Port Orleans French Quarter FAQ thread - Refurbished for 2011 - Now CLOSED

[wallawallakids]

In 2001 I made my first family trip to WDW with my small children and my wife. That was before I was Disney crazy. I was not in favor of going. I was told that I had to make the trip by my wife. I argued that it was too early, our children were too young. They would not remember the trip. I thought it cost too much. Back then all we could afford was the All Stars. I was an obedient husband and did as my wife instructed. I made the reservations. I don't think she understood what she was getting into. We stayed at All Stars Music that first trip. We all loved the time we spent at WDW and vowed to return, which we have many times now. We went back to All Stars Music one more time the next year. During that trip, my wife and I toured other resorts and tried to see if we wanted to stay somewhere else. I had noticed the subtle differences in Budget to Mod to Deluxe and thought we might enjoy a bump up to at least mod. POFQ was closed at that time for refurb which bothered me as that was the main hotel I wanted to check out. It sounded so great in the stuff I had read. We did make it to many deluxes and to POR. We agreed that we really liked POR and that we would stay there. As I prepped to make a reservation, suddenly POFQ came open as they finished refurb earlier than expected. I made a reservation there without having ever seen the place. That was evidently an fateful thing. POFQ has become our home resort. We have stayed there many times. We have stayed at WL villas, POFQ and as mentioned earlier ASMu as well. Nothing seems to beat the love we have for POFQ. There is simply something about this place for us. It is "Disney Home" to us. We just would not feel the same staying elsewhere. This became really very evident last June when we went to POR as POFQ had no rooms available. While we had a good trip, the fact that we were not in POFQ was a bummer to some degree. The place is just awesome. Quiet and laidback. The river in the back of the property is soothing. The grounds are beautiful and the architecture is interesting. The pool, though there is only one, is huge and never really crowded. The boat access to DTD is a great perk. The bus service is the best we have had on property though bus service is up and down everywhere at some point. It has been the best to us more consistently than any other resort we have stayed at. The food court is very good having some surprisingly good southern favorites that I simply would not have expected being from Georgia. We have created some of the greatest memories at this resort.

Sorry for the long post. I am simply remembering past vacations and missing the place. We will be going back next year and we plan to have a blow out Disney year with AP's and the whole nine yards. We went last year ...like four times on a previous Disney blow out year. I want to miss it again. I already do as you can tell here , but I want to really miss it. You know what I mean. The Dis is just the therapy I need to carry me over to 2013. The kids are getting older and I have worried that they may lose that Disney magic. So far signs are....NOT A CHANCE!! They are still Disney nuts just like me.Thanks guys!

What a lovely write up! You make POFQ sound beautiful, romantic, and lovely. I hope 2013 is the BEST Disney year ever for all of you! Thanks for making me excited to have my first stay at POFQ in May.

 

[Cinderella's slipper]

Nothing seems to beat the love we have for POFQ. There is simply something about this place for us. It is "Disney Home" to us. We just would not feel the same staying elsewhere. This became really very evident last June when we went to POR as POFQ had no rooms available. While we had a good trip, the fact that we were not in POFQ was a bummer to some degree. The place is just awesome. Quiet and laidback. The river in the back of the property is soothing. The grounds are beautiful and the architecture is interesting. The pool, though there is only one, is huge and never really crowded. The boat access to DTD is a great perk. The bus service is the best we have had on property though bus service is up and down everywhere at some point. It has been the best to us more consistently than any other resort we have stayed at. The food court is very good having some surprisingly good southern favorites that I simply would not have expected being from Georgia. We have created some of the greatest memories at this resort.

Sorry for the long post. I am simply remembering past vacations and missing the place!

Thanks so much for your post. I am missing POFQ . During our most recent trip in Sept 2011 we stayed at POFQ; however, this time there is no free dining or room discounts available for October travel, so we are staying at Pop. I'm trying not to be disappointed that we aren't staying at POFQ - it is Disney, after all

 

[moozle]

In 2001 I made my first family trip to WDW with my small children and my wife. That was before I was Disney crazy. I was not in favor of going. I was told that I had to make the trip by my wife. I argued that it was too early, our children were too young. They would not remember the trip. I thought it cost too much. Back then all we could afford was the All Stars. I was an obedient husband and did as my wife instructed. I made the reservations. I don't think she understood what she was getting into. We stayed at All Stars Music that first trip. We all loved the time we spent at WDW and vowed to return, which we have many times now. We went back to All Stars Music one more time the next year. During that trip, my wife and I toured other resorts and tried to see if we wanted to stay somewhere else. I had noticed the subtle differences in Budget to Mod to Deluxe and thought we might enjoy a bump up to at least mod. POFQ was closed at that time for refurb which bothered me as that was the main hotel I wanted to check out. It sounded so great in the stuff I had read. We did make it to many deluxes and to POR. We agreed that we really liked POR and that we would stay there. As I prepped to make a reservation, suddenly POFQ came open as they finished refurb earlier than expected. I made a reservation there without having ever seen the place. That was evidently an fateful thing. POFQ has become our home resort. We have stayed there many times. We have stayed at WL villas, POFQ and as mentioned earlier ASMu as well. Nothing seems to beat the love we have for POFQ. There is simply something about this place for us. It is "Disney Home" to us. We just would not feel the same staying elsewhere. This became really very evident last June when we went to POR as POFQ had no rooms available. While we had a good trip, the fact that we were not in POFQ was a bummer to some degree. The place is just awesome. Quiet and laidback. The river in the back of the property is soothing. The grounds are beautiful and the architecture is interesting. The pool, though there is only one, is huge and never really crowded. The boat access to DTD is a great perk. The bus service is the best we have had on property though bus service is up and down everywhere at some point. It has been the best to us more consistently than any other resort we have stayed at. The food court is very good having some surprisingly good southern favorites that I simply would not have expected being from Georgia. We have created some of the greatest memories at this resort.

