Port Orleans French Quarter - your opinions on convenience

[connpaul]

I haven't been to WDW since 2010, and now my wife and I want to bring our 8 and 6 year-olds for the first time. Instead of spending hours doing research I figured I could get quick answers by asking the experts here

- Is this resort good for kids?
- Is there a food court and also a small food market in walking distance?
- Is the pool good and will it be open in May 2023?
- Is there transportation to Epcot by any other means other than bus seeing how it is so close?
- Anything you did not like about this resort?
- Are the buses for PO Riverside and PO French Quarters the same buses, or are there different buses for these two resorts?

Thanks!

 

[disneyseniors]

Hi: We always stay at POFQ and I hope I can answer some of your questions. We like POR much more, but stay at FQ because of mobility issues. Many people do this because it is easier to navigate for those with mobility issues.

The resort is great for kids, IMO. We are retired and of course didn't bring children with us, but there are many children there. Someone else with children should answer this.

There is a small food court which has some very nice food. There is no small market close by that I am aware of.

We are not pool people, but it looks great. I love to sit at pool side and rest and they have a lot of places to do this. If you don't want to be right by the pool, you can sit in another pool area. There is also the pool bar close by if you want to use that.

No there is not other transport to Epcot except the buses. However, the buses are great. We have never shared a bus with POR, but others have stated that they do share occasionally.

I loved the whole resort, except personally I don't like the Mardi Gras atmosphere. But that's just me. It's a nice smaller resort for our mobility issues. There is one bus stop which is good. However, there seems to be a lot of scooters at times due to some people with mobility issues. But that didn't bother us and we never waited a long time for a bus. I liked their food court, very handy and good. The grounds are beautiful. You can walk to POR along the river path, which is a beautiful, restful walk of about 10 minutes. There is much more to see and do at POR. There are carriage rides (you have to reserve in advance) that are awesome. You can rent bikes or a surrey bike to ride. The Mill QS food court is huge and has great choices.
I think your family will have a great time at POFQ.

 

[Miffy]

I haven't been to WDW since 2010, and now my wife and I want to bring our 8 and 6 year-olds for the first time. Instead of spending hours doing research I figured I could get quick answers by asking the experts here

- Is this resort good for kids?
- Is there a food court and also a small food market in walking distance?
- Is the pool good and will it be open in May 2023?
- Is there transportation to Epcot by any other means other than bus seeing how it is so close?
- Anything you did not like about this resort?
- Are the buses for NO Riverside and NO French Quarters the same buses, or are there different buses for these two resorts?

Thanks!

1--Yes, the resort is great for kids.
2--Yes, there's a food court. I'm vegan and even I can find many things there to eat.
3--The pool and splash pad are great. I have no idea what the refurb schedule is, but these things are listed on many sites. I checked here and there were no refurbs scheduled for POFQ for March 2023. But you should check yourself.
4--There's no other Disney transportation to Epcot from POFQ other than the bus, but you could certainly take a cab or rideshare.
5--The water pressure in the room we had last time was not ideal, but it's hardly something to destroy our fond feelings about POFQ.
6--Our bus experience last time was this: FQ did not share buses with Riverside in the morning. Around 11 or 12 noon, however, they would occasionally be sharing. Since FQ is the first stop, there's no problem getting a seat. And, of course, on the return trip, since FQ is still the first stop, it doesn't matter if they're sharing a bus with Riverside.

We really love POFQ and are staying there on our upcoming trip. The boat to DS is great and the grounds are beautiful. Enjoy!

 

[CynBeth]

We have stayed at POFQ and POR and enjoyed them both. FQ is so compact we were in the furthest building and it was still a short walk to the food court. It is also a short walk to Riverside if you want to go to their food court or pool. We don’t go swimming when at Disney so can’t answer any specific questions. When we were at either resort I believe they sometimes shared buses but not a huge issue. We liked the grounds at Riverside and were in a Royal room with a River view that is in the mansion section and was right across a bridge from the food court.

 

[connpaul]

Thanks all for the advice and replies!

 

[Sunshine11]

FQ is compact with great theming. Bonus is you can walk, boat or take the bus to Riverside for additional amenities. The boat to Disney Springs is awesome too. The kids will love the pool. As pp mentioned, the furthest room will still be close for catching coffee/snacks and the bus! You can't go wrong!

