Cheyenne vs Marriott? Onsite EMT worth it?

[DianaMB333]

Hi!
We will go Monday May 29th and the 30th- party of 5-… booking the Marriott plus tickets, vs package staying at Cheyenne comes with almost us$1k difference..

So it comes down to the perks and the experience..
1. Is the EMT worth it? Does it gets too crowded like waiting for the Dwarfs at WdW?

2. Onsite staying has same “bubble” feeling than WDW? Or is it kind off the hotels in front of DL that aren’t themed but still conveniently close

3. Cheyenne vs Santafe?

4. Not super fans of thrill rides, mostly interested on the rides for the girl -7yrs; and shows… Lion King? Is there a dessert party or similar for the fireworks?

Thanks!

 

[Karin1984]

1. It's not a school holiday period when you are going, so crowd wise shouldn't be too bad. But it can be busy. Tuesdays will be less busy than Mondays. Yes, I do think EMT is worth it. Because almost all headliners are open during the morning hours. However, $1,000 is a lot. Did you check the US website of DLP or one of the European websites? The US website usually gives higher prices because they know Americans are willing to pay. Change the flag in the top right corner to a European country and see if it makes any difference. Other option is to book a hotel separetely via booking.com (or similar platform) and book tickets separately as well. When you stay onsite you do not have to worry about park reservations.

2. It has even more a bubble feeling because you do not have to leave the grounds to get to the parks. With WDW you always have to go outside over the normal roads. In DLP you can walk from all hotels to the park entrance. You can take the bus, but then you'll leave the bubble ;-)

Do keep in mind that there is theming in the hotels, but it's less theming and amenities than in the US. In Europe people want a place to sleep, so keep in mind they are hotels, not resort.

3. Doesn't matter, I prefer Santa Fe, but that's probably because I usually stay there. It's often a bit cheaper.

4. Nope, we don't do dessert parties in Paris.
And just do all the shows Mickey and the Magician and Disney Jr. in the Studios and Lion King in the park. Also do not miss the 30th anniversary shows Shine Brighter and the drone show before the fireworks.

 

[DianaMB333]

1. It's not a school holiday period when you are going, so crowd wise shouldn't be too bad. But it can be busy. Tuesdays will be less busy than Mondays. Yes, I do think EMT is worth it. Because almost all headliners are open during the morning hours. However, $1,000 is a lot. Did you check the US website of DLP or one of the European websites? The US website usually gives higher prices because they know Americans are willing to pay. Change the flag in the top right corner to a European country and see if it makes any difference. Other option is to book a hotel separetely via booking.com (or similar platform) and book tickets separately as well. When you stay onsite you do not have to worry about park reservations.

2. It has even more a bubble feeling because you do not have to leave the grounds to get to the parks. With WDW you always have to go outside over the normal roads. In DLP you can walk from all hotels to the park entrance. You can take the bus, but then you'll leave the bubble ;-)

Do keep in mind that there is theming in the hotels, but it's less theming and amenities than in the US. In Europe people want a place to sleep, so keep in mind they are hotels, not resort.

3. Doesn't matter, I prefer Santa Fe, but that's probably because I usually stay there. It's often a bit cheaper.

4. Nope, we don't do dessert parties in Paris.
And just do all the shows Mickey and the Magician and Disney Jr. in the Studios and Lion King in the park. Also do not miss the 30th anniversary shows Shine Brighter and the drone show before the fireworks.

Thank you!

 

[zavandor]

The Marriott (Village Ile De France, is this the hotel you're looking at?) is a very nice resort, with a pool (which Santa Fe and Cheyenne don't have) and a kitchenette (in the studios) or full kitchen (in 2BR). However, the shuttle to the parks is not very frequent and it is an extra cost (I think around 3€ per person per trip). There are also local busses, but they're not that much cheaper.
So you gain 1k, a pool, a kitchen(ette) but you lose the EMT and convenience.
I think EMT are very valuable, but only if you can make it! I travel with friends with small kids who are never ready in time for EMT, so being onsite for them doesn't give much advantage.

