Port Orleans News and Rumours

The May 2013 Recreation Activities and Movie Schedules for Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter are now available. See the main Recreation Activities Schedule page for full-size PDF versions, or click on the images below.

The outdoor movies will start at 9pm and the daily campfires commence at 7pm this month.

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According to DISboards member and Port Orleans French Quarter regular 'cruisingkat', POFQ's resident multi-talented jazz musician Elliot Dyson has been let go by Disney. Anyone who has spent any time at the resort will be familiar with Elliot's nightly laid-back jazz sessions at Scat Cat's Club which are a signature attraction of the resort, and I know he will be greatly missed by a lot of folks.

cruisngkat wrote:We go to Disney at least 5 times a year and see him each time we visit. We received a text from Elliot telling us he has been let go. We saw him this past Wednesday and Thursday nights (4/24 & 4/25) and he told us May 4 will be his last night performing at Disney as his contract was terminated.

As a result of being in that space, we have suspended all entertainment in that area due to the change in Guest flow and noise concerns. Elliot will be on hiatus during the refurbishment and we will have entertainment return after everything is completed. Our entertainment partners are part of the process and with the refurbishment will be looking at the offerings at French Quarter to ensure that our offerings match the quality, spirit and theme of the resort. This means that Elliot could easily return after the re-opening, however this has not been confirmed. The news of him let go is only referring to the time of the refurbishment.

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The washing machines and dryers in the Port Orleans French Quarter Laundry Room (located near to the Doubloon Lagoon swimming pool) are now cashless and you will only be able to pay using a credit or debit card. This is initially a six-month trial and there are no immediate plans to extend it to any of the Riverside laundry rooms (as yet, anyway).

Strangely though, there is no facility to pay using your Key-to-the-World card (room charge) which given the current major push towards contactless payment using room keycards everywhere at Walt Disney World, and the upcoming personalised Magic Band system, does seem a little odd. Perhaps the new RFID payment technology isn't yet ready to be left on its own as a stand-alone unit without CM supervision?

I assume this is primarily an effort to cut down on maintenance costs and provide a more consistent service for guests, but it will also help to reduce the risk of vandalism and theft which has been an issue with cash boxes in the past.

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As I posted a month ago, this spring will see Port Orleans French Quarter's turn to be given a brand new look for its main registration lobby area, similar to the work completed over at Riverside last summer.

I can now confirm that the work is due to commence on Monday 13 May 2013 and should be completed by mid-July. As always, please remember that work schedules can shift a little, but that's the best information I have at the moment. More details on the estimated completion date should be available in June.

During the period while the current lobby area is closed, all checkin and guest service functions will take place at the old Bonfamille's Café restaurant, just across the central atrium next to Scat Cat's Club - so when you enter the main atrium, you'll need to turn left rather than right.

Update on 20 April: Start date will be Monday 13 May, not 15 May as previously posted.

Update on 9 May: Check-in facilities are now located in the Bonfamille's Café area, in readiness for work commencing on the regular lobby next week.

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The April 2013 Recreation Activities and Movie Schedules for Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter are now available. See the main Recreation Activities Schedule page for full-size PDF versions, or click on the images below.

The outdoor movies will start at 8:30pm and the daily campfires commence at 6:30pm this month.

Don’t miss the special Earth Day activities this month. Vote in a Recycle and Photo Contest in the Lobby at POR on Thursday 18 April (8am–5pm), then join in with the Earth Day Celebrations from noon-2pm on Friday 19 April beside the POR Marina. Recycle and Photo Contest winners will be announced at the Earth Day Celebration.

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The Easter Sunday 2013 Recreation Schedules are now available, see the main Recreation Schedules page for more details.

If you don't fancy spending all of Easter Sunday in the crowded theme parks (and they will be crowded!) there are plenty of activities around both of the Port Orleans resorts to keep you and the kids occupied, including character meet-and-greets, family games and poolside fun, and of course some traditional confectionery-based activities.

Also, both of the resort gift shops (Fulton’s General Store at Port Orleans Riverside and Jackson Square Gifts & Desires at Port Orleans French Quarter) are again offering pre-made and made-to-order Easter Baskets from Tuesday 26 March until Easter Sunday.

