First time at Sequoia! June 2015 PTR

magickate

magickate

Earning My Ears
Joined
May 6, 2014
Hi all.

I don't often post & am more of a lurker on the forum but starting to get organized for a trip this summer & thought a PTR would be helpful to keep track of everything.

When: June 4th to June 12th (or 96 sleeps according to my app!)
Who: Myself, Partner, 9yrold & 4yr old
Where: Sequoia Lodge
 
So our reason for going!

Other than our love of Disney my partner finishes Uni end of May & we want to celebrate. We often don't see him for a days at a time because of work so some proper family time together is much needed.

Unfortunately he hasn't any annual leave in holiday time. Both children are in primary school so we'll be taking them out, sucking it up & paying the fines. School are going to love me when I tell them

We haven't told the kids though & we're still undecided when we will. I like the idea of not telling them until we're leaving, He wants to tell them at easter. We'll see who wins that one :D

Gone for a longer trip so we can take things at a slower pace & enjoy all smaller things. Plus I don't like early mornings!
 
Sequoia Lodge!

I was a bit disappointed at first. We'd been booked for Newport Bay which is my absolute fave & was looking forward to a nice new room. But our flights changed & we had to move the booking a day early, an extra £400 to stay at Newport Bay :eek: now I do love it but £400 is Inventions brunch & lots of glowtinis, I could transfer to sequoia lodge & upgrade to golden forest and actually save a little bit so that's exactly what I went for.

I'm not in love with the look of the hotel, it seems too dark for me but we enjoyed a meal at hunters grill before & a lot of people recommend it. Fingers crossed I'll grow to love it once we're there!

We'll be trying to make the most of the lounge & DP will appreciate the hot breakfast. As long as there's nutella me & kids will be happy :thumbsup2
 
Travel Plans, pretty much sorted.

Flying from Birmingham to CDG, outbound is a late flight as kids need to go to school that day so will be a very late arrival at Disney. Flight home though isn't until the evening aswell so will still have most of the day there
Airport parking sorted this morning, gone posh & doing the meet & greet service. Ezyshuttle booked for transfers, def the easiest option for us & worth the extra cost.
Just need to buy 2 new suitcases as we're taking one each this time, figured we'd need a more clothes & plenty of space for souvenirs :laughing: kids have their trunkis too, great in theory but bad when they keep smacking them into your ankles at the airport!
 


One of the things I love about the Sequoia Lodge is the lovely bar area - very nice to just sit and enjoy. I also really love the smell lol- I used to live in the San Francisco Bay area very near Muir Woods, an area of Sequoia redwoods and the smell is just really nice IMO! Hope you have a lovely trip!:)
 
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It sounds lovely, can't wait to try it. And I'm sure we will thanks :)

88 days out now. 1st big chunk of spending money put onto my fairfx card, fab rate & hopefully it might go up again before I put the rest on end of April.

Got to pay the remaining balance next month so have that waiting, may call them & do it early. Then can just focus on the more fun stuff! It's been quiet at work today so I've been deciding on restaurants & working out costumes for the kids incase they want to dress up.

So far DD has the DLP belle dress which is stunning. She's got Anna & Elsa dresses I'll pack too but want to get her a nice Ariel outfit as our brunch theme is under the sea. Possibly a new Cinderella dress to for Auberge, but thinking I'll book her in for the princess for a day package at DLH so it might be nice to get the cinders one there.

DS has a stitch cape, peter pan costume & sorcerer Mickey set. I've just ordered him a beast outfit but think he'd like a Woody costume too maybe. I'm sure the buzz one he has at the moment is too small now but might be nice for him to get there in DLP. He has a spiderman costume too I'll pack if the meet & greet is there to stay.

It's taken me ages to decide on restaurants, I want to go to too many :oops: so going to try & work out now what order to do them in & sorted for when I can book them next month. Excited!
 
Im in!
Ooh looking forward to hearing which restaurants you decide on. Sounds like you have a lovely trip planned. Great move on an upgrade to SLGF. Your trip sounds swish! And there's always the excuse that you simply must return to stay at the Newport ;)
 


Yup, any excuse! But I think it'll look so amazing when the refurb is finished there's no way we can't have another stay there :D

Restaurant plan is looking something like this at the minute.

