We always try to do some new things on our trip and our biggest new thing this time was staying in a new (to us) Disney resort. We chose Port Orleans based on the amenities and we chose the French Quarter side of the resort because all the rooms were recently renovated. Port Orleans is a Disney Moderate resort.
I had mixed feelings about it. I think Jonathan liked it a lot, and our opinions may differ. I'm not sure it was a good fit for us, though. I'll start by saying that if you look up the resort online, you will get exactly what they promise. I have nothing bad to say about the resort. The rooms were basic motel rooms with two queen beds and a small but nice bathroom. As opposed to a
Value resort, you also get a mini-fridge in the room which is a necessity for us because of Sean's food issues. There was plenty of room to set up Eli's travel bed and we all actually slept well.
The grounds were the highlight of this resort for sure. It was themed like New Orleans rainbow row homes. There were oaks and magnolias everywhere. There are little "streets" that meander through the grounds with horse drawn carriages (for a price). There is a large pool with a water slide with a Mardi Gras theme and a playground. A small shopping area and a sizable food court sit in the middle of the resort.
French Quarter is connected to Port Orleans-Riverside by, believe it or not, a riverside pathway or boat. You can rent 2 or 4-person bicycles and pedal your away around the whole resort. If we had been staying for longer, we were going to do this. We did walk over to the other resort. Riverside is also very beautiful. It is themed like Southern mansions or alternately swamp cabins. I know that doesn't seem like much of choice but I read that the swamp cabins are nice, too.
The reason I have mixed feelings basically boils down to value. We payed the same price to stay here as we traditionally pay to stay at a 2 to 3-BR condo off Disney property. Do we NEED all that extra space? No. But do I like it? Yes. It's nice to be able to relax for a minute in a different room from the kids. I also like having a full kitchen.
Putting the space issues aside, did the advantages of being at a Disney resort help make it feel like a better value? For me, they didn't. For one, the more mature theming at French Quarter didn't really feel very Disney. I actually thought the less expensive Pop Century resort we stayed at 2 years ago kept the "Disney magic" alive better. We don't use Disney transportation because we have our car and we always bring our giant double stroller with us. Packing that thing in a bus is a pain. We don't use the free parking you get with staying at a resort because we get that as passholders. The drive from the resort to the parks was only about 5-10 minutes faster than the drives from the condos we have stayed at. We did use Extra Magic Hours (available only to those staying at Disney resorts) but they didn't work out very well for us. I'll have more on that in the next post. The boys wanted to be at the parks more than the pools so we didn't make much use of the resort amenities. We had other places we wanted to eat every day so we didn't use the on-site dining facilities. And finally, we weren't eligible for a good dining plan because we used a passholder discount on the rooms so we didn't use that perk, either.
If a family decided a resort was the way they wanted to go, I would recommend French Quarter for sure. But for us, I prefer off-property. Unless we fall into some money and can afford to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge and I can see giraffes from my room or at the Wilderness Lodge and I can pretend I am staying at the Great Northern from Twin Peaks.
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