Disney's PORT ORLEANS FRENCH QUARTER RESORT Information & Questions

[MarBee]

Any idea when the resort will be decorated for Christmas?

 

[andrewilley]

Any idea when the resort will be decorated for Christmas?

Usually they decorate around the start of the week of Thanksgiving.

Andre

 

[blackpearl77]

So, if you're staying at French Quarter you can use Riverside's pool? Is that true? Can you walk there or do you have to take the boat?

 

[RolloTomasi]

Well it's hard to believe considering I booked a little after Christmas 2017, but I check in next Monday! I'm excited about heading back to FQ, which was pretty much our home resort while I was growing up.

 

[ncc1701]

So, if you're staying at French Quarter you can use Riverside's pool? Is that true? Can you walk there or do you have to take the boat?

Yes you can use any of POR's pools. It is an easy walk along the river. You can also take the boat but be aware that in the later afternoon (around 4:30 ) the boat from POR goes straight to Disney Springs and usually does not stop at POFQ. Same with the POFQ boat.

 

[shifteru]

Only shared once with Riverside, and that was coming back from Animal Kingdom around 3pm...my mom said HS shared too. Luckily, POFQ was dropped off first. Bus boards at MK and Epcot had separate stops for FQ and Riverside, but AK and HS only had one general Port Orleans stop.

Thanks for the write up! We love FQ but haven't stayed in a while. We have another trip there starting in less than two weeks though!

Question. You said bus boards at AK and HS only had one Port Orleans stop, so does that mean when you got there, there were still buses for each resort separately but showing up at the same stop, or were they sharing?

 

[Ninja]

We liked it anyway, but it's a personal thing. Very relaxing and a nice way to spend half an hour looking at both resorts.

You are not expected to tip, and the carriage driver will most likely decline at least three times if you offer.

Andre

Thanks, think we will do it, I really fancy it.
But now I'm confused (doesn't take much) do I not offer a tip, do I offer but take it back if they refuse or do I offer until they take it? I was thinking that if the price is $55 we will just give $60 and not wait for the change.

 

[Cordy2424]

Hi!! We check in at FQ on Sunday! Just faxed over my request. Since this is a first for me, just wanted to check with the pros...

Should I anticipate hearing back from anyone re: my fax OR would it just be noted for whenever we do check in? I know they are busy so I totally understand if we aren't expected to hear back. Just wanted to know if I needed to be on the lookout for a phone call or email.

Thanks!!

 

[andrewilley]

Should I anticipate hearing back from anyone re: my fax

No, you most likely won't hear back from a fax unless there is something very specific in there that requires further communication. And do remember that even faxed requests are only requests, they are not guaranteed.

Andre

 

[Cordy2424]

No, you most likely won't hear back from a fax unless there is something very specific in there that requires further communication. And do remember that even faxed requests are only requests, they are not guaranteed.

Andre

For sure! I'm not going to expect my request to be fulfilled. Just wanted to know if I needed to follow up. I'll keep my fingers crossed, but totally understand if they can't make it happen. I listed about 6 or 7 rooms that looked like they had the prettiest views of the river, using portorleans.org (SO helpful btw!!). Normally, I wouldn't worry too much about the room location / view, but since it is our honeymoon I figured it didn't hurt to at least try.

 

[L_MD]

Thanks for the write up! We love FQ but haven't stayed in a while. We have another trip there starting in less than two weeks though!

Question. You said bus boards at AK and HS only had one Port Orleans stop, so does that mean when you got there, there were still buses for each resort separately but showing up at the same stop, or were they sharing?

There was just one Port Orleans bus that was servicing both FQ and Riverside.

 

[disneyworldsk]

I don't have a fax machine. do i go somewhere like a library to do that?

 

[shifteru]

There was just one Port Orleans bus that was servicing both FQ and Riverside.

