Disappointed in Port Orleans French Quarter

[carmiedog]

Just got back from a week stay there and loved the grounds and found it clean. Our only big issue was the food court service (slow! and I don't like the organization).

One of my sons has a nice rash/hives all over his neck that started yesterday morning, and my daughter has had some sort of rash in various places and what could be bites or another allergic reaction on her face. But I can't attribute anything definitively to bedbugs...could just as easily be chiggers or reaction to their laundry detergent or whatever. We were in building 2.

Buses were pretty good, as was the boat MOST of the time. We did get stuck at the dock once waiting for quite a bit. We were told that when it loads at one dock they try and leave spaces open (10? 15?) for the next stop since it services both FQ and Riverside. Some people got on at Riverside and said they'd be getting off at FQ so the driver let them on. Of course when they got to our dock they conveniently changed their minds and stayed on to DTD, which meant no room for FQ people. They did get some more boats there pretty quickly to get all us cranky FQ people on.

 

[DISNEYDADINOREGON]

Just got back very early this am....We liked this resort but the busses because of going to Riverside and all the stops are bad...but not as bad as CB!!!! I had room 2136 which is right by the pool and boat dock. We went to Riverside yesterday and went in the pool and rented a sea-racer and I think I would like this part better because the pool is better and better amenities (recreation, restaurants...) But the riverside looks really spead out...every resort has a down side... Boats run from DTD and Riverside every 20 min. and after 4:00pm till 11:30pm every 10 min. I think we did wait 20 min a couple of times...Just the run of the luck...

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

We didn't like our stay at POFQ either and wil def. never be back. We had a lot of the same problems you did minus the bed bugs.

 

[villiansRus]

Just Returned From Our Trip To Disney On Sunday Evening. We Stayed At The French Quarter Thursday - Sunday. We Go To Disney 3 Times A Year And This Was Our First Time At The French Quarter. We Love Disney And Pretty Much Have Loved All The Resorts We Have Stayed In. We Did Not Feel That French Quarter Was Worth The Money We Payed.

Pros:
1. Our Kids Loved The Pool Area.
2. We Were Close To The Dining Area

Cons:
1. This Place Was Filthy! It Was Busy This Weekend But The Place Was Dirty. The Food Court Was Always Messy And Housekeeping Always Kept There Big Buckets In The Walkways. (all Day)

2. Bed Bugs - We All Woke Up Every Morning With Bug Bites. My Sister-in-law And Her Family Stayed There As Well. They Had Bites Too.

3. Transportation - We Waited Forever For Buses And Boats. We Were The Only Ones To Board The Mgm Bus And We Must Of Waited 35 Minutes For It. We Also Waited On The Dtd Boat For Over 30 Minutes. Boats Would Come But They Would Say They Were Going To Riverside Only. When We Were In Dtd We Waited 25 Minutes For A Bus To Come And Take Us Back To The Resort.

Here Is A List Of Places We Have Stayed:
Wilderness Lodge
Riverside
Carribean Beach
Pop Century
Poly

Please Do Not Think I Am Picky, I Just Was Not Happy With This Resort.

After reading this thread, I'm a bit nervous about our upcoming stay.

 

[Minnie&Nana]

I thought I read that bed bug bites do not show up right away, but take a few days - will check and post again.

As other posters have said, hope you checked the matresses carefully and reported it to the manager immediately - they could have had housekeeping check your room for bedbugs and move you - they would even have moved you to another resort of FQ was full at the time.

So sorry it was not a good visit. Resorts are a pretty personal choice, so at least you know where not to stay next visit!

 

[momtoBrandon&Jacob]

Another vote for FQ. We stayed there in April and LOVED it. Can't wait to get back. The kids loved the pool, the slide, the food court, the boat, the gift shop. It was so easy to get around because everything is close together and compact. Once we were at the bus stop and realized we forgot our misting fan. My husband went back to our room and got back to the bus stop in under 5 minutes. We can't imagine staying anywhere else!

 

[KingdomHearts]

The only good thing I can say about this resort is that I love the grounds, other then that we hated it. We will never stay there again!! It was dirty, smelled like pee in the main building, the staff was rude, and we all got sick from the food court! But we have only stayed there one time, so I am hoping that we caught it on a bad round, but it will take a lot for us to go back!

 

[Shoshana]

Bed bugs are increasingly common in the US, due in part to international travel and their growing resistance to the typical pesticides. It is extremely difficult to erradicate bed begs and they can live for one full year without feeding. Bed bugs usually bite in a linear pattern, e.g., you'd have a straight line of multiple bites. If there were bed bugs in a hotel room, chances are you brought them home with you. To check for bed bugs, examine the mattress, including the seams, and look for small dark stains. Fortunately, I've never slept with a bed bug, but I just read an article about them today!

I'm sorry your stay there was not a good one.

 

[Big O]

I am soooooo glad someone else had a similar experience with POR. It is the absolute WORST Disney resort imaginable and should be the first candidate for bulldozing. I was beginning to think I was picky because everyone else raved about this place. HELLO?! The public areas were outrageous! I mean building 14 should be bulldozed first. Didn't have to worry about housekeeping coming because the one and only day we stayed they called us and asked when we were leaving the room so they could come in to clean it. Not the Disney touch I was used to. It always seemed like there were Disney fairies the just made housekeeping happen. My daughter and I went to the public vending area down the hall from room 1462; it was 10PM'ish. At that late hour I would expect to see spilled soda, gum on the ground, cigarette bucks and so forth. But when do the cleaning fairies come around? By 11AM the next morning, when we decided to vacate this "paradise", it was no better. The pool, during our 20 hour stay, should have been closed and also CLEANED. The water was murky, I told my kids to get out of it. There was somekind of brown, oily smear along the tile in the area that I hung out in.

