Port Orleans - French Quarter

[todpatcam]

We are taking our 4th trip to WDW this coming November; in the past we've stayed at POP, PORS, and CBR.

We are currently booked to stay at Port Orleans - French Quarter. After reading many reviews about this resort being a nice small Disney moderate resort but very outdated - we got a little concerned.

Questions: is this resort due for any updates before or during November 2011? Is there a building we should ask for or should we upgrade our reservation to a preferred building?:shrug:

Should we select a different moderate and stay at POFQ once it receives the needed updates?:shrug:

Any other comments or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Victoria]

Can you elaborate as to what has been deemed "outdated?" I love POFQ and stay there every chance I get. I've never noticed anything outdated about it. :shrug:

 

[RonAnnArbor]

First of all, I never stay anywhere except POFQ anymore - I love it.

Second, I don't know where you read any reviews that said its terribly outdated. It was just refurbed in 2006....and it is again being completely refurbed and its almost completely done. I think its one of those resorts that people either like or they don't like, but I've never found anything about it to be outdated throughout.

If you are concerned, then just ask for a new refurbed room when you book. They can't guarantee it, but it's pretty much assured you will get a new room at this point since its almost (if not already completely done).

THird -- the refurb is basically a replacement of the carpet, repainting, and new flat screen tv's and a new wardrobe. It's virtually identical to what was there before, even the same color scheme. YOu wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the old decor and the new if you have never stayed at the resort before.

What POFQ does not have is its own restaurant. It has a food court which isn't bad, but is typical Disney food court quality. But there is also a great bar with live entertainment in the evening. In general, the "feel" of the entire resort is more adult oriented than most of the other WDW resorts, although that is changing as the "secret" is out about how convenient POFQ is. It also has that amazing boatride down to DD, which is one of my favorite things at WDW, especially at night.

Anyway, hope you enjoy your stay. It's by far my favorite resort at WDW and I've stayed at all the moderate and luxury resorts.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

The refurbed rooms also have an updated bathroom sink/vanity area with actual counter space vs. the 2 pedestal sinks they had. Also the beds are going from full size to queens in the double rooms. Woot!

:wave:

 

[Phonedave]

They were pressure washing the buildings yesterday

They were also painting the exteriors of Riverside, so maybe they are heading down to FQ next.

-dave

 

[mickey2008.1]

The refurbed rooms also have an updated bathroom sink/vanity area with actual counter space vs. the 2 pedestal sinks they had. Also the beds are going from full size to queens in the double rooms. Woot!

:wave:

I agree, this was the only negative of the whole place, full beds, really? what are we, oompa loompas? :ROFLOL:

 

[todpatcam]

Thanks for the great responses to our questions. The reviews we read were from the "Trip Advisor" website. There were several comments about the beds and others were just general comments that the resort was nice but outdated - no more details but there were many that made the outdated statement????

Does anyone know a complete date for the renovations?

Is there a preferred building you should add to our reservation or ask for at check-in. We're looking for close proximity to the food court and bus depot more than we are for a quiet building.

Thanks again for the great info.:wave:

 

[mickeysshoes]

When we stayed at FQ in 8/09 we found the resort to be poorly run...we had isses for our entire stay. Other then that it is a very nice, quite resort. The boat to DD is the best part of this resort!!! Hopefully since is been a 1.5 years since our stay they have fixed the management issues they were having.

 

[majorrfb]

We Love the FQ

Can you elaborate as to what has been deemed "outdated?" I love POFQ and stay there every chance I get. I've never noticed anything outdated about it. :shrug:

Location, location, location, and quiet to boot. Rooms are nice and facilities
are fair to good. You are in the middle of all the action in WDW. Enjoy and have a great time. :wave:

 

[Victoria]

Thanks for the great responses to our questions. The reviews we read were from the "Trip Advisor" website. There were several comments about the beds and others were just general comments that the resort was nice but outdated - no more details but there were many that made the outdated statement????

Does anyone know a complete date for the renovations?

Is there a preferred building you should add to our reservation or ask for at check-in. We're looking for close proximity to the food court and bus depot more than we are for a quiet building.

Thanks again for the great info.:wave:

I can't remember if POFQ offers "preferred" rooms or not. I think they do...for an extra cost of course. Honestly, the whole resort is very compact so there isn't a bad building really. A few years ago I ended up on the 3rd floor in the farthest corner of the farthest building and it was still less than a 10 minute walk to the main building and buses. The grounds are very pretty so it's an enjoyable walk anyways.

