Review: Breakfast at Port Orleans French Quarter
Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory is the counter service restaurant at Port Orleans French Quarter, and the go-to spot at Walt Disney World for beignets. This post reviews our breakfast here, with menu & food photos, thoughts on the experience, and whether it’s worth your time to dine here before heading off to the theme parks.
We previously reviewed the lunch and dinner menus at Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory, but this is our first time for the current breakfast options. The same basic info about the restaurant applies here: it participates in the Disney Dining Plan as a 1-credit counter service restaurant, and also accepts the Tables in Wonderland card for a 20% discount, which is rare for a counter service restaurant.
As Port Orleans French Quarter does not have a full-time table service restaurant (hence it accepting Tables in Wonderland), Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory is your only option for breakfast at this resort most of the year. The good news is that it’s a pretty good option as far as breakfast at Walt Disney World goes, with a line-up of intriguing options that potentially make it worth revisiting a few different mornings of your vacation…
Since our lunch and dinner review, Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory has changed up its seating after. It’s still themed as a storage area for a Mardi Gras parade with float props on display, along with posters and other details that give it a light Mardi Gras vibe.
However, that has been dramatically scaled back as compared to what used to be on display. Gone are the creepy oversized heads, and gone too are other less-creepy things like crowns, garland, giant ice cream cones, and other whimsical touches. Gone is pretty much everything, with bare rafters overhead. Details remain around the outer edge, but it looks bland.
I know what some of you might be thinking: he complained before that it was creepy, Disney “fixes” that and he complains that it’s bland. That’s one perspective, but here would be mine: why can’t Disney find the happy medium between over-the-top 1990s designs and bland contemporary styles?
It’s the same thing we’re seeing play out with hotel rooms around Walt Disney World. The previous styles were stuck in the 90s, and the new looks are dull and interchangeable with a Hampton Inn. It’s not hypocritical to dislike both approaches, as it’s not a matter of one or the other. There is a middle ground of “tastefully themed.”
To be sure, some details remain at Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory. Not enough to convey what, exactly, this is supposed to be, though. Instead, it now comes across as dining inside an empty warehouse. I’m guessing most Walt Disney World guests don’t shout, “I’m going to Disney World…to eat in an empty warehouse!”
Gone are the charming touches that gave the space character and an interesting theme. Oh well, I suppose. Maybe they’ll get it right come the next re-imagining a decade or two from now.
Moving along to our breakfast…
For Sarah’s entree, she ordered the Breakfast Flatbread. Per the menu: “Scrambled Eggs, Sausage Gravy, Sausage, Onions, Peppers and Red Pepper Aoïli.”
This was a mixed bag. The toppings only covered about half the surface of the flatbread, and the pre-made crust is nothing special (certainly nothing you’d want to eat on its own). However, the half with toppings was really good–a mild spice from the sausage and peppers that worked well with the eggs. Sarah wisely asked for the aoili on the side, which I dipped into the toppings-less crust–it was not good.
I ordered the French Toast. From the menu: “Baguette French Toast, warm Fruit Topping, Powdered Sugar, with choice of Bacon, Sausage or House-smoked Ham.”
I was skeptical that I might be getting nothing more than day-old baguettes, deep fried to conceal their staleness, but this French Toast was shockingly good. A bit too much powdered sugar for me (especially after having a few beignets), but very tasty. I ordered it with the ham, which added a bit more sustenance and nutritional value, and I think it made a great, decadent breakfast. Probably not my healthiest moment, but we did end up walking like 14 miles this day.
We also ordered the Mickey Beignets, because I hadn’t had my fill of sugary breakfast breads.
These were excellent. The food court was busy so we got a freshly-made batch, and they were absolutely perfect. An ideal balance of doughiness and airiness, with exceptional flavor and a generous dusting of sugar.
There was a lot on the breakfast menu at Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory that we didn’t have a chance to try, but that looked good–here are a few of the other options as depicted on the menu boards at Port Orleans French Quarter:
A few things that caught my eye from these menus: Cajun Grit Bowl with Shrimp, Breakfast Po’Boy (although I’m not sure about that aoili now), Grilled Steak and Scrambled Eggs, Crispy Fried Chicken on a Biscuit, and Wolferman’s English Muffin Breakfast Sandwich. Phew, that’s a lot of different things. (Now, if you will all just do me the favor of making this review really popular, so I can say to Sarah, “see, it’s our duty to eat breakfast at the food court instead of fruit and cereal in the room–we owe it to the internet!!!”)
