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Original poster

Disneyland Paris - hotel dilemma

70 replies

hermioneweasley · 24/08/2013 10:18

We are planning to go October half term (have been before, yes I know it will be hellish!). Am choosing between Hotel New York and Newport bay. NY is £200 more, but is a bit closer to the park. Reviews say Newport bay is getting run down and there are queues for breakfast.

Was also wondering about sequoia lodge - how much of a pain is it to need shuttle buses? How long a walk is it from the village to the sequoia lodge?

Thanks!

OP posts:

aftermay · 24/08/2013 14:56

We're going tomorrow and staying at Sequioa lodge. I hope the pool is open till late. Thanks for the tips re: sandwiches. I quite expect it to be hellish overall but ill put in a brave face for the DCs.

jerryfudd · 24/08/2013 14:59

We've done sequoia twice and would recommend. No need to use shuttle buses - it's just a walk round the lake and then through the village bit

paperlantern · 24/08/2013 15:08

you can never start too young!!! but I'm biased dd's first visit was at 11 months and ds was a bump
I take issues with people who complain about the food. depends where you eat. no it isn't haute cuisine unless you dine at the the haute cuisine places eg Walts (where the food is incredible) but I haven't had a bad meal at the hotel buffet and the food there has never been cold. (although I have from the more expensive hunters grill at the sequoia and the studios). i have also gone a whole dlp holiday without touching a chip mind you I always pay for half board so whatever I eat at lunch I know I have a decent meal waiting at tea.

paperlantern · 24/08/2013 15:10

one of my favourite baby memories was of dd crawling up main street whilst waiting for the evening Christmas parade

LadyMilfordHaven · 24/08/2013 15:12

The food in the parks is abysmal. There's no good good there.

buss · 24/08/2013 15:22

we were prepared for bad food but I was pleasantly surprised by the food served in the hotel - we went half board. It was fine - lots of choice.

paperlantern · 24/08/2013 15:26

rubbish.

in disneyland, if you have the cash Walts has fantastic food. at the other end of the financial scale colonel hathis is an absolute gem (always eat here). in fact don't share the secret on colonel hathis I want it to myself) as a general rule for fast food pick pizza not hamburger joints. mid range cafe agrabah gets good reviews but I've never been there.

studios I would more agree with you. Again the pizza is ok but the "restaurant" where it's served is rubbish. never tried the studios buffet (the remy restaurant). the blockbuster cafe is good for a coffee and light cold meal. Still meeting mickey mouse and Minnie thers kinda made the food irrelevant.

but that's kinda the point.

difficultpickle · 24/08/2013 15:29

The only food in the parks that I thought was tolerable was the place that sold baguettes. Fresh albeit overpriced and much nicer than all the buffet meals. Ds got a bit fed up with seeing characters as they were everywhere. He told Mickey mouse to leave him alone at one meal!

paperlantern · 24/08/2013 15:30

tbh I really like the hotel buffets for dinner. starter of mountains of prawns and continental meat, mains carvery and creamed potatoes and pudding of nice cheese yum

buss · 24/08/2013 15:39

cafe Mickey (or whatever it was called) looked horrific though

MrsSchadenfreude · 24/08/2013 15:45

Apart from Walt's and the place inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride (Blue Lagoon?) the food in the parks is awful. Much better to be had in the village.

MelanieCheeks · 24/08/2013 15:49

I've had birthday meals in Cafe Mickey twice, and loved them both - about 20 euros per main meal, but thepasta dishes are quite lovely, and if you time it for the characters appearing it's a great experience.

I've stayed in:

Disneyland Hotel - fabulous but pricey.
Sequoia Lodge - breakfast was a bunfight, but good value for a Disney hotel, Walkable for older kids or those without mobility issues
Dream Castle - free shuttle buses every 10 minutes, really really good breakfasts, though diner options limited to a buffet, I found this a very good value option.

Personal eating recommednations - Cafe des Cascadeurs in Studios (cute little steel caravan), Annettes Diner for fun, the filled roll palce in the station, and I escaped from teh rest one night and treated myself to dinner in teh Silver Spur.

