The guest rooms in each of the three sections of the Port Orleans resort — French Quarter and Riverside’s Alligator Bayou and Magnolia Bend — vary in their theming and decor, but the actual room size, layout and amenities are identical (see list). All of the guest rooms have been recently refurbished to include queen beds and flat-screen TVs during 2011/2012.

For a guide to the current room costs for staying at the resort please see the Room Rates page, or for tips on choosing the best room locations check out the Hints & Tips page.

 

The Port Orleans French Quarter rooms have a New Orleans flavour, decorated in a rich gold, purple and yellow colour scheme:

The Magnolia Bend section of Port Orleans Riverside is similar to the French Quarter, but this time the rooms portray the grand plantation mansions which thrived alongside the Mississippi in the antebellum South. This section also features the new “Royal Guest Rooms”, which opened in March 2012, within two of its buildings:

 

The rooms in the Alligator Bayou section of Port Orleans Riverside have a more strongly themed decor, designed to appear somewhat rustic as if these ‘tin roofed’ Lodges are located somewhere in the outlying regions of the cotton plantations. The bed frames appear to have been hewn from solid logs and rough-cut wooden frames surround the mirrors in the vanity area. This is also the only section of the resort to feature an extra fold-down Murphy bed (approx. 63" x 30") over the banquette bench seat:

For lots more pictures of the room interiors, please see the Photo Gallery.

There are currently ten bookable room categories available at Port Orleans (such as Garden View, Pool View, River View, Preferred Location and King Bed, plus the new Royal Guest Room options) priced with varying nightly surcharges. Please see the Room Rates or Choosing Your Ideal Location pages for a full breakdown.

Room Amenities

Each Port Orleans guest room is approximately 314 square feet (25½ ft x 12½ ft) and is laid out as shown below for a standard two queen bed room. Click on the images for more detailed PDF Documents for easy printing. Note: adjacent rooms are mirror images of each other, so any connecting doorways are always located beside the beds.

 

 

The standard room facilities include:

• Two Queen Size beds, or one King Size bed if you have booked that option.
• Remote-controlled flat-screen colour TV with in-house information stations and various cable channels. Click here for TV Channels List.
• Table and two chairs
• Bedside table with digital alarm clock/FM radio
• Air conditioning/heating via a stand-alone unit mounted under the main window, with the thermostat control located on the dividing wall next to the bathroom
• Telephone with voice mail and a data socket should you wish to connect a modem (note: the old 75¢ per call connection charge seems to no longer apply, thus making all local and toll-free calls completely free)
• Complimentary wireless internet access (wi-fi is available in-room and in the main public buildings around the resort, see the Internet Access page for more details). Note: the old HSIA wired internet cable connection is no longer available.
• Small wall-mounted key-lock safe; interior dimensions 35cm x 24.5cm x 9cm deep, access door size is 30cm x 21cm. Useful for money, credit cards, documents, keys, phones, iPads, etc — but not big enough for larger laptops or DSLR cameras.
• Ceiling fan (not in Royal Guest Rooms)
• Separate lights over each bed (sadly no longer dimmable, thanks to energy-saving lamps)
• Hanging rail for clothing
• Three storage drawers located underneath the TV (or underneath the banquette bench seat in the case of Alligator Bayou rooms)
• Luggage Seat (not in Alligator Bayou rooms)
• Small fridge (21"x16", no freezer compartment)
• Bathroom with toilet, bath tub and over-bath shower.
• Retractable clothes line over bath
• Separate vanity area with twin sinks, mirrors, etc. This area can be curtained off from the rest of the room if required
• H20-branded product is supplied, including two sizes of bar soap and separate shampoo and conditioner (used to be combined hair product, but was changed in Spring 2012)
• Hair dryer
• Iron and Ironing Board
• Cuisinart dual-cup ‘pod’ coffee machines, with complimentary coffee pods supplied (these have now replaced the old 4-cup/basket filter machines in all Port Orleans rooms)
• Ice bucket, which can be filled from the ice machines located in every building
• Baby cots/cribs (Pack’n’Play) and bed rails are available upon request
• Some rooms include a connecting door into the next room. Although Connecting Rooms can be requested, they cannot be guaranteed. Note: this is not the same as “Adjoining Rooms”, which simply indicates two rooms are located next (or near) to each other but they don’t have an internal connecting doorway
• Corner-rooms feature an extra window which can make the room feel more light and airy, especially if the room also happens to include a King bed (not all do!)
• Additionally, all of the Alligator Bayou rooms (including the Alligator Bayou King Bed rooms) include an extra fold-down Murphy bed located over the banquette bench seat. These beds are about 63" x 30" and are suitable for most children aged up to about 12-13 years, but would probably be too small for adults over about 5' 3" tall. Note: the only way to guarantee this feature is by having a party of five people at Riverside (or three in a King Bed room) or by booking a Preferred Location room
• As with all Disney Resorts now, the rooms are all completely non-smoking — including balconies and walkway areas. Designated outdoor smoking areas are provided

