Walt Disney Global has introduced lodge refurbishments and different lodge development initiatives at Walt Disney Global for 2025 & 2026. Two of those contain visitor room renovations at Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter Accommodations. This stocks dates, main points, and our statement in regards to the most probably scope, scale, and affects of the paintings.
As instructed above, that is the primary of a couple of initiatives that have been simply introduced, with the Yr-Lengthy Pop Century Room Refurbishment being the opposite giant one. Those more than likely don’t seem to be the one lodge renovations at the horizon, both–simply those that experience get started dates previous in 2025. Regulate our Walt Disney Global Resort Development Tracker for additional updates.
The previous couple of years have thrown a monkey wrench into Walt Disney Global lodge refresh timelines, with a number of lodge refurbishments being behind schedule because of the closure and the pent-up call for in its aftermath. The excellent news is this hasn’t been as dangerous at the lodge facet as with DVC homes, so Walt Disney Global gained’t be spending the following few years taking part in catch-up, however between a couple of postponed initiatives and the chance of larger-scale reimaginings and new development, there’s most probably so much at the horizon.
Let’s get started with the authentic announcement from Walt Disney Global in regards to the Port Orleans French Quarter room redo:
From Would possibly 2024 via Spring 2025, some Visitor rooms at Disney’s Port Orleans Lodge – French Quarter might be underneath refurbishment. Visitors would possibly see or listen development paintings throughout daylight hours hours. Maximum Lodge lodge facilities will stay to be had.
That is not anything new, a minimum of partly. This room challenge was once added to the agenda previous this 12 months, and firstly had an finish date this month. After studying it was once a difficult items refurbishment, we temporarily concluded that it would no longer conceivably be achieved via November 2024. And now we all know that it gained’t be, as Walt Disney Global has added a 2nd segment, which can probably resume after the WDW Marathon Weekend in mid-January 2025.
The following couple of months are Walt Disney Global’s absolute best occupancy time of the 12 months, so it’s no longer unusual for Walt Disney Global to do phased refurbishments that skip November and December (occasionally expanded to October via January). That’s virtually unquestionably what’s taking place with Port Orleans French Quarter. It’s no longer that the challenge has been behind schedule via a number of months previous its unique November finish date–it’s that this month by no means in reality was once the total finishing touch date.
Let’s get started with the authentic announcement from Walt Disney Global in regards to the Port Orleans Riverside room redo:
From early April 2025 throughout the finish of January 2026, visitor rooms within the Magnolia Bend at Disney’s Port Orleans Lodge – Riverside will go through refurbishment. Throughout this time, visitors would possibly see or listen development paintings within the house.
We up to now predicted this might occur subsequent in 2025 and 2026, which was once rarely a daring wager. Walt Disney Global follows a agenda with room refurbishments, and Riverside was once slated to be subsequent up after French Quarter.
The fascinating wrinkle here’s that Port Orleans Riverside were in the middle of a resort-wide cushy items refurbishment in 2019 and 2020, with the Royal Rooms subsequent as much as move underneath the knife in March 2020. All the Alligator Bayou rooms have been completed and, to the most productive of my wisdom, so have been the usual Magnolia Bend rooms.
Alternatively, the Royal Rooms in Magnolia Bend have been most commonly untouched. Some did finally end up changing the carpet with new laminate flooring and different mild refreshes, however that’s it. The majority of the five hundred+ Royal Rooms are materially unchanged since 2012–save for the mattress runners, that have been lengthy long gone even pre-closure.
It’s a for the reason that the Royal Rooms at Port Orleans Riverside will obtain a difficult items refurbishment in 2025-2026. They most commonly neglected their closing cushy items refurbishment and could be due for a gutting, regardless. Main renovations will most probably occur.
What’s utterly unclear at this level is whether or not the Royal Rooms will live on post-refurbishment or if a brand new idea might be offered. It’s our working out that the Royal Rooms aren’t just about as well-liked as they as soon as have been, and are mechanically given out as a unfastened improve to visitors.
Even supposing we haven’t any within data to signify as a lot, we’d additionally danger a wager that the Royal Rooms are costlier to create and take care of. There’s numerous consideration to element and customized design during the Royal Rooms, and that can’t be as affordable or environment friendly as one of the vital fashionable rooms at Walt Disney Global.
