Port Orleans News

The work on all buildings was completed, including the snagging revisits, by the end of May 2025. There has since been some additional repair work carried out to fix a few cracked/damaged walkways.

Update 16 May: Building 2 reopened today, so just building 1 still closed for snagging work at the moment. Can't be much longer now.

Update 14 Apr: Building 3 is now open again, and apparently building 4 too. Building 2 has started snagging work, and building 1 was not far behind it. We don’t yet know whether buildings 6 or 7 will require any further work, or whether the additional issues were identified and remedied during the original refurbishment work.

Update 31 Mar: Building 5 has now re-opened. It seemed to happen in stages, as some rooms were reported to be open last week. Also, currently buildings 3 & 4 are temporarily closed again for snagging/remedial work.

Update 11 Mar: Building 5 is still closed, and there are reports of other buildings (currently 3 & 4) being temporarily closed again for snagging/remedial work to tackle issues that have been noted by guests and/or cast members since the refurbished rooms were first reopened.

Update 14 Feb: Building 7 is now reported to be open to guests, staged over the last week or so. So now only building 5 is closed, with the rest of the resort now reopened with refurbished rooms.

Update 30 Jan: Building 5 is now reported to be closed, so that's finally it for the previous rooms style. Buildings 1-4 & 6 are now fully reopened with refurbished rooms, and building 7 must be nearing completion too by now.

Update 18 Jan 2025: Building 6 re-opened today, leaving just building 7 closed at the moment. Building 5 is currently the only location remaining with old-style rooms but expect that to commence its refurbishment very soon, at which point only newly refurbished rooms will be available at the resort.

Update 24 Dec: Building 7 is now completely closed, alongside building 6 which has been closed for a while. Building 5 is now the only one remaining with old-style rooms.

Update 11 Dec: Some parts of building 7 are now reported to be closed for refurbishment; most of the river facing rooms are still available. Building 5 will be the final one to close.

Update 26 November 2024: Building 4 is now reported to be open. So 1-4 are now open with new rooms, 6 is closed, and 5 & 7 still have the previous room design.

Update 10 November 2024: Building 3 construction barriers were removed on 5 Nov, and the first guests were admitted on Sunday 10 Nov. Building 6 was closed as of 4 Nov. So currently buildings 1, 2 and 3 are open with refurbished rooms, 4 & 6 are closed, and 5 & 7 remain the last ones open with the previous room design.

Update 28 September 2024: Building 2 has now re-opened. So currently buildings 1 & 2 are open with all-new rooms. Buildings 3 & 4 are closed. Buildings 5, 6 & 7 are still open with the previous room design.

Update Thursday 19 September 2024: Building 4 is now closed as they prepare to refurbish the rooms there. So currently building 1 is fully open with all-new rooms. Buildings 2, 3 and 4 are closed. Buildings 5, 6 and 7 are still open with the previous room design.

Update Friday 30 August 2024: Building 1 re-opened today, see separate news article.

The Port Orleans French Quarter guest rooms have commenced a resort-wide refurbishment program. Entire buildings will be closed for guest use during the work to reduce impact on other guests, and building 1 was shut as from the end of May 2024. It is expected that each building will take 4-6 weeks to complete, with building 2 being the next in line which started work early July. The entire resort is expected to take until November or December.

Disney has not released any advance details of what the new rooms will look like, but we do know that this will be a full "hard goods" refurbishment. This means that everything will be stripped back to bare walls and floors, and all existing fittings will be replaced. From brief glimpses into work in progress rooms, it seems like the wall between the bedroom and the vanity area has been removed for possible installation of hard shuttered doors to replace the current privacy curtains.



The last French Quarter refurbishment program ran from 6 Jan 2018 to 10 July 2018, which included new hard flooring, larger TVs, raised beds, new soft fittings, and some other details such as an illuminated vanity mirror and the fitting of multiple USB ports.

For more info on refurbishments, please see https://www.portorleans.org/rehab.php .

[Update: Show has now concluded, so boat times are back to normal]

During the run of the "Disney Dreams That Soar" drone show over the lake at Disney Springs, the last Sassagoula Ferry boat from Port Orleans to Disney Springs will be at 7:30pm, with the final return trip from Disney Springs at 8pm. After then, it's road access only until the next morning. If you plan to use Disney transportation to get back to your hotel after 8pm, the resort bus stops are fairly centrally located within Disney Springs, just behind Coca Cola / Wolfgang Puck, adjacent to the Planet Hollywood globe.

If you want to see the drone display there are two shows every night, the first is at 9pm and then a second one at 10:45pm. The limited run of this show is from 24th May to 2nd September 2024, after which the Sassagoula Ferries should return to their normal evening operating schedules.

Note: When the drone show first started, the ferry service was not operating anyway due to low water levels. It resumed on 17 June 2024.

The Sassagoula River Ferry service ceased operations on April 28 due to exceptionally low water levels in the river/lake, caused by unusually low rainfall in the area. This situation will continue until there has been enough rain to raise the water levels back to operating minimums - at least another foot or more of water is needed. Unfortunately that will will require continuous and heavy rainfall for many days, which is not predicated any time soon by the weather forecasters - and could easily be mid-June or beyond.

This is not Disney's fault and the cast members cannot do anything about it, nor can they provide reliable re-opening dates. While it is obviously disappointing, it certainly does not need to spoil your vacation. Please use the provided free bus service from Port Orleans or Old Key West to Disney Springs in the meantime, or Uber/Minnie Vans/etc. Note: allow extra time in the evenings as the Disney Springs access roads are getting very busy with people coming to see the evening drone shows.

[Update] Services resumed on 17 June. Note: The service to Disney Springs currently closes at 7:30pm, with 8pm for the final return boat of the evening, due to the summertime drone shows over the lake at Disney Springs.

Room and Package rates for most of 2025 were released at 6am ET on 27 February 2024 via the Walt Disney World (USA) website and for telephone bookings via the Disney Reservations Center on 1-407-WDISNEY (1-407-934-7639).

Guest room bookings and packages are now available for visit dates commencing up to the end of October 2025, with prices continuing into November to allow for length-of-stay.

The remaining dates for November/December 2025 were eventually released on 23 October 2024.

The popular Disney Dining Plan has finally returned (albeit in a slightly modified from) as from 9th January 2024. As before, a non-discounted room AND ticket package is required, and the same Plan must be booked for all guests staying in the room for the entire length of stay. The Quick Service plan costs $57.01 per adult per night, or $23.83 per child. The full plan costs $94.28 per adult per night, or $29.69 per child. There is still no indication of any free offer periods, but those may return in time.

Also as from 9th January 2024, advance daily park reservations will NOT be required for guests holding fixed-date tickets or multi-day passes with specific commencement dates. Reservations will still be required for non-dated tickets and for Annual Passholders (with the exception of specifically pre-announced "Good To Go" days). Park hopping will also be available all day long.