I was totally grossed out. We exited our three day stay after 20 hours and no one at the front desk seemed to care. No one inquired why were were leaving two days early, not even the front manager who had to help the cashier with our refund. As a matter of fact the Disney resort on whole did not care one bit when I wrote to them complaining about the resort. I was amazed at how Disney standards had changed from the 80's when I used to stay at the Club Lake Villas in Lake Buena Vista where they used to wash the sidewalks everywhere during the middle of the night.

 

[Allison]

I am soooooo glad someone else had a similar experience with POR. .

This thread is about POFQ.

 

[3DisneyBuggs]

i wish I never reread this thread. OP ifyou're
still reading did you ever contact the front desk about the bedbugs?

 

[kaytieeldr]

You're right, of course, Allison, but I do want to address a couple of the issues in Big O's post anyway.

Didn't have to worry about housekeeping coming because the one and only day we stayed they called us and asked when we were leaving the room so they could come in to clean it.

In all my life, in all my travels, to various destinations, I have never ever ever experienced Housekeeping CALLING me on a day I was not scheduled to check out, to see when I was vacating a room. Now, if I was checking out, either as scheduled or having notified the Front Desk of an early departure, that'd be different - but it appears the poster checked out BY going to the Front Desk, so how would Housekeeping know the room should be vacated?

The pool, during our 20 hour stay, should have been closed and also CLEANED. The water was murky, I told my kids to get out of it. There was somekind of brown, oily smear along the tile in the area that I hung out in.

No connection, of course.

I was amazed at how Disney standards had changed from the 80's when I used to stay at the Club Lake Villas in Lake Buena Vista where they used to wash the sidewalks everywhere during the middle of the night.

Club Lake Villas? There was a Disney resort with that name in the 1980s (or, ever)? New one on me. Anyway, my experience at every Disney resort when I've been awake early enough is, Disney does wash down at least the walkways outside the Moderate/Value rooms. I'd think they do the same in the vending areas, given that I've never seen one messy.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Sorry to haer about your experience. We have stayed at POFQ many, many times and always loved it. We will be staying there again in December.

 

[ADisneygirl]

I'm sorry to hear that you didn't like the FQ. I liked it when I stayed there, but if I had bed bugs my opinion would have changed! Of course, I would have hated any resort where I found bed bugs. eww.

As for those housekeeping carts, I agree. I hate to see them. I know they have 1000's of rooms to clean. But I just hate seeing them parked all about, esp. when it seems they are all on a break somewhere. Disney should have an alcove or little area here and there to push these out of sight. Some people have down days at the resorts where they are not at the parks. Seeing those big carts in front of your door for hours takes away some of the magic.

 

[LimeGreenEd]

After reading this thread, I'm a bit nervous about our upcoming stay.

Have been to POFQ 5 times since 1997. All resorts have their ups and downs, but overall I've been very pleased. It only takes one bad CM to give you a bad impression of anything.

 

[Lovinlifesooomuch30]

Wow, I am sorry to hear this. I haven't stayed at POFQ but thought I wanted to one of these days. We have never had troubles with bed bugs. I ALWAYS check the mattresses in the creases etc to make sure that there aren't any....I am very picky and Disney is no different in my eyes. I have been happy with every single room that we have stayed in at Disney. Next time if you have a suspicion that there are bed bugs in your room you need to vacate. You should not feel as though you can't leave. I would NEVER stay in a room in that situation....Disney or otherwise. I hope your next trip is much better. That is so disappointing !

 

[DisneyHolidayFan]

All I can say is... if I had bug bites on Morning Number 1, I would have NOT been in the same room for Morning Number 2.

Sadie

I AGREE!!!!!

 

[Luv2CDisney]

Did the OP ever answer about what the management did when they reported it?

 

[branv]

Just goes to show as a poster on pg 1 said - I really liked POFQ and HAAAAATED Pop Century. But I remember when I wrote about things I didn't like, I had the same responses of "well we were there the same time and saw NONE of what you're talking about" I dunno, like I simply made it up? So I want to be very careful about saying that to you OP We did have a better experience than you, sorry to say. I do hope you complained about the bed bugs, but if the other poster is right about bed bug bites not showing up for a few days, could it be that you guys just got into a mess of chiggers? So very common in the south in the summer, and if you use Google images to see how chigger and bed bug bites look, they look a lot alike. But it is troubling how prolific bed bugs are becoming...even the nicest hotels get them The other poster is right. If you did have them in your room, you very likely could have brought them home with you. Be sure to check your luggage, etc.

I honestly never had probs with the busses, but the boats were pretty slow. I just assumed that was the nature of them...they're more about the scenery and "going slow" than busses, so shouldn't be considered fast modes of transportation.

I never did like the food court at POFQ. We always received terrible, from indifferent to rude (so many times I watched the CM's socializing, slewing side glances at me, while I waited for someone acknowledge I was standing there ) service, and the food was gross. But I know I'm a food snob, so that's to be expected

But at least you now can say you've stayed there! Sometimes it's even harder when you have too many resorts you like. Too many choices!

P.S. to the poster that said the price was too high for what it was. I think that's something anyone can generally say about all the WDW resorts. I mean goodness gracious, you can stay at one amazing hotel for $400 night, WAY better looking and better amenities than the Poly, but then you wouldn't be able to walk a few feet to stare MK in the face every day when you get up and before you go to bed Location, location, location.

 

[disphoto]

As for dirty food courts, that is usually a guest problem. I don't blame Disney when people are too lazy to pick up a plate and put it in the trash. Sure, CM's need to wipe the tables, but if everyone threw their own trash away, places wouldn't look so dirty.