Port Orleans News

If you are visiting Port Orleans this week there are a few special Valentine's Day activities (all clean family-friendly fun!) on Tuesday February 14th, plus a special four course menu-for-two available at Boatwright's Dining Hall in the evening for $120, finished off a with champagne toast. Thanks as always to Special Agent John for the photos.

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Effective this Sunday, 12 February 2017, there will be a $5 handling fee charged for every incoming mail item or package delivered to the resort for guests. This follows a (presumably-successful?) trial carried out at the Value resorts over the last few months , during which I guess 'successful' was defined as making more money for Disney than before they started charging? With the current trend of nickel and diming guests at every opportunity, I can’t say I’m exactly surprised though. See https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest ... -services/ for the official announcement (tucked in after the bullet points at the bottom).

The fee is per box or envelope, whatever the size or shape - and regardless of whether it's a single small letter or a large heavy box. However the fee will not apply to deliveries dropped off in person at Bell Services such as Garden Grocer, Owner's Locker, etc. It also does not apply to internal WDW items such as Disney Florist, Disney Vacation Club and purchases made at the parks and sent back to your hotel, nor will it be charged for gifts or items that the guest wasn't expecting (such as items left by other guests, travel agent welcome packages, etc).

To be honest I think the biggest reason for this charge is the massive increase in the quantity of product that people are having shipping to them, which is I suspect due in large part to the prevalence of information, tips and suggestions passed round on the internet (including sites like this one). Also with airlines charging more for bringing stuff along as baggage, and Disney charging ever more for something as simple as a bottle of water, it will probably only get worse.

Ten years ago there would be a few guest items a day delivered to the resort, and this would be handled by front desk staff as needed. Now though, there is a constant flow of delivery people with boxes stacked to the ceiling throughout the day. POR has had to allocate a complete extra room (which used to be office space) solely for package storage, and there is now a dedicated staff member to handle everything.

While this does all seem like another case of biting the hand that feeds, I guess as long as the incremental revenue remains greater than the losses incurred from guests deciding that it’s no longer worthwhile to stay on property, this sort of thing will continue whatever anyone says. The next two charges that I fear we might see before too long will be the implementation of a resort parking fee, and/or the addition a per night resort surcharge - as if that wasn’t already embedded into the extraordinarily high rack rates which went up again by 7% per year. I do hope not, but only time will tell.

However if you are unhappy with this charge being surreptitiously added, I suggest you make your complaint known at the time and see what can be done about it.

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The separate 'Internal Shuttle' bus service that was launched at the start of December will be ending on 12 February 2017 due to lack of demand. The system will revert back to its previous arrangement where the Disney Springs buses also act as an internal shuttle service between the Port Orleans bus stops.

From 12 February, the Disney Springs bus service will stop first at French Quarter, then continue on to Riverside calling at the South, West, North and East Depots, then it will stop again at French Quarter before exiting the resort and heading to Disney Springs.

Reminder: The Port Orleans to Disney Springs bus service no longer calls en route at Typhoon Lagoon after 1pm. Instead, guests travelling after 1pm need to change at Disney Springs for a dedicated Typhoon Lagoon bus. Similarly, there is no direct bus service at any time for guests travelling from Port Orleans to Blizzard Beach, instead you'll need to get a bus to Animal Kingdom first and change there to a direct Blizzard Beach bus.

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Twenty-five years ago, at the far end of the Disney-created Sassagoula River, a new hotel complex was nearing completion ready to become the sister resort for the recently-opened Disney's Port Orleans...



Disney’s Dixie Landings Resort opened to the public on 2nd February 1992 featuring the charming rustic-styled Alligator Bayou Lodge buildings. Shortly after that, phase two of the resort opened with the more elegant sophistication of the Magnolia Bend mansion buildings, bringing the total number of guest rooms up to 2,048.



On 1st April 2001, the original Port Orleans and Dixie Landings locations officially merged to form one large resort. The combined complex was now to be called Disney’s Port Orleans Resort, with the area formerly known just as Port Orleans changing its name to Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter and the area formerly known as Dixie Landings changing its name to Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside. The combined resort now spanned some 325 acres and featured a total of 3,056 guest rooms, making it the largest in Walt Disney World.

For more background on the History of Dixie Landings and Port Orleans, please see our History and Backstory pages.

Twenty-five wonderful years of creating Southern-themed magic later, and the spirit of Dixie Landings (if not the original name) lives on.

We'd like to wish all the cast members past and present a wonderful Disney Birthday, and we look forward to visiting for the next 25 magical years.

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