Port Orleans French Qtrs versus Contemporary Garden Wing

[kthornton]

I am debating about booking two rooms at Port Orleans "French Quarters" or one room at the Contemporary "Garden Wing". I am not sure which way to go. What is everyones thoughts ? Should I stay at the contemporay garden wing or book two rooms at the french quarters ? Thank you for your help.

 

[BostonMousetoo]

I have a related question that I thought I would post here instead of starting a new thread. We booked at French Quarter for February, but heard from a friend who just stayed there that their room was run down and dirty as was the entire resort.

We have stayed at French Quarter in the past and thought it was great, but it's been a few years and was wondering if it's gone down hill a bit and is in need of some TLC.

Has anyone stayed at French Quarter recently that could tell me if it's looking a little beat or if my friend just happened to have some bad luck?

 

[KimK2006]

We love POFQ. It is our favorite moderate. (My DD14 prefers it to WL and AKL.) It's been about a year and a half since we stayed there, but we have never found it run down. That being said, the convenience of the monorail at the CR would be great. I think I would prefer the extra "room" to be the big bonus at POFQ. Everyone trying to get ready in one room can be a chore!

 

[mdrob214]

I had a room booked for last July at POFQ and upgraded to CR-GW just 3 days before my trip. I still want to stay @ POFQ someday, but the CR was great! I loved the proximity to MK--it was truly wonderful to just walk over. BUT I didn't get to spend any time in DTD, really, and missed that part of not being at POFQ. I guess I'm not much help. Just that both resorts have so much going for them! For us, it was the extra space and that daybed. We are a family of 4, but my DD15 and DS12 don't like to sleep together.

 

[TJA]

I would personally choose CR. I like the large rooms at CR, Chef Mickeys, California Grill, monorail to Epcot, walking path to MK, and to be able to watch Wishes from CR.

 

[If U Had Wings]

I stayed at POFQ last September, and our room was fine. We were actually told that they had some renovations going on during our stay as well.

I would chose POFQ in a heartbeat. I love being able to take walks around the grounds, and I love the small size of the resort. CR themeing doesn't appeal to me as well.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I would go with the Contemporary because you will be getting a much bigger room, it's overall location right next door to the Magic Kingdom, Monorail access, the walkway to the Magic Kingdom and it's a location that always has a lot of great atmosphere.

 

[KatMark]

We've never stayed at POFQ, but we've visited numerous times and it is a beautiful resort. We've stayed at the CR a couple of times. While there were no major complaints with the CR, we would pick the POFQ over the CR. You will have hit or miss on transportation issues (we find the monorail overrated in many instances--the last three years we've had issues every time we've used it...last year waiting 15 minutes for a monorail to go from the Poly to the Magic Kingdom); the food court at the POFQ is very good and you also have the boat to Downtown Disney. And, being a sister resort of the POR, you can use their pool as well.

If location is a big concern of yours, then you might want to choose the CR. Location plays no role in our decision as we always rent a car and drive everywhere. I'd rather "enjoy" and feel "comfortable" at my resort then worry about location.

 

[TillyMarigold]

I have a related question that I thought I would post here instead of starting a new thread. We booked at French Quarter for February, but heard from a friend who just stayed there that their room was run down and dirty as was the entire resort.

We have stayed at French Quarter in the past and thought it was great, but it's been a few years and was wondering if it's gone down hill a bit and is in need of some TLC.

Has anyone stayed at French Quarter recently that could tell me if it's looking a little beat or if my friend just happened to have some bad luck?

Bet you $5 your friend stayed in building 4, also known as The Building Everyone Wants. Every complaint I've seen about the rooms being dingy has been from that building. Yet every time someone posts and asks "Where should I stay?" everyone tells them to stay in building 4. It's ridiculous--the resort is tiny, it's not like an extra 2 minutes' walk to the bus is going to kill you (in most cases--I know there are a relatively small number of people who need to be that close for medical reasons).

One evening when we were hanging out in our room in building 1 last month with nothing to do, I spent 20 minutes looking over the entire room as closely as I could (out of curiosity because there are so many complaints), and I couldn't find any signs of wear *at all*. No scratches or dents on the furniture, no faded or worn patches in the bedding or carpet, no chipped paint, no cracked tiles, nothing. The only thing that was the least bit old-looking was the television (and that was just because it was a regular CRT instead of being a flat panel).

We didn't notice any wear in the rest of the resort, either, but we didn't look at any of the rest of it that closely.

 

[TillyMarigold]

That said, to the OP, I would still choose the Contemporary if it was in my budget. Location over atmosphere every time.

 

[dizct]

Ha ha, we're staying 1st time at POFQ in January '10 and I would pick the CR! Can't beat the location. Even if we love the POFQ, I doubt our opinion would change. We really liked CBR, but would pick CR over it too.

 

[crazy4wdw]

I have a related question that I thought I would post here instead of starting a new thread. We booked at French Quarter for February, but heard from a friend who just stayed there that their room was run down and dirty as was the entire resort.

We have stayed at French Quarter in the past and thought it was great, but it's been a few years and was wondering if it's gone down hill a bit and is in need of some TLC.

Has anyone stayed at French Quarter recently that could tell me if it's looking a little beat or if my friend just happened to have some bad luck?

I just returned from POFQ (10/17-10/25). I did not have any problems with the cleanliness of the room. The housekeeping staff were very diligent about keeping the room clean. I also had several towel animals in the room on different days.

 

[crazy4wdw]

I am debating about booking two rooms at Port Orleans "French Quarters" or one room at the Contemporary "Garden Wing". I am not sure which way to go. What is everyones thoughts ? Should I stay at the contemporay garden wing or book two rooms at the french quarters ? Thank you for your help.

In terms of convenience, the Contemporary can't be beat. You have front door access to the Magic Kingdom. I recently returned from POFQ. The transportation at POFQ is all on the bus system and surprisingly I did not have any major delays in using the buses. On most days, the POFQ had separate buses from POR next door. On the negative side, POFQ only has a food court which I did not think was too good nor did it offer alot of choices. The food court at Riverside is much better and Riverside also has a full service restaurant for dinner.