Heads up if you’ve got a trip to Port Orleans – French Quarter on the calendar this fall or winter: one of the resort’s most beloved little hangouts is about to go dark for a while.
Starting October 6, 2026, both Scat Cat’s Club – Café and Scat Cat’s Club – Lounge will close their doors for a refurbishment, according to WDWMagic. If you’ve stayed at the French Quarter before, you already know why this stings a bit. The café has been the resort’s grab-and-go breakfast staple for years, the place everyone heads to for Mickey-shaped beignets buried in powdered sugar, plus coffee and pastries before a park day. Right next door, the lounge has served as the evening wind-down spot, pouring specialty cocktails and light bites in a setting that leans hard into the resort’s New Orleans charm.
Port Orleans – French Quarter is the smaller, cozier half of the Port Orleans complex (Riverside being the other), and a lot of guests choose it specifically for that tight, walkable layout with the wrought-iron balconies and Mardi Gras flair. Losing the café and lounge, even temporarily, is going to change the daily rhythm for anyone staying there.
So when’s it all coming back? Reports point to the café reopening in December, but the lounge is going to take longer, with January 2027 penciled in as the target. That means anyone visiting over the holidays and into the new year is going to be navigating around this closure the entire time.
The good news is Disney isn’t leaving guests completely without options. A temporary bar will pop up near the café from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. each night, so cocktail hour isn’t totally off the table during the lounge’s downtime. As for the beignets and coffee, they’re relocating over to Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory, the resort’s other quick-service spot. If you’ve had your eye on the seasonal Ghoulish Delight beignets, you’ll still be able to grab those at Sassagoula, but only through November 1, so don’t wait too long.
Bottom line: if your stay falls between October 6 and whenever these spaces actually reopen, it’s worth getting familiar with Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory ahead of time, since that’s going to be your new go-to for breakfast. The temporary bar should help fill in for lounge nights too. It’s not a perfect swap, but it should keep most of what makes French Quarter special still intact while the work gets done.
One last thing worth remembering: Disney refurbishment timelines move around more often than not, so double-check closer to your actual travel dates before you build your whole plan around these reopening windows.
Got a Port Orleans trip coming up during this closure? We want to hear how you’re planning around it.