Overall, our breakfast at Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory was good, and there are plenty of other ambitious and unique items on the menu that make me eager to return–and willing to offer a recommendation of checking it out. It’s certainly worth the time and money if you’re staying at French Quarter. While I wouldn’t make a special trip here if you’re staying at a Value or Deluxe Resort, it’s an interesting-enough menu that I’d consider walking over from Riverside if you’re curious.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
Have you done breakfast at Port Orleans French Quarter? What do you think of the toned-down style of Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory? Do you agree or disagree with our take on the re-imaginings around Walt Disney World hotels of late? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Yes for funnel cake..
You owe it to yourself to try the Cajun Grits with Shrimp. I had a hard time not ordering it every day.
I agree with you completely about the rooms at most of the resorts looking more & more like a Hampton Inn. And that is just so sad.
I was sitting at the Floatworks on Saturday morning when you posted this! We had a few orders of beignets during our trip (the seasonal pumpkin spice ones are delicious!), and also got dinner one evening when we were exhausted from park-hopping all week. The food was just fine – nothing great, nothing terrible. Breakfast on departure day (Saturday) killed most of our remaining credits – I had two pastries and my husband enjoyed the shrimp and grits. It was wonderful to have so much variety so close to our room, and even if it’s not “authentic” creole and cajun cooking, it also wasn’t cookie-cutter fast food.
The staff were so friendly, too, and helpful with our many questions about the dining plan, what counted as a snack, etc.
I wish they did take the time with foods like this to make them authentic. Not being a world traveler myself, it makes me wonder how “original” are the foods at other places. I.e. Boma and such. Not necessarily to say it isn’t African food, but is it authentic to the fact that this is a normal dish people eat in their own home or just food served at expensive restaurants from the area. I am a New Orleans native and my wife is a full fledged cajun from SW La. Because of the world wide craze of the words “Cajun” and “Creole,” we avoid places that advertise as such. BTW, those two are absolutely different races of people and different cooking styles. FYI, I have never had shrimp and grits with eggs in it.
Different strokes for different folks. We’ve visited FQ often over the years, but did not like the creepy large masks, so we only ate there once. We particularly enjoyed the subtle Mardi Gras theme and music.
This past September, we actually spent our first vacation at the resort (2 weeks), and due to the excessively high heat and humidity, we enjoyed many meals at the Floatworks. We loved the fact that meals were made-to-order; we are returning to FQ for another 2 weeks in May 2019. The Floatworks has rapidly become one of our favorite QS locations.
We’ve spend many vacations at various WDW resorts over the years, and absolutely loved everything about FQ. Although the “over the top” decor has become more subdued, the resort is amazingly beautiful and relaxing. The resort is a quiet reminder of the actual French Quarter, without the craziness of Bourbon Street..
I am extremely disappointed in you, Mr. Bricker! We opted for the beignet sundae for breakfast and thought to ourselves that it would be the perfect breakfast option for an ice cream lover such as yourself. You still get three hot Mickey beignet dusted with powdered sugar, but the heat from the beignet, melts the ice cream creating a decadent treat fit for a king, or an ice cream connoisseur…
POFQ’s my favorite resort (AKA home) but I find Sassagoula lacking. That chicken on a biscuit you want to try sounds good on the menu but the biscuit is so dry that it makes the whole sandwich taste like sand. And I’m jealous of your good beignets…I have never had a good one there. They’re either raw in the middle or just weirdly bland. I do think I’ll try that cajun shrimp bowl next time though.
I just wanted to agree with you about how all the Disney touches seem to be disappearing from all the resorts. Every time they get an update, they all become more generic. I’ve not stay at Port Orleans but we did stay at Coronado Springs 10 or 12 years ago and we really liked the look & feel of the rooms as well as the grounds. I was really disappointed when I saw the recent pictures of their newly redecorated rooms. Sure they’re nice, but they could be anywhere in the world (and I don’t mean WDW). They’re just bland!
Our regular resort is Shades of Green as my aunt is retired Army which isn’t very themed either but I don’t expect it there. With Disney, what’s the point of having so many different hotels if they all look the same inside???
