Port Orleans French Quarter

[JenniferS.]

I need some help here. If we downgrade our hotel from Wilderness Lodge Club level to POFQ, we can save about $4,000.00 for 2 rooms. I hear that this is a small resort, which is what I like. Is there only 1 bus stop? How is transportation? Does it share buses? Thanks in advance...only 104 days to go.

[JenniferS.]

Oh, do they have connecting rooms?

[mgmnut]

I need some help here. If we downgrade our hotel from Wilderness Lodge Club level to POFQ, we can save about $4,000.00 for 2 rooms. I hear that this is a small resort, which is what I like. Is there only 1 bus stop? How is transportation? Does it share buses? Thanks in advance...only 104 days to go.


It's been 5 years since we stayed there, but yes there was only 1 Bus stop. It shared busses sometimes others it did not, but I had no complaints about the transportation.

Not sure about the joining rooms, but I would think they do.

I loved POFQ, it's a samll resort, but that is the charm of it. Great atmosphere and the boat to DTD is great.

[Mickey'sGirl]

Small resort WITH QUEEN SIZED BEDS!!! That's an awesome plus, as is the boat to Downtown Disney! We've never had anything to complain about with the busses at POFQ, even when shared, POFQ is the first stop to get on them. I much prefer the French Quarter to the Wilderness Lodge. :thumbsup:

[big blue and hairy]

POFQ is a very nice resort. It is a small resort by WDW standards, but not in a bad way. It has character, it is very pretty, and the rooms have just been redone. The new rooms have 2 queens or one king and are much nicer than the previous rooms.

The food court is quite good. The dinner choices are very good for the price. I enjoyed the ribs.

While I won't go so far as to say I much prefer POFQ over WL (my favorite resort), but for $4000, you will not be disappointed. DW & I fully intend to stay there again.

:sulley:

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

We're another family who loves POFQ. There is just one bus stop, and it is very short walk (especially by Disney standards) to and from any part of the resort.

It was all redone over the past year, so the rooms are very nice, with queen beds. There are connecting rooms, but like any Disney resort they aren't guaranteed.

It is our favourite resort, DD loves the pool, DH loves the theming, and I love the small size. As an added "bonus", you can head over to POR for a change, and use their pool, etc since they are "sister" resorts.

[MizMissy]

I loved POFQ. The only negative was double beds. When we stayed there, it was with friends. I can share a double bed with my child, but not my DH. And, you can share the pool at POR so the kids have two different slides.

$4,000 is a huge savings and I would not think you would be disappointed. However, even though we have never stayed at WL, we ate at Artist Point and loved the feel of the resort. Did you price the difference in a standard room WL from the club level? Standard room WL will still be more than POFQ but it may make the WL look more doable if you or someone in your party really has their heart set on WL.

[buzznwoodysmom]

We stayed at POFQ for the first time last Oct. and loved it. We have stayed at all the moderate resorts and this was our favorite. So small, and charming, and quiet, and lovely. There is only one bus stop and no matter where your room is located your a short walk to not only the bus stop, but everything at the resort. We had a great shrimp poboy at the food court! The boat to DTD is nice. I think you will find the savings well worth it at this resort.

[MOJoe]

Sorta comparing apples to oranges here. I would check the price for a WL woods view, and compare that to POFQ. That would be a more realistic comparison for your dollars.

But besides that, POFQ is a great mod. Nice pool, hot tub and great pool bar. Small lounge with weekend entertainment. Not too spread out. Boats to DD. Unique food. Lots to like. As far as transportation goes, it is fairly equal to WL, as both share buses.

But without question the WL is a better resort. Better location, more transportation options, more dining options, better lobby area, better pool and grounds and a beach with boat rentals.

If i was trying to save some money, my first decision would be to cut out club level. Then keep downgrading my "view" till i found the right price. If that wasn't enough, then POFQ would be a good choice.

[mdricks]

POFQ is a great place to stay.

The busing to the parks is always fast, even at peak season. When things are slow they will sometimes share with POR. When busy they get their own busses. Funny thing, the transportation at POFQ gets better the busier it is.

Food court is a food court. The specialty items are good with the exception of the beignets which are phenomenal.

The rooms are nice and Queen beds are a plus. The boat to DTD makes resort hopping easy and fun.

This is my favorite resort with my family.

:number1:

[caryrae]

Plus it is a nice short stroll along the river if you want to visit POR and try out the TS there. Just think of the souvenirs you could buy with $4000. :)

[buzznwoodysmom]

I see many of you posting for the OP to get a regular room at WL to save money. I have a feeling they are traveling with more than 4 people which is why they are staying CL at WL. I am thinking they have a Jr. Suite booked at WL, which is automatically CL, if I'm not mistaken. If this is the case with OP then getting two rooms at POFQ would cost much less than staying at WL in a Jr. suite. If they went with a regular room at WL they would still need two rooms, but it would probably be cheaper than the CL suite, yet still more than POFQ.

[sherriepaul]

At POFQ they do have joining rooms, and I will be staying there in august in joining rooms!