• Catholic Mass: 8am-9am
• Protestant Service: 9am-10am
• Catholic Mass: 10:15am-11:15am

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This spring will see Port Orleans French Quarter's turn to be given a brand new look for its main registration lobby area. Tentatively planned to start sometime in May (details to be confirmed) the refit will be similar to the work completed over at Riverside last summer. During the period while the current lobby is closed, all checkin and guest service functions will take place at the old Bonfamille's Cafe restaurant, just across the central atrium next to Scat Cat's Club.

This also seemed an ideal opportunity to create an archive 360-degree panorama photo of the original lobby design before it is gone forever, and that along with several other Port Orleans French Quarter panoramas are now available to view on our new French Quarter Panoramas page.

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The March 2013 Recreation Activities and Movie Schedules for Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter are now available. See the main Recreation Activities Schedule page for full-size PDF versions, or click on the images below.

The outdoor movies will start at 8pm and the daily campfires commence at 6:30pm this month.

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Port Orleans Riverside's celebrated night-time entertainer, "Ye Haa" Bob Jackson, yesterday received the prestigious Walt Disney Legacy Award, given annually to a very select group of cast members for "keeping the magic alive through exemplary performance and commitment to the traditions and ideals established by Walt Disney".



As the highest honour one can receive within Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, The Walt Disney Legacy Award recognises those exceptional individuals who consistently excel in the categories of: Dream, Create, Inspire. The award is a global program which recognises the outstanding achievements of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Cast, Crew and Imagineers, and each recipient will have first been nominated by their leaders, direct reports and/or co-workers.

Congratulations Bob from all your friends at portorleans.org, this award is richly deserved for the amount of effort and dedication you put into entertaining your guests. Walt would have been proud of you, as you embody the values and traditions that he wanted for the parks (and now resorts) which carry his name - wear your new blue name-badge with pride!

See Bob's Facebook page if you'd like to congratulate him yourself.

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The February 2013 Recreation Activities and Movie Schedules for Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter are now available. See the main Recreation Activities Schedule page for full-size PDF versions, or click on the images below.

The outdoor movies will start at 7pm and the daily campfires commence at 5:30pm this month. And if you’re going to be at Port Orleans for Mardi Gras, don’t forget the special parade of decorated pargo carts which the cast members organise every year — 1:30pm on Tuesday 12 February.

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The new keycard touch-to-pay terminals were activated at Port Orleans this morning (a few days later than first planned due to some technical teething problems). You can now pay using your RFID-chip based room keycard at all of the Port Orleans lobbies, shops, restaurants and bars (along with the theme parks and other WDW locations). As far as I know, you cannot use the new system in the laundry rooms, arcades, lockers, etc. though.



Also, if you check in online from now on you should be offered the option of setting up a security PIN number for your keycard, which will save a little bit of time creating one when you arrive. The original intention was to only use the PIN numbers for transactions of $50 at WDW, but more recently all transactions require you to enter your PIN.

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The Ol’ Man Island swimming pool slide at Port Orleans Riverside will be closed from 7th January until 1st February 2013. The pool itself will remain open as normal though, it is only the slide that is undergoing maintenance. The Port Orleans French Quarter pool and slide will be fully open during this time though, and guests from Riverside are always welcome to use it.

[Update 20-Jan: Seems from local reports that the main pool slide has been open a lot of the time, perhaps the work finished early or is being done in stages?]

Also, Alligator Bayou quiet pool #2 (the pool located near to buildings 24-28) will also be closed for maintenance work from 23rd January until 26th January 2013. Both of the other quiet pools in the Alligator Bayou area, along with three other pools at the resort, will remain open as normal during this period.

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There have been room number layouts for the Port Orleans Riverside Magnolia Bend mansion buildings here on portorleans.org for a few years now, based on maps from the old Sassagoula Times handout which the front desk used to give out to arriving guests. However until now there has been no breakdown available for the other sections, which has been one of the most requested features from site visitors lately.

