Guest Rooms

The guest rooms in each of the three sections of the Port Orleans resort - French Quarter and Riverside’s Alligator Bayou and Magnolia Bend - vary in their theming and decor, but the actual room size, layout and amenities are identical (see list).

The Port Orleans French Quarter rooms have a New Orleans flavour, decorated in the rich colours and carnival designs of a Mardi Gras motif:

Port Orleans French Quarter Room Interior

The Magnolia Bend section of Port Orleans Riverside is similar to the French Quarter, but this time the rooms portray the grand plantation mansions which thrived alongside the Mississippi in the antebellum South - think of the romanticised views of Gone With the Wind or Song of the South and you won’t go far wrong:

Port Orleans Riverside, Magnolia Bend Room Interior

The rooms in the Alligator Bayou section of Port Orleans Riverside have a more strongly themed decor, designed to appear somewhat rustic as if these ‘tin roofed’ buildings are located somewhere in the outlying regions of the cotton plantations. The bed frames appear to have been hewn from solid logs and rough-cut wooden frames surround the mirrors in the vanity area:

Port Orleans Riverside, Alligator Bayou Room Interior

For more pictures of the room interiors, please see the Guest Room Photo Gallery. For tips on choosing the best room locations, check out the Hints & Tips page, or for a guide to the current booking costs for staying at the resort, see the Room Rates page.

Room Amenities

Each Port Orleans guest room is approximately 314 square feet (25½ ft x 12½ ft) and is laid out as shown below for a standard double room. This layout plan is also available as a more detailed PDF Document for easy printing.

(Note: alternate rooms are mirror images of each other, so the connecting doorway is always located adjacent to the bed-heads)

The standard room facilities include:

2 Double Beds (or one King Size bed if you have booked that option - however there is limited availability of this room type)
Remote-controlled colour TV (27" tube) with in-house information stations and some (mostly Disney-oriented) cable channels
Table and two chairs
Bedside table with digital alarm clock/FM radio
Air conditioning/heating via a stand-alone unit mounted under the main window
Telephone with voicemail and a data socket should you wish to connect a modem (note: the old 75¢ per call connection charge seems to no longer apply, thus making all local and toll-free calls completely free)
High Speed Internet Access port and supplied ethernet cable (extra charge for this service, currently $9.95 per 24-hour period - see the Internet Access page for more details)
Small wall-mounted key-lock safe (useful for money, credit cards, documents, keys, phone, iPod, etc - but not big enough for laptops or larger cameras)
Ceiling fan
Dimmable light over each bed
Hanging rail for clothing, plus four storage drawers located in the armoire closet that also houses the TV set
Luggage Seat
Small fridge (21"x16", no freezer compartment)
Bathroom with toilet, bath tub and over-bath shower. Disney-branded soap and shampoo/conditioner are supplied
Retractable clothes line over bath
Separate vanity area with twin sinks, mirrors, etc. This area can be curtained off from the rest of the room if required
Hair dryer
Iron and Ironing Board
Coffee maker (4-cup size, with basket type filter and complimentary coffee supplied). Not ideal for boiling water for making tea
Ice bucket, which can be filled from the ice machines located in every building
Baby cots/cribs (Pack’n’Play) and bed rails are available upon request
Some rooms include a connecting door into the next room. Although Connecting Rooms can be requested, they cannot be guaranteed. Note: this is not the same as “Adjoining Rooms”, which simply indicates two rooms are located next (or near) to each other but they don’t have an internal connecting doorway
Corner-rooms feature an extra window, which can make the room feel more light and airy
Additionally, Alligator Bayou rooms (only) normally include an extra rollaway ‘trundle bed’ which slides out from beneath one of the double beds (not provided in King bed rooms). The trundle beds are approximately 70" x 30" and so are suitable for children aged up to about ten years, but would prove too small for most adults over 5 ft in height. Note: the only way to guarantee this feature is by having a party of five people in your booking, but requests are usually honoured
As with all Disney Resorts now, the rooms are all completely non-smoking - including balconies and walkway areas. Designated open-air smoking areas are provided

A number of ground-floor rooms have been specially modified for disability access. These rooms normally feature one King Size bed rather than two doubles to allow for more floor space. The vanity areas have been replaced with a separate room containing the toilet, easy-access hand basin and a curtained walk-in shower area with a bench seat. Other details include the wall safe being mounted at a lower level to facilitate easier access from a wheelchair.

