Page 1 of 1

POR and POFQ Pool Areas, Construction Nears Completion

Posted: March 1st, 2016, 11:33 am
by The Sassagoula Sentinel
Note: for the latest pictures and information, please see the Maintenance and Refurbishment Page.


French Quarter - Doubloon Lagoon and Children's Water Play Area
(Now due to open by 6 March)

Update 25 February 2016: The target completion date for the French Quarter children’s water play area has again been slightly delayed, this time from 29th February to 6th March. Workers are starting to add the final detailing and test the water features, but landscaping, fencing and some remaining pathway construction over the buried pipework is still to be completed.

The Mardi Grogs pool bar has just had some new features installed, including pretzel and popcorn machines and air heaters to allow more people to sit outside during the cooler winter months. Pretzels are priced at $3.19 each, or $4.19 with a cheese dip, and popcorn is $3.50 (plus tax).

Image Image Image

Update 29 February 2016: Testing of the water elements commenced this afternoon, and it looks great with lots of spray fountains and a fun fill-and-tip water wheel at the top. Thanks as always to John Schmidt for sending the photos and video. The splash play area is marked as having a sloped depth of 11 inches in the middle, and will presumably have the same 48-inch height restriction as per other resorts.

The remaining pathways have now been laid around the water play area and landscaping added, and most of the green construction fences have been removed, but other current work includes the removal of the steps from the northern access pathway to the hot tub, adding ramped access from the Mardi Grogs bar to the seating area, and replacing some worn-out decking on the boat dock.

Image Image Image Image Image


Riverside - Ol' Man Island
(Due to reopen by 4/5 March)

Update 28 February 2016: The access bridge from the Riverside Marina to Ol’ Man Island reopened for guests around 5pm on Friday 26 February, albeit with a few areas of paintwork that still need finishing.

Work is progressing well on the main pool area, and the pool itself was refilled several days ago. The perimeter fencing is almost complete, and lockable gates are being installed across all of the pool-access pathways. While the gatepost edging is at least styled in keeping with the island theme, the outlying fences and the gates themselves are all metal and more than one person has commented on the new “Stalag Riverside” look. Hopefully once the foliage is allowed to grow a bit the fence will be much less noticeable, and there has already been some new planting on the mansion building side of the island. At least it’s better than the incongruous wire-mesh fencing that has recently been added around the Polynesian leisure pool.

There is still a lot of work to be completed on the restrooms and the River Roost bar area (there isn’t even a bar counter-top at the moment!) but the expectation is still that the area will be ready to be handed back to the resort team by Friday 4 March. This does not necessarily mean that the pool will reopen to guests on that day though, as final approvals from the Reedy Creek folks will be needed, along with resetting all the furnishings in the area and revisiting the training of the lifeguards (as one of the guard stations has been moved slightly). The most likely opening date at the moment is Saturday 5th March, but that could still move either way.

Image Image Image Image Image

Update 29 February 2016: Cement work outside of the restrooms is making progress, and bar elements such as the counter-tops now appear to be done and thematic detailing is being restored. Final touches on landscaping are being worked on, and they are skimming and brushing out the pool. Some minor finishing work was still being done to the bottom of the slide. A double-handrail and a chair lift have been added to the already somewhat cramped hot tub.

Image Image Image Image