Have you stayed at the Santa Fe?

[jodyb]

I've booked the Santa Fe for a 7 night stay next month, but after reading some of the other forums I am getting a little nervous! I just assumed that it would be similar to the All Stars at WDW, which in my opinion are more than adequate and a good value. But now it seems I might be wrong, and that in fact the Santa Fe is not up to even the AS standard. I realize that it doesn't have a pool, but are there other differences? Are the rooms even smaller than AS? Is it as clean? Anything anyone can tell me - people who have actually stayed there? I'm getting a little nervous. I purchased a Fantasia AP, so I'm getting "room only" for quite a cheap rate, and it would be (for me) quite a significant amount more to upgrade to Sequoia (Cheyenne is closed during the period we'll be there). It will just be two of us (me and my 12 year old daughter).
I'll shut up now... can anyone please comment on their stays at this hotel???

Thanks so much in advance,
Jody

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

I've stayed at the Santa Fe, and it was just fine. It's Disney's budget hotel so I didn't expect any frills, but it was clean and comfortable. Yes, the rooms are smaller than the All Stars, but this is typical of all European hotels which generally have less pace than hotels in the US.

Regards

Rob

 

[DocRafiki]

I stayed there the last night of my trip. I just kept thinking, "nasty." Of course, I had just come from Disneyland Hotel. Now, I'm no hotel snob. I've been staying at the cheap off-site hotels in Kissimmee all my life when going to WDW. I've stayed at AS Movies and Sports, 3 times in all, and they are WAY better than Santa Fe. The lobby was a wreck and FULL of people. The decor is atrocious. The landscaping -- how can they even call it that? The cantina or whatever -- I felt like I was being herded; a lot of people say that about WDW, but I've never felt that way there. The store was even tiny and crowded. Even at AS, you get a dose of the Disney Magic in all those areas; I didn't feel it at Santa Fe. The room was ok, small, not dirty, but I certainly didn't feel like I was in a Disney hotel, or any reputable chain, for that matter.

I have a few pics of my room & cantina if I can ever get them working.

 

[jodyb]

Yes, this is what I've been hearing. Looks like to salvage our vacation I will have to pull together the money to upgrade to the Sequoia. I'm very disappointed, since at WDW even the value hotels are "nice". I've stayed at the Grand Floridian and at Yacht Club Concierge, and I can honestly say that my stays at the AS (I've stayed at all 3) were just as much fun and had just as much "magic" -
This Paris trip is one of those "tight belt" trips, so I thought I'd be fine at the Santa Fe, assuming it was the AS of Paris...
Oh well...
If anyone else can comment I would still like to hear from you, but at the same time I'm saving my pennies for the upgrade.

 

[DocRafiki]

I don't mean to rain on your parade, jody. There were PLENTY (or more ) of families there that seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was by no means dirty or stinky, but it just did not feel like a vacation there. You probably won't be excited to return to your room, which is something I really appreciate when I'm away from home. If you just need a place to sleep & shower, I'm sure it will do. (But bring all your toiletries... I remember theirs being very minimal.)

Is this a big, special trip for you? Mine was likely a once-in-a-lifetime, so Santa Fe just would not do. Before I lived in Orlando, I took plenty of cheap trips down here and stayed in worse places than the Santa Fe, and was glad to do it.

 

[jodyb]

Jen,

Believe me, your comments are much appreciated. Especially what you said about not being excited to get back to the room. I do agree that is important on vacation - if it's going to be a huge bummer to go back to the room every evening it will definitely put a damper on things.

As for this being a big special vacation, I suppose it could be looked at that way, although I am purchasing annual passed with an eye toward going again next December. I've never been to Paris, and my daughter and i are very excited about that...

We've done WDW many times and stayed in the whole variety of hotels, as I mentioned - everything from the very top (Yacht Club Concierge) to the AS's (all of them), the old Dixie Landings was the only "moderate" we've been at, but it was fine... we've also stayed at Grand Floridian and Contemporary Resort. Off-site we stayed at the Marriott in DTD, which was very nice.
Basically what it's come down to is that when my mother or ex-husband paid the bills it was top drawer all the way... but not this time! LOL
Although I would go back to the AS in a heartbeat, the Santa Fe just doesn't sound like it lives up to those minimal standards. I've pretty much decided - given your comments and those of many others on other boards - to squeeze the budget and get into the Sequoia lodge. There is not a negative word to be found online about that one! (At least not that I've seen)
Thanks again!
Jody

 

[SimonV]

I wouldn't really recommend SF during peak times as it doesn't handle crowds well (many of Disney's hotels here do not, even the Newport Bay), and you do need to look quite hard to see the theming and few overt Disney touches. It is certainly spartan even compared to the AS, and the new Explorers Hotel knocks spots off it. But, and this is a fairly big but, we spent 5 days there in summer 2002 and still had a great time (with no a/c, crowds at breakfast, etc). The buses work well and it is only a 15-minute walk to the parks (nice in dry weather) and, with Disney Village so accessible and open until late (not to mention the nearby Val D'Europe), we just never spent that much time in the hotel. You do need to think of SF (and Cheyenne) as 2-star hotels, though; Explorers, the new Kyriad, Seqouia Lodge and Newport Bay would be 3-star; Holiday Inn, New York would be 4-star and the Disneyland Hotel 4-star-plus. There is a distinct difference in the feel of the hotels from WDW to DLP, unless you pay for the top few at DLP. It all comes down to VFM at the end of the day.....

 

[megaelch]

I would highly recommend to rebook to Seqouia Lodge.. it really feels like a vacation hotel, breakfast is much better with fresh fruit salad and things and you have the swimming pool and sauna to use ! It is really worth every penny.. we are on a tight budget too when we go to Paris, but Santa Fe is not an option after 2 times we stayed there we do prefer to stay at Seqouia or offside in Bussy St. Georges in the Golden Tulip Hotel.. 5 minutes by train to the park and a really nice hotel !

Stephan