Port Orleans News

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June 2016 Recreation Activities & Entertainment Schedules

Posted Monday 30th May 2016, 5:38pm (EDT) by The Sassagoula Sentinel

The June 2016 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.

As from Sunday 29 May, the main feature swimming pool hours will be 9am—11pm for the rest of the summer, including the new children's Aquatic Play Area at Port Orleans French Quarter. The evening campfires will commence at 6:30pm this month and the Movies Under the Stars will be screened at 8:30pm, with both activities occurring on alternating days at the two resorts — Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday at Riverside, and Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday at French Quarter.

Continuing this month: The mid-afternoon Disney Junior Pool Party at 2:30pm features music and activities from some of your favourite Disney Junior shows. Join in with awesome activities and games such as Sofia Says, Doc McStuffins Trivia, sing-alongs and much more!

Live Evening Entertainment

No visit to Port Orleans Riverside would be complete without spending an evening in the company of the legendary "Ye Haa" Bob Jackson at the River Roost Lounge, playing 8:30pm—midnight four nights a week (Weds—Sat). Note: Bob will NOT be at the Port on his usual nights of June 23, 24 & 25 (he is taking some personal time to visit his high school class reunion in Ohio).

Port Orleans French Quarter's Scat Cat's Club does not currently have its own official resident musicians, but filling the gap admirably are Jason Thomas and Billy Varnes, two members of the fabulous Off Kilter rock band which used to perform in Epcot's Canada pavilion. Their dates are only announced a month or so in advance, but if you happen to be around for any of the following evenings (8:30pm—11:30pm) do yourself a favour and pop along, they are highly recommended: June: 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27 & 28. C'mon Disney, Jason & Billy certainly deserve a permanent contract if anyone does!


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Celebrating 25 Years of Disney’s Port Orleans Resort

Posted Tuesday 17th May 2016, 4:00am (EDT) by The Sassagoula Sentinel


Celebrating 25 Years of Disney’s Port Orleans Resort


17 May 1991 - 17 May 2016



In 1982, Walt Disney World Executive Dick Nunis proposed a new development near to the Empress Lilly steamboat-inspired restaurant in the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village area (today known as Disney Springs). The expansion was to include an intricately-themed hotel complex designed to evoke the relaxing laid-back feel of the city of New Orleans, reminiscent of Disneyland’s New Orleans Square. Surrounding the ‘recently docked steamboat’ would be a variety of themed buildings, with affordably priced guest rooms on the upper levels and restaurants and retail outlets on the ground floor.

Sadly this plan never materialised during the turbulent early eighties, however in the world of Imagineering good ideas never really die and the two-level resort hotel and shopping/dining district eventually reappeared in the mid-1990s as Disney’s Boardwalk Resort.

In the meantime, as part of massive expansion plans brought about by new Disney chief Michael Eisner, the New Orleans resort concept was resurrected from the vaults — but instead of being situated within the rapidly expanding Disney Village Marketplace area, it was relocated to create an entire new themed area to be accessed via a specially built waterway, the Sassagoula River.

So it was that Disney’s Port Orleans Resort first opened its doors to the public on 17th May 1991. Originally featuring just 432 guest rooms in three buildings, the room count was soon increased to 1,008 as construction work on the remaining four buildings was completed. Nine months later its sister resort, Disney’s Dixie Landings (now Port Orleans Riverside), opened — and the rest, as they say, is history!

For more background on the resort, and fun facts and trivia details, please see our History and Trivia pages.

As a special Anniversary treat, we’ve just made available for downloading a complete early copy of the official eight-page Port Orleans ‘resort newspaper’ The Sassagoula Sentinel as a fully detailed PDF file. Enjoy!


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Port Orleans 25th Anniversary Events, 17 May 2016

Posted Monday 16th May 2016, 10:31am (EDT) by The Sassagoula Sentinel

Port Orleans French Quarter (the original 'Port Orleans Resort') opened its first 432 rooms to guests on 17th May 1991, twenty-five years ago this week. Come to the lobby courtyard between 5:30pm and 8:30pm on Tuesday 17th May for the new weekly 'Fat Tuesday' Mardi Gras Block Party, this week also celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the resort.

Events include: Dance Party, Beignet Walk, Games and Activities, Mickey Tie Die, Specialty Food & Beverage, and Merchandise Offerings.

Afterwards, join talented duo Jason & Billy for a fun evening of musical entertainment at Scat Cat's Club, adjacent to the main French Quarter lobby.

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Work on food locations at French Quarter & POR Muddy Rivers

Posted Saturday 30th April 2016, 5:37am (EDT) by The Sassagoula Sentinel

Work will commence in the next few weeks inside the old Bonfamille's Cafe restaurant location at Port Orleans French Quarter in order to prepare it for temporary guest use during August to October this year. This will most likely not be full table service though, so you won't be able to make ADRs in advance. I don't have any exact details of dates to release as yet, but as soon as I know anything more definite I will let everyone know, and I'll also post information on other related work which may be occurring at the resort during the same timeframe... As always, stay tuned for updates and keep an eye on our Facebook page and Twitter feed, etc.

The Bonfamille's location was last used during Christmas 2015 for a brief two-week table service experience serving cajun-inspired options under the name "Scat Cat's Café", and prior to that it functioned as Walt Disney World's test kitchen facility:

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(Photo from Christmas 2015)


In other food-related news, it looks like the Muddy Rivers pool bar at Port Orleans Riverside will soon be installing facilities for limited hot food preparation. Don't get too excited, it won't become a full quick service dining location or anything like that, but there will be simple hot fried food available - french fries, chicken nuggets, wings, etc - prepared to order by the bartenders. See PerfectFry.com for an idea of the sort of equipment they are planning to use, and it seems that connection points have just been fitted in readiness (I have no idea why they didn't do this during the recent two-month refurbishment period, which you'd have thought would have made a lot more sense):

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May 2016 Recreation Activities and Movie Schedules

Posted Thursday 28th April 2016, 3:01am (EDT) by The Sassagoula Sentinel

The May 2016 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 main feature swimming pool hours are currently 9am—10pm, including the new children's Aquatic Play Area at Port Orleans French Quarter. The evening campfires will commence at 6:30pm this month and the Movies Under the Stars will be screened at 8:30pm, with both activities occurring on alternating days at the two resorts — Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday at Riverside, and Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday at French Quarter.

Continuing this month: The mid-afternoon Disney Junior Pool Party at 2:30pm features music and activities from some of your favourite Disney Junior shows. Join in with awesome activities and games such as Sofia Says, Doc McStuffins Trivia, sing-alongs and much more!

Live Evening Entertainment

No visit to Port Orleans Riverside would be complete without spending an evening in the company of the legendary "Ye Haa" Bob Jackson at the River Roost Lounge, playing 8:30pm—midnight four nights a week (Weds—Sat). Note: Bob will not be at the Port on his usual nights of 20 and 21 May due to a wedding commitment in New York.

Port Orleans French Quarter's Scat Cat's Club does not currently have its own official resident musicians, but filling the gap admirably are Jason Thomas and Billy Varnes, two members of the fabulous Off Kilter rock band which used to perform in Epcot's Canada pavilion. Their dates are only announced a month or so in advance, but if you happen to be around for any of the following evenings from 8pm, do yourself a favour and pop along, they are highly recommended: May 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 29 (with Greg Hayworth), 30 and 31. C'mon Disney, Jason & Billy certainly deserve a permanent contract if anyone does!


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