Help me choose our Disney Hotel

[janjanmary]

We are planning to visit for 4 days/3 nights in February.

I can't decide between Sequoia Lodge (a Montana room) or Newport Bay Club.

We are a family of 5, and will be booking two rooms (ideally connecting, but not sure how best to increase our chances of that happening!).

We have 3 kids, 11, 9 and 4.

Which hotel is nearer the parks - is it walkable by a 4 year old in the cold?

Which has the best pool?

Reading through the comments on both, there seem to be an issue with breakfast - which one would be less of a scrum/wait, or in February will that not be much of an issue.

This will be our first Disneyland Paris trip, we have been to WDW Orlando twice (once on honeymoon, and once with the kids).

Looking forward to some advice, and any other relevant points I should be considering.

Thanks.

 

[Bolanette87]

I have stayed in both and I have to say that we found very little difference. We liked both the hotels, found them clean and comfortable, with friendly staff. However, we think we prefer the Sequoia Lodge for two reasons:

1. It is slightly nearer to the parks (Only by a minute or two though)
2. We prefer the theming.

Other than that, not a lot of difference. We like them both though....

Bob xoxoxo

 

[cap'njack.]

Hi,

Newport Bay is slightly closer than the Sequia Lodge although it depends on where abouts you are in both hotels as to what the actual difference would be. Both are very walkable.

I've never used either pools but the one at the Newport Bay 'looks' better than the Sequia Lodge although I still think that the Davy Crockett Ranch has the best pool in DLRP.

The best thing to do with breakfast is too book it for as early or as late as possible, try to avoid between 7:45 and 9am as this is when the scrum will occur.

Personally I'd go with the Sequia Lodge as I think this hotel feels more personal, the Newport Bay is so large it just seems to loose it's appeal to me (plus we spent 10 minutes looking for a lift to get Kacee into the hotel in his pushchair which just annoyed me)

 

[tennisfan]

The Newport Bay does have a few family rooms, so it may pay to enquire about this, that way you will only need one room

 

[janjanmary]

The Newport Bay does have a few family rooms, so it may pay to enquire about this, that way you will only need one room

Knowing how well our kids sleep when we are all in one room (they don't!) we have decided to divide and conquer!

Definitely leaning towards Sequoia Lodge, and it is cheaper too!

A few more questions for you:

Is there any advantage in booking by phone over booking online?

Do you get the best offers from Disney, or is it worth trying any other travel companies?

How much deposit is required when booking direct with Disney?

If you book direct with Disney are you covered by ABTA or ATOL or any of those travel guarantee thingies? Just in case something goes wrong? I will be using my credit card to book, and we have annual travel insurance for the family.

Thanks

 

[ema74]

Knowing how well our kids sleep when we are all in one room (they don't!) we have decided to divide and conquer!

Definitely leaning towards Sequoia Lodge, and it is cheaper too!

A few more questions for you:

Is there any advantage in booking by phone over booking online?

Do you get the best offers from Disney, or is it worth trying any other travel companies?

How much deposit is required when booking direct with Disney?

If you book direct with Disney are you covered by ABTA or ATOL or any of those travel guarantee thingies? Just in case something goes wrong? I will be using my credit card to book, and we have annual travel insurance for the family.

Thanks

My vote is for SL! We stayed in both but we prefer SL (we'll be staying there for the 3rd time this Dec)

Re: booking. If you book over the phone you can pay the deposit of 10% now and the rest 60 days before you're due to arrive there. We've always booked directly with Disney, never used a travel agents and found Disney very very helpful.

Not sure about the insurance as we have annual one...

 

[scottish mum]

If you book online you need to pay the full holiday cost, not sure how much deposit is if you book over the phone.
When i was looking to book our january trip we found disney cheaper but i think its just a case of looking around for the best deal.

 

[cap'njack.]

Booking online requires a 10% deposit and then the balance paid 60 days before travel.

Online booking requires payment in full at the time of booking.

Best offers would be direct with Disney themselves and then booking your travel independently. Oh and I've found better offers actually calling them rather than quoting online.

I'm not sure about the ABTA thing to be honest but I would ASSUME that they are.

 

[gemmybear83]

Oh another point you may want to check (and you could do this when phoning up disney to book) is that the swimming pools arent shut for refurbishment.

The one at the SL is shut the 2nd half of my trip (in 2 weeks and 5 days in counting!) so I doubt it will be shut again when your planning on going, but if a pool is important to you (we won't have time to use it!) then I would double check with a cast member just to be on the safe side.

 

[beltane]

Hiya! I will let you know what I think of the Newport in comparison to the Sequoia when I get back on the 21st. We have stayed at the Sequoia twice before and this will be my first stay at at the Newport.

8 days to go, can't wait!!!!!!

 

[janjanmary]

Oh another point you may want to check (and you could do this when phoning up disney to book) is that the swimming pools arent shut for refurbishment.

The one at the SL is shut the 2nd half of my trip (in 2 weeks and 5 days in counting!) so I doubt it will be shut again when your planning on going, but if a pool is important to you (we won't have time to use it!) then I would double check with a cast member just to be on the safe side.

Good suggestion!

Our thinking is that the pool might be good for one adult and the older kids, while the 4 year old has a nap/quiet time! (we live in hope - he still naps at home if he is having a busy day)

What time do the parks normally open and close in February?

And what time are the fireworks likely to be at in February? (So we can decide if it is worth returning to the hotel mid afternoon, and going back to the park later.)

Thanks for all your answers - it takes me back to my WDW trip planning days- disney fans are the best at answering these important questions!

 

[gemmybear83]

No fireworks I'm afraid unless you go for the first of March and then there should be some to celebrate welsh day.

There is candlebration every evening though a little ceremony on infront of the castle.

Through the week the parks will shut at 7pm, and weekends a bit later (8 or 9pm). But it shoudl be quite quiet so you should be able to get everything done even with the shorter hours .

 

[janjanmary]

No fireworks I'm afraid .

Oh well, can't have everything!

Is there an evening parade (like the electric one at WDW with all the floats lit up)?

 

[gemmybear83]

No again sorry they only show this at the peak times of summer and xmas.

Sorry!

 

[janjanmary]

Well that means not trying to keep the kids up too late!

 

[DLPdaft]

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