My Port Orleans - French Quarter and Beach Club Villas Stay...

[Janet2k]

Hi, gang! I’m back from my first Port Orleans – French Quarter (PO-FQ) and Beach Club Villas (BCV) stay. I had the most magical vacation. I will try to fill you in on things over the next few days. I will also try to post some photos of the resorts, my rooms, my rooms’ views, and other fun things that I experienced while vacationing at Walt Disney World (WDW).

I know I haven’t been around the Dis much in these past few months, but for those of you who remember my saga, this vacation was supposed to have been for my husband, our teenage son, our young daughter, and myself. Well, it turned into strictly a “Girls Only, No Boys Allowed” (aka, Mother-Daughter) vacation since my son decided that he didn’t want to miss any school this year. Imagine that. Turning down a WDW vacation for high school. Yuck. What is this world coming to? (Just kidding!)

Dreams Unlimited Travel (DU) handled my PO-FQ stay. For those of you who don’t know it, DU is the owner of this website, the Dis. My agent was Liz, and I always enjoy working with her (Liz handled my last WDW vacation). The resort stay that she set up for me was flawless. I look forward to working with DU (and Liz) in the future. DU is a topnotch travel agency, in my humble opinion.

My BCV stay was handled by the Disney Vacation Club (DVC), of which I am a member. I always enjoy working with them. Again, another topnotch organization, in my humble opinion.

YourRide.Net, one of the sponsors here on the Dis, provided my vacation transportation. I used YourRide a few times during my last vacation, and Rabbit was wonderful to work with. Working with Rabbit during this trip was no exception. He was on-time (actually, always early), professional, and kind. Our transportation vehicle was a Ford Excursion, and “Monsters, Inc.” was playing on the DVD player. My young daughter was in hog heaven watching that Disney movie, which is one of her favorites. I look forward to using YourRide.Net (and Rabbit) in the future.

Now for my vacation…

It began at PO-FQ. I had never stayed there before and really didn’t know what to expect. Let me just state right now that I completely fell in love with that resort. I will recommend it to anyone without hesitation. From the moment that I checked in, to the moment that I transferred over to the BCV, the PO-FQ Cast Members (CMs) were professional, helpful, and kind. Since it was just my young daughter and myself on this vacation, it was important to me that we felt both safe and secure. We felt that way at PO-FQ. We were in good hands at all times.

Our PO-FQ room number was 7344 and it was located in building number seven. Our room was on the third floor (the top floor) and it had a river view. Building number seven was very quiet; actually, the whole resort seemed very quiet, even though it was bustling with people. I guess the resort just had a lazy, relaxed feeling to it because it was so beautifully landscaped and well-maintained. And my resort room was no exception. It was clean and spacious, especially considering there were only two of us; but I bet that if my husband and son had been with us, the room would have felt the same way.

Gosh, I’ll stop here for now. Please stay tuned because I have so many wonderful things to share: the PO-FQ and PO-RS pool areas, Bob Jackson’s show, the BCV resort complex, meeting fellow Dis’ers, a celebrity sighting, sleeping with one of the Grand Marshals for the “Boo To You Parade,” losing another tooth on a WDW vacation, watching fireworks’ testing, two MNSSHP parties, the “999 Happy Haunts Ball,” and many other wonderful things that can only happen in the Happiest Place On Earth. *Sigh*

 

[nutz4dzny]

Welcome Back! Sounds like a lovely vacation! I can't wait to read the rest. I enjoyed meeting you at the LTT. Perhaps we will see each other again on another one of our WDW trips!

 

[nisiemouse]

I look forward to reading more. I love POFQ also. We never tried anywhere else until the temporary closure. We are now DVC members too but I am sure we will be back to POFQ.

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

Welcome home, Janet.

 

[Patsy1969]

Hi Janet,, I am so pleased to read your report. My Dh and myself are staying at POFQ for the first time in 3 weeks. Your report is making us even more excited about our stay. Cannot wait to read the rest of your vacation story! Patsy

 

[Minybear]

Ha my good friend Janet2k glad to see you back on the DIS.

How about those BCV's. How did you like staying there? I would love to see your photos.

WELCOME BACK

 

[JulesMom]

Glad you had a great trip!

I can't wait to hear what you think about BCV. We are staying there for the first time in June.

 

[Patio]

Welcome back!!! So happy your Mother-Daughter vacation was so enjoyable, I can't wait to hear more about it and to see any pictures you took.

