some useful info for others hopefully

[grant1wish]

Hi,

Firstly thanks to everyone who posts on here. We went 6th-10th March and had a really fantastic time. We are already looking to go again next year, or possibly in November.

I had quite a few concerns before we went, but the holiday went so smoothly. This may be of no interest to anyone, but I thought I would just put a few of my findings down. I just feel I owe it to this site for all the help I got.

Eurostar from Ashford - Seamless! Will definately use next time.

Santa fe Hotel - This was absolutely fine for our stay. 3 Adults, 1 child and an infant in a cot fitted in OK. The room/hotel was very clean and breakfast was not a free for all as I had expected. The other guests were actually quite civilised. I would aim for breakfast before 9.00 though, just to avoid a long queue to get into the breakfast buffet. Food was plentiful at all times we were there.

Fantasyland breakfast - This is a must, especially in the busier summer months. This enabled us to get on all the 'busy' rides early on and then use Fast pass for later in the day. Breakfast was the same as in the hotel other than we could get apple Juice

Buses to the Park - The yellow buses were frequent, and always full, but we always got on the first one that arrived. It was all about positioning and timing!! Although the bus was not a problem we are looking to book a hotel nearer to the magic next time! (can anyone let me know if the hotel you see when you walk around the front of Cafe Mickey is HNY, that looks like a nice gentle walk, or are other hotels better positioned?)

Eating Out - We booked a character dinner at Cafe mickey. This was my highlight, despite the food being cold. I really enjoyed seeing my two daughters (3 and 1 1/2) loving all the different characters. We booked at 6.45 so were seated and ordered by the time Mickey entered.

Two other nights we ate at the Rainforest Cafe. This was the nicest food we had, and also a beautifully themed restaurant, I would recommend this to anyone going.

character Tea Party - This too was enjoyable, but I don't think we would do it again unless we could not do a character dinner. It was very busy, and we found the kids were not interested in the cakes!! However we have some fantastic pics with some of the less popular characters.

Wild West Show - This was fantastic. I was concerned about the kids sitting on our laps for the duration but this was not a problem at all. The youngest especially really enjoyed the music and all the noise.

The rides - Fantasyland is an absolute godsend. The kids loved everything in it and everything about it. The youngest loved the Carousel whilst the eldest was a fan of Its a small world. Queueing wa sonly an issue on Friday and Saturday was a no no. Although that may be partly due to the saturday being a gorgeous day. We will only go midweek in future, although fast passes worked well. It was perfectly fine to take andleave our own pushchair at the sides of the rides. In fact I felt very safe in the park, much safer than walking round my own town!

I hope this info helps someone. If anyone has any questions at all about the Santa Fe in particular or anything else mentioned feel free to ask.

Regards

G1W.

(I can't wait to book for next year, is this possible yet? Does anyone have a very rough comparison between the costs of the different disney hotels)

 

[eliza]

We are booked for the character tea party. I would be interested in what food was available -is it just cakes?

 

[Cyrano]

Glad you have a lovely time.
Thanks for sharing your highlights

 

[mickey4kids]

Eliza

We had a character tea at Plaza Gardens the majority is all cakes and sweet things but we did have sausages and pieces of pizza too!!!

 

[SandraVB79]

The hotel you see from Cafe Mickey is indeed HNY, which is indeed just a nice wak away from the parks. However, it's also way more expensive...

I liked staying at HNY a lot, really, but I don't think I'll stay there soon again, because of the price (unless I get a magical huge raise )

 

[tttessa]

Sounds like a great trip! I love reading about other's stays - helps to build the magic for those of us waiting (very impatiently!!!) for ours!

We have also booked Cafe Mickey for our trip - can you remember which characters were there?

I did a rough ( well not rough, I'm just a bit obsessive really... ) costing for April this year across all the disney 7 for a 4 night stay for a family of 4 if it helps - it shows the relative pricing anyhow...: (I hope this is allowed??)
Disneyland hotel £1806
Hotel New York £1112
Newport Bay £988
Sequoia Lodge £886
Cheyenne £784
Santa Fe £688
Davy Crockett 1bed £862, 2 bed £916

Stayed at Disneyland hotel last time - but this time doing DCR (2 bed cabin) for about half the price....

Cheers,
Tessa

 

[Dianetigger]

Some great info there for all folks planning (and those waiting to go).

We stayed in Sequoia Lodge last year, found it reasonable (price wise) and very convenient for the parks, a lovely walk round the lake and through Disney Village.

Eating at Cafe Mickey was a highlight for my family and I as we celebrated Rebecca's 21st there and the food and atmosphere were wonderful. Characters included Tigger (my favourite!), Mickey, Goofy (who pulled Rebecca up to dance), Captain Hook, Friar Tuck and Gepetto.

Would highly recommend the Fantasyland Breakfast, it was late July when we were there and meant we got alot of rides done very early, we also love the Character Breakfast. Not many people seemed to have booked this and we had Mickey, Minnie, Tigger, Donald, Baloo and Goofy for ages at our table even though my 'kids' are in their late teens/early twenties.

