First refurbished rooms re-open at Port Orleans French Quarter

[The Sassagoula Sentinel]

The first of the refurbished rooms on the top floor of building 2 at Port Orleans French Quarter re-opened to guests today. The new design is very understated - some on Facebook have even gone so far as to say it's a bit bland. The colours are more muted and the refreshed curtains are much more subtly 'New Orleans' themed than they were before. And of course there's still plain white bed linen, rather sterile in both the good and bad senses of the word.

Hard wood flooring with an attractive inlaid design effect has replaced the old carpets (which will now be much easier to keep clean) and the chest-of-drawers features a new top panel including power and USB sockets, and the chairs have been reupholstered. The over-bed lights have new oblong shades with subtle fleur-de-lys designs, and the switches have been replaced throughout. The lovely decorative borders along the ceiling edges are all gone too, just plain walls now.

There are some nice new touches such as a larger single main mirror and a repositionable round shaving mirror in the bathroom, and a wall-mounted TV (sadly with obtrusive white plastic conduit concealing the cables, shame they could not have channelled the wall during the refit). The wall safes now appear to have combination locks rather than physical keys.

Toiletries are now provided as large wall-mounted dispenser bottles in the bathroom rather than the small individual bottles which somehow always seemed to end up in guests' suitcases...

Most other fittings appear to have remained unchanged, such as the bed headboards, green bench seat, bathroom tiling and shower, hand basins and countertop, coat rack, and the single imagineering painting on the wall.

Many thanks to Jenni Lee over on the Port Orleans Magical Guide Facebook Group for her first photos. Please see our Gallery Page for lots more images and higher resolution versions too.

[mamabunny]

I'm actually OK with most of the changes - I personally would prefer the little "personal sized" bottles of toiletries, but I will simply bring my own. I never use anything from a "communal" bottle like that. It's kind of creepy for me.

I'm not sorry to see the "throw" (decorative) pillows gone from the beds. Since those weren't changed between Guests, the first thing we did with those was to chuck them into the bottom drawer of the dresser when we got into the room. I do miss the bed scarf that went across the foot area; it was a nice element visually, but it's understandable why it's gone.

The other change I would have made? I lovelovelove the fabric of the shower curtain, and I think it would have been fine to use that pattern for all of the other curtains in the room!

[MardiGroggy]

We just returned from a multi-night stay at French Quarter and one of the reasons we were there was to get photos of the newly "refurbished" rooms. Rather than trying to post photos here, please go to my Gallery on the Photos & Media page. I tried to get as many pictures as I could to answer as many questions as I could anticipate, so there are over 70 photos of everything from the general room layout, to the space under the beds, to the connections on the back of the new TVs. I have answered a number of questions, or made comments, in several of the Port Orleans facebook pages/groups, including the portorleans.org related ones. It would be difficult to post photos for every question, so hopefully you can find examples of the information you seek in the photos in my Gallery here.

As of our departure on Friday, 16th February, the only refurbished room area open to guests was the top (3rd) floor of Building 2. There were still some finishing touches being done to the second floor, and much work in progress on the first floor. It may be a while before the entire building is open to guests, but I'm sure that they will open each floor in turn when it is cleared for occupancy. At this time, there were no signs of work occuring in any other buildings. I only included a couple of construction related pictures in my gallery, just to show how the work areas are closed off to guests.

If anyone else has any updates or photos, please feel free to post them here, as this project is obviously going to take longer than originally planned and I will not be able to return to FQ for at least 8 months. If you have any questions that I can answer, I will be happy to try.

[MardiGroggy]

For those who have been following the new "security and safety" procedures for Disney resorts, here is a photo of the new version of the traditional "Do Not Disturb" sign. In addition to the words changing to "Room Occupied," please note the fine print at the bottom of the tag. I can't personally imagine that Disney cast members will be checking every room every day, but at least guests are put on notice that room inspections may occur, regardless of occupancy/sign presence. (I also noticed that the sign kept blowing off our door handle, even when we did hang it there.)

[jeffann5]

Does anyone know if the mattresses have been changed? I heard Disney was bringing over from Riverside and swapping out with them.

[Admin]

Does anyone know if the mattresses have been changed? I heard Disney was bringing over from Riverside and swapping out with them.

Yes, brand new mattresses are being fitted as part of the FQ refurb.

Last year, Riverside had new mattresses installed in all of its rooms, and the better (most recent) ones that were removed from Riverside during that process were temporarily swapped over to FQ to update some of their older ones. Could that be what you are thinking about?

Andre

[cynhuntoon]

Does anyone have a more updated report on which rooms/buildings at French Quarter that have been renovated? I am checking in in July, and want to put in a request for a refurb. Thank you!

[Admin]

The latest info should be at http://www.portorleans.org/rehab.php

Andre

[MardiGroggy]

As of this week, according to management, buildings 1,2 and 3 are complete. The top two floors of building 5 are now underway. There are still guests staying on the 1st floor, for now.

