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Celebrating 25 Years of Disney’s Port Orleans Resort
Posted Tuesday 17th May 2016, 4:00am (EDT) by The Sassagoula Sentinel
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Celebrating 25 Years of Disney’s Port Orleans Resort 17 May 1991 - 17 May 2016 In 1982, Walt Disney World Executive Dick Nunis proposed a new development near to the Empress Lilly steamboat-inspired restaurant in the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village area (today known as Disney Springs). The expansion was to include an intricately-themed hotel complex designed to evoke the relaxing laid-back feel of the city of New Orleans, reminiscent of Disneyland’s New Orleans Square. Surrounding the ‘recently docked steamboat’ would be a variety of themed buildings, with affordably priced guest rooms on the upper levels and restaurants and retail outlets on the ground floor. Sadly this plan never materialised during the turbulent early eighties, however in the world of Imagineering good ideas never really die and the two-level resort hotel and shopping/dining district eventually reappeared in the mid-1990s as Disney’s Boardwalk Resort. In the meantime, as part of massive expansion plans brought about by new Disney chief Michael Eisner, the New Orleans resort concept was resurrected from the vaults — but instead of being situated within the rapidly expanding Disney Village Marketplace area, it was relocated to create an entire new themed area to be accessed via a specially built waterway, the Sassagoula River. So it was that Disney’s Port Orleans Resort first opened its doors to the public on 17th May 1991. Originally featuring just 432 guest rooms in three buildings, the room count was soon increased to 1,008 as construction work on the remaining four buildings was completed. Nine months later its sister resort, Disney’s Dixie Landings (now Port Orleans Riverside), opened — and the rest, as they say, is history! For more background on the resort, and fun facts and trivia details, please see our History and Trivia pages. As a special Anniversary treat, we’ve just made available for downloading a complete early copy of the official eight-page Port Orleans ‘resort newspaper’ The Sassagoula Sentinel as a fully detailed PDF file. Enjoy!  |
Port Orleans 25th Anniversary Events, 17 May 2016
Posted Monday 16th May 2016, 10:31am (EDT) by The Sassagoula Sentinel
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Port Orleans French Quarter (the original 'Port Orleans Resort') opened its first 432 rooms to guests on 17th May 1991, twenty-five years ago this week. Come to the lobby courtyard between 5:30pm and 8:30pm on Tuesday 17th May for the new weekly 'Fat Tuesday' Mardi Gras Block Party, this week also celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the resort. |
Work on food locations at French Quarter & POR Muddy Rivers
Posted Saturday 30th April 2016, 5:37am (EDT) by The Sassagoula Sentinel
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Work will commence in the next few weeks inside the old Bonfamille's Cafe restaurant location at Port Orleans French Quarter in order to prepare it for temporary guest use during August to October this year. This will most likely not be full table service though, so you won't be able to make ADRs in advance. I don't have any exact details of dates to release as yet, but as soon as I know anything more definite I will let everyone know, and I'll also post information on other related work which may be occurring at the resort during the same timeframe... As always, stay tuned for updates and keep an eye on our Facebook page and Twitter feed, etc. |
May 2016 Recreation Activities and Movie Schedules
Posted Thursday 28th April 2016, 3:01am (EDT) by The Sassagoula Sentinel
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The May 2016 Recreation Activities and Movie Schedules for Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter are now available. See the main Recreation Activities Schedules page for full-size printable PDF versions.   |