So, after much research and burning of the midnight oil over the Christmas break, I'm proud to present detailed floor plan layouts for every floor of every building at Port Orleans - that's all sixteen Alligator Bayou lodges, the four Magnolia Bend mansions and the seven French Quarter buildings. All of these new floor plans can be accessed by simply clicking on each building in the resort maps on the Alligator Bayou, Magnolia Bend and French Quarter pages.

I'll try to add even more detail soon, and provide downloadable PDF versions too, so there's more still to come. Although I'm pretty sure that the basic layouts are covered accurately now, if anyone notices any errors please let me know.

[Update 5-Jan-12] As promised I've now added extra detail, plus downloadable/printable PDF versions too. All of the building floor plans maps now include the room categories (Garden/Water/River Views, Preferred, King Bed, etc) and the locations of all of the Disabled Accessible rooms. Happy planning!

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The January 2013 Recreation Activities and Movie Schedules for Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter are now available. See the main Recreation Activities Schedule page for full-size PDF versions, or click on the images below.

The outdoor movies will start at 7pm and the daily campfires commence at 5:30pm this month.

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Christmas is almost upon us, and for those guests spending a bit of time relaxing away from the parks there will be lots of fun and games at both Port Orleans resorts. As I mentioned previously, there are musical groups entertaining everyone in the lobbies daily in the run-up to the big day, and on Christmas Eve your kids (oh alright, the adults too) can meet with Disney characters at both resorts in the morning, and Santa will be making a special appearance at the Riverside Lobby in the evening.

Port Orleans Riverside Christmas 2012 (click to download PDF file)


Port Orleans French Quarter Christmas 2012 (click to download PDF file)

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I'll try to post more details closer to the time, but visitors travelling to the Port Orleans resorts over the Christmas Holiday period can expect some extra fun for all the family.

Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter will both be hosting Disney Character meet and greets in their lobbies on Christmas Eve (24 December), with the white-bearded gentleman in the red suit also scheduled to make a personal appearance at Riverside on the 24th - presumably before commencing his vital overnight voyage.

There will also be local musical groups appearing the week before Christmas, presenting seasonal entertainment:

Port Orleans French Quarter Lobby

Sunday 16 December (morning) 8:30am & 9:30am - Valencia Community College Intone (Orlando, FL)
Tuesday 18 December (evening) 7:00pm & 8:00pm - The Grace Notes (Winter Garden, FL)
Thursday 20 December (morning) 8:30am & 9:30am - O-Town Sound Chorus (Orlando, FL)
Saturday 22 December (evening) 7:00pm & 8:00pm - First United Methodist Church (Titusville, FL)

Monday 17 December (evening) 7:00pm & 8:00pm - Winter Springs High School Bear Voices (Winter Springs, FL)
Wednesday 19 December (morning) 8:30am & 9:30am - Sweet Adelines International, Inc. Sound of Sunshine Show Chorus (Longwood, FL)
Friday 21 December (evening) 7:00pm & 8:00pm - Tenoroc High School Vocal Ensemble (Lakeland, FL)
Sunday 23 December (morning) 8:30am & 9:30am - Sweet Adelines International, Inc. Sound of Sunshine Show Chorus (Longwood, FL)

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The December 2012 Recreation Activities and Movie Schedules for Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter are now available. See the main Recreation Activities Schedule page for full-size PDF versions, or click on the images below.

The outdoor movies will start at 7pm and the daily campfires commence at 5:30pm this month. A specific schedule for Christmas Eve/Christmas Day activities will be available closer to the time.

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The November 2012 Recreation Activities and Movie Schedules for Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter are now available (they were there at the start of the month in fact, but I forgot to add a news posting as I'd just posted the Halloween one - sorry!). See the main Recreation Activities Schedule page for full-size PDF versions, or click on the images below.

The outdoor movies will start at 7pm and the daily campfires commence at 5:30pm this month.

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Boooo! Sounds like there's going to be a load of spooky fun for all the kids - and kids at heart - staying at Port Orleans on Monday 31st October this year - including games, food and even some character meet and greets.

