Questions about Port Orleans-FQ

[tink65]

Hey there everyone :wave:

I am surprising my family and have upgraded our resort from Pop Centruy to Port Orleans French Quarter. We will be there Sept 22 through Oct 1st. (maybe changing those days to arrive and leave 2 days later to be there for the Wine & Dine 1/2) Who out there has stayed at FQ and what are your thoughts? Thanks!

 

[stratman50th]

Stayed there 7 times if I recall correctly.
It's a small complex, therefore easy to get around. We always request building 4. It's close to the food court, bus stop, and pool.
Food court is good with a lot of variety. There's a bakery and pizza parlor in addition to the food court.
Buses are regular and French Quarter is the first stop. Also the first stop coming back from the parks.
You can take a boat to and from downtown Disney.
Finally, it has a really cool pool! My daughter is 16 and still loves the slide.
My family and I give it two thumbs up! :sohappy:

 

[iconjunkie]

I haven't stayed seven times... just once, but I thought it was great!

Besides the fact that it's fun to ride the boat to Downtown Disney, it's such a nice layout for a resort (and you can visit Riverside if you want). I loved the food and the pool too.

Definitely a great choice to upgrade to.

 

[stratman50th]

I don't know how they feel about posting photos in this forum, but here are some pictures of the general architecture of the resort area, the walk along the river, and the pool. The first two are of the building 4 courtyard area that look kind of hazy. I walked out of the room and the lens was cool from the AC, and it was very humid out. Instant fog!

Just a general shot of one of the buildings........

River walk...........

Pool.........

 

[Tinkerbell 8]

I have stayed there twice, once back in the day when it was dixie landings, and once back in 2008. My DH and i LOVED it. We had a room right on the water, we were close to the pool and pretty close to the main building. The food was good, and buses ran pretty often. It was nice that we were the first stop going to and coming back from the park. It was also nice that we could take the boat to DTD. I would love to stay there again. Have a great time!!!

 

[oommggitskait]

I'll be staying there in August for the first time in probably 10 years or so. But I remember liking it as a child.
I CAN say that they are either in the process, or close to finished refurbing the rooms there. I believe they have upgraded the full sized beds to queens, changed the comfortors, put in flat screens, changed the bathrooms a bit, got rid of the pedestal sinks and made it a larger vanity. I've seen pictures and it looks very nice!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

We've stayed twice and loved it both times. We've been in buildings 2 & 5, I think, on opposite sides of the pool. Loved it both times. Very comfortable resort. Even my sons think it feels like "home". Not a major detail for a lot of folks but we find the laundry room at POFQ to be the best we've used on-property (above POP, Contemporary, AKL, & Poly).

 

[corey154]

All rooms should be refurbed by end of April with Queen size beds :sohappy:

We stayed there several times and LOVE it b/c the small size of the resort, the boat ride to DTD, the pool slide and the quietness of the resort vs the madness of values. My hubby doesn't really like Disney, but he likes the FQ. I'll be honest though, before my daughter was big enough to enjoy the slide, she liked Pop better, b/c the theme and she liked the crowds, to her the atmosphere was more fun.

Have fun!

 

[Poofiesdream]

Stayed there at least 10 times. Its our favorite resort. Layed back and quiet. Love the boat to Downtown Disney and don't forget Elliot Dyson preforming in the lounge in the evenings, he's great!! Going back March 26th for a long weekend. My son even proposed to his now wife there!

 

[StitchMom84]

My family now won't stay anywhere else! We were going stay at the Wilderness Lodge on our next visit ( I wanted to be really close to the MK), but they nixed the idea.
It's usually a very quiet and laid back atmosphere. Really nice after being in a hot, crowded park all day long. The CM's there reflect the theme of the resort too...polite and laid back. It's like being in another world if you allow yourself to become immersed in the spirit of the place.
As others have mentioned, great bus service. Empty busses pick you up and you're the first drop off on the way back. Depending on the crowds and season, the busses may or may not pick up folks at Riverside too.
Love the boat ride to DTD past the Treehouse Villas. The pool is nice and laundry facilites are very clean and well maintained.
Food court has good choices too.
When the refurb is completed, the rooms will have queen beds ( which was about the only negative thing we ever felt about the place).
I always try to plan at least one day to just hang out by the pool and enjoying walking around the place when we're there just because we enjoy it so much. Hope your stay is fun and that you enjoy it as much as we do!

