What would you do ??

[princessjodiebo]

So i have been getting more and more excited about winter going on sale in 2 sleeps when we decided to have a chat about our holiday and it got us thinking ...........

If you had to choose would you go for a cheap hotel and maybe crazy breakfast /shuttles and then character meals and more sit downs and souveniers or a better hotel and more counter service options ???

It is split down the middle in our house but just wondered what you guys would do

 

[aliscrapper]

I've never stayed off site before; but plan on doing so next year and buying Annual Passes with the discount I get thru being a shareholder.

We stayed at the Sequoia Lodge in 2010 for our honeymoon; which was amazing as it was a special holiday. Since then we've always gone for the cheapest hotel we could get and used the money saved to pay for things like the character breakfast, character tea party and more expensive meals and souveneirs. You spend so little time in your room as long as it has a good bed to lay our heavy head and is clean; that is great for us!

 

[inelegancex]

I think I would rather choose the cheaper hotel, because although you sleep there and have breakfast there isn't really a huge difference between them and you're barely there really compared to the parks! So I would choose the nicer restaurants etc

 

[torsie24]

I'm the odd one out I think.

We'd much rather spend money on a hotel and enjoy that part of our stay than have lots of nice meals but not be impressed with where we're staying.

It's half of the trip to us to stay somewhere with a bit of luxury and enjoy a nice atmosphere and breakfast and not have the hassle of transport etc.

We are the opposite to most people though as neither of us have ever said "it's only a place to sleep".

 

[Carrie_Cat]

For a DLP holiday I'd be staying off site and getting a nicer room than the lowest price on site looking at the cost of the DLP hotels.

Like that I could do nicer restaurants in the parks and I don't mind taking the RER 1 stop as it's quicker than waiting on a shuttle or even walking back to the far flung ones like the Santa Fe/Cheyenne

 

[princessjodiebo]

either way we will be staying on site but all that concerns me is that we are thinking of going feb march time and the last time we went 2 years ago a lot of restaurants were shut and the parks shut fairly early

DS and DD are 11 and 14 so I was thinking it might be nicer to have a nicer hotel to sit in in the evenings or go swimming etc however with dreams hopefully still on the parks may stay open later so we may not spend that much time in the hotel ??

desicions desicions

either way im going !!!

 

[Ms Poppins]

I'm with Torsie

I don't think of it as 'somewhere just to sleep' either.

I like a nice hotel/surrounding and it's part of the holiday for us. I also like that we don't have any hassle getting to and from the parks. I enjoy walking and not being dependant on transport. I like being able to pop back during the day if we feel like it, and being close enough to do EMH and then head back to to the hotel for a later breakfast. I think this all stemmed from us having young children on our first trip, and wanting to be somewhere nice in the evening once they were in bed.

Being used to staying on site, we had 1 night offsite at the end of our last trip, and it re-confirmed that on-site, in a nice hotel is our preferred option

 

[Carrie_Cat]

Onsite Feb/March if the weather is like this year I'd be going to the SL with their lovely fireplace and they have a pool.

Though French pools are colder than UK pools so lots of people find them chilly

The parks won't have to be open really late(r) then as it will be dark early on so they can show Dreams not long after the usual closing

 

[aliscrapper]

For a DLP holiday I'd be staying off site and getting a nicer room than the lowest price on site looking at the cost of the DLP hotels.

We noticed a steep increase in the price of DLP hotels this year!

Like that I could do nicer restaurants in the parks and I don't mind taking the RER 1 stop as it's quicker than waiting on a shuttle or even walking back to the far flung ones like the Santa Fe/Cheyenne

We plan on staying off site for the first time next year and like the idea of staying at Val D'Europe and using the RER. Not a clue which of the hotels to try - which ones would you recommend?? Thanks

 

[sammie1884]

Personally I would prefer to get a cheaper hotel and spend more of my money and time in the Disney Magic! We are staying near Val de Europe this time (first time) because it was cheaper and we could never of afforded to go otherwise.

However I am planning to go to dlp in January like we did last year and I would then probably stay in a Disney Hotel because the parks are not open so late so we would be spending more time there.

 

[dlpSteve]

Always the Cheyenne or Santa Fe for us. We sleep and shower in our hotel room, nothing else. The breakfast is fine and the walk to the park is only about 15 minutes so not exactly a long way - we never take the bus, even with a 4 year old with us. We're in the parks from open to close, and by the time we get back to the hotel we could be on a bed of nails, next we know it's morning and time to shower, grab some breakfast and off to the park again Besides, Santa Fe has just been refurbed inside and the rooms are like new.

 

[aliscrapper]

Always the Cheyenne or Santa Fe for us. We sleep and shower in our hotel room, nothing else. The breakfast is fine and the walk to the park is only about 15 minutes so not exactly a long way - we never take the bus, even with a 4 year old with us. We're in the parks from open to close, and by the time we get back to the hotel we could be on a bed of nails, next we know it's morning and time to shower, grab some breakfast and off to the park again Besides, Santa Fe has just been refurbed inside and the rooms are like new.