[Tinkerbella16]

You will not be dissappointed if you switch to POFQ.. especially if you are saving that much money. I have stayed at every value/moderate resort on property and POFQ was by far my favorite. I stayed at Riverside the year before staying at French Quarter and I was couldn't believe the difference in size of the two. no matter what building you are in, you are pretty much close to everything at the resort. I really love the boat to DTD.. it is really nice to get away from the busses for a bit. We stayed there in november and it was a slow week so we barely ever shared busses with POR that whole week.. I think once going to Epcot one night and that was it. POFQ also just had queen beds put in the rooms so that is also a nice plus!!!

You will love this resort :mickey:

[big blue and hairy]

I loved POFQ. The only negative was double beds.

All queens now, except for the kings :thumbsup:

:sulley:

[AmandaChan]

I can't even remember how many bus stops there were but I think there is only 1 because we always went to the same one and I don't remember ever having to stop at others at POFQ... NOW stopping at POR is a whole other story!!! I am going to be honest.. when we went in May 2009 I feel like it took us forever to get places. Granted though, DH and I always were somewhat late starters and we never got to park openings most of the time. Bus routes might be completely different when there are a lot more people getting on the bus. But take into consideration that POFQ has one of the longest travel times to the resorts (by about 5-10 min). I am not putting down the resort but it's true! However the boat ride to DTD was one of the things that made up for it! and our location to the cafeteria was ridiculously close and we didn't even pay for an upgrade. It just feels like it takes forever to get to the resorts because there are multiple stops at POR and around those grounds... To me at least.

[darthmacho]

Wilderness Lodge is my favorite resort, but $4000 is a LOT of money! We stayed at POR last year, and visited POFQ. They shared buses often, but not at park closings.
Who knows, maybe while you're there, they'll have a bounceback offer, and you can get up to 40% off a room or two at WL for the next trip, and you can put the $4000 savings toward that?
Wishful thinking, but that's what WDW is all about, right...dreams that come true? :magic:

[JenniferS.]

Omg....thanks for all your replies. WL shares buses? With who? Also, we are traveling w/ 7 ppl and if we stay at WL in 2 rooms, we save about $700. We are booked in a deluxe (jr suite) and it is automatically club level, because I wouldn't choose that because it isn't important to me. I'll have to do some thinking on this. Thanks everyone.

[wildernesslady]

As much as I love WL, $4000 is alot of money. We just stayed at POFQ this past March for one night and enjoyed our stay. We did have a connecting room also.

[buzznwoodysmom]

POFQ has only one bus stop, so there would be times you wouldn't have to stop at any other stops when going to and from the parks. If you would have to share a bus with POR then you'd have multiple stops since Riverside has several bus stops. I found that at busier times, park opening and closing, the two resorts didn't share a bus, however during the middle of the day I did notice an increase in the bus sharing.

Since you asked, WL does sometimes share a bus with the Grand Floridian or the Poly, it was one of those, not sure which one exactly, but that's only happened to us a few times.

I dont' think POFQ took any longer to get the parks than other resorts. Some resorts are closer to certain parks and other resorts are closer to other parks. To me it all equals out in the end. Some parks will take longer than others to get to, but that is pretty much at any resort you stay at.

We loved POFQ, but WL is definitely my family's favorite resort. Its our "home" in WDW. If the price difference between 2 standard rooms at WL and 2 rooms at FQ is only $700 I think we would definitely try to go with WL. However, I'd completely scrap the Jr. Suite CL room and save $4000 without a second thought. That's a lot of money!

Good luck with your decision! We'd honestly be happy at either resort, just have a more special place in our hearts for WL!

[JenniferS.]

I was really torn with leaving the WL for POFQ, so In the end I ended up staying at WL but getting 2 standard rooms instead of the one deluxe. I really wanted to stay at the Contemporary (my fave), but all they had available were tower rooms and the cost got to be too high with having to get the 2 rooms. Really hoping for some kind of deal to pop up and then we may be able to change to the Contemporary, but for now we'll stay at WL. :cloud9:

[darthmacho]

You won't be sorry. As good as FQ is, WL is even better, no matter what room you stay. POR and POFQ share busses, but I don't think WL shares any as far as I know, but I stayed there over 13 years ago, so who knows what changes have been made, but as far as I know, the busses there are exclusively for that resort. Also, the boat to MK is the way ot go hen visiting that park. :mickey:

[RedSoxFan]

When we we stayed at WL in December; our busses sometimes went to Fort Wilderness campground. Love the resort, though.

[buzznwoodysmom]

I think you will be happy with your decision. WL feels like home to us and its the place we are most comfortable at. However, if for some reason you have to go with French Quarter, that's another great resort that I'm sure your family would enjoy! Have a wonderful trip.

[HackLaSalle]

I love POFQ and had no issue with the bus there. Plus as others have said the boat launch to DTD is fun and can get you back and forth to DTD to grab a quick breakfast. The food court is delicious as far as food court food goes. Plus BENGIETS (sp?).

If you're saving that much money that's almost enough for another vacation. Why not stay at POFQ and double your pleasure with another visit?