 

[liquid17]

The gift shop definitely had some simple groceries - bread and milk and, IIRC, OJ and pop-tarts and frozen pizzas and PB and J. If you ask on the main POFQ thread, you can probably get a list of the things they usually carry

https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...tion-questions.3178768/page-492#post-64241728

 

[sponica]

Is this resort good for kids?
- Is there a food court and also a small food market in walking distance?
- Is the pool good and will it be open in May 2023?
- Is there transportation to Epcot by any other means other than bus seeing how it is so close?
- Anything you did not like about this resort?
- Are the buses for PO Riverside and PO French Quarters the same buses, or are there different buses for these two resorts?

1. The resort is so small, even the farthest building is a pretty short walk to the food court.
2. We rarely have time to do the pools, we did do the splash pad there when we stayed and I remember my 2 year old liking it.
3. Alas it is a bus only resort
4. The one "dig" against it is the lack of table service, but you can just go to the table service in riverside.
5. At peak times they have their own buses, I think in the middle of the day they sometimes share.

I think all resorts are good for kids, mine just want a pool.

 

[snikki]

- Any resort is good for kids. Well my kids at least. As long as it had a pool and a pool slide they were more than happy at any hotel.
- The food court is pretty good. It's a short walk from any room since the resort is small. No need for a small food market.
- The pool is nice.
- Bus only transport except for the boat to Disney Springs.
- We liked everything about it. We really don't do TS at our resort unless we stay deluxe (or at CSR) so the lack of TS doesn't bother us but I think that's pretty much the only dig. You are paying full moderate price but lacking in that area.
- When we stayed at POFQ we have never shared a bus and we do midday breaks.

 

[isabellea]

POFQ is our favourite resort. We are staying there again for New Year. The splash pad at POFQ is great for little kids but they have a height limit and it was enforced in 2018. We like the POFQ pool but my kids prefer the main pool at POR so we often take the boat there to swim.

Food court is good and beignets are a favourite snack. The only Disney snack my teenager requested for our trip are beignets. She doesn’t know we are staying at POFQ again.

We never shared a bus with POR but we always stay there at busy times like NYE.

 

[Eastern]

POFQ is our favorite moderate. No bad rooms, really, so convenient. The kids will like watching for the little lizards that dart around the pathways. Pool is fun for younger kids. Food court is fine and the CMs are the friendliest. We have been many times and never shared buses, but I suppose it happens from time to time.

*From January 2024 through April 2024, the Doubloon Lagoon pool at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter will be closed for routine maintenance. Guests may see or hear construction work during day time hours. During this time, Guests are welcome to swim in the Ol’ Man Island pool at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside.

 

[notatallmagic]

Ditto what other posters have said - this is our favorite Moderate resort! Compact, everything seems an easy walk, one bus stop (usually pretty quick), you can walk/use the return buses from Port Orleans Riverside, lovely walk/easy walk to Riverside, boats to Disney Springs, and the pool area is cute - nothing fancy, but nice.

We really enjoyed the dining there too - quick service is awesome, and the specialty items were unique and fun. Often there will be great prices too!

 

[projectx3]

We last stayed at POFQ in 2017. Our kids were between the ages of 4 and 7 at the time.

- Is this resort good for kids?
Yes, absolutely. Our now 12 year old still remembers it and how much he loved it.
- Is there a food court and also a small food market in walking distance?
Yes, plenty of options in the food court and I recall a fair amount of the food on offer to actually be good. The gift shop will have a limited amount of food available for purchase.
- Is the pool good and will it be open in May 2023?
Pool is great. The kids will love the splash pad with various slides
- Is there transportation to Epcot by any other means other than bus seeing how it is so close?
No, bus only. Unless you want to pay for Uber/Lyft. The buses here are very efficient and Epcot is the closest park.
- Anything you did not like about this resort?
Can only get 4 to a room. We traveled with grandparents though so one of our three kids stayed in their room.
- Are the buses for PO Riverside and PO French Quarters the same buses, or are there different buses for these two resorts?
I've stayed at both resorts. I never shared a bus once over the course of a total of 15 days. But then again, we were traveling during peak times so maybe that has something to do with it.

