One of my favorite Disney resorts is the Port Orleans French Quarter. I love that it is small, quaint, only has one bus stop, a cool themed pool, a boat to Disney Springs and is a short walk to the Port Orleans Riverside. Both resorts are in the moderate resort category.
Numerous Walt Disney World rooms recently have gone through a soft-goods refurbishment. This means there are changes to drapes, linens, sometimes carpeting and decor. This type of change refreshes a room without the major expense of replacing furniture and appliances.
One of the biggest changes made to many rooms has been the replacement of carpeting with a bare, simulated wood flooring. Many guests I’ve talked to really like the new, clean look of the resort floors.
When I learned that the French Quarter’s room rehab was complete, I was curious to see the changes.
The changes:
— More space on the dresser! The TV is now mounted on the wall. The dresser now has electric outlets and USB plugs.
— The bedding is plain white, in contrast to the previous purple accent pillows and runner.
— Faux “hardwood” floors have replaced the carpeting.
— Window coverings now have a much more generic feel but noteworthy is the addition of sheers to let in light.
— New upholstery on the chairs and bench.
— In the bathroom, two oval mirrors have been replaced with a much larger, rectangular one. The hair dryer is no longer attached to the wall.
— The shampoo, conditioner and body wash dispensers are now mounted on the shower wall. However, bar soap is still provided at the sink.
Overall, I have a positive impression of the updated rooms with one exception — it seems to have lost what little French Quarter theming and color it had.
You can learn more about the French Quarter resort in the FAQ. Plus, we’ll have more photos and video from French Quarter later this week!
97 percent of our readers recommend the French Quarter! Check out their reviews.
Have you stayed in one of the refurbished rooms at one of Disney’s resorts? What do you think of the new “hardwood” flooring?
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Staying at French Quarter right now! The cozy size is a big plus for us, as competing with fewer guests for food, seating, and resort bus space really does take down the stress level of a vacation. Staff has been wonderful for us so far and the renovated room, while not 5-star, has the size and amenities we need to be comfortable as an adult couple.
What’s really dragging it down for us: room noise infiltration. The noise from groundskeepers does run later and start earlier than we expected, but the real frustration is hearing all the sound from guests in the other rooms. It’s not just inconsiderate shouting or partying — every footstep, every conversation, every turn of the faucet keeps us up. The gift shop sells foam earplugs so I’d recommend getting those or bringing your own.
why do they still have that yucky curtain between the bathroom and the main part of the room? the renovations at Pop Century are so much better. the sterile look of the new rooms is very disappointing.
Recently stayed at refurbished room and can only totally agree with sterile white look and absence of themeing being very disappointing. Do like the new floors for cleanliness but stayed on ground floor so can’t comment on noise. Seriously thinking of off property for next stay
I miss the theme in the rooms too, but this is what will be done to pretty much all rooms leading up to the 50th Anniversary in 2021. A good number of rooms will also go to shower stalls only, no tubs, which makes no sense to me. I may think their tubs are too small, but when I stay on property, a hot bath at night helps.
Disney World is putting all of their money and efforts into their Vacation Club Facitlities (time sharing). There is no need to put any money into regular hotel rooms, because they are reducing, and eliminating them, as the place will eventually be all Vacation Club ownership. In the near future,the only way you will stay on property is to be a Vacation Club owner or be an attendee of a conference.
That is not going to happen because my brother, who is a supervisor at Disney World in the DVC department told me that would be impossible to implement. He said to stay on property, the DVC would require everyone to be a member and that won’t happen.
When I started seeing the new way the WDW resorts were being
“genericed” I started investigating hotels off site. And found I would no longer be spending the money for Beach Club. It makes little sense when I spend so little time in the rooms to spend $400 per nite, plus parking at the resort. For less than $200 per nite, I can park for free, pay for parking at the theme parks and get a free hot breakfast buffet at one of the local places–and have a kitchenette and living room in addition to a king size bed, and pool. It makes me really sad to see what they are doing to the places I have loved. What was a yearly trip, is now….well, I have 2 paid for tickets from 2 years ago, and had to cancel due to family emergency, and have NO plans in the immediate future to return. Nothing to draw me there for now….
Deb, are you sure these pics are of the POFQ and not the motel 6 near the I-95 truck stop in Drabville? Oh, how far the mighty Mouse has falllin’.
