I would probably go for tickets for everyday that I was there (I don't know what time you're arriving/departing, so if it's not worthwhile to have tix those days because of time, I'd probably skip it.)
I can't wait to hear all about your plans and your trip!
Hi Jeanette and welcome! I'm a little late to the party, but wanted to say hey just the same! I can't vote in the POR or POFQ debate. I've never stayed at either, but have visited both. They're simply gorgeous!
As for food, if I were planning for restaurants, my must haves in the deluxe category would be California Grill, Jiko, and Artist Point. I don't know if Earl of Sandwich at Downtown Disney is on the Dining Plan, but I would suggest it, too.
RE: tickets, if I were visiting after such a long absence, I would probably go for tickets for everyday that I was there (I don't know what time you're arriving/departing, so if it's not worthwhile to have tix those days because of time, I'd probably skip it.)
I can't wait to hear all about your plans and your trip!