 

[Victoria]

Location, location, location, and quiet to boot. Rooms are nice and facilities
are fair to good. You are in the middle of all the action in WDW. Enjoy and have a great time. :wave:

Don't have to tell me that! :lol: I love the resort. I wish I was staying there in May. Instead I think I will be over at Pop Century. :shrug:

 

[Rach&Eric]

Thanks for the great responses to our questions. The reviews we read were from the "Trip Advisor" website. There were several comments about the beds and others were just general comments that the resort was nice but outdated - no more details but there were many that made the outdated statement????

Does anyone know a complete date for the renovations?

Is there a preferred building you should add to our reservation or ask for at check-in. We're looking for close proximity to the food court and bus depot more than we are for a quiet building.

Thanks again for the great info.:wave:

According to portorleans.org, the refurb is supposed to be completed at POFQ some time in April 2011, so you'll be just fine come November! We're headed to FQ from May 7 - 14, 2011 so I'm looking forward to it.

 

[dreamfinder]

Is there a preferred building you should add to our reservation or ask for at check-in. We're looking for close proximity to the food court and bus depot more than we are for a quiet building.

POFQ is pretty gosh darn compact to begin with. Even the farthest building is still closer than most at other resorts.

 

[luvGoofy]

We have stayed there several times, the last time being during Christmas. I requested a room close to the lobby and was the first building out the door in a corner room which was awesome. The resort is small and compact with great bus service. They pick up here first before going to Riverside so we always had a seat. I guess we didn't have a refurbished room because we still had the old tv but we didn't have any problems while there at all.

 

[Jedi Wizard]

When we stayed at FQ in 8/09 we found the resort to be poorly run...we had isses for our entire stay. Other then that it is a very nice, quite resort. The boat to DD is the best part of this resort!!! Hopefully since is been a 1.5 years since our stay they have fixed the management issues they were having.

We stayed at FQ in 8/09 and had a wonderful time with no issues at all.

 

[Jedi Wizard]

POFQ is pretty gosh darn compact to begin with. Even the farthest building is still closer than most at other resorts.

I completely agree. There really isn't a bad building since it is so compact. If you want to be nearest the pool request Building 2 or 5. If being close to bus and food is your priority request building 4. If you want the most quiet (but its a quiet resort anyways) building 1 and 7 are the most remote and quiet

 

[davictim]

We just finished a 10 day stay back in September. LOVED the resort! Very quiet, great pool, beautiful grounds and good location. As others have mentioned, the boat ride to Downtown Disney is a real treat.

The food court is not quite as large as some of the values, but we found it adequate. The staff was more than helpful with my daughter's special diet. Nothing but praise for the chefs.

Don't hesitate to stay at Port Orleans-FQ. Grab a hot cup-of-joe, some beignets and enjoy yourself!

 

[GOT2SAMMIES]

Check this website out! It's really for POR but there are some updates and pics redarding the updating of the rooms at POF

http://www.portorleans.org/

 

[MouseDreaming]

I completely agree. There really isn't a bad building since it is so compact. If you want to be nearest the pool request Building 2 or 5. If being close to bus and food is your priority request building 4. If you want the most quiet (but its a quiet resort anyways) building 1 and 7 are the most remote and quiet

Another Quiet tip: Make sure they don't put you overlooking the parking lot! When we were there in '09, the first room they put us in was in bldg 7, lowest level. We were on the parking lot side. We had gotten there VERY late at night. I don't think we were settled in until 1 or 2 AM. Quickly found out we were very close to the bus stop when we started hearing them at 6AM! I threw on clothes, and went straight to the concierge. I as nicely as possible explained if I wanted to hear that, I would have stayed home! We were moved to what we still call our favorite room. Rm. 5135. It's in a corner overlooking a lovely sunken lawn. Great place for the kids to run in and chase lizards!

We love POFQ, and don't want to stay anywhere else!

 

[todpatcam]

According to portorleans.org, the refurb is supposed to be completed at POFQ some time in April 2011, so you'll be just fine come November! We're headed to FQ from May 7 - 14, 2011 so I'm looking forward to it.

I just found the portorleans.org site - great site for a resort. Thanks for the info - you'll need to let us know how your stay is in May. I hope you have a great vacation - what am I saying - you'll be at Disney of course you'll have a great vacation.