Dream Castle location

[Carpgirl]

Hi:goodvibes,

Thinking of staying at Dream Castle hotel but I'm a bit put off by the shuttle bus scrums I've read about.

Also a bit confused about its location:confused3. One reviewer said he'd caught the Santa Fe bus from the park to Santa Fe to buy things at the petrol station, then caught it back again & caught the Dream Castle bus to the Dream Castle where he was staying.

How far is the Santa Fe from Dream Castle? When people go to a shop a few minutes walk from the Dream Castle is this the same as the Santa Fe petrol station?

Also,are you allowed to use the Santa Fe shuttle when you're not staying there?

Sorry for all the questions!

Thanks:thumbsup2

[A Small World]

It isnt far to walk from Santa fe but is along a main road . There are 4 hotels along the same stretch - Explorers, Dream Castle, Magic Circus and Kyriad. They share a shuttle bus which makes it busy. I havent stayed at dream castle but have stayed at the other 3 and have always coped with the buses fine.

I dont know of another shop nearer to dream castle than the one at the petrol station apart from one in the hotel itself.

Yes anyone can use any shuttle bus they dont check

[DLPdaft]

You can use any hotels shuttle bus, regardless of whether or not you are staying at that hotel.

The Dream Castle is in a row of 4 associated hotels, probably another 10 minutes walk away from the front of the Santa Fe (ie the filling station). However, its a 10-minute walk along a very busy road, and across another very busy road with a roundabout on it. I wouldn't walk it. I have had no problems using the shuttle buses to and from the associated hotels.

I have no idea where there would be another little shop, other than the filling station at the Santa Fe, near the Dream Castle.

[Happy Tappy]

I've never found the scrums to be as bad as people make out.

[disney_princess_85]

It took us half an hour in total to walk from the Village (lake end) to Magic Circus. We stopped at the garage/shop by the Santa Fe. From there I'd say it's a 10 minute walk (this isn't on top of the half an hour, it's included).

[Carpgirl]

Thanks for the replies;)

Well unless the new much anticipated offers are very good for onsite I think it'll be Dream Castle for me.:)

[hildasmuriel]

We have found that just a 20 minute look round the Village at the end of the day is enough for the queues for the buses to have reduced considerably so that there was no scrum.

[DLPdaft]

We have found that just a 20 minute look round the Village at the end of the day is enough for the queues for the buses to have reduced considerably so that there was no scrum.

Absolutely right - we also usually have our evening meal in the Village or one of the onsite hotel restaurants, before heading back to whichever associated hotel we're staying in. Its no problem getting on the shuttles at that time either.

[disney_princess_85]

Yeah, it makes no sense to catch the bus at park closing. We normally hang around until 11pm anyway (no matter what time the parks shut! :rotfl:). There's plenty to do: have a meal, look in the shops, walk around the lake, visit the bars...

[Ware Bears]

The only time I've ever experienced real problems with the shuttle buses is in the summer season when everyone is leaving at the same time after the fireworks.

When we visited at Christmas and October there were never the same crowds for the buses because the park shut earlier and not everyone was going to catch the bus, many were going for meals int he Village.

We tend to walk back to the Explorers (next door to the Dream Castle) in summer season (we normally beat the bus back :rotfl2: ) or if we are already in the Village doing shopping or having a meal as you're part-way there. It's a lovely walk along the river, once you've left the Santa Fe behind there is a pavement all along the road, although watch out for the sprinklers :rotfl: cross at the roundabout (proper crossing) then there is a footpath to take you to the four associated hotels. I reckon it takes us about 25 minutes. :)

[disney_princess_85]

It's a lovely walk along the river, once you've left the Santa Fe behind there is a pavement all along the road, although watch out for the sprinklers :rotfl: cross at the roundabout (proper crossing) then there is a footpath to take you to the four associated hotels. I reckon it takes us about 25 minutes. :)

Sounds about right. :thumbsup2

I would suggest not doing the walk when it's dark. This is what we did and we found the lighting by the road to be VERY poor. We could just about see where we were going, but it was a little scary walking past those fields. I have an overactive imagination and I was worried someone was going to jump out from beyond the bushes! :sad2:

[Ware Bears]

:rotfl2: luckily there are 5 of us so we feel quite safe.

I do remember dianetigger saying she fell in the ditch next to the footpath :rotfl: luckily she wasn't hurt. :hug:

[disney_princess_85]

I do remember dianetigger saying she fell in the ditch next to the footpath :rotfl: luckily she wasn't hurt. :hug:

:rotfl: Sorry, I find that quite amusing (if she's ok, it's ok to laugh in hindsight). I remember coming across the ditch and thinking it was a stream- it was so dark, we couldn't tell! DBF was going to throw me over then jump over himself, as it was too wide for me to make it. On closer inspection (involving the light from our phones), we saw it was safe to walk across. :lmao:

[Ware Bears]

:rotfl: Sorry, I find that quite amusing (if she's ok, it's ok to laugh in hindsight). I remember coming across the ditch and thinking it was a stream- it was so dark, we couldn't tell! DBF was going to throw me over then jump over himself, as it was too wide for me to make it. On closer inspection (involving the light from our phones), we saw it was safe to walk across. :lmao:

:rotfl:

Of course, once you've done it once, you know what to expect! :rotfl2: