Sequoia Lodge at Disneyland Paris

[Mazzy]

Has anyone stayed at this hotel?

We have stayed at the New York and loved it, but I don't think the budget will stretch to that for next May so I'm looking at the Sequoia Lodge instead as it is the cheapest hotel with air conditioning and pool from what I can make out. We can also get a Lake View there too.

We could actually see the Lodge from our room at New York so we are familiar with the location, but would be interested to know about the rooms and hotel facilities. Has anyone stayed at both hotels? Just wondering if the rooms in the Lodge are smaller? And how is the pool?

Thanks for any info!

 

[vernon]

I've stayed at both and found I prefered the ambiance at the Sequioa No real difference in the size of the rooms but I liked the decor of the Sequioa better, maybe it was just the one room but I thought the condition of the room was better as well.

 

[Scotfan]

Does it have air con? The only way we kept cool was by opening the window. The thermostat thingy didnt do anything!
Apart from that the hotel is fab - I would go back anytime.

 

[Wexford]

Hi Mazzy

I stayed at the Hotel New York 4 years when i last went to DLP.
Im going again next week staying at the Sequio Lodge so ill let you know my verdict.

I loved the Hotel New York but it was out of my price range this time as im taking my niece and sis in law ( who have never been to any disney parks before).

Just getting a little bit excited



Ive also booked a charachter breakfast at Walts for the first full day we are there (which the others dont know about yet).

 

[Sue F UK]

We have stayed at both. Seqoia Lodge 4 years ago and New York last week. I have to say that I wasn't overly impressed with the New York considering the price we paid. The first room we were given was like a broom cupboard and overlooked the car park and when we complained we were told that lake view rooms cost more and had to fork out £90 to upgrade. The room we were eventually given was larger although DD had to sleep on a sofa bed and the furnishings were a little on the shabby side.

Sequoia lodge bedrooms were nicely furnished and of a good size with two double beds and all the usual Disney touches. The restaurants were nothing to write home about the pool was nice with a slide for the kids and an indoor/outdoor pool the same as New York although not as large.

The main differences we found between the two were a) the walk from the parks is that little bit longer - believe me this matters when you have been tramping round the parks all day. b) There seemed to be more characters and things for kids at the New York - face painting etc. although this may have more to do with the time of year than the Hotel. (We went to the Seqoia in May and New York in August)

All in all, if I were to visit DLP again I would be quite happy to stay at the Sequoia lodge again. I would love to see a little bus to take you around the lake though - I know they run the yellow buses from the bus station at the parks but these take an age as they drop off everywhere first.

Sorry to waffle on a bit - but you did ask LOL!!

 

[Mazzy]

Vernon - nice to know the rooms are the same size as New York.

Scotfan - according to an old 'Bridge Travel' brochure I have from last year, it does state that the hotel has air conditioning.

Wexford - I hope you have a brilliant time next week, I will be very interested to know what you think of the hotel compared to the New York. We have been to DLP twice but never booked a character breakfast. As breakfast is included in the hotel rate, I always think about that and find it hard to pay for another breakfast when we could have one included in the price, even though I know it's not to the same standard!

Sue - isn't it strange how people's experiences in the same hotel differ? We absolutely loved the New York and I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again, it's just the price which is stopping me! In January we did pay in advance for a Lake View and at checkin we asked for a high floor and got a great room looking down on the skating rink. The room itself was spotless, absolutely no complaints there and we had 2 double beds - did yuo just have one bed in your room then? We didn't see any characters at all at the New York in January, but like you say, maybe as it was August they 'brought them out'! Yes the Lodge is a bit further to walk isn't it, that is another thing to keep in mind with my foot as it is!

Can anyone confirm that the Sequoia Lodge DOES have airconditioning?

Thanks

 

[BevS97]

HI Mazzy

if it makes you feel any better, the character breakfast price takes into account that you have already paid for breakfast.
At Walts they have 2 prices listed, one for hotel guests (who have paid for a basic breakfast) and one for non-hotel guests.