Thursday we arrive late so no meal there. Will get something at the airport or maybe stop off on the way depending on time.

Friday, lunch at a counter service in the park or maybe pizza planet. Then Dinner at Café Mickey. Not massively keen on the menu but there's something we'll all eat & the characters are the real reason.

Saturday, same lunch plans as Friday though I'm considering booking silver spur for lunch just as a back up if the park is manically busy. Then Blue Lagoon for dinner, really looking forward to it after good meals there before.

Sunday, Inventions brunch day! Trip highlight previously so fingers crossed it's another amazing meal. Probably just pick up a mcdonalds or EOS later on for dinner though may book Hunters grill as a fall back if the kids are pretty hungry or it's really busy again.

Monday, A quick lunch somewhere in the parks then Rainforest café for dinner. DS didn't like the lighting or noise in here last time but he's a bit older now so hopefully would be fine. I know DD will want to there

Tuesday, Auberge for a princess lunch, hoping for Belle to be there! Then off to BBWWS in the evening. Will probably get some tickets in advance from ticketmaster.

Wednesday, a counter service lunch again & planet Hollywood for dinner. DPs choice not mine, if it's rubbish he's to blame! Some reviews are terrible :rolleyes2

Thursday, Bistro Chez Remy for lunch. Really looking forward to this, pictures look fab & we should have had plenty of chances to do the ride already by then. Probably just mcdonalds or sports bar pizza for dinner but will book cape cod if we feel like a 2nd proper meal.

Friday, we're being picked up at 4ish so thinking Annettes for a filling lunch then picking up EOS on the way back to have at the airport. CDG is over pirced & I'm veggie so the selection is pretty rubbish

Might book café mickey for breakfast one of the days if the kids fancy it but will leave it up to them. They should have seen the characters already at the other meals! Also thought about Inventions for last day instead of Annettes but I keep reading reviews of there being less characters at lunch. Given it's the same price as dinner that would annoy me & don't want our last meal there being an unhappy one x
 
Wow that's a huge plan. I like your style. Honestly PH was dire the last time we were there but it was nice the previous time. I'm so keen to eat at Blue Lagoon. I'll be watching out for this TR For inspiration for our next trip in January.
BCR is fab. And the ride is brilliant. I must echo a recommendation made by other DISers which is, if you can, ride before you dine. It just works!
 
Fab PTR! Love all your planning!!

Just a quick note though, SL doesn't do hot items for breakfast - well, they do, but you have to pay more for them and order them each morning.

Also, have you checked the opening times/days for all your restaurants? Worth doing! There's a number of sites that now have these opening times/dates - I've used the following but any will do! Saves a last minute disappointment! (Doesn't include the Village, but I think everything is open every day there anyway - check which evenings BBWWS are running - it's not EVERY evening! Think you can check this on the main disneyland paris website.... I may be wrong)
Starting 4th June for you - http://www.disneygazette.fr/dgi/horaires-restaurants-04-juin-2015.html

Hope that helps!

C x
 
It does seem a bit extensive reading it back! But we like food :D and I like to have at least one reservation a day for a proper meal. Hunters grill, silver spur steakhouse & cape cod are all miss-able if that makes sense. Though I will have to go to Newport Bay for a nose at some point anyway!

Decided I need to make a done & a to do list to try & keep on top of things. Plus the geek in me likes it haha. So from the start...