Trip Advisor have a whole forum on DLP which is definitely worth checking out.

buss · 24/08/2013 15:51

we didn't eat in cafe Mickey but it just looked really busy and frantic from the outside (was stood queueing for ages for the Minecon past there so had a good gawp!)

paperlantern · 24/08/2013 16:14

the steel cabins in the studio? what do they serve?

normally go during sub zero temperatures so they don't normally appeal, next time should be a little warmer

LadyMilfordHaven · 24/08/2013 16:14

Hathis was vile. Southern style fries and chicken nuggets

LadyMilfordHaven · 24/08/2013 16:16

Actually. In the studios I had a nice ish chorizo hot dog.

LadyMilfordHaven · 24/08/2013 16:16

It was 32 degrees when we were there.

paperlantern · 24/08/2013 16:22

colonel hathis just services pizza and pasta

LadyMilfordHaven · 24/08/2013 16:34

Oh. Sorry. Meant the awful African place

Floralnomad · 24/08/2013 16:44

As others have said its as quick to walk to Sequoia as the Newport . We've stayed in both and I prefer Sequoia although we haven't stayed for several years as we prefer the New York where we have stayed every year since it opened . All of the hotels are getting 'tired' ,but they are clean and comfortable . The Disneyland hotel is nice but TBH we've never found it worth the massive price hike especially if you are using the Studios and Disney Village ( for restaurants) . The Newport is my least favourite hotel ,although last time we stayed we got an upgrade to the VIP restaurant for breakfast so there were no queues for us .i have never queued for breakfast at the New York as they use both of the restaurants .

Floralnomad · 24/08/2013 16:50

Forgot to add the food in Cafe Mickey has really gone down hill in recent years ,so if you want to do a character meal there I'd go for breakfast . The Wild West show is fun but pricey and the food again is dire but my children have always enjoyed it ( just not eaten much) . There is a sports cafe in the Village that is great for hotdogs and nugget type meals and my daughter says that the chicken nuggets at Caseys Corner are the best in the world . Infact I think they are the only reason that she has agreed to come with us this year . Annette's diner is ok ,the general gist with the restaurants is to not look at the bill !

paperlantern · 24/08/2013 16:57

np generally give the burger/nuggets + fries places a miss. never go to toad hall truly awful. but I think that's part of the problem.

The quality IS variable, hit all the wrong places you get a very different view than if you find yourself in the better places. that doesn't mean it's all bad (or indeed all good).
other than the top class walts and Blue lagoon there's good and bad ay all prices. First time I went my longest waits (longer than rides) were for food and there was a lot of chips. now (several visits later ) rarely wait longer than 5 mins and food is on the whole pretty good.

worth noting all of us can make it off site (for me pushing a sn buggy, getting out to the village mid day really isn't worth the difference in food quality)

OldRoan · 24/08/2013 16:59

Depending on ages of DC, I'd be tempted to go back to hotel for a siesta in the middle of the afternoon then go back again later and do the 'big' rides as late as possible (just before/during the parade if they are still open).

I had an annual pass when I lived in Paris and my friend and I went on Dumbo after waiting for 2 rotations (so not long at all!), you're high up and you can see all the lights on the other rides, and we still got a good spec for the electric parade. The queues in the middle of the afternoon were just too much, but they go right down later on in my experience. Might be worth packing gloves though - our hands were frozen!

Rufus43 · 24/08/2013 17:04

Have stayed at all three. I don't think you need a bus for the lodge. We stayed at the Newport last November and I didn't think the decor was that bad and there wa no queue for breakfast ( did not go in half term though)

I you get a better class of Disney character the more money you spend if that makes a difference. If it doesn't then I would go for the cheapest

paperlantern · 24/08/2013 17:15

would agree about the food in cafe mickey not being as good as it was. but wasn't too impressed with breakfast there tbh. people up amd downing to a buffet AND characters was shambolic.

still i have an awful feeling i could be swamp food for all the kids (and me) would notice I have the bestest pictures from cafe mickey over the years and it's nice to get the opportunity to really interact with the characters. cafe mickey is my trip highlight every time.

found previously about 5.30 pm to be a pretty good time for cafe mickey, or earliest time for lunch

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