Port Orleans News

The September 2011 Recreation Activities Schedule is now available, please see our Recreation page.

To put the ongoing debate to bed once and for all (to use a very suitable metaphor) I had a great meeting today with someone who can give us an absolutely definitive answer on the extra bed in Alligator Bayou question. (Thank you for your generosity with your time if you are reading this)

So YES, the fifth person bed option IS staying, but not as a trundle bed (as they won't fit with the new queen beds). The new option will be a fold-down bed which is actually slightly bigger than the current trundle beds, and it will allow smaller adults to use it rather than just kids. It will be located on the wall, beneath the new flat-screen television (which will also be wall-mounted) and will fold down on top of a lower, wider drawer unit. Princess and the Frog fans will spot some fun themed details on the inside of the new fold-down unit and also on the comforter pillows on the main queen beds. Oh, and AB fans will love to hear that the existing floor tiling in the bathroom and vanity areas will be staying, as it was only installed fairly recently. The general rustic concept will be staying too, but "on steroids" as one resort manager commented.

On the downside, one other thing that I learned it that the option to have an extra roll-away bed brought into the other areas (Magnolia Bend and French Quarter) will no longer be available with the queen beds, meaning that Alligator Bayou will be the ONLY option for families of five. There will also definitely be no King Bed rooms available in the new Royal Room areas (which we already knew from the booking site).

On the recreation front, the new poolside game activities, movie screenings and campfires at both resorts will be staying year-round rather than being seasonal, which will please a lot of people.

I hope to be able to get some detailed photos from Magnolia Terrace (which comes back into availability in a few days) before I leave and will post them when I do.

Starting in Summer 2011, Port Orleans French Quarter began hosting three outdoor “Movie Under the Stars” screenings each week. As from August 2011, this has been extended to showing movies every night at 9pm — plus there is also now a similar offering over at Riverside at the same time. The French Quarter movies are shown in Beignet Square — the turfed area between buildings 4, 5 and 6 — while Riverside guests need to head over to the courtyard in front of Oak Manor (building 90).

Details are subject to change, and screenings can be cancelled due to poor weather, but the current resort activities schedule (which also includes daytime poolside activities and games) should be available from the Front Desk or Concierge Desk. For August 2011, the published information is as follows:

According to a DISboards posting, Acadian House has now been re-opened for guests.

We're still waiting to see the first photos, but the guest checked in on Thursday 4th August and has described the newly refurbished room as follows:

Room is nice and has that fresh paint smell. I have never stayed in a Manor room before but based on pics I have seen. There are new headboards with pictures on them. One of a plantation home and the other of a paddle wheel boat. Otherwise the rooms look the same and the new tv stand looks like the one from POFQ rehab pics I have seen.

The quiet pool located between Acadian House and Magnolia Terrace at Port Orleans Riverside is scheduled to be closed for routine maintenance and refurbishment work between 5th September and 7th October 2011. The main Ol' Man Island pool and the other quiet pools will remain open as normal.