I am back from Europe, my first big trip using points. I will share some insights for anyone planning.
2 nights/3 days at
Disneyland Paris Sequoia Lodge
3 nights at Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome
4. nights at Margutta 19 in Rome (Hyatt Small Luxury Hotels)
3 nights near Barcelona with friends
DLP Sequoia Lodge was pretty much exactly what I thought it would be: decent but nothing fancy. We didn't purchase the package with breakfast because I didn't want to be tied to a buffet before the parks. I was happy with that choice. I stopped at Starbucks on the way to rope drop and it worked out perfectly. It was HOT on our arrival day. I literally almost passed out in the SW Hyper Space Mtn line. The parks are not set up to deal with the extreme heat like WDW. Many lines not shaded and not as much shade in general (or at least it seemed that way). Hotel a/c was exactly what I read, which is that it helps but does not get cold like U.S. a/c. If you keep your thermostat set at 70 or below, you will be barely comfortable. None of the indoor spaces are cold/refreshing like at WDW or DL. I really enjoyed the parks. I know many people do it as a day trip, but 1 day would not be enough if you are a true Dis fan who wants to soak it all in.
The Park Hyatt was as wonderful as you guys said it would be. We got an upgrade to a Deluxe Twin room, which was a nice surprise. The extra space wasn't necessary for the two of us but very nice to have. I LOVE their bathroom set up with separate double sinks and places for both people's luggage with drawers underneath. I hate having everyone's stuff spread all around the hotel room, so keeping it all in the bathroom kept our room super clean. The rain head shower was fabulous. The location is great, about 3 mins away from the Opera Metro stop and easy walking distance to Louvre. We went to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and I highly recommend it. This was the one thing I had not purchased in advance. There was a long line for tix (under the arc) and another line for security at the base. I purchased our tix online while we were standing there and we were allowed to skip to the front of the security line (we never figured out exactly why they let us skip but no one else because it appeared others had online tix as well). There is elevator access all the way to the top if needed (my nephew is recovering from hip surgery so we used it). Our Eiffel Tower tickets were at 9:30 for sunset. I highly recommend that time; It was amazing! We got up there as the sun was setting and the sunset colors in the background of the photos was so beautiful. Then you also get the fun of seeing it "sparkle."
We flew Vueling to Rome. I checked in online, but the line to check our bags was very long. I booked the Optima level fare which allowed us to check one bag and carry on 1 bag and 1 personal item. They did not question the size of either of our U.S. sized carry ons but one of them definitely didn't fit in the test bin when we tried it. However, I saw a guy arguing with them over his bag's size and it was literally in the test bin, so maybe they are sometimes strict. The entire boarding process was a chaotic mess. They had 3 boarding groups. We were in group 2 because I paid for exit row seats. The people were already lining up when we got there about an hour before departure (long before they started the actual boarding process). We should've just sat down and waited, but I was worried that all those people knew something we didn't (they did not). They started scanning our boarding passes and sending us down the "jetway" which was one of the outdoor/stairs gates (which I haven't seen in years). It was backed up so that took another 30 minutes after we were scanned. Then, they would not let us store any of our bags (even a fanny pack) under the seat in front of us because it was an exit row. That was an unexpected inconvenience when we had the middle and window seats. We also flew Vueling from FCO to BCN. I would use them again for sure.