 

[Belle5]

Yay! Another Janet2K report!!! I love hearing from you about your stays. I think it's great the way you can appreciate the Disney magic no matter what level hotel you're staying at.

 

[princess angel]

welcome home! that is wonderful that you had a great trip! and I would love to hear more about POFQ! you have me quite intriqued... did you use the buses? if so, how was it?

thanks!

Laura

 

[TnKrBeLlA012]

Wlecome Back! Im gald you had a great trip!!!

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Welcome back! I can't wait to read more about your trip, it sounds like you two had a wonderful time. I have always wondered about PO-FQ. Write more when you get a chance.

 

[Janet2k]

Nutz4dzny, it was so much fun meeting you and your husband. It really made my vacation special. I was happy to finally get a chance to say “hello” in person rather than via the Internet.

Nisiemouse, I can see why you enjoy PO-FQ so much. I, too, plan on staying at that wonderful resort again.

CaliforniaDreaming, Patio, Belle5, TnKrBeLlA012, and TigrLvsPooh, thanks! It’s nice to be back.

Patsy1969, I hope your PO-FQ stay is as nice as mine was. Make sure to take lots of photos and post them back here on the Dis upon your return.

Minybear, I promise to write all about the BCV soon. I had a wonderful stay there. I met so many nice people, both CMs and guests (and a few fellow DVC’ers, too). I will definitely stay at the BCV resort again. You're lucky to be an owner there!

JulesMom, you should have a wonderful stay at the BCV come June. If June is as hot as my Oct/Nov stay was, Stormalong Bay will be a great place for you to cool down in.

Princess Angel, we didn’t use the Disney buses while staying at PO-FQ until our last day. I do want to note that we only waited about ten minutes for an Epcot bus, which I thought was pretty quick. While at PO-FQ, we primarily used the walkways and the boat service to move around the entire PO resort complex. One evening we walked from FQ to RS in order to see Bob Jackson’s show. During the day we used the boats to go back and forth between the FQ and RS resorts in order to swim in both resorts’ pools. In the early evening, we took the boat to Downtown Disney. The boats were a great way to travel, and we had the most enjoyable rides. Just another thing that added magic to our PO-FQ stay.

 

[Janet2k]

I've been trying to upload some photos to my on-line Yahoo albums over the past few days, but Yahoo has been experiencing problems with their photo site. It is really frustrating for me, especially since I pay a fee for this service, arg! But hopefully within the next few days, I'll have photos posted for you to view. If you can get to my on-line photo albums, you’ll find that I have a new album that contains (so far) just a few PO-FQ room photos. You’ll also find a new BCV album, and in there is a photo that I took one evening from my room's balcony. That photo is of Epcot's Spaceship Earth. What a great view to have, especially at night.

 

[drenkey]

Thanks for the trip review Janet2K. Did you use the Discovery Magic or another wish plan during your trip?

 

[Janet2k]

Drenkey, I didn't use a package plan this time, it was strictly pay-as-I-went. I had originally had a package plan booked for this vacation (the Grand Plan at the GF), however, that got cancelled once my son decided that he wanted to stay home and not miss any school. I am awaiting delivery of the new package plan brochures. When I receive them and see what is contained in them, I'll have to decide whether or not one of them is right for my next vacation.

 

[Janet2k]

I have just a few photos posted of my PO-FQ room. Click here to view them. I will be adding more photos to that album, but thought I'd at least post the link to what I have placed into it so far (it's not much, don't get too excited).

I have also started writing about my PO-FQ stay, so hopefully I'll post that this weekend. If I get a lot of Internet time this weekend, I hope to have my BCV photos and review done, too.

 

[Bracho]

Welcome home Janet.. it sure was good to hear about your trip. We enjoyed the POFQ in 98 and we really enjoyed it. We were in building 4 I think, right next to the main building and we would walk out of our building, straight to the bus stop and never waited more then 5 minutes... it was like magic (or great timing..LOL).

It sure does sound like you had a great trip, but then we knew you would. I look forward to seeing some more of the photos from the trip.

 

[fa mulan]

Tjank you for sharing your POFQ photos, Janet2K! We're staying there in Feb, and I can't wait to read your trip report about it.

 

[Krissalee]

Thanks for sharing your stay at POFQ! I stayed there once, about 8-9 years ago, and loved it! I have been itching to stay there again - now even more so!