Staying at Port Orleans French Quarter Resort

When we went to Disney World last month, we had the pleasure of staying at Port Orleans French Quarter resort. It is an onsite Disney World hotel, meaning that we were living in the Disney bubble for our whole stay and were nice and close to everything. I shared some of the reasons we wanted to stay onsite at Disney World here. Port Orleans French Quarter is a ‘moderate’ resort, and today I am sharing with you a few of my thoughts about staying there.

Port Orleans French Quarter: The Resort
Port Orleans French Quarter is the smallest of the Walt Disney World resorts, which I think gives it an advantage over the others. It’s quiet and peaceful, it never felt overrun even at prime times in the food court and it only has one bus stop. It does have a sister resort, Port Orleans Riverside, around a ten minute walk away, and you can use amenities and pools there. We didn’t venture over there, but it’s a nice extra option to have. I found this unofficial website to be really useful and informative, about both of the resorts.

The pool area was fun for the kids, and there’s also a great splash park next to it for younger children. As long as we got there earlyish in the day, we could all get sun loungers and there were always plenty of fresh towels available to grab. There were several lifeguards working at all times, as well as free life vests for kids so we always felt that they were safe playing there.

The laundry area is next to the pool so we did use that halfway through our holiday whilst we were at the pool. It’s simple enough to use, though bear in mind that you need to pay by card not cash for the machines and products.

We found the staff to be friendly around the resort, from reception to the food court to the shop. The kids loved pin trading whenever they could, and there were always cast members happy to chat to them and trade with them.

Port Orleans French Quarter: The Rooms
The rooms were comfortable for the four of us, and ours had been recently refurbished. They were clean and cool and included everything that we needed. We opted out of housekeeping in return for a gift card, so can’t comment on this service, but whenever we rang through to reception requesting fresh towels or more toiletries, they were friendly and quickly delivered to us. The beds were very comfortable, we all slept really well. I would say that they are very high so I’d suggest asking for bed guards for kids as it’s a long way down if they do roll out!

There are only seven buildings to stay in, so no matter where you are, you’re likely to be relatively close to your car, the buses, the food, the pool and so on. I really liked that about it, everything felt on hand yet it still felt relaxing and peaceful.

Port Orleans French Quarter: The Food
Beignets! This is the only place to get beignets at Disney World, so naturally we took advantage of this perk. The food court has several stations serving a variety of food. Whilst some days seemed busier than others, we never had a problem getting a table and the cast members on the tills were friendly and speedy. I liked the jambalaya and the cheeseburgers and the kids loved the pizza. I’d say that you’d probably only want to plan to eat there a handful of times, though, simply because there is only the one food court so you’ll have tried everything you want to in a few meals.

Port Orleans French Quarter: Getting Around
We did have a car for going off property, but we used the buses to go to the parks and never had a problem with them. They run every twenty minutes, more regularly at peak times, and I don’t think we ever waited more than that, most of the times it was more like ten minutes. When coming back from parks, we frequently shared a bus with Riverside, but every time we travelled they dropped off at French Quarter first. There’s also a boat to Disney Springs which we used a couple of times. It’s a lovely way to travel for a change and as it docks at a different place to the buses at Disney Springs, we’d go back to the resort on whichever mode of transport we were nearer to when we were ready to leave the shops and restaurants. We had a River View room and overlooked the boat dock, but we never found them to be noisy or intrusive at all, as I’d read somewhere that they could be.

I can’t compare this resort to any others, as we’ve yet to stay at any other resorts. I’d be very happy to stay at French Quarter again and I’d recommend it to others. But it may be that next time we go we opt for somewhere else just to experience a different resort – I’ll just worry that it won’t be able to live up to French Quarter!

Have you stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter? What was your experience? If you’re considering staying here, do feel free to ask me any questions, I love talking Disney!

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