Disney's Port Orleans Resort French Quarter and Disney's Port Orleans Resort Riverside are a pair of hotels at

Walt Disney World Resort The Walt Disney World Resort is an entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Walt Disney Company. ...

Lake Buena Vista, Florida Lake Buena Vista ( or ) is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. It is mostly known for being the mailing address for Walt Disney World, although almost all of the resort facilities, including all four theme parks, are physically loc ...

that form a single resort. They are themed to look like

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and the

Old South Geographically, the U.S. states known as the Old South are those in the Southern United States that were among the original Thirteen Colonies. The region term is differentiated from the Deep South and Upper South. From a cultural and social s ...

. They are in the

Disney Springs Disney Springs is an outdoor shopping, dining, and entertainment complex at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, near Orlando. First opened in 1975 as Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village, it has been expanded and rebra ...

area and are owned and operated by

Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Disney Experiences, commonly known as Disney Parks, is one of the three major divisions of the Walt Disney Company. It was founded on April 1, 1971, exactly six months before the opening of the Walt Disney World, Walt Disney World Resort. Led ...

. The two resorts are connected to each other and Disney Springs via the Sassagoula River. With over 3,000 rooms between them, they have the largest number of rooms of any resort on the Walt Disney World property. The Riverside section alone is the second-largest resort in Walt Disney World. They are classified as Moderate resorts within Disney's portfolio (between the Value and Deluxe classifications).

Design and history

Disney's Port Orleans Resort French Quarter was designed to reflect the style and architecture of

French Quarter The French Quarter, also known as the (; ; ), is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans () was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Square" in English), a ...

. It opened on May 17, 1991, as Disney's Port Orleans Resort, with 432 guest rooms in three buildings. It later expanded to its current 1,008 rooms in seven three-story buildings containing 144 rooms each. Disney's Port Orleans Resort Riverside was designed to reflect the

Antebellum South The ''Antebellum'' South era (from ) was a period in the history of the Southern United States that extended from the conclusion of the War of 1812 to the start of the American Civil War in 1861. This era was marked by the prevalent practic ...

along the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. It opened on February 2, 1992 as Disney's Dixie Landings Resort, initially with rooms located in its Alligator Bayou section. The remaining Magnolia Bend section was opened shortly thereafter. Alligator Bayou has 1,024 guest rooms over 16 buildings, styled as rustic, weathered lodges, with 64 rooms per lodge. Magnolia Bend has 1,024 guest rooms over four buildings styled as southern plantation grand manor homes, with 256 rooms per mansion. Beginning March 1, 2001, road signage and other theming began to change, reflecting the Disney's Port Orleans Resort and Disney's Dixie Landings Resort properties becoming "regions" of a united Disney's Port Orleans Resort. As of April 1, 2001, the regions became French Quarter and Riverside. Changes leading up to and after this period included the French Quarter region losing Bonfamille's Cafe table-service restaurant, bike rentals, and boat rentals. French Quarter region guests had to use the larger facilities in the Riverside region. Bonfamille's Cafe is now only used occasionally as a meeting space for food and beverage management and a training facility. Bonfamille's Cafe's kitchen is Disney World's test kitchen. Other theme changes included Colonel's Cotton Mill food court becoming Riverside Mill. In 2011, Disney transformed about a quarter of the 2,000 rooms in the Riverside section of Disney's Port Orleans Resort into the Royal Guest Rooms. On October 22, 2019, Disney expanded their Mobile Food Ordering system to a total of 35 Quick Service locations, including the Riverside Mill Food Court at Riverside and Sassagoula Soda Floatworks and Food Factory at Port Orleans. The system allows guests to use the My Disney Experience app to pre-order their food prior to arrival at the food court. The Original Scat Cat’s location was replaced by a beignets cafe called Scat Cat's Club Café, and the lounge was moved to the old Bonfamille's Cafe. In 2020, the resort closed due to the worldwide

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and did not reopen until October 28, 2021 (French Quarter) and October 14, 2021 (Riverside).

References

External links

Official Disney site - French QuarterOfficial Disney site - Riverside
{{Walt Disney World Hotel buildings completed in 1991 Hotel buildings completed in 1993 Hotels established in 1991 Port Orleans Resort 1991 establishments in Florida

Design and history

See also

References

External links