Passports: Need to make sure I know where they all are, DP lost his last time just before we went :scared:
Airport Parking: Booked the meet & greet service with ncp. Just got to stick the number in my phone to call on way back
Flights: Check in with Air France on line to print boarding passes
Transfers: Booked & confirmed with Ezyshuttle, pay on day.
Hotel Booking: Need to email Sequoia a week before to request having our 2 bookings joined together. Also tell them a 2nd adult is coming.
Annual Pass: Already bought from Supertrips to exchange there.
BBWWS: check prices on ticketmaster in May. Buy if cheaper than onsite with AP discount
ADRs: Ring & book around 60 days before, make sure I write them all down!
Costumes: Ariel for DD & Buzz/Woody for DS. Others bought ready to go.
Money: Add rest of funds to Fairfx card after April payday. Change £300 cash + kids pocket money in May
Balance to pay: Due early april. Call after March payday & sort
Photopass: Add to booking when I pay balance if still at reduced price
The Reveal: Decide how we're telling kids. Obviously convince DP my way is the best :love2:
Animals: Book rabbit into the kennels, Parents ok to have dog
School: Apply for leave under the exemption of DPs work. Write supporting letter showing we meet the criteria
Work: annual leave booked, see if I can add on the day before we go too
Pre-holiday shopping: Primark run after April Pay day for a few Disney Tees & PJs. Autograph books from somewhere?
Luggage: Trunkis for kids hand luggage but need to buy or borrow 2 more bigish suitcases for them.
Skating: Let DDs coach know we'll be away. Arrange extra lessons for Monday before we go & weekend we're back.
Pushchair: Need to dig out DS old pushchair & decide if we're taking it. Hire is free but may be easier to take our own?

:rainbow: so much to remember!
 
Yes all open except Agrabah that's closed for the whole month. shame cos would've preferred that for lunch on the Saturday.

We're looking good with ride closures too, only flying carpets & carousel down. Well and space mountain still too but the kids won't miss that!

We're golden forest so get a hot breakfast included. Will keep DP happy :yay:
 
We upgraded for a Golden Forest breakfast one morning, and there weren't any hot items at all..... Might be worth double checking??!?!

Great luck with the closures!! :)

C x
 
Oh that'd be disappointing! Was that after November once the characters had left the hotels? That's when they bought it in

Yes relieved there's nothing massively important to us closed! & park is open til 11 every night too so lots of ride time.

Hope you're trip planning is going well. You go a bit before us :-)
 
magickate said:
Oh that'd be disappointing! Was that after November once the characters had left the hotels? That's when they bought it in

Yes relieved there's nothing massively important to us closed! & park is open til 11 every night too so lots of ride time.

Hope you're trip planning is going well. You go a bit before us :-)
Click to expand...

OH!!! No, it wasn't - it was a year ago (almost to the day!! lol). Ooo I hope you're right!! That gives us another option for our March trip next year..... so there's no Characters any more, but there ARE hot items? Wonder what the items are! That's interesting!!

Yeah, we're only doing a one day flying visit, so it'll be fine. Not as much fun to book as a proper trip - have March 2016 to build up to!

C x
 
Pancakes! Then just the usual sausage, bacon, potato & egg I think. I'm veggie so not that fussed other than the pancakes but DP & DD will. DS will just be in the nutella :hyper:

Found a nice little folder last night to start keeping all the print offs & important shiz together. Planning on doing some budgeting with DP tonight too if he's not too tired when he gets in. I'll start off with a ridiculously high figure then we'll compromise & I'll come down to the amount I actually want, he thinks he's had a say & everyone's happy :rotfl:good job he loves me haha.
 
A one day visit will be a nice way to get a bit of a Disney fix in before next trip, bet you'll get loads done too as you know you're way around! I'm not sure when we'll be back after this but DDs birthday is March. If she doesn't want a party or anything then who knows! x
 
Hi Magickate - joining in, looking forward to reading another PTR - I keep thinking I'm forgetting something so hopefully reading someone elses will help!
 
Your plans sound amazing - love all your restaurant choices :thumbsup2 You should have masses of time to fit everything in that you want to do. Look forward to hearing more :goodvibes
 
ShellB8585 said:
Hi Magickate - joining in, looking forward to reading another PTR - I keep thinking I'm forgetting something so hopefully reading someone elses will help!
Click to expand...

I'm bound to forget something! & it'll be a really obvious one haha. But hoping a PTR will help, I love reading other peoples too :)

Ms Poppins said:
Your plans sound amazing - love all your restaurant choices :thumbsup2 You should have masses of time to fit everything in that you want to do. Look forward to hearing more :goodvibes
Click to expand...

Thanks, I hope so. I know we'll never do everything but lots we'd like to be able to enjoy. I keep re-jigging the restaurant choices!
 
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