Disney's Port Orleans Resort - French Quarter

“First holiday for 6 years, hotel stay ruined for us with no pool available”

I'll start by saying that I was travelling with a child with autism, who needs a high level of structure as a way of coping. This was our first holiday for 6 years, we had planned to come to this resort in 2020 but that was cancelled due to covid, and we have only just been able to afford to com... more

I'll start by saying that I was travelling with a child with autism, who needs a high level of structure as a way of coping. This was our first holiday for 6 years, we had planned to come to this resort in 2020 but that was cancelled due to covid, and we have only just been able to afford to come this year. My son chose this resort as it was smaller than other resorts so we hoped it wouldn't be too noisy, and he really liked the pool area (very important for us as there are always days where he's unable to do much except use the pool). We booked for Easter 2024 to ensure my son didn't miss too much school, to arrive at the start of April as the Disney site advised that the pool was closed from January through March. We then spotted that this advice had changed to January through April, so checked with Disney who were unsure when it would actually open, so we paid change fees to change the dates to May (very annoying, as we could have saved a lot of money by booking those dates initially, but paid a premium to come at Easter then paid more on top). The first couple of days were great, we used the shuttle buses to get to a couple of Disney parks and the food was good at resort, and my son was looking forward to using the pool (he wanted to wait until the weekend to use that, so we could avoid the busiest days at the parks). Come the weekend we got ready and the pool had just closed down again, with staff unable to advise when it would reopen, with the only alternative being to use a pool at another resort - this was not feasible for us as those would be too busy/noisy for my son, so he was devastated. The pool remained shut for the duration of our trip, so as well as wasting money having to change dates we might as well have saved more by booking a cheaper hotel which had a working pool. Realistically we won't be able to afford another holiday for a few years, so are very disappointed. As mentioned food was generally very good, but on one day we had the breakfast bagels and the egg was very tough and chewy so these were inedible. After biting into the egg we could see it was a green/grey colour, so raised this and were thanked for raising the issue and assured it would be checked. We were not offered a refund or alternative, which I found pretty poor being this was a Disney resort - if it had been something more valuable I would have complained further, but for the sake of around $20 worth of food I honestly prefer keeping quiet and seeing how good the customer service is, so I can avoid the hotel/restaurant in the future. Egg in the omelette and scrambled eggs was fine, so we presume it was either a bad batch, or Disney use some processed egg mix for the bagels. For us the stay would honestly be 1 or 2 stars at best, but bearing in mind our unique circumstances I've been generous with a 3. Most people can afford to holiday more frequently than us, so these smaller issues would not be as big for them, and if you're travelling with neurotypical children they would probably be happy to get on a bus to use another pool (and will be more able to go with the flow).

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“Great Staff and Rooms, but nothing to be done for lack of two key ammenities”

The staff were nice, the resort looks beautiful, it's easily walkable, and the rooms feel very homey. However, I was greatly disappointed that the boats and the pool were both closed. The boats were because of water levels due to lack of rain, which is of course something that can't be controlled... more

The staff were nice, the resort looks beautiful, it's easily walkable, and the rooms feel very homey. However, I was greatly disappointed that the boats and the pool were both closed. The boats were because of water levels due to lack of rain, which is of course something that can't be controlled. But the pool was closed for renovation for the first quarter of the year, and I expected it to be open for my stay, only to find out it was now closed for unexpected maintenance. Two key amenities of this resort were out of order, and all the resort could say was "we got shuttle buses to Riverside and Disney Springs." I tried emailing Disney about this seeing if there was anything they could do to make up for the lack of these two perks, but Disney guest services just said take it up with the front desk for extra assistance. Doesn't make me want to stay on Disney property again despite all the good things I could say about Port Orleans. I could've stayed at Pop Century or another resort off property and it may not have been too much different from what I got here.

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“Good — but are there bedbugs?”

Would be 5 stars — but I am covered in some pretty nasty bites that might be bed bugs, and I’m having trouble getting answers from the resort. The review will focus on that until I resolve this issue. The room was not very clean. Heavy levels of dust built up behind the headboards, under the ... more

Would be 5 stars — but I am covered in some pretty nasty bites that might be bed bugs, and I’m having trouble getting answers from the resort. The review will focus on that until I resolve this issue. The room was not very clean. Heavy levels of dust built up behind the headboards, under the beds, AC unit, behind and under other furniture. This seems conducive to bug breeding.

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