Frankly I agree. The renovations at all the moderates suck. Look like cheap motels now and price does not match.
The rooms were great loved the floor it looks so clean with the wood . Looking forward going back there next July!!!!
We stayed here this past July. This is our favorite rooms looked great. The floors looked very nice. Looking forward on going back next July!!!
The new flooring is nice but the carpet helped cut down on the noise from other rooms. We stayed at Coronado a week ago and we could hear the people upstairs walking around, this has never been a problem in the past. I have arthritis in my hands and find the pumps for the shampoo and soap in the showers difficult to use. I used to only take my own when staying three or more days now I take it for every stay. I suppose this was Disney’s intent. I will mention that we stay off property more now, especially for those one or two night stays.
We stayed at a newly refurbed room this past March, and I was really apprehensive about the refurbed look. I changed my tune when I saw the room. It was clean, fresh, and perfect. The white beds are a let down but they were very comfortable, as were the pillows. It would be nice to have a bed throw on the bottom of the bed for some color. We did see little touches of NO in the shower curtain and one picture. I’m not a fan of the NO mardi gras look of the old rooms, so this surprisingly is a refreshing look.
First time at POFQ and loved the small, quaint resort. Coming back in December to POFQ.
I wish the rooms had small step stools in the closets, the new beds are so high off the floor with my short legs it was difficult trying to get on the bed
I agree. My mom has had double knee replacement, and it was really hard for her to get on the bed. We may bring a small stool this time.
Stayed at POFQ recently. Decor is generic, and a little theming would add Disney ambiance. Not having carpeting is good. Better for allergies, too. We traveled with two babies, so floor cleanup was easy, and we had no worries of damaging the carpet with spills. Other than lacking a Disney feel, it was a nice room, with very comfortable beds. We asked for a crib. All they had was a port-a-crib. Only deluxe resorts have actual cribs apparently. Pool was great for babies. Food court was decent, but the store is small and could use a better choice of quick foods for little ones. I didn’t want to walk to Riverside for food.
I think the refurbished rooms look ok, but agree with others. The plain, white beds give the room at “sterile” hospital look. The new rooms at All Star Movies and Pop suffer greatly from this same update. They are almost entirely plain white.
Flooring is fine, attractive and practical. Everything else has gone boring like the other resorts they’ve updated the past few years. You could be in any decent Hilton, etc. across the globe. Highly disappointing Disney is removing ALL theming from their resorts.
we just visited the resort and we feel the room lost its new orleans charm. bring back some color to the rooms. we love the new food court.
This is unfortunately, what embodies many of the changes going on at WDW these days. A change to standardize and genericize things across resorts in order to save a few dollars. Each one of these changes isn’t bad, but when you look at them overall, slowly the charm of things goes away.
This is our go to resort, but it looks like two big hospital beds. Where is the ambiance? We are booked for a stay in the next few months and it will be very disappointing. We are from Wisconsin. We need a colored bedspread, blanket or something. Color, color, color…please!
Looks to me like the Pop rooms make better use of the space.
Like the fresh look but do miss the New Orleans feel and colors.
I think the flooring is a good idea and much cleaner looking.
Can we still get little shampoo/ conditioner?
Like a good bye gift???
I think the deluxe hotels may still have regular toiletries, but I don’t think you’ll be able to get small bottles at the moderate or value resorts. Sorry, Kelly.
I recently stayed in the renovated room at Coronado springs, they do give the small toiletries lotion, shampoo ,conditioner, aloe gel, always left me extra as well 🙂
No. I too hate the dispensers in shower. I bring my own now. The dispensers are unsanitary and apparently easily broken into, which means what can people put into the dispensers that you do not know about!
It seems all the room renovations across property have positives, but they have all given the rooms a more plain, cold, unthemed look. I don’t need mickey everywhere but give me some Disney touches. The rooms (not just pofq) all could be anywhere, you wouldn’t know you were in a Disney resort
Love the flooring. Feels cleaner and fresh. Must be easier for housekeeping to keep up.
I like the new look but I miss the color from the theming. Seems a bit blah. The extra space on the dresser is appreciated. Will check it out in person in a couple months.
This is our favorite hotel. Our “go to”. I love the renovation. Calmer.