Port Orleans News

Over the past month or so I've been working my way steadily through a backlog of over a thousand image files which have been building up on my hard drive from my past few visits to Port Orleans. The urgent newsworthy pictures were posted at the time of course, but I still had a lot of multiple-exposure 'HDR' photos which needed processing, and a ton of general background images too.

• Riverside, Sassagoula Steamboat Company
• Riverside, Riverside Mill
• Riverside, Ol' Man Island
• Riverside, Magnolia Bend
• Riverside, Alligator Bayou
• French Quarter, Port Orleans Square
• French Quarter, Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory
• French Quarter, Doubloon Lagoon
• French Quarter, District and Accommodation Buildings
• Fun and Entertainment
• Sassagoula River Cruise to Downtown Disney
• Miscellaneous
• Royal Guest Rooms
• Alligator Bayou Rooms
• French Quarter Rooms

Red, White and Blue on the Bayou

Port Orleans Riverside has added some patriotic banners around the rear courtyard area of the main building, and will be holding a special "Riverside Fair" event to commemorate Memorial Day Weekend on Sunday 24th May. Events will include Games, a Dance Party, Cake Walk, Live Entertainment, Character Meet & Greets, Specialty Food & Beverage and Merchandise offerings, Face Painting.

12pm-3pm: Barbeque Lunch
1pm-5pm: Poolside Activities
5pm-8:30pm: Booth Activities

The banners will stay up until Independence Day (4th July) and will then be rotated out with various fall themed ones for Halloween, Christmas, etc.

The May 2015 Recreation Activities and Movie Schedules for Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter are now available. See the main Recreation Activities Schedules page for full-size printable PDF versions.

The evening campfires will commence at 7pm this month and the Movies Under the Stars will be screened at 9pm daily at both resorts. The feature swimming pool opening hours start out at 9am—10pm, and should be extended to the full summer hours of 9am—11pm from 24 May.

Disney has today released their Free Disney Dining Plan offer to encourage bookings for the slower Autumn/Fall season, valid for visits commencing on selected dates between 28 August 2015 and 21 December 2015. However, once again, the deals available for guests planning to stay at Port Orleans are very limited.

Port Orleans French Quarter has been completely excluded from the offer again this year, while Riverside has a few rooms available for the first month only, from 28 August to 2 October. I'm guessing that those will probably sell out fairly quickly though, so get your bookings in quickly if you don't want to miss out. Note: you will need to book a non-discounted stay of at least three nights, with a minimum of two days worth of park tickets, in order to receive the standard Dining Plan for everyone in your party for the entire length of your stay.

For more details on this promotion, and for other deals and money saving offers related to Walt Disney World (including a new Late Summer offer giving 20% discounts on rooms at both Riverside and French Quarter) I highly recommend a visit to MouseSavers.com. It's well worth checking to see what other deals are available on the dates you plan to travel, as unless you are a group of 3+ people staying in one room, and are big eaters in the first place, it can sometimes work out cheaper to get a better room-only discount and then pay for food as you go. 'Free' dining isn't always quite the deal it first seems once you crunch the numbers.

I've lost count of the number of times I've been asked for my opinions as to what sets the Port Orleans resorts apart from the myriad of other places to stay within the Walt Disney World area. There are so many reasons to choose from, as a brief browse around this website will quickly confirm, but I've just created (for what it's worth anyway) my own personal Top Ten List.

I'd love to know if you think I've missed anything out - what are the special reasons that bring you back to the Port year after year...