So the buses from AK and HS were combined or the single bus stop just happened to serve separate buses for each PO resort? So like were there separate buses for each resort or was it a single bus that just says Port Orleans arrives, everyone who’s saying at either resort gets on, and then that single bus goes to FQ and then onto Riverside?

If so was that just during mid-day/slow times or any time of day?

Sorry if this seems like a dumb question but everything I’ve read (and through my own personal experience) FQ and Riverside rarely share buses, so this would be a departure and a disappointment for sure.

 

[shifteru]

I don't have a fax machine. do i go somewhere like a library to do that?

There are many websites that allow you to send faxes from your computer. I just use touring plans subscription to send mine though.

 

[MarBee]

Usually they decorate around the start of the week of Thanksgiving.

Andre

Thanks! I’m super excited to see it decorated and will be there then

 

[blackpearl77]

I don't have a fax machine. do i go somewhere like a library to do that?

Yup! I go to the library to use the fax machine. My library charges $1.00.

 

[L_MD]

So the buses from AK and HS were combined or the single bus stop just happened to serve separate buses for each PO resort? So like were there separate buses for each resort or was it a single bus that just says Port Orleans arrives, everyone who’s saying at either resort gets on, and then that single bus goes to FQ and then onto Riverside?

If so was that just during mid-day/slow times or any time of day?

Sorry if this seems like a dumb question but everything I’ve read (and through my own personal experience) FQ and Riverside rarely share buses, so this would be a departure and a disappointment for sure.

It's not a dumb question, but I'm not sure how we're talking past each other. I think I'm being pretty clear, but let's give it one more go!

1. Please note that this is regarding AK only. My mom said HS had the same setup, but I wasn't personally there so can't vouch.
2. Leaving AK and heading home to POFQ, there was one gate on the bus directory that just said "Port Orleans"...no differentiation. For the sake of this post let's say it was #2 (I don't remember the #)
3. At bus gate #2, there was one bus that was sitting there that just said "Port Orleans"...there was no differentiation. No "bonjour!" like you see on the FQ buses, just Port Orleans.
4. Thus, we were all on the bus...FQ and Riverside
5. The bus then went to FQ first, dropped us off, and then I assume onto Riverside
6. We did leave at an odd time...4:00 maybe? And a Wednesday.

Does that help, I hope? I too have never shared a bus going from somewhere to FQ, and since I was tired from a fairly long AK day and had to stand the whole time I wasn't particularly happy about it, but it happened and I survived and at least we got dropped off first. Maybe it's different in the evenings after RoL, but I (sadly) wasn't at AK during the night for this trip.

 

[tex1989]

So the buses from AK and HS were combined or the single bus stop just happened to serve separate buses for each PO resort? So like were there separate buses for each resort or was it a single bus that just says Port Orleans arrives, everyone who’s saying at either resort gets on, and then that single bus goes to FQ and then onto Riverside?

If so was that just during mid-day/slow times or any time of day?

Sorry if this seems like a dumb question but everything I’ve read (and through my own personal experience) FQ and Riverside rarely share buses, so this would be a departure and a disappointment for sure.

We have over the years had at least 15 stays at POFQ as it is really our favorite resort. Lately since the AP we have been doing more PoP to make it affordable to do three trips a year. In our experiences (not going to say it is for sure because Disney changes things all the time) during the morning times and late afternoon into evening there are POFQ buses that serve POFQ only. If you travel midday then you may share a bus with POR. If you look at all the parks and DS you will see seperate listings for each resort. POFQ has a single bus stop (technically two but they are side by side and divided by where you are going) for all destinations. POR has four stops three directional and the front desk area. We have rarely had issues with getting on a bus that serves both since we are stay all day at the parks kind of visitors.

As far as room requests go we have never faxed our preferences but of late we have used the online request to share our preferences. Our last trip to POFQ was in May of this year and we booked a Garden View room and then requested close to transportation and close to the Food Court front Desk area. We were pleasantly surprised when we got a room on the third floor of a building overlooking the entrance to the Food Court which by default was close to the bus stop. I am not sure but I have noticed that if you book a preferred room for some reason the request function did not work. I guess if you are paying more for the preferred room then you prefernces are sort of understood. In that case I would surely fax a request to them because the system does not allow you to express a preference. The situation with not being able to make requests online is that we are going the first week of December to PoP and booked a preferred room and when I did online checkin and tried to give preferences there were none available for me to choose.