Sorry for the long post. I am simply remembering past vacations and missing the place. We will be going back next year and we plan to have a blow out Disney year with AP's and the whole nine yards. We went last year ...like four times on a previous Disney blow out year. I want to miss it again. I already do as you can tell here , but I want to really miss it. You know what I mean. The Dis is just the therapy I need to carry me over to 2013. The kids are getting older and I have worried that they may lose that Disney magic. So far signs are....NOT A CHANCE!! They are still Disney nuts just like me.Thanks guys!

We have only stayed at POFQ twice so far (but our third trip there is booked for this December), but we feel the same way. It feels like home. We stayed at the Ft. Wilderness cabins one year, and while it was great, it was just different. We missed the small intimate feel, how easy it was to get a bus, the jester that greets the kids every morning ... all of it! It's definitely our favorite resort. And since we travel in December when it's usually chilly, we've never even used any of the Disney pools, so it doesn't matter to me if they have 1 or 10.

 

[slyster]

It's great reading these posts...makes me glad I picked POFQ

I do have a question I hope someone can answer. Does anyone know if the outdoor movies have subtitles/captioning? I'm asking because my partner is deaf and relies on captioning/subtitles.

Normally I would think it wouldn't be, but Disney seems really on top of accessibility so I figured it's worth asking

 

[mommytominnie]

Does anyone know how long the courtyard refurb will be? We are thinking of booking in August and just wanted to be prepared if the refurb would still be going on then. Thanks

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

How does POFQ compare to Wilderness Lodge? Has anyone stayed at both?

 

[andrewilley]

Could anyone at POFQ at the moment let us know whether the lobby courtyard work is all complete now?

Andre

 

[KDilly]

How does POFQ compare to Wilderness Lodge? Has anyone stayed at both?

And where does it rank overall?

-KD

 

[Bearybear]

How does POFQ compare to Wilderness Lodge? Has anyone stayed at both?

I've never stayed at WL, but I've stayed at CR and AKL, and honestly, we all like POFQ better. The Contemporary was nice because we could walk to MK, but we liked the smaller, more intimate feeling of POFQ. And while we liked being able to see the animals at Animal Kingdom Lodge, we liked the better buses at POFQ. The newly remodeled rooms were very comfortable.

 

[pixarmom]

Could anyone at POFQ at the moment let us know whether the lobby courtyard work is all complete now?

Andre

We'd love to hear about the current status of the courtyard! We're arriving at POFQ in 12 days, and we usually don't mind renovations at all, but this is our first POFQ stay, so it would be nice to see it in its usual form!

 

[strawberrylilacs]

We will be arriving 12:30 on Easter morning. Somewhere FQ is listed as a resort doing a little something for Easter. Does anyone know what and when that would be?

 

[annmarieda]

How does POFQ compare to Wilderness Lodge? Has anyone stayed at both?

Have never stayed at POFQ... I have stayed POR and WL.

POR is pretty spread out (where as if I understand it and what I remember about walking around POFQ. it really isn't) WL is not spread out.

WL has the balconies where POR and POFQ do not.

WL has the closet where the POR and POFQ have just the rail to hang items on.

All now have queen beds and the refrigerators, right?

Overall, I only really preferred WL for the proximity to MK, the interior corridors and the balcony. I didn't feel the room was much bigger (although the extra dresser is nice and the actual closet)

I preferred the food court at POR (and yes, I realize the one at POFQ is smaller...but not smaller than RF at WL.

I preferred the grounds at POR/POFQ. Of course, I didn't really walk around WL. My walks were between our room and the buss stop or the boat dock and then to the pool.

I also think that POR/POFQ is more centrally located. I could be wrong. While WL is definitely close to MK, it isn't close to the other parks. I realize most resorts take a while to get to AK, but WL seemed that much further away.

So while I enjoyed our stay at WL, I am very very excited to stay at POFQ on our next visit!

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

Have never stayed at POFQ... I have stayed POR and WL.