Port Orleans Riverside Halloween 2012 (click to download PDF file)



Port Orleans French Quarter Halloween 2012 (click to download PDF file)

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There have been some minor changes in options and prices at both of the food courts and at Boatwright's Dining Hall over the past couple of months. The listings on the site now reflect all of the current offerings and prices for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner for both adult and kids' meals.

See the individual pages for Boatwright's Dining Hall, the Riverside Mill and the Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory for full details.

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Brand new ‘RFID’ locks are being installed on the doors of all guest rooms during October. French Quarter is now complete [17 Oct] and Acadian House and then the rest of the mansions will come next, followed by Alligator Bayou. These new locks are triggered by tiny proximity-activated chips embedded within the key cards which are issued to guests, allowing the door to be opened by simply placing the keycard near to the new Mickey-head sensor on the door (this one is from Acadian House; the Royal Rooms will have a slightly different style):



This is much easier to use than the old “slide in, pull out” method as far as guest access is concerned, and it also has a number of advantages from an operational point of view. For example, it will no longer be necessary to reprogram keycards at the front desk in the event of a guest issue or a room change, but simply to remotely reprogram a different door lock to accept the same card. The upgrade process should be transparent to guests, who could be issued with chipped Key to the World card in the morning and then return after a day at the parks to find the updated locking system is now on their door.


Support poles for new hammock loungers were reported to have been installed last week alongside the pathway just beyond the fishin’ hole on Ol’ Man Island. Apparently there are going to be eight of these located around the resort, sounds like a lovely little addition. [Update] Here's an image of one of the three new hammocks now located on Ol' Man Island:




General work has been continuing around the resort, such as upgrades to the pathways and bridges around the Alligator Bayou section to provide easier access for guests with impaired mobility.


The parking lots outside of the main lobby buildings at both Riverside and French Quarter now have rather ugly metal mesh fences around their perimeters. Also the first parking lot exit at Riverside (closest to the South bus depot) has been blocked off, leaving just the second exit, closer to the main road. Presumably this has been done for pedestrian safety reasons, but you would have thought it would have been possible to find some fencing that was more in keeping with the theming of the resort rather than this rather nasty generic metal barrier.




The old flip-over price menu boards at the Riverside Mill food court are now gone, replaced by cabinets for flat-screen displays. Until the electronic displays were ready recently, printed signs were being placed in front of the screens daily for the breakfast and lunch/dinner menus.

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Earlier in the week, Disney released Room and Package Discount offers for Fall and Winter 2012/13, which include giving up to 30% discount on Port Orleans Riverside room rates and up to $600 off some packages. See our Discounts and Special Offers page for full details and links to the Disney website offer pages.

Fall 2012 Offer

Save up to 20%/25% on stays at Port Orleans Riverside for most nights from 1-Nov-2012 to 22-Dec-2012 (excludes Thanksgiving week, 17-23 Nov).

This is a room-only offer, however tickets and Dining Plans can be added at extra cost. Book by 31st October 2012 via the Disney Reservations Center on (407) W-DISNEY, or contact a specialist travel agent and mention offer code G97.

Winter 2013 Offer

Save up to 30% on stays at Port Orleans Riverside for most nights from 2-Jan-2013 to 7-Mar-2013 (stays from 18-20 Jan are available at some resorts but may have different discounts).

There is also a “Play, Stay, Dine and Save” offer covering the same time period (and including both Riverside and French Quarter) which gives discounts of up to $600 on 5-night/6-day Magic Your Way package prices with the Disney Dining Plan included.

You need to book these offers by 31st December 2012 via the Disney Reservations Center on (407) W-DISNEY, or contact a specialist travel agent and mention offer code Z3K for the room-only offer or Q83 for the package offer.

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The October 2012 Recreation Activities and Movie Schedules for Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter are now available, see the main Recreation Activities Schedule page for full-size PDF versions, or click on the images below. The outdoor movies will start at 8pm and the daily campfires commence at 6:30pm. A separate schedule will be released for Halloween closer to the end of the month.