Accessibility for Guests with Special Needs

A number of rooms have been specially modified for disability access. These rooms are spread out across the whole resort and offer the same choices of views and bedding options as regular rooms. Many also provide extra floor space to allow for parking/charging of ECVs, and vanity areas have been replaced with a separate room containing the toilet, easy-access hand basin and a curtained roll-in shower area with a bench seat. Other details include the wall safe and other fittings being mounted at more convenient heights to facilitate easier access from a wheelchair. See the Accessible Rooms page for more details.

To discuss any special room requests based on medical grounds, or any other special needs, please call (407) 939-7807 well in advance of your stay and the cast members will do their best to ensure that your individual needs are met. Please don’t leave it to the last minute to call though. The TTY number for the hearing impaired is (407) 939-7670.

Advantages for Guests Staying On-site

Extra Magic Hours. Extended access to selected parks on selected days (one hour before the general public on Early EMH mornings, three hours after normal closing time with Late EMH Evenings).

Free Use of Disney Transportation. Port Orleans has a bus service providing regular transfers to all the parks and water parks, plus a ferry boat service to the Downtown Disney shopping area, restaurants and the Pleasure Island complex. The monorail and other ferry boat services are all available for hotel guests too. This facility makes it easy to pop back to your hotel for a midday break or a refreshing dip in the pool.

Free parking at the Walt Disney World theme parks. You will be given a parking permit to place in the front dash of your car which entitles you to free parking at the theme parks for the duration of your stay.

Free Package Delivery to the Resort. Any purchases made around the parks or Downtown Disney can be delivered back to your hotel where they will be available to collect from the resort shop after 1pm the next day (or after 1pm the following day if you purchase your goods later than the pickup cut-off time).

Charging facilities. You can pay for shopping and meals pretty much anywhere inside Walt Disney World using your room charge card so you don’t need to carry a lot of cash around with you. To use this facility you simply register your credit card details at the Front Desk when you check in. Alternatively, you can opt to pre-pay with a cash deposit and then any remaining balance at the end of your stay will be refunded upon departure. Note: credit cards need to be charged as soon as your total outstanding balance reaches $1,000.

Disney’s Magical Express. Guests arriving at Orlando International Airport can make use of Disney’s free Magical Express service which whisks their baggage away directly to their hotel room while they catch the shuttle bus service.

Disney Dining Plan. For an extra charge, on-site guests can pre-pay for all their meals (one snack, one counter service and one table service meal per day for your entire stay). There is also a more inclusive Deluxe version of this plan at a slightly higher charge. Naturally, terms and conditions apply.

Key to the World card. Not only does this card act as your room key, but it also means that you’ve got less to carry around all day as it provides:

• Charging privileges for purchases and meals in Walt Disney World
• Park Admission (extra charge). Note: if you already have pre-purchased park tickets take them to the Front Desk and they can transfer them onto your Key to the World card
• Vehicle access at the resort entrance security barrier
• Extra Magic Hours ID Validation
• Disney Dining Plan credits (extra charge)

On the Other Hand...

It’s only fair to point out that there are a few disadvantages to staying on-site too. The first is obviously the price; for the same cost as one room at Port Orleans you could get a longer stay or a larger room at many major hotels off-property, or maybe even a vacation home/villa. You are paying a lot for the convenient location of the hotel and all the Disney extras which you receive for ‘free’ as an on-site guest.

Also, bus services to non-Disney parks such as Universal and Sea World are not provided by Disney, and you would need to arrange your own external transport (car, taxi or public transport from the Downtown Disney or Transportation and Ticket Center locations). Conversely, although it’s true that many off-site locations do provide their own bus services to Disney, these will be a lot less frequent and less convenient than the internal Disney transportation options. Please don’t be fooled by some of the more extravagant marketing claims from many of the off-site locations as none of them are really 5-10 minutes from the Magic Kingdom — well, not unless you have your own private helicopter anyway! If you’re staying off-site, you really do need to think about hiring a car.

While being located right in the heart of the Disney magic 24 hours a day can be a major selling point to some people — especially families — others feel that it can all get a little too much and prefer to get away from all the ‘Disnification’ when they return to their hotel. Luckily, the beautiful landscaping and old-South theming of Port Orleans really doesn’t force Mickey Mouse upon you at all (apart from in the resort gift shop, obviously) and it’s quite possible to chill out and have a relaxed ‘Disney-free’ day without ever leaving the confines of the resort.