FQ 9/13-9/16/2014

How was your stay at French Quarter? Leave your comments or full trip reports here. Photos welcome.
Forum rules
This forum is for Port Orleans FRENCH QUARTER Trip Reports, not for general questions. Please try to keep your reviews relevant, informative and useful to other visiting families. Thanks!
User avatar
MardiGroggy
Posts: 290
Joined: August 11th, 2013, 10:30 am
Location: North Florida

FQ 9/13-9/16/2014

Unread post by MardiGroggy »

We recently returned from a "long weekend" R&R type visit to the French Quarter. I say "R&R" as we are fortunate enough to live close enough to WDW that we can make brief visits, without feeling that we have to run ourselves ragged hitting all the hot spots on each visit. It is just as well, as it was, as expected, oppressively HOT this time of year. We planned out activities accordingly, keeping out of the heat as much as possible.

We arrived, as usual, about an hour before official check-in, so it was a straight shot to the on-line check-in counter. Our room was ready and we breezed through that without any problems. We booked a king room, and the requests that I made (by phone to Disney reservations) regarding location were accommodated. We were in our room by 2:30pm. Everything that we saw at FQ was typical of the resort. The last time we were there the pool was closed for renovations, but all is functioning normally now. The buildings and grounds look in great shape, with the landscaping probably benefiting greatly from the greenhouse-like conditions that have existed in central Florida for most of the summer. Following check-in, we stopped at the Concierge Desk to check on availability of a special event that was "full" when we tried to make reservations by phone. Rich, an old Disney CM "acquaintance" of ours was at the desk and remembered us from a previous visit to Riverside a couple of years ago. After trying to outdo each other with some silly puns, bad jokes and some admittedly childish wordplay (Hey, its Disney and we can be whatever age we can get away with!), we got down to business. He was able to find us two spots for the event we wanted, even though the telephone event reservation folks insisted that there were no more spaces. The lesson here, as always, is: It never hurts to ask--politely! We chatted with Rich for about 15 minutes about Disney things in general and FQ in particular, then moved on to our room.

The food court was the same as always. We avoid the peak times when we can, so we had no waiting time to get through the lines. Sorry Andre, but I didn't see your request for the menu photos until yesterday, so I can't help with them this time. We spent Saturday evening in our usual therapy session with YeHaa Bob, but we didn't eat at Boatwrights this time. We ate at DTD instead. Mardi Grogs was a welcome oasis on a couple of occasions when we sat near the pool (in the shade...did I mention it was HOT?) and Shelly the bartender is a most accomplished (and appreciated) mixologist.

The boats were running on schedule and were relatively empty during the off-peak times (most folks had the good sense not to be out in the heat), but were filled during the usual rush periods. We only used the bus a couple of times and it was on schedule also. Returning late after the fireworks at MK, however, the bus was packed full and standing room only. There were quite a few cranky people on that bus too, but that wasn't the fault of the transportation system.

The only downer of this trip was when we returned to our room late (11pm) on Sunday night. We discovered that, although someone had been in the room and delivered a Mickey/Minnie card of congratulations for our anniversary that we were celebrating, the housekeeper had skipped our room entirely. We could have worked around the wet towels and the full trash cans, but not having the coffee pods replenished was a serious issue for my coffee loving wife. I called the housekeeping number and we had dry towels and coffee in about 15 minutes. I stopped at the lobby the next morning and spoke with a manager about it and the situation was resolved successfully. They offered a partial credit on the room that day and made sure everything was corrected by that afternoon. They even left extra coffee! Another lesson: If you have a problem, go to the desk and talk with a manager.

As I mentioned, this was an R&R trip, and French Quarter is, for us, the ideal spot for recharging the ol' batteries. Quiet, well maintained, close to activity if you want it, but nothing "in your face" to break the mood. We of course did things elsewhere, but this is a Port Orleans board, so I won't bore you with our other adventures. Suffice it to say, FQ is a great spot to call "home" at WDW. In keeping with that, and since Disney no longer has resort themed merchandise in the general stores, I decided to stop at Design-a-Tee at DTD and get a shirt with the Port Orleans logo on it. I added the words "French Quarter" on the top and "Laissez les bons temps rouler!" on the bottom. Now, I don't know if you have ever "designed a tee" with Disney, but the CMs there have to review your order before it is placed and have to "approve" any wording that is not standard Disney jargon. The nice lady who helped us not only did not know how to pronounce the phrase, but also had no idea what it meant. Clearly not in tune with the French Quarter mystique. :P It was a great souvenir of the weekend, once I got her on the right track!