[newtodisney]

We’re in a refurbished room in bldg 2 and it looks great! The white beds look nicer in person than in photos.
Only ding was we needed to request covers but on the bright side the blankets brought were bright white and soft.

[lukaskupasz]

Does this hotel have any elevators to the guest rooms or it's only by stairs?

[Admin]

Does this hotel have any elevators to the guest rooms or it's only by stairs?

Port Orleans French Quarter has elevators in every building.

Over at the next-door Port Orleans Riverside only the larger three-story mansion buildings have elevators, the smaller two-story Alligator Bayou lodges do not.

Andre

[mamabunny]

Andre -

Do we know if any of the room types changed locations during the refurb? For example, prior to the refurb, the wheelchair accessible roll-in shower rooms were all exclusively located on the first floor of each building. Has that changed to your knowledge? I noticed that your floorplan maps seem to be the same, no changes, so I am hopeful that they didn't move any of the specially equipped rooms around. (although adding three or four roll-in shower rooms would be helpful; often I can't book in, since there's no availability AND I HAVE TO STAY SOMEWHERE ELSE which hurts my heart!)

We will be arriving in less than a month, and I am so excited to be home again! Yay!!!

[Admin]

There have been no changes to the room categories as far as I know, these were only soft-goods refits, so no major hardware modifcations.

Andre

[mamabunny]

There have been no changes to the room categories as far as I know, these were only soft-goods refits, so no major hardware modifcations.

Andre

Yay! Thanks so much for the information! I will try to get good pix of the roll-in shower room/bathroom if you want them for the website (and that other place you hang out LOL)

[Admin]

Yay! Thanks so much for the information! I will try to get good pix of the roll-in shower room/bathroom if you want them for the website (and that other place you hang out LOL)

That would be great, thank you.

Andre

[pruett143]

mamabunny I would love to see pictures of the newly renovated “accessible room” if that is where you are staying. We are planning a trip next year. Port Orleans resort will be new to us! I would specifically like to see how the beds are set up and how high they are, along with theroll-in shower/toilet/vanity area. To ensure ease of getting in and out of bed and the bathroom area. I’m hoping some advance research and planning with help us get the room needed to have a magical trip. Thanks for sharing any info you can.

[mamabunny]

No problem!

I can tell you that we have stayed *many* times (and many nights!) at POFQ; for a full-time "wheelie" it's a wonderful Resort, if for no other reason that the compact layout. (FYI: when I refer to a roll in shower room, I tend to shorten it to "HARIS" for Handicapped Accessible Roll In Shower)

The rooms are just fine - although the Moderate Resorts in general don't have as much space as the Deluxes do, we have never felt cramped or squeezed at POFQ (or POR). As much as I love Wilderness Lodge (my personal favorite Deluxe) my heart will always be at POFQ!

This is Andre's floorplan for a standard 2Q room at POR/POFQ





HARIS rooms at both POR and POFQ are the exact same size as a standard room. Prior to the reno, there was about a foot of space between the bed closest to the bathroom, and the wall. There was enough space to roll between the 2 beds, although it can be a bit "squeezy". Because the standard doorway into the room has been "flattened", there is plenty of space inside the door to turn around. The dresser drawers are generously sized, and really (for me) the most difficult part of the setup is the armoire; because of the way the doors open, you have to either roll back and forth to get both open, or have someone else pull them both open at once for you. Instead of a curtain, there is a pocket door between the bathroom and the bedroom area. The bathroom is one large room; The toilet is the same height as mine at home (but when we remodeled our house, we made my bathroom ADA compliant, so...) and the rails are adequate for me. The sink was a bit high, and I'm tall, but it can also depend on where your seat height is if you have a custom chair. The shower bench (pre-reno) was a solid plastic fold down bench that is quite sturdy and while it could be easier to access, it isn't the worst HARIS you will ever see! There is a small "divider" wall between the roll-in shower and the sink that creates enough space for a few shelves to be built in, and it also makes a "doorway" into the shower. The tile floors can be a bit slippery, so for safety. our adult daughter will lay down towels to help manage water and prevent slipping.

With apologies to Andre', here is my "amended" version of his 2Q room layout for a HARIS room at POR/POFQ




I also belong to the DISabilities community; feel free to join our community there if you have any (general) questions about Disney World!

[mamabunny]

mamabunny I would love to see pictures of the newly renovated “accessible room” if that is where you are staying. We are planning a trip next year. Port Orleans resort will be new to us! I would specifically like to see how the beds are set up and how high they are, along with theroll-in shower/toilet/vanity area. To ensure ease of getting in and out of bed and the bathroom area. I’m hoping some advance research and planning with help us get the room needed to have a magical trip. Thanks for sharing any info you can.

I took TONS of pictures of our room, which was a 2 Queen Bed/Roll-in-Shower room at POFQ, and posted those in the DISabilities Forum on the DISBoards (I don't know if I can upload them all here - there's a BUNCH of them!) and I took measurements, and marked each picture with them.

You can see them here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/wheel ... t-59796392