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Yesterday the final new custom-made rug carpet, which was originally scheduled to be delivered in October, arrived early and has been laid in the previously-empty open space on the Marina side of the lobby. This has allowed the remaining furniture to be set out too, which was being held back to avoid damaging the new tiles in the meantime. This now concludes the lobby refurbishment, giving a pleasantly consistent look to the new area.

This was the refurbished lobby just prior to the new details being added - click on the image below to scroll around the lobby:

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The September 2012 Recreation Activities and Movie Schedules for Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter are now available, see the main Recreation Activities Schedule page for full-size PDF versions, or click on the images below. The outdoor movies will start at 8.30pm and the daily campfires commence at 7:00pm.

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The August 2012 Recreation Activities and Movie Schedules for Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter are now available, see the main Recreation Activities Schedule page for full-size PDF versions, or click on the images below. The outdoor movies will start at 9pm and the daily campfires commence at 7:30pm.

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The final Port Orleans Riverside Alligator Bayou building (26) re-opened for guests today. The guest room refurbishment was all done a couple of weeks ago, but they kept the rooms out of use until the roof maintenance work was complete and all the scaffolding was taken down.

So now all rooms at both of the Port Orleans resorts have now been fully refurbished and the update program is complete.

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According to the Walt Disney World website, room and package booking rates for all of 2013 for the on-site hotels (including Port Orleans) are due to be released on 11 July. Currently the US site only allows you to book until 31 December 2012, although some of the International sites have allowed 2013 bookings for non-US guests for a while now.

Update 6am EST, 11 July 2012: The 2013 booking rates are now available via the WDW online booking system. Full details can be found in our Room Rates page.

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The Disney Parks Blog has a short feature on the newly refurbished lobby at Port Orleans Riverside with some nice detail photos, saying "The two-month refurbishment included new tile, colorful rugs, decorative period lighting and some new furniture. The space is very inviting – it sure seems brighter and more spacious to me." See http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2 ... ld-resort/

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American Independence Day is fast approaching, and the Port Orleans Resorts will be offering plenty of fun activities to keep the young (and young at heart) resort guests entertained on Wednesday 4th July. These will include old-fashioned lawn games, a watermelon eating contest, candy counting, a cake walk, a pie throwing contest, plus all the usual pool activities, movies, etc.

One quick tip from me: if you want to see the special Magic Kingdom fireworks, go on Tuesday 3rd July. You'll see exactly the same show, but without the crazy crowds. Then you can either enjoy the resort activities on the 4th, or head over to see Epcot's celebrations where the larger size of the park may help make it feel a little less crowded.

And here are the other activities for the rest of July, also available at the usual Recreation Activities Schedule page:

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I can't believe where the time has gone, but five years ago today the very first files were served out from the fledgling www.portorleans.org domain. It wasn't a full site at that point, just a collection of a couple of resort maps and a few pictures I think.

I first registered the actual name on 22 June 2007, and I noticed the timing because I've just this week paid the annual server hosting invoice for the coming year (all donations via the homepage gratefully received... LOL).

The first online post where I referred to anything from the site was on 1 July 2007, on the UK-based DIBB forums (after the idea was first mooted on 11 March in another DIBB thread). A proper 'menu-based' site was still a few months away (26 Oct 2007) but I think I shall count 1st July as the site's official birthday for now.

And now, five years later, the site gets around 1.5 million page hits a year. How time flies when you're having fun!

Thanks for everyone's support, and I hope this site has proved informative and useful.

Andre

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The main lobby at Port Orleans Riverside has re-opened today after its two-month refurbishment... well, almost. At a fairly late stage they decided to add an extra treatment to the floor tiles, which took a few days to apply and harden. This must of course now be done with the previously-completed section of the lobby too, so they will shut that side off again for a few days while the work is completed. Then the furniture will be put back into place. I don’t know what’s happening about the carpet though - I know that originally a new one was planned to be put down, but it looks like the new floor is all tiled to me.

But it's looking very nice already, this was taken first thing Tuesday morning (26 June):




Update on Thursday 28 June:

The Lobby Refurbishment work is now pretty much complete, with the carpeting (in the form of two giant rugs) now laid and all of the desks opened for guests. A few items of furniture still need to be added, and the kids' TV needs to be moved and queue lines set up, but otherwise it's basically done.

