Port Orleans: French Quarter is closing.
 

Just an FYI -

For all that FIRST has said about there being a number of extra hotel rooms on WDW property for the "Championship Event," it appears that it is no longer the case.

The word on the street is that Port Orleans: French Quarter will be closing for renovations beginning on 11/3. The renovations are supposed to last 1 year. Couple this with the delayed opening of Disney's Pop Century Resort and it looks like getting accomodations on site may be as difficult as ever.

Now Carolyn...... no need to get into that now. Personally I'm a little bummed that French Quarter won't be open. We stayed there last year and the place was absolutely great for us! Very loud, fast paced competition all day, then a very quiet, layed back hotel at night to let you unwind for awhile. Oh well!

~Tom~, who made the French Quarter just a little louder with the water balloon fight. ;)

There is supposed to be a new hotel built, ready for the national event, that has a capacity of 2000+ people.

You're speaking of Disney's Pop Century Resort, and it will have approximately 2000 guest rooms. FIRST will have access to a fraction of those rooms, just like any booking situation at a similar hotel.

That's not so bad, though. The thing is - the resort was supposed to open on December 15, 2001. The opening was delayed for a number of reasons, though. Most notably, there's no need to finish it because attendance at Walt Disney World has dropped notably in recent months (even before 9-11). Hence the closing of Port Orleans: French Quarter.

When I last spoke to CRO (Disney's Central Reservations Office), they said they didn't expect the new resort to be open until late March of 2002. If there's any sort of delay, it's entirely possible the rooms may not be ready for FIRST teams.

So, with attendance figures way down, and the precedent of closing one large hotel already, the chances of this newer resort opening on schedule is growing smaller.

My mother is the one dealing with rooms so I've kinda know a lot of what is going on with it.
Supposibly, the hotel will not be opened for the use of FIRST students. Because the room deposits are due in the next couple weeks and the uncertinity that the hotel is going to be open or not, they aren't having any one stay there.

Last week, in a series of announcements coming out of Disney, they noted that - due to a number of factors - this hotel isn't going to be opened until 2003.

I heard about that.