We just recently came back after staying at Riverside. We really enjoyed it, and stayed in a preferred room, so the size of the resort wasn't a concern. But I'd still give the nod to French Quarter. There's no need to pay extra for a preferred room thanks to the small size, and the resort only has one bus stop. Oh.. and the beignets. Be sure to get some beignets!

 

[romanr27]

- Are the buses for PO Riverside and PO French Quarters the same buses, or are there different buses for these two resorts?

I'll add my own experience to this. We were there from Nov 12-18 and virtually never shared with Riverside - and we would do midday breaks so we'd be heading back to the resort between 12-2 and usually back to a park between 4-6 and still didn't share. The only time we shared with Riverside was on an ad hoc basis -- after AK closed there was a ton of ECVs heading to Riverside so they sent four buses in a row to Riverside to clear that backlog and the last bus took us POFQ people and dropped us off first. And one morning we were rope dropping MK and the bus picked up at Riverside's main stop (South Depot) since it wasn't that busy at POFQ that morning.

As for overall convenience -- POFQ is the only moderate that has a single bus stop. In our one week there (and probably 20-25 bus rides) we had just two mornings where the wait exceeded the 20 minutes Disney advertised. And maybe a handful more times where our wait exceeded 10 minutes. Our room was in building one (the extreme east side of the resort) and we still had a ~3-5 minute walk to the food court and maybe ~5-7 minute walk to the bus. Location is pretty central too, 5-10 minutes to Epcot, 10-15 to DHS/EP and 15-20 to AK. And again, since you're not sharing with Riverside and have only one stop, there's no time you need to add on there for making a milk run. I prefer the vibe of Riverside (the main area and Alligator Bayou specifically) to POFQ and if I wasn't doing a park-heavy trip I might opt to stay there. But if you're doing lots of park days I'd do POFQ in a heartbeat. And POFQ has beignets

 

[kylenne]

I’ll be the lone contrarian and state that POFQ is my least favorite out of the resorts I’ve stayed at. The food court was a mixed bag to me. All resort QS locations get chaotic at peak times (mostly during the breakfast rush), but because POFQ’s is so small I found that it was more difficult to manage, and I was just a solo person with no kids. Cast seemed harried and waits were long--and this was in 2019, in the Before Times. The options were better/more unique than most, but I thought the beignets were nowhere near worth the hype they get on here. My favorite thing was the boat to Disney Springs, which was really convenient...when it was running. Weather is a factor depending on when in May you’re going, so keep that in mind. I ended up only getting to take it maybe twice, and had to bus/rideshare due to storms.

I am genuinely glad to hear the bus situation has improved since my stay a couple of years back, because the frequently touted “only one bus stop” was a joke considering how often we ended up sharing with POR, and I ended up ridesharing a lot more than usual out of frustration. The crapshoot nature of the sharing is still a huge negative to me though. Randomly picking up at POR while on a tight rope drop schedule is not it for me.

I will say it’s a charming little resort and the theming is really nice, the size makes it very quick to get to wherever you need. I don’t have kids but I saw plenty of happy ones having a good time at the pool, etc. They seem to enjoy the slide there. And it was cool coming back from the parks to live music at the resort. I don’t mean to be a downer on it, but I know I would have appreciated hearing differing views before I booked. No resort is perfect for everyone.

 

[Titanium]

 

[Dsny4fun]

Just got back from POFQ last week and had a great stay here....never once did we share a bus with Riverside and we did plenty of mid day trips back to the resort. Although it doesn't have a sit down restaurant, it's a short walk to Riverside which has Boatwrights...and it was one of the best meals we had on our trip...they have really turned this place around, the food was so good!
I will definitely stay here on my next trip in 2yrs....I love how small it is and we take the boat to DS quite often as I love the restaurants there and just enjoy walking around there in the evening

 

[projectx3]

it's a short walk to Riverside which has Boatwrights...and it was one of the best meals we had on our trip...they have really turned this place around, the food was so good!

It was our first time at Boatwrights on our trip a few weeks ago and I agree... food was very good. Well, everything but the mac & cheese, it was terrible. I'm not sure how you screw up mac & cheese, but they succeeded.