On first view, I'm not completely sure if the darker blue in the carpet might be one colour too many though, but I'm sure it'll grow on me. It's apparently proving very popular with guests.



Update on Thursday 29 June:

There is now a spaciously open section where the old Online Checkin desks used to be - there will be another large rug going in here, and more furniture, but that won't be for several months as the rug is being hand-made. Otherwise, a few small chairs need to be added in front of the children’s TV and some new stanchions for the queue areas which should be installed over the next couple of days.




The new light fittings over the desks seem very evocative of the period theming - and nice to see the lovely artwork on the back wall has been retained:

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If anyone was sleeping in an old Alligator Bayou double-bedded room last night, you would have been among the very last few. The final two Alligator Bayou buildings (26 and 35) today go down for refurbishment, so the last of the old rooms (and those old double beds & trundles) will have gone away forever.

Currently, buildings 25, 26, 34 and 35 are down for refurbishment. Two of them (25 and 34) are due back within a week, and the final one (26) should be completed in about four weeks. It really doesn't seem like nearly two years since this all started over at French Quarter does it?

Note: Some Accessible rooms are taking a few days extra after the rest of a building has opened, and if so adjacent rooms are not being occupied while work is being completed. There have been some reports of noise during the daytime from locations <em>behind</em> these Accessible rooms (in building 18 for example, which has more Accessbile rooms than some other buildings)

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The Alligator Bayou guest room refurbishment program is continuing apace, with one new building commencing work every Sunday. Building #39 closed today, and building #34 is due to close on Sunday 17th June. The work is generally taking twelve days per 64-room building, so #39 and #34 are intended to be returned for guest use on the 22nd and 29th of June respectively.

As previously mentioned, the ‘twenties’ numbered buildings are taking slightly longer to complete due to the additional roofing work that is being carried out, which is being further hindered by the wet Florida summer weather. Buildings #27 and #25 are currently estimated to be returned for use on the 20th and 27th of June, but those dates are still somewhat uncertain.

Finally, buildings #26 and #35 will both be closed together on Sunday 24th June, which will signal the final goodbye for the last few non-refurbished guest rooms at Port Orleans. By the end of the first week in July there should be just one building still undergoing renovation (#26) which will hopefully be completed around the third week in July.

For the latest updates, please keep an eye on www.portorleans.org/rehab.php.


The work on the main lobby at Port Orleans Riverside is also moving along well now, with the new chandelier already hoisted up into place. Work continues on laying the fabulous new tiling, and currently the plan is for the construction walls to be removed overnight on Wednesday 20th June, reopening for guests on 21st June.

Update on 20 June: The lobby reopening has been slightly delayed until around Monday 25 June due to extra work being done on the new floor tiles (and drying time).

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While not solely related to Port Orleans, resort guests will certainly be affected by today's announcement that ticket prices at Walt Disney World are due to increase on Sunday 3rd June. I won't deal with all the details here (which range from a $4 increase for a one-day/one-park base ticket to more than $100 increases for children's Annual Passes) but all of the major Disney news sites have the breakdowns, including:

Disney Parks Blog (full list here)
Touringplans.com Blog
AllEars.Net

If you are planning on getting your tickets in advance it might be best to do it on Saturday, as most ticket types don't start to expire until you actually commence using them.

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There have been a few minor adjustments to the order of the refurbishment schedule for the Port Orleans Riverside Alligator Bayou area:

• Buildings 15 and 28 will be re-opening on Friday 25 May as planned.
• Next to commence work will be building 25 (instead of 18 as originally planned) which should be ready for re-opening on 8 June (or shortly after).
• Building 18 will now be started on 3 June, due for completion on 15 June.
• Building 39 will be started on 10 June and finished on 22 June.

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The first stage of the Port Orleans Riverside Lobby Refurbishment has now been unveiled and we have a few photos to share. Work will continue on the other side of the lobby very soon, and during that phase checkin facilities will be at the new desks while concierge services will be operating from in front of the River Roost Lounge. The likely completion date is now looking to be around 22 June according to Bob Jackson's revised schedule.


