Port Orleans News

Resurfacing work on the guest check-in parking lot outside the Port Orleans Riverside main building will commence following the Labor Day holiday on Wednesday 9 September, and should hopefully be completed by 12 September (weather permitting). It is expected that one half of the parking area will be closed at a time, with all access temporarily redirected to either the left or right entrance points as the work progresses.

Update on 13 Sept: More work on the parking lot will be taking place 14-16 Sept.

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The September 2015 Recreation Activities and Movie Schedules for Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter were posted last week [Sorry, I forgot to post to the News page when I updated the main page]. 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 8:30pm daily at both resorts. The feature swimming pool opening hours are 9am—11pm.

The Riverside Fair returns on Sunday, September 6. Join the cast members at the Ol’ Man Island pool area at Port Orleans Riverside from 11:30am — 9pm as they celebrate Labor Day with Poolside Games, Poolside Barbecue (extra charge for food), music and more!

Continuing this month: Splash into summer with the Disney Junior Pool Party featuring 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!

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The food court menus were updated at both Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter on 19 August 2015. I happened to be strolling through the Riverside Mill early in the morning on the 19th when they were changing out some of the signage, and will update the full menu pages as soon as I get a chance between all of our family vacation activities [Edit: All menu pages have now been updated]. In the meantime, I received the following update information from the resort:

At Riverside Mill, you can look forward to enjoying a few adaptations of your favorites. For breakfast, the new Egg Sandwich comes with bacon or sausage and provides a quick meal for our guests on the go. A selection of new quiches provides some variety to guests looking for something a little different. The Breakfast Po’ Boy also joins breakfast as an item that is both popular and themed. For lunch and dinner, the delicious Veggie Wrap has been joined with the popular Muffaletta Sandwich to create a vegetarian Muffaletta with roasted vegetables. Finally, many of you have already shared how excited you are that Corn Dog Nuggets have joined the menu! Our guests are sure to love all of these new additions.

At Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory, scrumptious additions have joined process improvements to create a menu that is varied, delicious and efficient. In addition to the Quiche and Corn Dog Nuggets above, we’ve added several rotating options to all meal periods to provide countless variations throughout a guest’s stay. For breakfast, the popular bounty platter is now a create-your-own option, allowing you to pick from a selection of meat, fruit and breakfast sides. Lunch has an expanded Po’ Boy menu with additions of catfish, chicken parmesan and rotating cold salad Po’ Boys. Dinner might prove to be the best of all with rotating Pastas of the Day and Entrées of the day. French Market Meatloaf, Whole Roasted Salmon and Pork Roast will make for an amazing dinner option. In all, over 37 items were changed or added to create a delicious, memorable and varied experience for our guests.

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According to Orlando Theme Park News, from Sunday 2 August to Saturday 8 August the evening Sassagoula River Cruise ferry boats will be trialling separate, non-stop, services from Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter directly to the Marketplace Dock at Downtown Disney between 5pm and 11pm nightly.

Any guests planning to hop between the two resorts during this period will not be able to use the water ferry service, however complimentary buses will be available from the bus stops at the front of each hotel.

Update on 11 August: I just heard back from someone in river transportation that the trial was so successful and popular with guests that it has already been decided to continue it indefinitely. This applies to boats after 5pm, when Riverside boats will run approx. every 15 minutes and FQ boats every 20 mins.

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