by who? I seem to remember reading somewhere a while ago that POFQ was originally built by a company other than Disney and that Disney took over the resort, formerly known as Port Orleans later on. Am I hallucinating? Please advise. Maggie
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POFQ was built in 1991, but.....
- Thread starter mickeysaver
- Start date
Yes and no....lol....I could have sworn that there was something that I read somewhere to the effect that POFQ was not 100% Disney's from the start. I know that the resorts are linked now and have been for years, but it seems like that someone wrote that the reason why there is only one restaurant and that the place is so small and sort of lacks the full pixie dusted feel is because it wasn't Disney to start with....of course this is all foggy paraphrasing. :brick: Maggie
Ok, it's official, I am hallucinating! :hammer: 
:veryconfu :lol: Thanks! Maggie
:veryconfu :lol: Thanks! Maggie
RonAnnArbor
Well-Known Member
mickeysaver said:
Are you kidding me?? I think French Quarter is among the most wonderful resorts at WDW. It has always been a Disney Property and does not have a sit down restauarant because Disney wanted to keep it connected to Dixie Landings - it's why they created the boat back and forth, and to DD, and the horse and carriage rides.
It is true that FQ was always geared more toward adults without kids and they have later added more kid-friendly attractions to FQ after the renovation.
Rob562
Well-Known Member
Port Orleans, Dixie Landings and Caribbean Beach were all designed by a firm called Fugelberg Koch & Associates. (If you've ever noticed, the buildings in the Aligator Bayou section of Riverside are almost exactly the same design as the buildings at CBR, just with different external details)
Dixie Landings and Port Orleans each originally had their own food court, sit-down restaurant and marina where you could rent boats. There's always been a water shuttle between the two resorts and to Downtown Disney. There's even a unifying storyline to the layout and design of the two resorts.
They always operated as sister resorts, but were their own independent business units. When DIsney decided to combine the two resorts into one business unit, they called the overall complex Port Orleans, and then changed the individual names of the two resorts to French Quarter and Riverside. During this change, the marina and the sit-down restaurant at French Quarter were closed. Only the baot dock for the water taxi remained.
Guests of POFQ now have to go up to Riverside to rent boats, bikes or to have a sit-down meal. Which is a shame, but a slightly good thing for people with the Disney Dining Experience card. Without a sit-down restaurant available, you can use the card in the POFQ food court for the 20% discount. (The only other hotels where you can use the DDE card in a food court are the Value Resorts who also don't have a sit-down restaurant)
-Rob
Dixie Landings and Port Orleans each originally had their own food court, sit-down restaurant and marina where you could rent boats. There's always been a water shuttle between the two resorts and to Downtown Disney. There's even a unifying storyline to the layout and design of the two resorts.
They always operated as sister resorts, but were their own independent business units. When DIsney decided to combine the two resorts into one business unit, they called the overall complex Port Orleans, and then changed the individual names of the two resorts to French Quarter and Riverside. During this change, the marina and the sit-down restaurant at French Quarter were closed. Only the baot dock for the water taxi remained.
Guests of POFQ now have to go up to Riverside to rent boats, bikes or to have a sit-down meal. Which is a shame, but a slightly good thing for people with the Disney Dining Experience card. Without a sit-down restaurant available, you can use the card in the POFQ food court for the 20% discount. (The only other hotels where you can use the DDE card in a food court are the Value Resorts who also don't have a sit-down restaurant)
-Rob
maelstrom
Well-Known Member
Could you enlighten me on the sit-down restaurant and personal watercraft dock at POFQ? I stayed there when it opened but I was pretty young so I don't remember. I can't think of where they'd have a personal watercraft dock there. I do seem to vaguely remember a restaurant. Bonfamille or some such is sticking out in my head, was that it?
DisJosh
Well-Known Member
maelstrom said:
The restaurant was left of where the bar is in the main building. I believe seating still remains there for anyone at the bar area. But no more restaurant. I ate there the day before they closed back in August of 2000.
I do believe Bonfamille was the name.
shoppingnut
Active Member
Rob562 said:
You can use the DDE card at POR food court too. I've used it there a number of times.
maelstrom
Well-Known Member
DisJosh said:The restaurant was left of where the bar is in the main building. I believe seating still remains there for anyone at the bar area. But no more restaurant. I ate there the day before they closed back in August of 2000.
Isn't the name Bonfamille still up somewhere? Or at least it was up until the rehab. I remember seeing it more recently.
maelstrom
Well-Known Member
http://www.disneyzone.net/ResortPix/podock.gif
I found this picture online. I always knew that area looked funny. It used to be the POFQ recreation boat dock. To the left of this picture is where the DTD dock is.
I found this picture online. I always knew that area looked funny. It used to be the POFQ recreation boat dock. To the left of this picture is where the DTD dock is.
slappy magoo
Well-Known Member
shoppingnut said:
When I stayed at PO-R last year, the DDE card specified that the discount was only applicable at POFQ's food court & Boatwright's at PO-R, not at the Riverside Mill Food Court. allearsnet.com also doesn't list Riverside's food court as a place where the DDE is accepted. Now, it's possible that they officially changed the policy and included Riverside's food court, and it isn't reflected in brochures and handouts. It's also possible that it was "unofficially" changed due to so many people requesting it. It might be a pick-and-choose sort of thing, depending on who's managing the resort at any given time, or how busy it is, or any number of factors. All I'm saying is, when I had a DDE card, the included literature didn't say Riverside's food court was included. Personally, I think it would be great if you could use the DDE in every food court, counter-service theme park joint & popcorn push cart in WDW, but hey, that's probably the single solitary reason why I'm not running the joint myself.
Back on topic, mickeysaver, is it possible that you're getting FQ's history confused with Shades of Green's? According to allearsnet:
What is Shades of Green?
Shades of Green (SoG) is an Armed Forces Recreation Center located on the WDW property. It was originally owned by WDW and called the "Golf Resort" and later the "Disney Inn". It was leased by the Department of Defense in 1994 and renamed to SoG. SoG is totally self supporting and operates from non-appropriated funds (no cost to the taxpayer). Profits generated are used for improvements to the hotel, property and services for the guest. The resort underwent a total renovation that was completed in 2004.
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I mean, I'm just spitballing here, but maybe that could be where your memory synapses misfire?
shoppingnut
Active Member
slappy magoo said:
Just because the literature doesn't say so, doesn't mean it isn't so. There seem to be lots of hiccups in the dining plan that are not on the "official" list. I think that probably one of the reasons that POR food court takes the card is because the sit down restaurant is not open for lunch. I know I used it last December, October and July when I was there.
brertigger
Member
An interesting fact I learned not too long ago from a CM- only a few of the Disney bus drivers know the route to take to get to SoG, since Disney Transport buses are only allowed on SoG property in very special circumstances.slappy magoo said:
But, yeah, back on topic, Port Orleans has always been Disney own, run, and built.