These new desks are currently located where the old online checkin was situated, but eventually that section will be empty and they will be moved over to where the current front desk is. There are a few elements which still need to be added, such as light poles and a foot bar across the bottom:




According to what I was told, the new floor tiles are on the left and the older ones on the right, but I'm not sure about that[Edit: see update below]. The original carpet (see above) is due to be replaced during the next phase too:



I can't wait to see this finished - given the level of detail we can see so far, and the quality of the finish, I think it will look really beautiful.


Update 20-May:
The more I look at this photo the more I think that all of the above tiling is new. I'm sure the older tiles were lighter and more neutral in colour, and the grouting was darker. I was going by what I was told by the photographer about the right-hand side being old, but those darker tiles look far too new and match so perfectly with that gorgeous decorative strip that I think they must all be new. Also the original hard-wood border between the tiles and the old carpet is gone.


Update 22 May:
All of the tiles in the above photo are definitely the new style. The remaining two-thirds of the lobby has now been walled off, and construction work there has commenced (mostly overnight after 11pm). Registration/checkin is now being handled from the new desks, which are currently facing outward beside the corridor to the games arcade.

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Port Orleans French Quarter (then just simply "Disney's Port Orleans Resort") first opened its doors on 17 May 1991, so today the resort turns Twenty One.

Thanks for 21 years of magical vacation memories!

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Josh from EasyWDW.com just put up a couple great Port Orleans Riverside commentary posts, along with tons of pictures taken on 27 April. Well worth a view at Part 1 and Part 2 if you're a POR fan (or just want to know more about the resort).


So what's going on with these very temporary-looking signs in the food court I wonder? I hope they're not planning on putting in video screens like the ones over at French Quarter. While presumably eminently practical, they'd be very out of character for the theming when compared to the previous rotating menu boards.

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Port Orleans Riverside's Alligator Bayou building 16 re-opened today with all new refurbished rooms, and next Friday (11 May) buildings 17 and 24 are also due for completion. After that will come building 15, which is due to re-open on 25 May. For full details and the rest of the projected schedule, please see our Refurbishment page.

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All of the guest rooms at Port Orleans French Quarter and Port Orleans Riverside now feature new Cuisinart dual-pod coffee makers, which have gradually replaced the old 4-cup filter machines over the past month or so.

These new units can make two cups of coffee simultaneously, using coffee pods which are inserted into trays through which hot water is passed. Free pods are supplied, which will be replenished daily by housekeeping.

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The May 2012 Recreation Activities and Movie Schedules for Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter are now available, see the main Recreation Activities Schedule page for full-size PDF versions, or click on the images below. The outdoor movies will start at 9pm and the daily campfires commence at 7:30pm.

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The lobby refurbishment now underway at Port Orleans Riverside will be completed in two stages. In order to minimise disturbance to guests, construction work will take place overnight between 11pm and 7am, which is why "Ye Haa" Bob Jackson’s show in the adjacent River Roost Lounge will be ending at 11pm during the construction period instead of the usual midnight. There should be no other impact for guests as the lobby area is completely isolated from all guest room areas.

Stage One: Monday 23 April to Wednesday 9 May 2012 [Edit: now extended until 17 May]

One-third of the lobby area will be separated off by a construction wall, however guests will still be able to use the remaining section for Registration, Online check-in and Concierge services. It has been suggested that doing online check-in before you travel may help speed up your arrival process.

(Thanks to Denise at MouseSteps for the photo)

• Registration (regular check-in and check-out) will now use the desks in the newly completed section of the main lobby.
• Online check-in will be located within the main entranceway lobby during the busier parts of the day (9am to 6pm) and will return to the regular desks overnight until 9am the next morning.
• Concierge services will be located in the front of the River Roost lounge.

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Port Orleans Riverside Lobby Refurbishment Commences, estimated to continue through to the first week in June. Alligator Bayou buildings 16 and 24 currently undergoing refurbishment too.

Work on refurbishing Port Orleans Riverside's stylish 'steamboat company' lobby area commenced yesterday and is expected to continue through to the first week in June. In the meantime, reception facilities will be temporarily borrowing part of the River Roost Lounge, and it is suggested that guests may find that using the online check-in system could speed up their arrival process. The work will include brand new carpet, refreshed paintwork and other details, but all staying true to the original design concept of the resort. I'm pleased to say that one of my favourite details, the gorgeous period and themed paintings and maps on the walls behind the check-in desks, will be staying.

The Alligator Bayou guest room refurbishment program is also progressing well, with building 24 new well underway and building 16 commenced over the weekend. As the 'twenties' buildings are having roofing work done at the same time, and each one will not be re-opened until the scaffolding is down, it's possible that building 16 may reopen before 24. Building 17 will be the next to start work, this coming weekend. See http://www.portorleans.org/rehab.php for the latest updates.

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The final 256 Royal Guest Rooms located in Port Orleans Riverside's Parterre Place reopened today, completing the refurbishment of the whole 1,024 room Magnolia Bend mansion building area.

Sunday 15 April will then see work recommence on the remaining Alligator Bayou Lodges - starting with building 24 and progressing with one new building started each week for the next three months. Currently the planned schedule is 24, 16, 17, 28, 15, 27, 18, 39, 25, 34, 35 and finally 26. Refurbishment work will take approximately two weeks per building so there will be some overlap with at least two buildings down at any given time. The "twenties" buildings could each be closed for slightly longer than two weeks to allow time for additional roofing work which has been scheduled to run in parallel with the room updates. See the top of the Reburbishment News Updates page for the latest progress information.

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The Easter Sunday 2012 Recreation Schedules are now available, see the main Recreation Schedules page for more details.

It’s great see some character greetings at the resorts on Easter Sunday, especially for those who want a quieter start to the day and don’t plan on hitting the parks too early. There are lots of other fun and activities during the day too, many of which seems to involve various sorts of rather enticing confectionary... still, at least there’s some running around involved to get it!

Also, both of the resort gift shops (Fulton’s General Store at Port Orleans Riverside and Jackson Square Gifts and Desires at Port Orleans French Quarter) are offering pre-made and made-to-order Easter Baskets until Easter Sunday. These can be ordered in advance and held for pickup.

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Denise and Jeff from MouseSteps and JeffLangeDVD have just uploaded the best series of in-room photos I've yet seen of the new Royal Guest Rooms at Port Orleans Riverside, including all the new details in the surrounding sections of Oak Manor. See http://www.mousesteps.com/index.php?opt ... Itemid=146 for the full set of photos.

They have also put together a nice Royal Guest Room video tour at http://jefflangedvd.com/2012/03/disneys ... and-video/ and there's also a video tour of a refurbished Alligator Bayou room further down the same page.

Their sites are both well worth regular visits from any Walt Disney World fan, why not bookmark them?

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The April 2012 Recreation Activities and Movie Schedules for Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter are now available, see the main Recreation Activities Schedule page for full-size PDF versions, or click on the images below. The outdoor movies will start at 8:30pm and the daily campfires commence at 7pm.

There will also be various special activities on Easter Sunday (8th April) such as Easter Egg/candy hunts, cake decorating, Disney character greetings and loads of games for the kids. More details and a full schedule will be posted here once the timetable has been confirmed.

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We posted back in February about the forthcoming maintenance work due to take place in the Port Orleans Riverside lobby during April and May. Resident entertainer Bob Jackson has just updated his website with the following additional information:

They are going to be remodeling the lobby of Port Orleans Riverside, and they will be using part of the lounge for lobby functions. So starting April 11, my show will end at 11 PM. As of now, I'll still be starting at 8:30 PM. That might change. The rehab work will continue through May 23. We'll get through it!

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Deb Wills from AllEars.net got to stay in one of the new Royal Guest Rooms at Port Orleans Riverside on Saturday night and seems to have really enjoyed it from her tweets (follow @AllEarsDeb).

AllEars has now posted a lot of detailed photos (including some great Hidden Mickey shots) plus their own in-room video at http://allears.net/acc/g_PortOrleans-RoyalRooms.htm.

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