Again these are just my experiences and I cannot say with complete certainty it is still how it works but feel like if there were major changes it would be reported back here by someone.

Have a great trip!

 

[shifteru]

It's not a dumb question, but I'm not sure how we're talking past each other. I think I'm being pretty clear, but let's give it one more go!

1. Please note that this is regarding AK only. My mom said HS had the same setup, but I wasn't personally there so can't vouch.
2. Leaving AK and heading home to POFQ, there was one gate on the bus directory that just said "Port Orleans"...no differentiation. For the sake of this post let's say it was #2 (I don't remember the #)
3. At bus gate #2, there was one bus that was sitting there that just said "Port Orleans"...there was no differentiation. No "bonjour!" like you see on the FQ buses, just Port Orleans.
4. Thus, we were all on the bus...FQ and Riverside
5. The bus then went to FQ first, dropped us off, and then I assume onto Riverside
6. We did leave at an odd time...4:00 maybe? And a Wednesday.

Does that help, I hope? I too have never shared a bus going from somewhere to FQ, and since I was tired from a fairly long AK day and had to stand the whole time I wasn't particularly happy about it, but it happened and I survived and at least we got dropped off first. Maybe it's different in the evenings after RoL, but I (sadly) wasn't at AK during the night for this trip.

Yes, this absolutely helps. Thanks for re-explaining to my oft-confused self.

I was just mixed up about whether or not those two parks were always sharing or just doing it sometimes. It sounds like the latter, which I've seen as well, especially during mid-day so that makes sense.

 

[shifteru]

We have over the years had at least 15 stays at POFQ as it is really our favorite resort. Lately since the AP we have been doing more PoP to make it affordable to do three trips a year. In our experiences (not going to say it is for sure because Disney changes things all the time) during the morning times and late afternoon into evening there are POFQ buses that serve POFQ only. If you travel midday then you may share a bus with POR. If you look at all the parks and DS you will see seperate listings for each resort. POFQ has a single bus stop (technically two but they are side by side and divided by where you are going) for all destinations. POR has four stops three directional and the front desk area. We have rarely had issues with getting on a bus that serves both since we are stay all day at the parks kind of visitors.

As far as room requests go we have never faxed our preferences but of late we have used the online request to share our preferences. Our last trip to POFQ was in May of this year and we booked a Garden View room and then requested close to transportation and close to the Food Court front Desk area. We were pleasantly surprised when we got a room on the third floor of a building overlooking the entrance to the Food Court which by default was close to the bus stop. I am not sure but I have noticed that if you book a preferred room for some reason the request function did not work. I guess if you are paying more for the preferred room then you prefernces are sort of understood. In that case I would surely fax a request to them because the system does not allow you to express a preference. The situation with not being able to make requests online is that we are going the first week of December to PoP and booked a preferred room and when I did online checkin and tried to give preferences there were none available for me to choose.

Again these are just my experiences and I cannot say with complete certainty it is still how it works but feel like if there were major changes it would be reported back here by someone.

Have a great trip!

This had been my experience too so I was glad to hear it's only happening sometimes still, and at slow times of the day where it's not much of a bother. Sharing a bus headed back from a busy park isn't fun, but it's still not too bad because (presumably) they'd send extra buses to account for that, and FQ is usually the first stop. However, sharing buses going to the park would negate one of the best features of FQ in my opinion, which is having only one bus stop.

I agree about the room requests. They're not nearly as important here as they are at other resorts we've stayed. We always like close to food and buses as well, and with FQ, even the furthest rooms are pretty darn close!

PS - Assuming your name means you're from Texas. Hello from Austin!