I’m hoping that the Royal Rooms live on. We stayed in a single previous this 12 months and located it to be in shockingly excellent form in spite of the loss of refurbishment, and in addition concept that the way in large part stood the take a look at of time in spite of being over a decade previous. That’s greater than I will be able to say about most of the “fashionable” rooms that happened in 2013-2017, a few of that are already lengthy long gone as a result of they elderly so poorly.
With that stated, I will be able to’t assist however suppose again to the Pirate Rooms at Caribbean Seaside being transformed to the new ‘Below the Sea’ Little Mermaid rooms. It’s totally conceivable that this can be a blueprint for what’s to come back at Port Orleans Riverside, albeit (confidently) no longer Little Mermaid impressed.
The important thing distinction, individually, was once that the Pirate Rooms, whilst thematically robust, had all forms of problems. Their location and uncomfortable beds have been the 2 giant ones, they usually was notorious consequently. Even after Walt Disney Global opened the Skyliner (thus bettering their location) and made tweaks to the rooms, they couldn’t triumph over their popularity as terrible. The Royal Rooms don’t have such a problems with their belief–so most likely that’ll be their saving grace?
Nonetheless, I’m skeptical that the Royal Rooms will live on. I wish to be flawed as a result of, as I wrote previous this 12 months, those are some of the very best-themed rooms in all of Walt Disney Global. Making a brand new model of the Royal Rooms simply doesn’t appear to be the route Walt Disney Global will move given the whole lot we’ve observed over the past a number of years.
And I write that as somebody who’s usually proud of the trajectory of room redesigns. My intestine is they’ll take the trail of least resistance and ship one thing within the present blueprint that balances space-saving fashionable design options with thematic thrives, looking to appease each diehard lovers and first-timers.
In my opinion, I feel that’s the flawed way. Port Orleans Riverside wishes one thing to offer it a promoting level some of the Average Accommodations. French Quarter has the compact format; Caribbean Seaside has the Skyliner, nicer facilities, and proximity to Riviera Lodge; Coronado Springs has Gran Destino and convention-caliber amenities. Port Orleans Riverside hasn’t had any resort-wide upgrades and seems like time has handed it via.
For years, Port Orleans Riverside was once our favourite Average Lodge for this very explanation why–it felt like a bygone generation of Walt Disney Global, was once thematically unblemished, and had stunning grounds. But when I’m being fair with myself, I really like the concept of Port Orleans Riverside greater than the exact lodge.
We nonetheless like to talk over with and spend time at this thematic exemplar, but if push involves shove and we’re if truth be told doing a keep for sensible functions, Riverside is quite low on our Listing Rating All the Highest & Worst Accommodations at Walt Disney Global.
I don’t suppose Royal Rooms on my own are that “one thing” to distinguish Riverside from the opposite hotels, however it could be cool in the event that they introduced a greater variety of themed rooms. Failing that, perhaps Riverside would get pleasure from a personality eating revel in, immersively themed bar, or different marquee draw.
In the long run, it is still observed whether or not Imagineering revisits the Royal Rooms idea with a modernized take or is going in a special route utterly. Our hope is for the previous, so our daughter can experience them once more if/when she enters her princess segment. For the ones of you with women who’re these days already on this segment, you could wish to imagine a Royal Room keep ASAP in case I’m proper they usually do move extinct.
I’ll take this a step additional and hope that Imagineering doubles-down on this kind of room, including themed classes like this to hotels all throughout Walt Disney Global–or simply a greater variety to Port Orleans Riverside (the once-rumored Haunted Mansion rooms and particular person persona rooms could be nice). This sort of idea has been an enormous hit on the global hotels and it sort of feels like Walt Disney Global visitors would move loopy for one thing identical! (At the same time as I write this, I know the way far-fetched it’s.)
Something that’s no longer far-fetched is for the Port Orleans Riverside refurbishment lasting longer than right now scheduled. By the point Magnolia Bend is completed in January 2026, it’ll be time for Alligator Bayou to obtain its subsequent spherical of room redos. If the standard challenge cadence is adopted, that’ll even be a difficult items refurbishment and may just closing till early 2027.
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Your Ideas
Do you just like the Royal Rooms at Port Orleans Riverside? Would you favor this kind of highly-detailed taste, or favor one thing extra delicate like the brand new rooms at French Quarter? Hoping Magnolia will get one thing just like the ‘Below the Sea’ rooms at Caribbean Seaside (however themed in a different way)? Do you compromise or disagree with our evaluate of the Royal Rooms at Disney’s Port Orleans Lodge – Riverside? Any questions we will can help you solution? Listening to your comments–even whilst you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please proportion your ideas under within the feedback!
