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

[andrewilley]

I had booked CBR for the pirate pool, but could not pass up the new princess rooms.

The newly announced 'Royal' themed rooms will be located at Riverside, not at French Quarter (yeah, I know, given Princess and the Frog's New Orleans storyline that choice doesn't make such sense to me either). Just saying anyway, in case that was what you were looking for.

Hot dogs are indeed available at the POFQ food court ($6.79 for a meal).

Andre

 

[snykymom]

I had booked CBR for the pirate pool, but could not pass up the new princess rooms.

The newly announced 'Royal' themed rooms will be located at Riverside, not at French Quarter (yeah, I know, given Princess and the Frog's New Orleans storyline that choice doesn't make such sense to me either). Just saying anyway, in case that was what you were looking for.

Also, they haven't even started on the princess rooms yet. If you're talking about your trip 3 weeks from now, or in June 2011, you're out of luck on that score as well. There's no telling that they'd even be available for June 2012!

 

[2gr8DisneyKids]

The newly announced 'Royal' themed rooms will be located at Riverside, not at French Quarter (yeah, I know, given Princess and the Frog's New Orleans storyline that choice doesn't make such sense to me either). Just saying anyway, in case that was what you were looking for.

Hot dogs are indeed available at the POFQ food court ($6.79 for a meal).

Andre

Also, they haven't even started on the princess rooms yet. If you're talking about your trip 3 weeks from now, or in June 2011, you're out of luck on that score as well. There's no telling that they'd even be available for June 2012!

AH, totally missed the 2012 part! I was kinda wondering why they were talking about March when the rooms were "done" now. Now it all is clear.

Still, the newer rooms and the confirmation of the hot dog will keep us there. The boat to DTD for Babycakes (DD has a diary allergy) is also a plus!

Thanks everyone!

I might have found decent airfare as well... hoping this all falls into place!

 

[andrewilley]

Still, the newer rooms and the confirmation of the hot dog will keep us there. The boat to DTD for Babycakes (DD has a diary allergy) is also a plus!

Don't know about your DD, I think it's you with the "diary" problems. LOL

I do like the main reason for choosing POFQ now being the availabilty of hot dogs though. Easy access to BabyCakes is a good reason regardless of any allergies anyway!

Andre

 

[KELLY]

Right now we are leainging towards a upgrade. We need the space we are going for 10 nights and pop is a tight squeeze for the 4 of us. We were leaning towards CBR for the pool. But something always draws me back to POFQ. Especially the new queen beds.

I really want a princess room for the girls but it looks like that will be next year.

 

[jeanylaser]

thanks for the Info! POFQ is quiet place for a jog!

 

[2gr8DisneyKids]

Don't know about your DD, I think it's you with the "diary" problems. LOL

I do like the main reason for choosing POFQ now being the availabilty of hot dogs though. Easy access to BabyCakes is a good reason regardless of any allergies anyway!

Andre

I think I need to just go back to bed... I am just off today with reading and typing and everything else. Must be the rain and too much Easter candy.

DD basically lives on hot dogs while at wdw so having them at the resort is a must

Thanks for all the help and info!

 

[Orleanslady]

Thanks for the info. I posted in the old thread a while back that I wondered whether they might just decide to work inwards from the other end of the resort, and leave the middle building until last - looks like that's what they're doing.

So 1, 3, 2 would now be my prediction for the order of the remaining buildings. Then, when POR starts I'm betting on Parterre Place first. It's fun trying to second-guess the way Disney thinks!

Andre

Thanks for this thread. I was sooooo happy to find it.

Had a strange thing happen when I called to ask a question about my reservation, today. I'm calming down a little after speaking to a Disney agent on the phone who insisted that Port POFQ did not have any queen sized beds and that she knew nothing at all of a refurb. I was confused and noted that I was told my 2 rooms would have queen beds in them after the refurb. Please note that our trip isn't until November 2011. The WDW agent then called POFQ for me and said that they said that my rooms probably would have queen sized beds by November if my room was refurbished.

I was confused by her knowing nothing of the refurb, so I called POFQ. The friendly young woman who took my call, also said she knew nothing of a refurb. She put me on hold and then came back and said that she knew for sure that they had redone one building (ie. building 7). Then, she said that she knew nothing of plans for Port Orleans to be redone fully. I asked if she was certain and if anyone else might be able to confirm one way or another if the the rooms was being redone and upgraded to queen beds. I was so mad at myself. I cancelled reservations at CRS to switch over to POFQ and thought I had made a big mistake by not getting the facts right. The queen sized beds were a big factor in both my choices. Anyway after holding for forever the phone went dead. I called back and eventhough I was very careful to not lose my cool had to take abuse from a very rude woman who would not answer my question. My question was "Is POFQ being refurbished. I was patient to the end and finally just asked to speak to someone who might be able to answer my question with confidence. She hung up. Then, I called back and spoke with a young woman who connected me to guest services. The woman in guest services was in disbelief that no one could say that yes POFQ was being refurbished and was almost finished. She confirmed immediately that my rooms would be queen sized beds and that POR was already under construction for a refurb. She wanted the names of everyone that I spoke to, but my head was hurting so badly that I could not recall them and I didn't want to cause trouble anyways. Just wanted clarity on what I was paying for, so that I cfould make informed choices.

Has anyone had this happen?

 

[jeanylaser]

go to www.portorleans.org they have some info!

 

[Orleanslady]

Thanks, I'm reading it now. I'm so excited about this trip. Can't wait ti see the children's faces!

 

[pwdebbie]

Thanks for this thread. I was sooooo happy to find it.

Had a strange thing happen when I called to ask a question about my reservation, today. I'm calming down a little after speaking to a Disney agent on the phone who insisted that Port POFQ did not have any queen sized beds and that she knew nothing at all of a refurb. I was confused and noted that I was told my 2 rooms would have queen beds in them after the refurb. Please note that our trip isn't until November 2011. The WDW agent then called POFQ for me and said that they said that my rooms probably would have queen sized beds by November if my room was refurbished.

I was confused by her knowing nothing of the refurb, so I called POFQ. The friendly young woman who took my call, also said she knew nothing of a refurb. She put me on hold and then came back and said that she knew for sure that they had redone one building (ie. building 7). Then, she said that she knew nothing of plans for Port Orleans to be redone fully. I asked if she was certain and if anyone else might be able to confirm one way or another if the the rooms was being redone and upgraded to queen beds. I was so mad at myself. I cancelled reservations at CRS to switch over to POFQ and thought I had made a big mistake by not getting the facts right. The queen sized beds were a big factor in both my choices. Anyway after holding for forever the phone went dead. I called back and eventhough I was very careful to not lose my cool had to take abuse from a very rude woman who would not answer my question. My question was "Is POFQ being refurbished. I was patient to the end and finally just asked to speak to someone who might be able to answer my question with confidence. She hung up. Then, I called back and spoke with a young woman who connected me to guest services. The woman in guest services was in disbelief that no one could say that yes POFQ was being refurbished and was almost finished. She confirmed immediately that my rooms would be queen sized beds and that POR was already under construction for a refurb. She wanted the names of everyone that I spoke to, but my head was hurting so badly that I could not recall them and I didn't want to cause trouble anyways. Just wanted clarity on what I was paying for, so that I cfould make informed choices.

Has anyone had this happen?

Oh my, I can imagine you were getting a little rattled! I have been told that when you dial the number for POFQ you get a central number that handles all the resorts and it may not even be in Orlando. I think all Disney reps at these outlying call centers need to read the DIS so they know what's going on at the resorts.

You can trust our word here!

 

[Orleanslady]

Maybe a little rattled..lol...

 

[glk2009]

We check-in in 4 days!!!

I was reviewing the map and noticed that there are a lot of designated smoking areas.

I'm very sensitive to cigarette smoke and was wondering if anyone has had a problem noticing the smell drifting into their room. I know that the windows don't open (I learned it here!) but didn't know how well insulated the doors were to keep out errant smells.

We are booked for a river view and it seems like buildings 1, 5 and 7 might be my best options. Any opinions on that?

TIA!!!!

 

[CLPClarinet]

Pretty excited! We just got our ME finally booked and got our returning flight changed to 8 hours later, so we have much more of our final day to do Disney!

 

[jen42002]

We check-in in 4 days!!!

I was reviewing the map and noticing that there are a lot of designated smoking areas.

I'm very sensitive to cigarette smoke and was wondering if anyone has had a problem noticing the smell drifting into their room. I know that the windows don't open (I learned it here!) but didn't know how well insulated the doors were to keep out errant smells.

We are booked for a river view and it seems like buildings 1, 5 and 7 might be my best options. Any opinions on that?

TIA!!!!

I am also very sensitive to smoke smells. We have stayed in several rooms near smoking areas at POFQ but did not have a problem with the smell drifting into the room.

 

[glk2009]

I am also very sensitive to smoke smells. We have stayed in several rooms near smoking areas at POFQ but did not have a problem with the smell drifting into the room.

Thanks! That is very reassuring!

 

[andrewilley]

Had a strange thing happen when I called to ask a question about my reservation, today. I'm calming down a little after speaking to a Disney agent on the phone who insisted that Port POFQ did not have any queen sized beds and that she knew nothing at all of a refurb.

Has anyone had this happen?

Sadly, it is all too common. I guess the main problem is the amount of people that Disney employs, some part-time and in multiple diverse locations, along with the way they try to keep sensitive information limited to "need to know" staff only. Did you know that Disney has not made a single official announcement to guests about the POFQ rehab yet, even though it is now finished?

Not even all of the staff located at POFQ itself know that their refurbishment is now fully complete, and once you start speaking to the call center staff (who, to be fair, could be asked questions about any resort, or even anything about the whole of WDW) then the quality of information gets worse.

What does annoy me most though is that not only are they often wrong, but they are so definitely and authoritatively wrong. If you didn't know any better, you would have believed the first person you spoke to - or at least the second one - as they are so adamant that they are right and you are wrong. And then some of them have the nerve to tell guests not to believe everything they see on the internet! They're quite right in many ways of course, as there is a lot of rubbish out there, but there's also good information if you know where to look... and in Disney's case, this is rather a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

However in this case, please be assured that ALL of the buildings POFQ have now been fully refurbished (the final one was re-dedicated on 15 April) and ALL the double beds have been replaced with queen beds. Work on Riverside has not started yet, but is due to start soon (dates are a bit unsure at the moment, possibly due to the recent announcement about the Royal rooms).

Andre

 

[jeanylaser]

Andre thanks for the info! You're rock! POFQ is for us!

 

[JerseyDevils]

I will be at POFQ in 8 days now!!!! YAY!!! So excited. was last there in October 2008. Cant wait to see the new rooms!! I will do my best to take some pics of the new rooms and report back after we return from our trip.

 

[pwdebbie]

We check-in in 4 days!!!

I was reviewing the map and noticed that there are a lot of designated smoking areas.

I'm very sensitive to cigarette smoke and was wondering if anyone has had a problem noticing the smell drifting into their room. I know that the windows don't open (I learned it here!) but didn't know how well insulated the doors were to keep out errant smells.

We are booked for a river view and it seems like buildings 1, 5 and 7 might be my best options. Any opinions on that?

TIA!!!!

As long as the people stay in the DSA, you shouldn't be bothered by the smell. My husband has a lung condition, so we are very careful about cigarette smoke. The only time we had a problem was with two teenage girls sitting outside our room, next to our vent, smoking. They were part of dance group and obviously sneaking behind the chaperones' backs.

There are so many DSAs that it is somewhat hard to avoid them totally, which disappoints me. Especially the one little dock area where it would be lovely to sit in the morning as the day dawns, but it is a DSA, so off limits for us. (The other dock area is for the boats so it is only open to people getting a boat, you can't sit and relax there.)