Review of Port Orleans Resort French Quarter – Disney World
Over the past 15 years, we’ve stayed at the Port Orleans Resorts at least 10 times. Our last visit was for two nights starting July 19, 2008. Our reservation was for the French Quarter side of the resort. Let me take a minute to explain the way Port Orleans Resort is set up.
What is known today as the Port Orleans Resort was once two separate resorts; Port Orleans and Dixie Landings. Port Orleans had just over 1,000 rooms and Dixie Landings just over 2,000 rooms. In 2001, the two resorts were merged together to form one large resort with two distinct areas; Port Orleans French Quarter and Port Orleans Riverside. Through the merger, the table service or sit-down restaurant and the bike and marina rentals at the original Port Orleans Resort were shut down.
Additionally, the two resorts now share the same bus system except for very busy times. The buses pick up and drop off at the French Quarter first and then move onto the bus stops at the Riverside section. The bus route has its pros and cons. If you are staying at the French Quarter, you will be the first stop so you know you are likely to get a seat especially on the buses early in the morning. You are also the first stop back in the evening when everyone is tired. The down side is depending on the time of day and how crowded the bus is, it could take you 15 minutes just to make the route around the Riverside section of the resort adding to your travel time. If you are in the Riverside section, your time to actually leave the resort and get on the road will be shorter but during peak times, you may be standing. During especially busy times, all buses may not complete the entire route. An additional bus will be sent to pick up at the later Riverside depots. The Port Orleans resorts also have their own water taxi service to downtown Disney. The water taxi does stop at each resort. I was told on our last trip that the way it is supposed to work is the water taxi starts at the Riverside section fills to about ¾ capacity and then picks up at the French Quarter marina leaving room for those guests at the French Quarter.
Although the two resorts have now become one, they are still booked independently. You make a reservation at either the Port Orleans French Quarter or the Port Orleans Riverside. Each of the resorts has its own check-in registration area, guest services (now called concierge service), themed pool (Riverside has additional quiet pools), arcade, lounge, and food court. Bike and water craft rentals are only available at the Riverside section. Also, the only sit-down table service restaurant at the resort, Boatwright’s Dining Hall, is located in the Riverside section.
Now that you know a little more about this unique resort, let’s get back to our review. We choose to stay at Port Orleans French Quarter for no other reason than we had never stayed on this side of the resort before. I had reserved a water-view room which I was told could be either a view of the waterway or the pool. I had asked for a note to be added to our booking to indicate we would prefer a waterway view.
We arrived at the Port Orleans French Quarter Resort around noon and since we were not expecting our room to be ready, I headed inside to check-in while my husband and daughter waited in the car outside. This resort, like many of the other moderate resorts, has a main building which houses most of the guest services area and then several outer buildings where the guest rooms are located. There are parking lots that surround the entire resort so that you can park closest to the building you are staying in. Check-in went rather smooth except for the fact that the cast member was looking for the reservation under my first name and not my last so that took a few minutes. She did, however, find us a lovely waterway view room that was clean and ready for us. So, off we went to find our room.
Since we had our car, we hadn’t thought about dropping the luggage off and having it delivered to our room. We parked at the parking area designated for our room and started the trek in search of our new home for the next two nights. The map wasn’t very helpful and after a few wrong turns, with our luggage in tow, we found our building. We had a great location with a side view of the river and were close to both the pool and the walkway to the Riverside part of the resort.
The room was a regular moderate resort room having two twin beds, a small table with two chairs, a TV, ceiling fan, coffee maker, and a small refrigerator. As is customary in the moderate resorts, the bathroom sinks were located at the end of the room with the tub and commode in a small room off to the side. The closets space is open but complete with a safe, iron and ironing board, and blow dryer. A nice feature here is a privacy curtain that can be drawn to separate the sleeping area from the sink area. One thing to note is if you are not used to sleeping with another person in a twin bed, they can seem VERY small.
You really start to see the difference in categories when you look at the bathroom amenities. Unlike the deluxe resorts, we had face and bath soaps only (no bath gel), a shampoo/conditioner product (not two separate bottles) and no body lotion. We also found the quality of towels to be less than those of the deluxe resorts. Now, I’m not stating these differences to be negative. I’m pointing them out to help you differentiate between the resort levels. After all when you do a price comparison, the least expensive deluxe room at the time we were there was at least $100 more per night and that is being conservative. The price difference could easily pay for a meal plan for a family of four with two adults and two children.
Our room was nicely decorated with beautiful little touches that I would expect to see in a traditional New Orleans home. The resort is themed to look like streets in the New Orleans French Quarter complete with street signs and courtyards. The pool and food court have Mardi Gras themes. Our daughter definitely enjoyed the pool and the slide.
The Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory, the resort’s food court, is themed to look like one of the Mardi Gras float storage facility where the floats are kept from year to year. We had lunch and breakfast at the food court and were pleased with both. By far, the best items to order, any time of day, are the freshly made beignets. They are delicious but be prepared to get a little messy with the powdered sugar!
Although we didn’t have the opportunity to visit the Scat Cat’s Lounge in the evening, we did stop in both nights to pick up a few Hurricane’s to go. Having been to New Orleans and having had the real deal at Pat O’Brian’s, my husband and I both agree that the Hurricane’s at Scat Cat’s were fantastic.
Port Orleans French Quarter is a beautiful resort especially at night and I think it is the most romantic of all the moderate resorts. One very special evening treat that you can arrange is to take a horse drawn carriage ride around the resort. We took a ride our very last night right when the sun was setting. You are allowed to bring your own beverages with you so with Hurricanes in hand, we took our ride. It was a perfect way to end our vacation. Reservations are recommended for the carriage rides and the drivers only take cash and Disney resort room charge. The cost is $35, including tax, for a 25-minute ride. In my opinion, this is one of the best bargains on property!
Horse Drawn Carriage Ride Photos
The Port Orleans Resort has always been our favorite of the moderate resorts and after our last trip, it’s still number one. In fact, I think I’m more partial now to the French Quarter side of the resort. It’s like having the best of both worlds. You get the feel of a small resort, not as many people, a little more quiet, with all of the amenities of a larger resort. From the beautiful setting, to the many recreational options, to the water taxi to downtown Disney, Port Orleans French Quarter certainly has a lot to offer. Oh, and it seems I’m not alone in my opinion, check out www.portorleans.org for the best resort tribute site I have ever found.
The Port Orleans French Quarter resort offers standard view rooms and water view rooms. Most rooms have two double beds (maximum of 4 people per room) with a few rooms having one king bed (maximum 2 people per room). Water view and king bedded rooms are more expensive than the standard view with two doubles.
Photos From Port Orleans Resort French Quarter
Photos From Port Orleans Resort Riverside
The resort is located at 2201 Orleans Drive, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830. The main telephone number is 407- 934-5000.
2008 room prices range from $149 to $215 per day for a standard view with two double beds.
2009 room prices range from $149 to $219 per day for a standard view with two double beds.
Recommended Website: http://www.portorleans.org
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August 24th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
[...] includes a bunch of pictures of POR and POFQ – and if you would like to look, here is the link: Review of Port Orleans Resort French Quarter – Disney World | Disney Travel Guru If you follow the photos to my Flickr page, there were a bunch more photos then would fit in that [...]