I was extremely disappointed they took all the characters from the walls and center of the ceiling away at World of Disney. It looks like other stores in the Marketplace area now and it didn’t use to. I always took pictures of the upper parts of those rooms. It was whimsical. Now bland.
DH and I stayed at POFQ for the first time this past March. Loved the resort and the breakfast food was fine, for us. We usually just had Mickey waffles, or eggs/toast. Love the Mickey waffles, which you can get anywhere. We were excited to try the famous biegnets! We ordered them the first morning. The waitress made it a point to glare at me and tell me it is pronounced “bennies”. She then went into the back and brought out the worst, old looking pastries I’ve ever seen. They looked like they were left over from the day before. They were not warm, tough, all air and no taste at all. So, we were unimpressed and haven’t tried them since. The rest of the food was fine, but we feel POR’s Mill is much superior!
We stayed here 2 years ago and I was very unimpressed by the food. We did the dining plan and had originally planned to eat a few quick service credits here so we didn’t have to commute anywhere else, but it got to the point that we would leave to find better food. It was nasty.
My wife insists on a boat ride to “New Orleans”, as she calls it, for beignets at least once every trip. You won’t catch me complaining!
We stayed at POFQ this time last year. I was completely underwhelmed and unimpressed. One of my biggest complaints was actually how dusty all those props were in the dining room. When I was eating and looking up at things covered in 6” of dust it just was not appetizing. The whole resort had a dusty, unkept feel a year ago. It’s too bad they couldn’t just find a way to clean the decor instead of entirely removing it though. Our stay last year soured me on POFQ as I was unimpressed by many details there and felt our stay the year before at Art of Animation was so much better despite the difference of moderate vs value plus. The food and cleanliness of AoA was head and shoulders above POFQ in our experience.
I loved those creepy heads and all the other decorations.
It was so disappointing when I went back in there after the remodel.
But I’ll return for the beignets.
We stayed here in December 2017. I love this resort, but the food is nothing to write home about, but it’s fast and I don’t have to walk 10 minutes to get to it so I’m happy. The breakfast was good, but the menu for lunch and dinner didn’t wow us. I’m not sure if the theming was already toned down by the time we stayed. The overall theme of POFQ is kind of bland to me, but the size, proximity to Disney Springs, and single bus stop will always be more important. It is a beautiful resort.
We have been staying at this resort for many years and are heading back next April.
Agree that the food selection was not that great. If you want to go to a fabulous food court, go to Art of Animation. Last May, we stayed at Port Orleans, which we enjoy because of the quiet and peacefulness. Not tons of kids. Our lids & grandkids stayed at Art of Animation and we were pleasantly surprised with the many different choices of food for every meal of the day!
My family stayed at POFQ in 2017 and while we enjoyed our stay for many reasons, dining was not one of them. Not that the food was bad, it just wasn’t memorable. But isn’t that the knock on most counter service restaurants at WDW, especially breakfast??? The beignets were good, but not reason enough to eat to eat at Sassagoula Floatworks.
Stay at POFQ for the size, easy transportation, quaintness… not for the food.
Sad tooked away the props. I remember always loving looking up and seeing them.
The breakfast looks like one of the best offered at Disneyworld, however that is not saying much.
Hi, Tom. The French Quarter is pretty much our resort of choice, and each day wouldn’t be complete without our daily in-take of beignets before we head out in the morning. Since our last trip in early May, it looks like they’ve now morphed into Mickey shapes, and (hopefully still available) come with a shot of Rumchata, Bailey’s, or Kahlua in the Scat Cat’s Lounge. The latter is tempting, but I’m sure I’ll still opt for my nightly ice cream after our short walk to Riverside when we go to WDW for the first time for Christmas the week after Thanksgiving. (Maybe we’ll run into you and Sarah if that’s the week you’re there this year.) – Jim
It’s sad they removed the float decorations from Floatworks & Food Factory. That just makes it a food counter and not a Mardi Gras float loading area. And if you have ever eaten real beignets in NOLA, you will be terribly disappointed in the “beignets”. So flat and not big pockets of air like real beignets.
They’re definitely not “real” much like most of the food at World Showcase isn’t truly authentic. And, yes, real beignets are like a piece of heaven. But, whatever you want to call the fried pieces of dough they serve at POFQ, they’re amazing!