 

[Diehard4Disney]

Stayed at FQ once or twice many years ago. As everyone else has said it's a great resort and we found it very relaxing. We tend to stay at Riverside most often now but the Port Orleans (both FQ and Riverside) properties are outstanding. The ferry to Downtown Disney is an excellent perk as well!!! Love it everytime we go!! Hope you have a fantastic stay there!

 

[pixiegurl]

We've stayed there several times and LOVED IT! We are going back again in October. We tried Riverside our last visit and found out just how spoiled we had been at French Quarter.

 

[Sassagoula-Rvr]

I will say, I have stayed at Value, I have stayed at Deluxe....and I ALWAYS come back to POFQ....I don't even look at other places anymore. Something about it just fits with me and my family. The Deluxe are nice no doubt and I am not saying they're bad by any means....but French Quarter just has a different feel to it.

I would be more than happy to answer any questions about French quarter if you wish to PM me!

And to the poster above that said they tried Riverside...me too....nowhere near French Quarter in my opinion!!

I mean I have grown pretty attached to the resort as you can see in my av and Username

 

[tink65]

Thank you all so much for your responses! It looks like I've chosen the right resort! I am so excited to experience FQ for the first time and can't wait to see the expression on my familys' face when they find out where we're staying!:sohappy: Thanks again for all your help! Sassagoula-Rvr, thanks for the PM information you've shared! I appreciate all of you!

 

[stratman50th]

I will say, I have stayed at Value, I have stayed at Deluxe....and I ALWAYS come back to POFQ....I don't even look at other places anymore. Something about it just fits with me and my family. The Deluxe are nice no doubt and I am not saying they're bad by any means....but French Quarter just has a different feel to it.

I would be more than happy to answer any questions about French quarter if you wish to PM me!

And to the poster above that said they tried Riverside...me too....nowhere near French Quarter in my opinion!!

I mean I have grown pretty attached to the resort as you can see in my av and Username

We're kind of the same way. I've done the Contemporary once and the Poly 3 times. We do like the Poly for room size, monorail and TTC access to the parks, as well as Old Key West and the Tree House Villas but I still keep gravitating back to the Port Orleans. Oh and for what it's worth, if I write Dixie Landings and Port Orleans it isn't even worth trying to correct me. It's so ingrained in my head I will never be able to change it. Just like Hollywood Studios will always be MGM to me.
Like Sassagoula-Rvr offered, feel free to PM me also if you have any questions. Always glad to talk Disney and provide an opinion. Hell, I have free long distance, I'll even call you if it requires too much writing!

Oh yeah, here's one more photo for your viewing pleasure, (or not :lol only because I took the time to drag them out and take the picture.
Old school port Orleans mug!

And before any arguing starts, when we purchased these back in the day, it was free refills at any self service on the property for life. Before the policy change.

 

[EvilQueen-T]

we've stayed three times and have a fourth trip booked for just after thanksgiving. we love the fact that even if you're in the buildings farthest away from the main building it's still such a short walk. it makes it easy to get to/from the food court, pool, general store, and bus stop. the staff has always been great. when we were there on our last trip (1st week of december 2010) we only once shared a bus with por and that was leaving mk after emh and it was at the point when they start combining resorts to get the last stragglers out so we had a direct b-line to all the parks. the only thing i rank above staying at this resort is when we can stay at the poly or gf again.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Old school port Orleans mug!

I would pay big bucks for a set of 4 of these. Seriously. And I promise not to ever take them back to WDW.

 

[Thorpyness]

Make sure you go up to Riverside one evening to check out Yee Haa Bob in the river roost lounge. The shop is larger up there ars well.
If you get at that end, then it's really not much further.


We've stayed in Riverside twice and used French Quarter facilities for variety. (as well as riversides), and it's great.

 

[stratman50th]

I would pay big bucks for a set of 4 of these. Seriously. And I promise not to ever take them back to WDW.

I have 6 of them, but would never let them go.
We really do take them back with us every time, and they mean something to us as they're from back in the day when the mugs were specific to a particular resort, not one generic for all.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I have 6 of them, but would never let them go.
We really do take them back with us every time, and they mean something to us as they're from back in the day when the mugs were specific to a particular resort, not one generic for all.

I don't blame you. You should totally treasure them! I generally check eBay for resort mugs at random intervals. I have a bunch of POP ones from the grand opening. I'd like to have some from the Contemporary, AKL, & POFQ also. :wave: