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

[LilyWDW]

Hello POFQ lovers! I just recently switched my Christmas trip from OKW to POFQ due to money (thanks to Congress for not passing a FY12 budget yet ). I just couldn't come up with the extra $1,200 difference for OKW.
So now I'm wondering if I made the right choice. It will be just me and DD18, December 23-30...Christmas week!
Will the resort be super crowded? Will buses be an issue? Is it nicely decorated for Christmas?
We do plan on being at rope drop every day.
Anything I need to know to make staying at POFQ Christmas week pleasant, please let me know! Thanks!

During that week, everything will be crowded. There is really not that much you can do in that sense. However, you can do things to make the best of the trip FOR YOU!

Since that time of the year is so busy, I doubt you will be sharing any buses with POR when heading to the parks. Be at the bus drop early so you are at the parks before rope drop. During that time of the year, you need to be at rope drop earlier then at slower times to be anywhere near the rope. Keep that in mind when you plan when to be at the bus drop.

Have a touring plan. You don't need one that says "Step 1: go here... Step 2: go here", but you should have a general idea of what gets busy, what can handle large crowds, and what offers fastpass. Those first couple of hours will be your best time to get stuff done.

Use, use, use fastpass. Collect them as the day goes as soon as your window opens on your last one. These will help tremendously.

Finally, have fun. If you go in with the right mind set and prepared then you will be good. Enjoy your time and don't worry if you don't do everything.

 

[KikiFan]

Well I'm kinda sad about this, but we had to change our reservation from POFQ to Pop for upcoming trip. I guess it wasn't meant to be this time.

But it would have been much worse if we'd had to cancel our trip. The money we saved changing hotels made the difference. So thanks for all the great info and hopefully I'll be able to use it next time.

 

[wdwnut61]

YAY!!! Have fun!!!


I am so excited already that I can't sleep...I have so much to do, too, it feels like next Friday night in WDW may be the next time I get any sleep!

Same here today I'm doing and packing since I have to work all week and DD has school. Got my hair done and our pedicures today. We'll get manicures on Thursday evening. Leaving at 12:00 noon from work on Friday then picking DD up from school and we are on our way to the airport.

Have a great time don't forget your LGMH

 

[disneymagicgirl]

We were at POFQ from 10/26-11/3. Here is my brief overview:

I was worried that we wouldn't be happy at a moderate after being at Poly last year and AKL the year before. Let me start by saying that we were so glad we didn't spend the extra money on a deluxe this year. POFQ was just as nice and much less money! We obviously missed having the monorail and a gym, but they are not worth $1000-2,000 more for the week!

Our trip started bad w/ a trip on an ugly yellow Mears bus instead of the ME bus. I had really talked up the ME to DS3 and we were both VERY disappointed. Even more upsetting was that the same ugly MEARS bus picked us up to return us to the airport. Sooooo frustrating! We have always driven in the past, so we were very excited to ride Mickey's bus.

We loved the evening entertainment in the lounge area. AKL and Poly don't offer this. It was really nice for DH and I to be able to go down and enjoy the music and watch football after getting the kids tucked in bed. DD12 stayed in the room with them.
We also had a date night over to POR for a carraige ride. That was very nice. I took a blanket and a cocktail. Cozy.

Our room was in a fantastic location in building 4. We had a standard view room. It was right by the stairs. It overlooked the courtyard and beyond that was the parking lot and bus stops. So very quick to the busses and food court. The evening movies were right on the other side of our building, as was the pool and laundry. If we go to POFQ again I will def request the same building!

For those who might be curious- we fit the pack n play over btwn the bed and the door. It was in the spot where a connecting door would be. DS3 slept on a toddler cot right between the 2 beds.
http://www.google.com/products/cata...=X&ei=iDC_TtHvBcyztweezsWqBg&ved=0CIYBEPMCMAE

Our internet didn't work and took a few days to get it fixed. That was annoying.

Mousekeeping didn't come until 3:30 on the first day which was during our kids' naps. We told them not to worry about it and asked that they come prior to 3pm for the rest of our stay, which they did. The room was clean and fresh. We got 2 towel animals. The beds were comfy but the pillows were hard as a rock! Why doesn't Disney get duvet covers instead of those polyester bedspreads??

Busses were all great except one morning we waited a half hour for a MK bus. Going to DTD was a debacle! 6 boats came and went b/c they were full of POR guests. Finally we got there. We decided to take the bus home. Bad idea!!! 50 min ride. It stops at all 4 POR stops before going to POR. Why?? My DH says we are never going to DTD again.

The food court was pretty good. Only complaint is that the breakfast sandwich doesn't come with a side. We decided that breakfast is not a good value on the DDP b/c you lose your side dish and no dessert. The beef po-boy was delish!

POR has a much larger selection of pins. Go there if you are looking for one inparticular.

This was our first time using garden grocer. Worked out great! Will use again.

I wish they would line the bathroom curtain with blackout liner.

We had pretty cool overcast weather but did finally use the pool our last day. It was perfect for our boys. DS 3 could go down the slide alone and LOVED it!!

They playground was fun for the little ones too.

Overall a great trip. Will def stay here again. I wish I hadn't spent the extra on the Poly last year. POFQ is such good bang for your buck. At least now I know.

We had a few magical moments. DS got to be in the pirate show with Jack Sparrow. That was great! He was starstruck!
DD12 got chosen to ring the dinner bell at HDDR. We did not enjoy HDDR at all, however. That was a bummer.
We saw the new talking Mickey Mouse at MK.

All of our meals were good. No complaints there.

Although we didn't wait in lines for rides, the parks were very crowded in comparison to our previous trips. The parks closed way too early for the amount of people that were there. I felt like we just didn't get nearly as much done this year. I think we will be choosing a different month to go in the future.

Please let me know if we can answer any questions. We would def stay at POFQ again!

 

[AJA]

Hello POFQ lovers! I just recently switched my Christmas trip from OKW to POFQ due to money (thanks to Congress for not passing a FY12 budget yet ). I just couldn't come up with the extra $1,200 difference for OKW.
So now I'm wondering if I made the right choice. It will be just me and DD18, December 23-30...Christmas week!
Will the resort be super crowded? Will buses be an issue? Is it nicely decorated for Christmas?
We do plan on being at rope drop every day.
Anything I need to know to make staying at POFQ Christmas week pleasant, please let me know! Thanks!

You will love POFQ! It's a gorgeous resort and I think your DD will enjoy the little more adult feel the resort has.

Everything will be crowded everywhere though. The buses will be no different than OKW. Just don't compare the level 10 Christmas crowds with "the last time we visited OKW in October" kwim? No matter what resort you pay for you will experience a crowded resort.

Have a great trip and do not forget the beignets!

 

[pwdebbie]

I was worried that we wouldn't be happy at a moderate after being at Poly last year and AKL the year before. Let me start by saying that we were so glad we didn't spend the extra money on a deluxe this year. POFQ was just as nice and much less money! We obviously missed having the monorail and a gym, but they are not worth $1000-2,000 more for the week!

Every once in a while I think it would be nice to stay deluxe, especially since our next trip is for our 35th anniversary, but dh loves familiarity and POFQ is the only place we've stayed and the only place he says he will stay. Your comment makes me feel better about not staying deluxe.

Why doesn't Disney get duvet covers instead of those polyester bedspreads??

I just posted a Trip Advisor review of a hotel we were in last week complaining about the duvets. I'd rather have a bedspread I can remove and put aside and be able to snuggle under a blanket. The duvets we had were way to heavy (weight-wise), too warm, and too stiff (couldn't snuggle it around me). And I'm just not convinced those duvets get changed with every new room occupant. (Of course, I have no proof that the blankets are switched out either, but I feel better about blankets than duvets.)

Busses were all great except one morning we waited a half hour for a MK bus. Going to DTD was a debacle! 6 boats came and went b/c they were full of POR guests. Finally we got there. We decided to take the bus home. Bad idea!!! 50 min ride. It stops at all 4 POR stops before going to POR. Why?? My DH says we are never going to DTD again.

We have never had a major problem with the boat to DTD but it seems to be something mentioned more and more often in the last few months. I hope someone from Disney that monitors these forums is picking up on this issue. We did the POR loop one night when coming home from one of the parks (MK maybe?). It wouldn't have been a problem but dh really needed to go the restroom. He about died when the driver bypassed not only POFQ but also the main depot for POR where he could have gotten off and used a restroom.

The food court was pretty good. Only complaint is that the breakfast sandwich doesn't come with a side. We decided that breakfast is not a good value on the DDP b/c you lose your side dish and no dessert. The beef po-boy was delish!

Overall a great trip. Will def stay here again. I wish I hadn't spent the extra on the Poly last year. POFQ is such good bang for your buck. At least now I know.

Although we didn't wait in lines for rides, the parks were very crowded in comparison to our previous trips. The parks closed way too early for the amount of people that were there. I felt like we just didn't get nearly as much done this year. I think we will be choosing a different month to go in the future.


We were there last year a week after your dates this year and parks were not crowded at all. Just go one week later! (But, yes, the parks did close early. I liked Wishes at 7:00 or 8:00 instead of 10:00 because dh and I are early-to-bed and early-to-rise. That's my one disappointment about going in April, we will probably only stay up late one time for Wishes.)

Thanks for your great review.

 

[Robin K]

We booked for Sept 2012 using bounceback. I am a little nervous because I am the one who picked FQ. We loved the pcitures when we looked online but since we have only stayed at POR and CSR the smaller layout kind of worries me. I hope we are not going to hear everything at all hours.
It will be just mom (55) and myself (36) when we arrive.
Any tips? suggestions for room locations? Things we must see/do while at FQ?
Thanks!

 

[taylor3297]

We booked for Sept 2012 using bounceback. I am a little nervous because I am the one who picked FQ. We loved the pcitures when we looked online but since we have only stayed at POR and CSR the smaller layout kind of worries me. I hope we are not going to hear everything at all hours.
It will be just mom (55) and myself (36) when we arrive.
Any tips? suggestions for room locations? Things we must see/do while at FQ?
Thanks!

My sister, a good friend and myself, stayed at POFQ for the first time this September and we didn't hear anything. It was nice that it wasn't a long walk to food court etc.

 

[wdwnut61]

We were at POFQ from 10/26-11/3. Here is my brief overview:

I was worried that we wouldn't be happy at a moderate after being at Poly last year and AKL the year before. Let me start by saying that we were so glad we didn't spend the extra money on a deluxe this year. POFQ was just as nice and much less money! We obviously missed having the monorail and a gym, but they are not worth $1000-2,000 more for the week!

Our trip started bad w/ a trip on an ugly yellow Mears bus instead of the ME bus. I had really talked up the ME to DS3 and we were both VERY disappointed. Even more upsetting was that the same ugly MEARS bus picked us up to return us to the airport. Sooooo frustrating! We have always driven in the past, so we were very excited to ride Mickey's bus.

We loved the evening entertainment in the lounge area. AKL and Poly don't offer this. It was really nice for DH and I to be able to go down and enjoy the music and watch football after getting the kids tucked in bed. DD12 stayed in the room with them.
We also had a date night over to POR for a carraige ride. That was very nice. I took a blanket and a cocktail. Cozy.

Our room was in a fantastic location in building 4. We had a standard view room. It was right by the stairs. It overlooked the courtyard and beyond that was the parking lot and bus stops. So very quick to the busses and food court. The evening movies were right on the other side of our building, as was the pool and laundry. If we go to POFQ again I will def request the same building!

For those who might be curious- we fit the pack n play over btwn the bed and the door. It was in the spot where a connecting door would be. DS3 slept on a toddler cot right between the 2 beds.
http://www.google.com/products/cata...=X&ei=iDC_TtHvBcyztweezsWqBg&ved=0CIYBEPMCMAE

Our internet didn't work and took a few days to get it fixed. That was annoying.

Mousekeeping didn't come until 3:30 on the first day which was during our kids' naps. We told them not to worry about it and asked that they come prior to 3pm for the rest of our stay, which they did. The room was clean and fresh. We got 2 towel animals. The beds were comfy but the pillows were hard as a rock! Why doesn't Disney get duvet covers instead of those polyester bedspreads??

Busses were all great except one morning we waited a half hour for a MK bus. Going to DTD was a debacle! 6 boats came and went b/c they were full of POR guests. Finally we got there. We decided to take the bus home. Bad idea!!! 50 min ride. It stops at all 4 POR stops before going to POR. Why?? My DH says we are never going to DTD again.

The food court was pretty good. Only complaint is that the breakfast sandwich doesn't come with a side. We decided that breakfast is not a good value on the DDP b/c you lose your side dish and no dessert. The beef po-boy was delish!

POR has a much larger selection of pins. Go there if you are looking for one inparticular.

This was our first time using garden grocer. Worked out great! Will use again.

I wish they would line the bathroom curtain with blackout liner.

We had pretty cool overcast weather but did finally use the pool our last day. It was perfect for our boys. DS 3 could go down the slide alone and LOVED it!!

They playground was fun for the little ones too.

Overall a great trip. Will def stay here again. I wish I hadn't spent the extra on the Poly last year. POFQ is such good bang for your buck. At least now I know.

We had a few magical moments. DS got to be in the pirate show with Jack Sparrow. That was great! He was starstruck!
DD12 got chosen to ring the dinner bell at HDDR. We did not enjoy HDDR at all, however. That was a bummer.
We saw the new talking Mickey Mouse at MK.

All of our meals were good. No complaints there.

Although we didn't wait in lines for rides, the parks were very crowded in comparison to our previous trips. The parks closed way too early for the amount of people that were there. I felt like we just didn't get nearly as much done this year. I think we will be choosing a different month to go in the future.

Please let me know if we can answer any questions. We would def stay at POFQ again!

Welcome back

Really enjoyed your detailed review. We are checking in on Friday can't wait to be back home at POFQ.

We are trying HDDR for the first time can you tell me why you didn't enjoy it?

