Port Orleans News

These images just in from our brave “top secret agent” guest, who noticed that someone had inadvertently left one of the doors open in the newly refurbished (but as yet unopened) section of Port Orleans French Quarter. Many thanks for emailing them to me.

Remember, these (ever so slightly unauthorised!) photos are of an incomplete room, as yet without bedcovers, shower curtain, etc. We also don't know whether there are any more changes to be made to the fittings/etc before these rooms are opened for guest use — the test room that I managed to peek into a few weeks earlier had slightly different bed headboards for example, closer to the style of those in the Riverside Magnolia Bend section.

However, even with the above caveats I'm guessing people will still want to see these sneak peeks... Enjoy!

Quote from a guest who has just returned from Port Orleans French Quarter, and which matches closely with what I managed to glimpse of one of the test rooms:

I asked at the concierge desk earlier this week about the refurb details and was invited backstage to see the display board! No pics allowed but they knew I was going to post some info. Unfortunately, it has been days since I saw the display, so I don't remember as much as I wish I did.

The colors are based on shades of the colors of the beads they give you in the lobby — gold, green, and purple — but not garish, more muted and the purple more royal. No blue in the room. Walls are a yellow cream with a cream and gold border at the ceiling. Bedspread is green with a gold design (possibly matching the border, but not sure) — not as bright or multicolored as the current spread — more elegant. I think the carpet was green. I can't remember the color of the chairs or curtains, nor do I remember the look of the table. The nightstand is smaller to accommodate the queen beds. The dresser includes the refrigerator, all one unit. Dark wood with some lighter inlays on the end. Flat screen TV.

In the vanity area, there is one long unit with two bowls instead of two pedestal sinks. I couldn't tell from the picture if the shelf that is currently above the sinks is still there. Dark wood trim around the vanity but open below, not a cabinet.

Someone wondered about the pictures in the rooms. They will remain, not being replaced.

Overall, I think the room looks very mature and tasteful.

The guest-room refurbishment process at Port Orleans French Quarter has now commenced. Work started on building 7 on Monday 1 November 2010, initially with floors two and three of the building which are now designated as hard-hat construction areas and are thus off-limits to all guests and resort cast members. A large area of the parking lot next to building 7 is currently fenced off for materials storage and dumping of scrap material.

The expectation is that each building will take approximately one month to update, with the whole resort being completed by April 2011. After that work will commence on the mansion buildings at Port Orleans Riverside and then finally the Riverside Alligator Bayou section. The whole process is expected to take between 12 and 18 months.

A test room — corner room 7116 — was completed a while ago, but the resort managers are not allowing any guests to view it at the moment (no matter how much you plead). Luckily the blinds were not completely closed, so it was possible to sneak a peek at some of the interior detail such as the expected flat-screen TV and queen size beds. The basic colour scheme appears to be in greens and yellows, with gold accents and dark wood furniture.

The new bedspreads are a fairly dark green with ornate golden flourish detailing, and the headboards resemble those in the Riverside mansion buildings. The carpet is a lighter green with yellow/gold details (again, much like the current mansion buildings at Riverside) and the curtains are pale yellow. The wash area retains the traditional twin-sink layout but with a shallow dark wood pelmet-style surround, decorated to look like drawers. The ornate detailing in the corners of the archway to the wash area has been retained.

More info as soon as anyone manages to get a better look (or photos!) inside a refurbished room, but we can certainly expect building 7 to be completed and available for guests sometime between the end of November and Christmas. Please remember that there are no guarantees that you will get any particular location, but it certainly can’t do any harm to put in a request...

French Quarter room rehabs are starting around now, as we already knew, followed by Riverside. Once the process gains momentum, two buildings may be done at a time for speed. The rooms will be completely gutted and fully renovated (including replacing bath tubs, basins, etc). New small cupboards with drawers will be added to the bathrooms. Flat screen TVs will be added on dresser-style units, with drawers underneath, and the old Riverside tall armoires will be removed.

I’ve also heard that the bedside tables will be made smaller (18 inches wide) to allow for... queen beds! From what I’ve gathered, the third-bed option in the Alligator Bayou rooms will be retained, but probably not in the form of the current trundle beds due to adverse guest comments about them being rather low to the ground. The talk I heard was of some sort of Murphy bed arrangement which might pull down from the wall, but I can't see quite how that would fit into the room layout, especially with connecting rooms. Time will tell on that one, I suspect.

This morning, a small group of Disney PhotoPass photographers was spotted taking posed sample shots around the grounds of Port Orleans Riverside. It seems that the portrait sessions currently available at several of the deluxe resorts, such as the Grand Floridian and Polynesian, are proving so popular that Disney is looking into the possibility of expanding their offerings into other locations, such as perhaps one of the moderate hotels.

One of the photographers indicated that Riverside was giving them some of the most photogenic backdrops so far, but of course nothing has been decided as yet and it may be some time (if ever) before the project is taken any further. Sounds like a great idea though.