Port Orleans News

[Final Update noon EDT, Thurs 10 Oct 2024]

Shelter in Place ended 9:30am Thurs 10 Oct, but there is still a lot of debris (leaves, small branches, etc) around the resort which will be cleared as quickly as possible during the day today. No reports of any structural damage or injuries at Port Orleans.
The theme parks, water park, Disney Springs, transportation, etc will remain CLOSED all day today, reopening on Friday. Recreation activities will be available in the main lobbies all day, but pools, cycles, water craft, etc are not available yet.

[Updates 9/10 Oct]
Storm is advancing slightly quicker than originally predicted.
Shelter in Place (stay indoors, in your room or building) in place for all Disney hotels from 8:30pm Wednesday.

• Hit land around Sarasota as Category 3, 100+ mph winds with a 10-12 ft storm surge, at around 9pm on Wednesday 9th October.
• Hit the Orlando/Disney area as Category 1 with 90mph winds, at around 2am EDT on Thursday 10th October.
• Now closing in on the Space Coast (5am).
• Note: extreme winds and rain from the outer bands will start to build up many hours before the centre of the storm arrives, and with possibly even stronger winds behind it.

• If you are staying at a Disney hotel, follow Disney's advice including staying in your room if instructed. Staffing levels will be reduced, people have their own homes and families to consider.
• Expect early theme park closures on Wednesday, and likely remaining closed on Thursday.
• The Port Orleans resorts are providing entertainment activities in the main lobbies until around 8pm on Wednesday, and the games arcades are operating for free. While possible, they will try to ferry guests back and forth from the more outlying rooms by pargo.
• Charge all portable devices and power banks as power supplies could be affected, and fill a bucket of ice before the storm arrives. If you have a torch and/or radio, make sure it has fresh batteries.
• Disney will sell emergency food packs closer to the time (expect long queues) but otherwise expect restaurants and shops to be closed.
• You should purchase your own bottled water and non-perishable snacks NOW as stores are already running low on stocks.
• Watch local TV news or websites for updates as exact tracking and severity can alter. For example:
  https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/hurri ... rd-florida
  https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/hurri ... dates-10-9
  https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/hurri ... in-florida
• Official National Hurricane Information Website: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at4.shtml?start

From 23 September 2024 until mid-October, the Scat Cat’s Club Café at Port Orleans French Quarter will be closed for refurbishment. But don't panic, during this time you will still be able to purchase beignets, specialty beignets and specialty coffees from the Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory food court. This will not affect the evening Lounge area where you will still be able to experience live jazz music on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings.

Walt Disney World's ever-rotating Carousel of People took another turn earlier this week as Diane Petit replaced Kelly Kline as the new General Manager for the combined Port Orleans Resorts.

Diane transferred over from the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa at the beginning of this week, and Kelly - who had only been in the role of GM at Port Orleans for less than two years, having replaced John Berko in October 2022 - has moved on to run the nearby Saratoga Springs Resort.

We wish them both well in their new positions.

Port Orleans French Quarter Building 1 is now open! After a three month "hard goods" refurbishment, Cast Members held a short opening ceremony at 9:30am on Friday 30th August, led by resort General Manager Kelly Kline.

The first guests will be assigned to the building from around 3pm this afternoon, and about 60+ guests should be sleeping in one of the new rooms by tonight. Buildings 2 and 3 remain under construction, and as more buildings are completed the remaining buildings 4-7 will be worked on. There is now a slightly delayed estimate of February 2025 for the whole resort to be completed.

The new rooms offer a cool blue theme with brown accents and a longer white marble effect countertop, and feature solid sliding doors to both the vanity and bathroom areas, and a glass shower door rather than any curtains. Three "Princess and the Frog" pictures adorn the walls, but otherwise there is no in-your-face Disney detail - although there are subtle New Orleans musical instrument references in much of the patterned decor. There is lots more storage than before, which will be welcomed by families in particular. A bench seat (NOT an extra bed) is provided beside the table in regular rooms, or two chairs in corner rooms where the bench seat would not fit under the second window.

Fold-out reading lamps are by each bedside, and there's a small wall-mounted table for the guest on the far side of the bed. USB-A and USB-C ports are provided alongside each power socket. The rooms now feature beverage coolers not mini-fridges, which is not a move welcomed by most guests but seems to be a general trend at Walt Disney World. There's a cute little wooden step in the vanity area for kids to reach the basins - and for adults to reach the very high safe! Some rooms will have walk-in showers instead of tubs, but I'm not sure how many as yet.

Lots more detailed photos will follow when I get home and can upload content from my DSLR camera, but in the meantime the first look pictures taken on my phone are on our Facebook Group. Many thanks to Kelly for her time and for the sneak peak access.

Opening ceremony photos
First in-room photos

Update on 24 July: Now live, and seems to be working well with resort guests getting 7-days advanced access. Search the internet for 1001 bloggers and websites discussing the minute details.

There's a lot of information to unpack, and as this site is about the Port Orleans Resorts I'm not going to dig into every detail here, but basically as from the morning of 24 July 2024, the Genie+ daily ride reservation system will turn into "Lightning Lane Multi Pass". The new My Disney Experience app based system will operate more like the old FastPass+, allowing guests with valid tickets to pre-book time slots for up to three attractions at the park of their choice. A tiering system will apply, so you will only be able to pre-book a maximum of one headliner "top tier" attraction per day, and two (or even all three) lower tier attractions. Once you've attended your first pre-booked attraction of the day, you will then be able to use the My Disney Experience app to search for a fourth available attraction from any tier - which could even be at a different park if you are park-hopping - and so on throughout the day.

Additionally, there will be one or two highest-demand attractions in each park that can ONLY be purchased on a one-off basis, by separately paying for up to two "Lighting Lane Single Pass" slots per day. These will include rides like TRON, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Guardians of the Galaxy, Rise of the Resistance, and Flight of Passage.

Guests with dated tickets, Annual Passes, etc will be able to book up to three days in advance of their visit. Disney Resort hotel guests will be able to make bookings up to seven days prior to their arrival date - and then for the length of their stay (up to a maximum of 14 days). One nice feature is that you will be able to make your selections and ensure that you can get the specific choices you want BEFORE making any payment, so no more leaving it to fate to see what's left after you've handed over your money.

Initially the pre-booking facility was going to be limited to guests who are already in the USA, but Disney has now added Canada to the system and hopefully other countries may follow soon, so (for example) UK guests travelling to a Disney hotel are not placed at a seven-day disadvantage compared to US residents.

Pricing is still to be announced, but it is generally expected that it will be roughly in line with the seasonal/date-based pricing policy of the existing Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane systems, so expect to pay $15-$40 per person per day for the Multi Pass option, and $15+ each for the named Single Pass rides.

There is more information all over the internet of course, but you could start with the Disney Parks Blog announcement or the Walt Disney World website Plan Ahead & Save Time in Line page (may not be easily viewable outside of the USA).