Hope you all have as much fun, magic and pixie dust as we have enjoyed during all of our visits, including this one.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!
MardiGroggy
Aka: Steve

"Laissez les bons temps rouler!"
jreeves
Posts: 4
Joined: August 18th, 2014, 5:52 am

Re: FQ 9/13-9/16/2014

Unread post by jreeves »

Thank you for the great report. We are 18 days out and counting. Never stayed on site before and I am soooo glad I was able to book POFQ. We are looking forward to some "hectic" days at the parks, but also looking forward to some relaxing times exploring the resort and other areas of Disney too. It was also great to note that when your room wasn't attended to, just one phone call and the situation was rectified. I like starting my day with a nice cup of coffee, and heading down to Mardi Grogs in the evening sounds appealing too. Thank you too for that tip regarding resort souveniers. I was hoping to get a nice POFQ keepsake. I will definitely visit Design a Tee when we are shopping at DTD.
User avatar
MardiGroggy
Posts: 290
Joined: August 11th, 2013, 10:30 am
Location: North Florida

Re: FQ 9/13-9/16/2014

Unread post by MardiGroggy »

jreeves:

Always glad to help. Mardi Grogs is the pool bar and Scat Cat's is the lounge just off the lobby. Either can be quite relaxing, depending on what you want going on around you. Tom Casey is providing the entertainment these days at Scat Cat's, so there is some live music available on some evenings, if that is of interest. Scat Cat's also has a couple of TVs for sports viewing.

It actually took two steps to work out the housekeeping issue, a phone call that night and a follow-up with management the next morning. As has been mentioned elsewhere on this site, the phone calls are not handled on-site, so you need to take the time to talk to a supervisor/manager in person at the front desk if you want to make sure something is addressed effectively.

Disney stopped selling resort themed merchandise at the various resort stores quite a few years ago (sadly), so the t-shirt was the easiest thing I could think of. (I still have my old yellow "Dixie Landings" mugs from years ago. They are great, and a far better mug than the generic ones they use now.) If you go the t-shirt route, there is a design screen where you can select resort logos and there is just one for all of Port Orleans. You can add whatever wording you want to it, or just go with the logo. The shirts are a bit pricey ($26.95), but what isn't at WDW? They are a good quality Hanes (tm) shirt, however, available in a variety of colors. I suggest you check the shirts they have hanging there as size samples. They seem to run a bit large, so I actually ordered a size smaller than I initially thought I should. It takes them about 45 minutes to print them up to your specs, so stop there first before you start wandering around DTD and the shirts should be ready as you are leaving.

I hope you enjoy your visit as much as we did ours!
MardiGroggy
Aka: Steve

"Laissez les bons temps rouler!"
User avatar
Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 2094
Joined: September 11th, 2008, 6:44 am
Contact:

Re: FQ 9/13-9/16/2014

Unread post by Admin »

swd wrote:Disney stopped selling resort themed merchandise at the various resort stores quite a few years ago (sadly)
Remind me to come back to this thread, oh, say sometime early next year.... (not that I'm saying anything, at all, nothing to see or hear here, just move along...)

Andre
Image
- The Unofficial Visitor's Guide to the Port Orleans Resorts in Orlando, Florida -
User avatar
MardiGroggy
Posts: 290
Joined: August 11th, 2013, 10:30 am
Location: North Florida

Re: FQ 9/13-9/16/2014

Unread post by MardiGroggy »

Hmmm.... Feels like there may be a change in the wind! :mrgreen: I suppose there isn't any FP+ so we can get there faster...?
MardiGroggy
Aka: Steve

"Laissez les bons temps rouler!"
Post Reply