 

[summerlady]

We booked for Sept 2012 using bounceback. I am a little nervous because I am the one who picked FQ. We loved the pcitures when we looked online but since we have only stayed at POR and CSR the smaller layout kind of worries me. I hope we are not going to hear everything at all hours.
It will be just mom (55) and myself (36) when we arrive.
Any tips? suggestions for room locations? Things we must see/do while at FQ?
Thanks!

The smaller layout of POFQ means that it's never a long walk from any building, that's one of the many things I enjoy about the resort. If you want to be closest to the bus stop and main building, call and request building 4. Last month we were in building 7, the farthest from the main building, and it really wasn't much of a walk at all. We've been in buildings 6, 2, and 3 in the past and all have been fine. In our numerous stays at POFQ we have never, and I mean never, been disturbed by anyone making noise. Make sure to take the boat to DTD at least once, it's a pretty ride and much better than the bus to DTD. You can also stroll along the river to POR if you like, it's only a ten or fifteen minute walk to use the pool and food court there.

 

[dmslush]

So excited I found this thread. I'm booking a surprise short weekend trip during the free dining the last week in march for my best friend and niece. My bestie knows that we are going to disney for a day, but she doesn't know we will be staying on site. It is a short weekend, so we will only be doing 2 parks, but I got a good deal for POFQ. I've never stayed there before (ALL stars, Pop, AKL and WL are where I have stayed in the past).

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Welcome back

Really enjoyed your detailed review. We are checking in on Friday can't wait to be back home at POFQ.

We are trying HDDR for the first time can you tell me why you didn't enjoy it?

We did HDDR as something special for Halloween night. I was really looking forward to it. Our DD12 got picked to ring the dinner bell, which was very .
It was downhill from there. Our server was not friendly at all. I didn't get the balcony table, which is what I reserved, although we could see fine from where we were.
Don't order the sangria!!
We were not offered refills on anything and our server wasn't around for us to ask for more. We don't eat ribs or dark meat chicken, so it would have been nice to get a 2nd bucket of chicken.
The shortcake was yummy, but again not really enough for all 5 of us.
The show didn't hold my attention or that of my kids. It did have a few funny moments, but overall wasn't very funny at all.
I was disappointed, and I am pretty easy to please. It was not the worst dining experience I have ever had, but I will definitely not be returning. I am glad that we tried it though. At least we know it isn't for us.

 

[Piglets Mommy]

Is there H20 bath/shower gel provided in the rooms, or just bar soap? I searched the first few pages of this thread, as well as Andre's site, and didn't see this anywhere. Also, it is a 2-in one shampoo conditioner or seperate bottles? Thanks...just trying to pack as light as possible!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Is there H20 bath/shower gel provided in the rooms, or just bar soap? I searched the first few pages of this thread, as well as Andre's site, and didn't see this anywhere. Also, it is a 2-in one shampoo conditioner or seperate bottles? Thanks...just trying to pack as light as possible!

Bar soap and it is shampoo/conditioner combo. And bring ur own lotion. I was shocked at this!

 

[Piglets Mommy]

Bar soap and it is shampoo/conditioner combo. And bring ur own lotion. I was shocked at this!

Thanks! So much for travelling light!

 

[wdwnut61]

It's finally here we'll be checking into our Happy Place in a few hours

A big thank you to everyone on this thread for all the great information, pictures and advice

To everyone going during Thanksgiving week safe and happy travels

 

[Michigan_Minnie]

Just booked a riverview room for February 7-13, 2012 for DD and I--girls only trip. BFF and her DD may decide to come along and another great friend from CA and her DD may ALSO come! Can't wait to stay in the refurbished rooms.

I was reading another thread where people were complaining about the bedding in the new rooms. Anyone have any thoughts about that?

154 days!

We will be there Feb 12-19. Have a good time!!!

 

[pooh2001]

I am sure this has been asked and answered - but....

Is it easy to find your room/door at POFQ - or does it get confusing on the walkways and buildings?

Now to another question - should we decorate our room window to find our room better ?

We will be at WDW for the 4th fo July next year.

I found, on sale, a 4th of July hanging mobile.
I could hang it from the curtain rod or from a 3M removable hook above the curtain rod - so it hangs down between the window and the curtain.

We will keep our curtains closed for privacy for most of the time.

How would you hang decorations in your POFQ window ?
Are window clings OK to use ?

Does the maid-service remove window decorations during your stay ?
We will remove any hooks and decorations before we depart home.

No electic decorations. Maybe one of those small battery operated candles in the window, if we go out at night.


Any suggstions ?

 

[donnaf516]

It's finally here we'll be checking into our Happy Place in a few hours

A big thank you to everyone on this thread for all the great information, pictures and advice

To everyone going during Thanksgiving week safe and happy travels

Have a great trip!

 

[jennad4]

I'm so excited! We just added 2 nights on to our trip in February! Can't wait to spend 12 nights at POFQ!