POR is pretty spread out (where as if I understand it and what I remember about walking around POFQ. it really isn't) WL is not spread out.

WL has the balconies where POR and POFQ do not.

WL has the closet where the POR and POFQ have just the rail to hang items on.

All now have queen beds and the refrigerators, right?

Overall, I only really preferred WL for the proximity to MK, the interior corridors and the balcony. I didn't feel the room was much bigger (although the extra dresser is nice and the actual closet)

I preferred the food court at POR (and yes, I realize the one at POFQ is smaller...but not smaller than RF at WL.

I preferred the grounds at POR/POFQ. Of course, I didn't really walk around WL. My walks were between our room and the buss stop or the boat dock and then to the pool.

I also think that POR/POFQ is more centrally located. I could be wrong. While WL is definitely close to MK, it isn't close to the other parks. I realize most resorts take a while to get to AK, but WL seemed that much further away.

So while I enjoyed our stay at WL, I am very very excited to stay at POFQ on our next visit!

Thank you for the info so there is no closet at pofq??? That is odd.

 

[annmarieda]

Thank you for the info so there is no closet at pofq??? That is odd.

There is an area... next to the sinks. Someone correct me if I am wrong. However, it does not have doors on it. There is the privacy curtain that separate the sink area from the rest of the room... but not an actual door on a closet. So while at WL, you walk into the room and have that little corridor with the dresser and then the closet with doors that are across from the sinks..and the sinks are on the same wall that the beds are on... POFQ, the beds are on the same wall as the tub with the rail to hang clothing on the opposite wall in the sink area...and the sinks are opposite the door to the room. (if that makes any sense I know I am not explaining that well and I am sure there is someone who can do it better.)

 

[dawgfan]

I have stayed at WL and POFQ. The theme is the central difference. POFQ is more tropical and open. It has good bus service. At times it has had the best bus service on WDW property. It has a food court but no restaurant. The grounds are lush and inviting. They are inviting to a walk around the resort with streets lined with oaks and crepe myrtles. Gas lamps and wrought iron invoke the spirit of New Orleans. It has a good store with everything you may need though at high prices. This is no different from any WDW property. It is close to all parks and a short bus ride to any of the parks. The rooms are nice and roomy enough. It is less of a hotel lay out in design. The pool appeals highly to small children and less to teens though teens may like it as well. Adults would like the pool but adults with small children will enjoy it more. The resort has boat service to DTD and all the shopping and restaurants there. The boat ride is relaxing and enjoyable. Bell service is good. The staff is very good. The food court is large enough and has good food.

WL has a hotel lay out in design. The parking lot can he a hike though they have valet parking and good bell service off set this to some degree. The main pool is more enjoyable to teens and adults than small children though they may like it as well. There are two pools. Ducks often roam freely within the pool. In Spring mother ducks bring their ducklings to the pool to stay away from predators. There are two on site restaurants. Artist Point is a signature restaurant that is excellent and not to be missed. The grounds are beautiful though not as inviting for a stroll due to the hotel lay out. Boat service is available to MK. The bus service is good but POFQ may have a bit better. The theme is Northwest lodge and the whole place is made of hewn logs. This theme does not seem to be the norm to me for a Florida summer vacation, though at Christmas it would be my main choice as the theme goes that way for me. Spring Break is when we have stayed at WL and for some reason the theme did not really factor in that time of the year so much. I suppose I am just weird that way.

Both resorts are great and you really can't go wrong with either one. POFQ has the best theme and location for me.

 

[Backstage_Gal]

We will be arriving 12:30 on Easter morning. Somewhere FQ is listed as a resort doing a little something for Easter. Does anyone know what and when that would be?

There will be a Character Meet&Greet from 8:30 to 10 and a candy scramble for the kids at 9am

 

[strawberrylilacs]

There will be a Character Meet&Greet from 8:30 to 10 and a candy scramble for the kids at 9am

Great Info! thanks Backstage Gal!

 

[andrewilley]

We will be arriving 12:30 on Easter morning. Somewhere FQ is listed as a resort doing a little something for Easter. Does anyone know what and when that would be?

I'll post a full schedule for Easter Sunday for both POR and POFQ next week, but there will be lots going on all day.

Andre

 

[DMGeurts]

Thank you for the info so there is no closet at pofq??? That is odd.

There is a closet - sort of - just no doors on it. It has the pole and the shelf. It's located in the sink area...

I have pictures to post of it in my TR - but I don't have them uploaded yet. I am sure that Andre has some on his POR/POFQ tribute site though.

D~

 

[BridgetR3]

Question about the POFQ menu at Sassagoula -

Some websites show Dinner only items like these -

DINNER ONLY

Pot Roast $9.79
Jambalaya $9.49
Barbecue Rib Dinner $10.49
Fried Chicken $9.49
Chicken and Rib Combo $13.99
Pork Chop $9.49


And some don't. Can anyone who has been there recently confirm this one way or the other??? Also, does anyone have pictures of any of these items? THANKS!!!