I prefer Cheyenne theming but it's very personal.

 

[DianaMB333]

The Marriott (Village Ile De France, is this the hotel you're looking at?) is a very nice resort, with a pool (which Santa Fe and Cheyenne don't have) and a kitchenette (in the studios) or full kitchen (in 2BR). However, the shuttle to the parks is not very frequent and it is an extra cost (I think around 3€ per person per trip). There are also local busses, but they're not that much cheaper.
So you gain 1k, a pool, a kitchen(ette) but you lose the EMT and convenience.
I think EMT are very valuable, but only if you can make it! I travel with friends with small kids who are never ready in time for EMT, so being onsite for them doesn't give much advantage.

I prefer Cheyenne theming but it's very personal.

Thanks for the reply… the convenience is “critical” with this group (elder person and a child) .. pool not so much as we will go only few days then I’d expect to be at the parks all day

 

[kathy884]

Note: I've never been to Disneyland Paris before and this is probably more than what you want to hear, but we went thru a similar decision process and went for onsite. Our cost differential was much smaller though. Here's the background for us.

Except when I was a kid and my family sometimes stayed in our motorhome at Fort Wilderness and three different times DH had a seminar at the Contemporary when his company was paying for rooms, I've always been an offsite WDW visitor, usually staying with a large group in some rental timeshare condos, so for 36 WDW trips this is my stay breakdown: 4 stays at Fort Wilderness (kid), 3 stays at the Contemporary (adult), 18 offsite campground stays as a kid and 11 offsite stays as an adult (usually a timeshare condo - great rental deals quality for price -- the timeshare resorts in Orlando are really fabulous).

On our last WDW trip though (March 2022 - spring break), DS and I who have always been big rope drop / touring plan people hated not having a true rope drop (only getting in a 1/2 hour after those 40,000 plus onsite guests). We did Genie + etc., but that didn't keep us from missing rope drop in way, shape, or form. In the past we always avoided parks with EMH, so this in decades of visiting for me was my first experience ever not doing rope drop. Despite that I doubt I'll ever due to having a bean counter personality do onsite in Orlando on my own dime. It's just way too pricey, especially with a big group when offsite is so nice and so inexpensive. And for us Orlando almost always means a big extended family group, so economical lodging is super appealing and really a necessity to fit everyone's budget. Our trips to Orlando are really more about seeing family than the parks (good gathering place as we are spread out in so many different states).

Fast forward to a Disneyland Paris stay in September -- doing a trip with DS (DH is staying home, so just two of us) to Paris and Belfast and added a three night Disneyland Paris stay too right after Paris. For us booking on the UK website (inexpensive late weekday Sept. timeframe and weak pound against the dollar when I booked - paid in full at booking because of that), it ended up being about $225 more for our three night stay to stay onsite at the Sequoia Lodge vs. a much nicer offsite place with a little kitchenette. Plus since tickets are part of the onsite lodging package we'll do 2 1/2 days in the parks vs. just two that we would have done with offsite. Onsite includes four days with our three nights, but we'll miss the fourth one with our travel plans, and it looks like the package is less expensive than booking separately too even not taking advantage of the fourth day. Sequoia for our dates was less expensive than Cheyenne and for the three nights just $45 more than the Santa Fe.

Anyway, based on our last WDW experience I knew that DS and I both would love and take advantage of rope drop (early entry), so for that price differential I let DH choose between the nicer place to stay with kitchenette vs. onsite Sequoia Lodge, and he picked onsite all the way. That extra $225 too was well within the budget I had set aside for the Disney extension on what for us is a rare European trip. I'm 62, and this will just be my fourth and probably last trip to Europe. It looks like I only get to Europe every 13 years or so. And lol my last trip to Paris was in 1976 (got to stay for 10 weeks and live with a French family there as an exchange student then). It will be a blast to come back and with DS and I both being huge Disney fans we are super excited to get to visit Disneyland Paris too.