Advantages for Guests Staying On-site

Extra Magic Hours. Extended access to selected parks on selected days (one hour before the general public on Early EMH mornings, three hours after normal closing time with Late EMH Evenings).

Free Use of Disney Transportation. Port Orleans has a bus service providing regular transfers to all the parks and water parks, plus a ferry boat service to the Downtown Disney shopping area, restaurants and the Pleasure Island complex. The monorail and other ferry boat services are all available for hotel guests too. This facility makes it easy to pop back to your hotel for a midday break or a refreshing dip in the pool.

Free parking at the Walt Disney World theme parks. You will be given a parking permit to place in the front dash of your car which entitles you to free parking at the theme parks for the duration of your stay.

Free Package Delivery to the Resort. Any purchases made around the parks or Downtown Disney can be delivered back to your hotel where they will be available to collect from the resort shop after 1pm the next day (or after 1pm the following day if you purchase your goods later than the pickup cut-off time).

Charging facilities. You can pay for shopping and meals pretty much anywhere inside Walt Disney World using your room charge card so you don't need to carry a lot of cash around with you. To use this facility you simply register your credit card details at the Front Desk when you check in. Alternatively, you can opt to pre-pay with a cash deposit and then any remaining balance at the end of your stay will be refunded upon departure. Note: credit cards need to be charged as soon as your total outstanding balance reaches $1,000.

Disney’s Magical Express. Guests arriving at Orlando International Airport can make use of Disney’s free Magical Express service which whisks their baggage away directly to their hotel room while they catch the shuttle bus service.

Disney Dining Plan. For an extra charge, on-site guests can pre-pay for all their meals (one snack, one counter service and one table service meal per day for your entire stay). There is also a more inclusive Deluxe version of this plan at a slightly higher charge. Naturally, terms and conditions apply.

Key to the World card. Not only does this card act as your room key, but it also means that you’ve got less to carry around all day as it provides:

Charging privileges for purchases and meals in Walt Disney World
Park Admission (extra charge). Note: if you already have pre-purchased park tickets take them to the Front Desk and they can transfer them onto your Key to the World card
Vehicle access at the resort entrance security barrier
Extra Magic Hours ID Validation
Disney Dining Plan credits (extra charge)

On the Other Hand...

It’s only fair to point out that there are a few disadvantages to staying on-site too. The first is obviously the price; for the same cost as one room at Port Orleans you could get a longer stay or a larger room at many major hotels off-property, or maybe even a vacation home/villa. You are paying a lot for the convenient location of the hotel and all the Disney extras which you receive for ‘free’ as an on-site guest.

Also, bus services to non-Disney parks such as Universal and Sea World are not provided by Disney, and you would need to arrange your own external transport (car, taxi or public transport from the Downtown Disney or Transportation and Ticket Center locations). Conversely, although it’s true that many off-site locations do provide their own bus services to Disney, these will be a lot less frequent and less convenient than the internal Disney transportation options. Please don't be fooled by some of the more extravagant marketing claims from many of the off-site locations as none of them are really 5-10 minutes from the Magic Kingdom - well, not unless you have your own private helicopter anyway! If you're staying off-site, you really do need to think about hiring a car.

While being located right in the heart of the Disney magic 24 hours a day can be a major selling point to some people - especially families - others feel that it can all get a little too much and prefer to get away from all the ‘Disnification’ when they return to their hotel. Luckily, the beautiful landscaping and old-South theming of Port Orleans really doesn’t force Mickey Mouse upon you at all (apart from in the resort gift shop, obviously) and it’s quite possible to chill out and have a relaxed ‘Disney-free’ day without ever leaving the confines of the resort.