We found the 'free' breakfast to be very disappointing - basically just bread rolls and cereal, whereas the character meals where the full American buffet.

Bev

 

[richard3330]

Hi Mazzy,

We liked Sequioa Lodge, when we went at Xmas. The rooms are spacious but are a little dull and under-furnished compared to Newport Bay Club and NY (But they DO have air-con). The pool area is really nice and 'rustic' it is quite large and has a slide which the kids seemed to love. The Hunters Grill is a fantastic restaurant and we even visit here when staying at a different DLParis hotel, the food is delicious and carved straight on to your plate. Breakfast can be a bit hectic, the queues are usually pretty long, Plus it is just a continental thing with bread rolls and cereal plus cheese and ham (!). The reception area is nice and Seqioua Lodge has all the usual facilities like Games Room, Shop, etc. Although we were dissapointed with the small under-stocked shop. Have you thoguht about Newport Bay Club? For the little extra you could stay there and IMHO it is 100 times better than Sequioa Lodge - especially the rooms. The walk from Newport Bay is a tiny bit longer, but Newport Bay Club is one of my fave hotels of all time. It is really great - especially the wonderful decor of the hotel, plus the rooms are much grander and have room service (a great bonus)

Whatever you decide I hope you have a great time!

 

[Mazzy]

Thanks for the info Richard, it will all come down to how the budget stands after our trip to WDW, so I will keep your comments in mind and see if we can stretch to the Newport Bay Club.

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

Mazzy

Just to let you know that opening hours through until Autumn 2003 have been posted by the DLP Internet Guidebook at:

http://www.dlp-guidebook.de/HintsInfos/Opening.htm

There's not that much difference in price between the Sequoia Lodge and the Newport Bay Club. NBC is about £10 or £12 more expensive per night. Persoanally I prefer the Sequoia Lodge, but that's because I like the themeing better rather than any direct comparision of facilities. AS Richard said, the NBC has a little more to offer in terms of facilities, but the two hotels are pretty similar overall IMO.

Regards

Rob

 

[Mazzy]

Thanks for letting me know Rob, so it's 9-8 for both parks so that's not too bad I guess. Do you think there would be an evening parade with them closing at 8pm, especially as we would be staying midweek? I guess there won't be any fireworks as 8pm at the end of May it will still be light. I was quite surprised to see that this period is deemed 'mid season' even though there will be no fireworks and 8pm closing, I would have thought low season was more appropriate!

Thanks for your opinion on the Newport Bay, as it's not that much extra to stay there I will keep it in mind. BTW, Simon confirmed basically what you told me about the Studios, so it's not brilliant news, just a pre-show or two captioned, but better than nothing at all I guess but I'm sure a bit more effort could be made for their deaf customers!

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

My guess is that there won't be a nighttime parade if the park closes at 8pm, although this might change as DLP is getting a new parade next year. The current nighttime parade, the Main Street Electrical Parade, has its last show on 23rd March, and will be replaced by Fantillusion (the wondeful parade which premiered at Tokyo Disneyland). I've if this will be running next year outside of the main holiday seasons.

Sorry to hear about the absence of captioning facilities. Maybe European-wide legislation along the lines of the Americans with Disabilities Act would force organisations to do more for al their customers' needs. I'm sure it will improve at DLP, but I suspect it will need time. Maybe you could write to them...

Regards

Rob

 

[Mazzy]

Rob - if there is no nighttime parade it seems an awful lot of £££ to spend - the hotel and passes will be around £600 at least going from this years prices and adding 5% for yearly increase. Add to that the shuttle from the airport and airport tax (the flights are airmiles) and meals, it would be around £1000 for 3 nights!

Regarding the captions - I must admit that their lack of captioning for deaf visitors, particularly in the studios where you need to know what is going on ie the animation tour, is making me wonder whether I really want to visit the park, if I'm not going to be able to enjoy it fully.

I am on the brink now of considering cancelling the trip and saving a bit longer to visit WDW the following year, at least when I'm at WDW I can enjoy the attractions fully with my family as they have captions for most attractions, even a new hand held device for some rides. As the only deaf member of our family (thank God!) there's nothing worse than the rest of your family laughing and not knowing what they're laughing at believe me!

I think I need to go and live in the US, what do you think?!?

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

I understand what you're saying - there's a thread over ont he Community Board about the the value for money of short breaks v. long holidays. For me the parades are not an important part of Disney visits, in fact I rarely bother to watch them, so the possibility of no nighttime parade wouldn't bother me. DLP seems to follow the same policy as other Disneylands: nightime parades only when the park has extended opening hours, meaning holiday seasons and some weekends. Could you change dates to visit in July or August? This is my favourite time to go to DLP. Is that £1,000 each or for all of you?

As for whether you would be able to enjoy the WDS attractions, I hope this will help:

I think the only WDS attraction that you would really miss captioning would be Cinemagic. This is a film-based attraction, and relies almost entirely on the spoken word to convey the story. I'm surprised and disappointed that there are no captioning facilities of any kind for this - prhaps it's worth double checking with DLP just to make sure that this is the case?

The Art of Animation has headphone translations, so this might help you?

Armaggedon has a subtitled pre-show and doesn't really relie on words for the main show.

The RocknRoller Caoster is just, whoosh, words are unnecessary and often impossible!

The Stunt show has a live 'commentary' in English and French would you might miss, but the show itself is so spectacular (far better than Indy at Disney-MGM Studios) that you would enjoy it even if you missed the commentators babbling on in two languages.

The Tram Tour has a recorded commentary (by Jeremy Irons), but the main parts of this are the Catastrophe Canyon and Reign of Fire scenes, neither of which use spoken word too much.

The Aladdin attraction is just a 'Dumbo' type ride, so you wouldn't miss out on anything.

I've not yet seen either the TV Studios tour or Animagique as they were not open when I attended a park preview. My guess is that the TV Tour would be a aproblem for you, but not Animagique (it's a puppet show).

The main Disneyland Park at Paris is pribably more suitable for people with hearing difficulties because the park has to cater for more languages than is the case in WDW. Consequently the spoken word is used less often as an important part of the story-telling.

Regards

Rob

 

[Mazzy]

Rob - that price is £1000 for all 4 of us, if it was £1,000 each I wouldn't even consider it, I would be off to WDW instead!

The reason I booked for end of May was that AirMiles had a 'halfmiles' offer which made the trip more reasonable - going in July or August would make the trip even more expensive in both Air Miles and cash as the overall price in peak season goes up so that isn't an option.

I did check with Simon V re captions and he said they don't exist. From your list it really looks like I would miss out on an awful lot:

Art of Animation - headphones would not be an option as I struggle to use my amplified 'phone at home, I use my minicom most of the time so that's that attraction out.

Armageddon - so I will get pre-show info and MAY be able to follow the main show but no guarantee.

The Stunt show would be only visual - it may be spectacular but to my mind if the commentary wasn't necessary it wouldn't be there, hearing people often say to me, 'oh you're not missing anything' but it's not having the option to choose whether to follow the commentary that is frustrating. I will give you an example of this - the first time I saw Fantasmic there were no captions available and I enjoyed the show very much, but the second time we saw it captions had been brought in, and what a difference it made, I realised how much I was missing, an awful lot of information - I guess WDW has spoilt me in this respect!

The Tram Tour is another attraction I wouldn't be able to follow. And it sounds like the TV Tour will be a similar non-starter.