 

[grant1wish]

Hi,

At 7.00 Mickey, Pluto, Goofy, Tigger, Gepetto and an ugly looking bear came out (does anyone know who I mean?). They stayed in the restaurant for about 30 mins before disappearing to cook our food!!

At about 8.00 they came out again minus tigger and gepetto, but this time we also saw minnie, Friar Tuck and the Lion from Robin Hood (is he King richard?). It was fantastic, and I will remember my daughters smile for ever.

from a planning point of view, we did the dinner our first proper day there. I think this was perfect as my daughter was a little apprehensive of a few characters the first morning. But the next day following the meal she was on a hugging mission, with Pluto and Goofty favourites for life.

I hope you enjoy your trip as mush as we did. Any more questions don't hesitate to ask. I'm glad I can help others. This site is wonderful.

G1W

 

[grant1wish]

Forgot to say thanks for the price guideline, exactly what I was after.

 

[tttessa]

You're welcome (was worried I might be breaking a rule as I haven't been on the board for long)

Thanks for the character list - I'm glad there's quite a few that come out - the kids are really looking forward to it!!

Cheers,
Tessa

 

[princess_tigerlily86]

thankyou for the round up of ur trip!
I have stayed in both New York and Sequoia and I would say that if you need to save a bit more money, sequoia is still a brilliant hotel and pretty much the same distance to walk to the park. This would be the one I would choose if the reason was mainly to be nearer the park
hope this helps
emily x

 

[grant1wish]

Thanks,

after reading various posts I think Sequoi Lodge will be the 1st choice for our next trip. I can't wait to start organising and booking again, it was a magical holiday.

 

[kchad]

Thanks for all the info. My boys are going to be about the same age as your two, except my eldest is four out there and my youngest will be about 14 months. Any tips on the Santa Fe baby wise? Did you take your own kettle? How about the milk - was it horrible as other people have mentioned - did your little one like it?
Any tips on babies really?
Ta Kath x

 

[MandyMoo]

Thanks for all the info. My boys are going to be about the same age as your two, except my eldest is four out there and my youngest will be about 14 months. Any tips on the Santa Fe baby wise? Did you take your own kettle? How about the milk - was it horrible as other people have mentioned - did your little one like it?
Any tips on babies really?
Ta Kath x

My children (now 9 and 5 but visitors since being v v young) have both always hated the milk. I usually take my own large bottle in a cool bag which lasts for the first day or so at least. There is a really really nice Baby Care Centre in the Disneyland Park which has a very private feeding area with comfy chairs, warming facilities for baby food and nappy changing. It is the same place that Lost Children are taken to, and the staff there are very very helpful and friendly.

 

[Bexx]

Did you take your own kettle? How about the milk - was it horrible as other people have mentioned - did your little one like it?

MY DD didn't mind the milk when she was two, but wasn't keen when she was five!! The hotels can usually provide you with a kettle (you may have to pay a 30 euro refundable deposit) But if you have room in your case and want to be certain then you can always take your own.

I did a rough ( well not rough, I'm just a bit obsessive really... ) costing for April this year across all the disney 7 for a 4 night stay for a family of 4 if it helps - it shows the relative pricing anyhow...: (I hope this is allowed??)

Certainly is Tessa Very interesting to see how the prices compare for all the Disney hotels

And thank you grant1wish for starting this useful thread.

 

[jillrobinson]

Glad you had a good time.
Agree with the other posters the walk through village and around the lake is far preferable to the jostle on the shuttle buses.

 

[grant1wish]

My eldest was not keen on the breaksfast in general, and to make sure she had milk we always bought a milkshake from Annette Diner in the evening. For breakfast she usually had a Cheese sandwich followed by a yoghurt, using the strawberry jam to add a nice flavour.

The youngest was fine with the milk. She has Weetabix in the mornings, so we took some with us, and then used the microwave in the Santa Fe restaurant to warm it up.

As already mentioned, the park has an excellent Baby Care centre, good for changing those bottoms etc... Just to the right at the end of main street I think.

The Santa Fe is a fairly basic hotel, but it had everything we needed for the 5 days. We didn't bother with a kettle, but they are available to hire on a first come first served basis. If you have one I would take it to guarantee you have one.

any other questions let me know

G1W

 

[NIK]

I liked Sequoia Lodge myself. You can walk out the back of the hotel and you are directly opposite the back way into the village and it's a very pleasant walk from there to the parks.

Having said that, I had no complaints with Santa Fe myself either.

 

[Soozeej]

Great tips thanks guys! We are going to Santa Fe in July for 4 nights, I am quite apprehensive about the hotel to be honest after reading some of the posts so i am glad to hear that the breakfast was not the scrum I was starting to imagine, although we are going probably at a busier time. Can you go for breakfast anytime? As I read somewhere about time slots? Also we are driving over, is there plenty parking and does anyone know if that is extra as I didn't even give it a thought when i booked. Thanks

 

[Cyrano]

Also we are driving over, is there plenty parking and does anyone know if that is extra as I didn't even give it a thought when i booked. Thanks

There is plenty of parking which is free for hotel guests