I wish I had looked into the Studios in more depth before I booked the flights! I really don't feel that the trip will be enjoyable enough for me to justify the cost, so I have decided I am going to cancel and just save up for WDW, hopefully in Spring 2004. I think I would rather wait longer and fully enjoy my trip with my family, than go in May to DLP and have a sort of OK trip but have than awful feeling of being on the outside looking in, if you know what I mean!

Thanks for all your help with this Rob, for providing the information and helping me with making a decision, it saved me the frustration of actually visiting the park and not enjoying it! Sorry if I've seemed a bit aggresive in part, but it is frustrating when you can't enjoy yourself with your family, especially when you know the technology exists, but isn't put into use.

I guess after experiencing WDW it is as near to a 'Perfect World' as a person with hearing problems is going to get regarding accessible entertainment and anything else just won't do!

Thanks again for all your help with this Rob, it's much appreciated!

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

You're welcome, and I fully understand the 'on the outside looking in' frustration that you must feel. It's disappointinmg that DLP hasn't done more. Out of interest, how does WDW manage with live shows like Indiana Jones at Disney MGM? I realise that the actors are following a script, but presumably there is still difficulty in providinga caoptioning service?

Regards

Rob

 

[richard3330]

Mazzy, I feel that you should definitely write to DLParis expressing your concerns. I think it is rediculous to not have captioning. Even if they made the effort to just have it on 1 show per day, at least it would be something.

Hope you have a great trip at Christmasd Time,

Richard.

 

[Mazzy]

Rob, Indiana Jones at MGM isn't captioned, but they provide assistive listening devices (to use with a hearing aid) and also a script so you can follow it quite well between the two. Shows such as Muppet Vision 3D, Little Mermaid, Magic of Disney Animation and One Man's Dream are ALL captioned, as is Fantasmic, so you can see the big difference in how much I can access at just MGM compared to very little at DLP Studios.

And now WDW have recently brought in a new hand-held system I will even get captions on 'moving' attractions such as:

Walt Disney World Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tiki Room, Hall of Presidents, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan's flight, Snow White, It's a Small World (don't you just love it!), Pooh ride, Alien Encounter, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, Buzz Lightyear, Carousel of Progress.

And that is just the Magic Kingdom!! I won't bore you with the list for EPCOT!! But as you can see, WDW has so much more to offer, it just makes me feel I don't want to pay a huge sum to go somewhere that doesn't offer any type of service for it's deaf visitors - I would rather wait longer and go to WDW and get the full experience.

So after some consideration and a chat with the rest of the family we have now re-booked the flights for a week in Jersey, our second favourite place after WDW!

Richard - I have written to many different companies over the years about their lack of facilities for the deaf, especially since I've had children and we have visited more family type attractions and it is usually replied with an apology but action is rarely taken. The only two places who have actually acted were Beaulieu in the New Forest who actually provided a script for their 'ride' after I requested, and Cadbury World, who have captioned some of their films. Apart from those two companies I am usually met with 'we can give you a discount' which is all very well but does nothing to increase your accessibility!

Most annoying of all, for example, is when we went to London and took a boat trip down the river. There are headphones for lots of different foreign languages, but they don't provide a script of the commentary for the deaf passengers, so DH wrote down what he could manage for me, but you still miss an awful lot as he can only write so fast! I have asked for scripts in the past on the 'bus tours' in Stratford but again, oh no, we don't have a script, but we can provide tapes for every language under the sun! Very annoying it is, when nothing is provided for the deaf who actually LIVE in the UK, but if you come from Timbucktoo you can follow the tour no problem!

I WILL NOW GET OFF MY SOAPBOX!!!

I will certainly write to DLP (does anyone know who an address or contact for that?) but I'm not getting my hopes up high.

And YES, I'm sure we will have a fabulous time in WDW at Christmas!

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

Thanks Mazzy, I'm impressed with what WDW offer. It's even more than I thought it would be. There's no excuse for DLP if WDW can manage it!

I'll try and dig out an address for you later this evening if others don't chip in before then.

Regards

Rob