We're staying in the Santa Fe a fortnight tomorrow! What is the breakfast like and is it a mad scrum?? thanks

 

[aliscrapper]

Personally I would prefer to get a cheaper hotel and spend more of my money and time in the Disney Magic! We are staying near Val de Europe this time (first time) because it was cheaper and we could never of afforded to go otherwise.

Which of the Val De Europe hotels are you staying at?? Would love to hear what you think of it; as we will probably be staying at one of the local hotels there next year to try and save a few pennies! Thanks

 

[dlpSteve]

We're staying in the Santa Fe a fortnight tomorrow! What is the breakfast like and is it a mad scrum?? thanks

They've changed things a bit so you queue longer getting to breakfast but then they monitor the amount of people going through. This means you can easily get to all the food without having to wade through 5 rows of people. It also means less people are going to sit down at the same time, so even though it was busy we always got a seat straight away and never had more than 1 or 2 people in front of us for juice, coffee and milk. All seemed so much more civilised than previous visits.

 

[thephoo]

I don't see the hotel as just somewhere to sleep either and it always surprises me that people with young children say that. I have to go back to my room far earlier as I have my DD with me than if I were on my own so really, we do need to be comfortable and have adequate facilities.

Having said that I absolutely adore Cheyenne. The theming is stunning and is my little girl's favourite hotel hands down. The last time I went to DLRP, in March this year, I stayed at Santa Fe and although it's looking lots better since it's been "refreshed" we had endless problems with our room key which was so frustrating (think having to queue atleast once a day in the check in queue...) and the telephone in our room didn't work. Which incidentally I wanted to use to complain about an extremely rowdy bunch of Spaniards who had decided they would spend all night sitting in the corridors playing music and "socialising". To be honest it kind of putting me off Santa Fe, although I've never been a big fan of it anyway to be honest.

 

[thephoo]

We're staying in the Santa Fe a fortnight tomorrow! What is the breakfast like and is it a mad scrum?? thanks

From 8am onwards the queue will be beyond the gift shop so get their early. But if you are a bit late all is not lost because the queue does move quite quickly, it's just a bit disheartening when you get all dressed and ready to go and you start the day with a massive queue!

 

[Strawberryblush]

Always the Cheyenne or Santa Fe for us. We sleep and shower in our hotel room, nothing else. The breakfast is fine and the walk to the park is only about 15 minutes so not exactly a long way - we never take the bus, even with a 4 year old with us. We're in the parks from open to close, and by the time we get back to the hotel we could be on a bed of nails, next we know it's morning and time to shower, grab some breakfast and off to the park again Besides, Santa Fe has just been refurbed inside and the rooms are like new.

Same here - We leave the hotel first thing in the morning and spend all day in the parks. If we need to come back to get changed etc...the Cheyenne is only a small walk - it's not miles away. It's that short a walk we don't even use the free shuttle.

Every other holiday I book where we sleep/stay is a very high priority...but it's not in disney because of the time we actually spend in the room. As long as it's clean then that's all that matters.

When we first went to disney we booked the DLH because like any other holiday I wanted the hotel to be nice....after realising that we didn't spend anytime in our room while here and how much we paid we said we'd never waste our money staying at a more expensive hotel when we come back again.... and we haven't. Next year we are even planning on staying off-site because the prices have just gone crazy for what you get.

Also when you think you can use all the other hotels facilities (well apart from swimming pool and bedrooms) i really don't see the point in paying all that extra money for the higher priced hotels on-site. The only plus point I can now see to staying at the DLH is it's right on the parks doorstep - that's it.

I definitely prefer to spend my money on nice table service restaurants and souvenirs than on disneys higher priced hotels. IMO the ratings on the on-site hotels also are way out. 5* for DLH? The condition of their rooms... They're having a laugh!

 

[aliscrapper]

They've changed things a bit so you queue longer getting to breakfast but then they monitor the amount of people going through. This means you can easily get to all the food without having to wade through 5 rows of people. It also means less people are going to sit down at the same time, so even though it was busy we always got a seat straight away and never had more than 1 or 2 people in front of us for juice, coffee and milk. All seemed so much more civilised than previous visits.

Thanks Steve! Sounds like it is a lot more civilised than when we stayed at the Cheyenne last year when breakfast was such a nightmare we gave up on it after the first morning. Sounds like DLP have got a much better system in place.

 

[Jonjo]

For our long breaks (5 days or more) we stay at the Cheyenne or Santa Fe, as Steve says you only sleep in your rooms. But we always book the Plus meal vouchers so we can eat in all the nice resturants around the resort.

These two hotels are only a 10 mins walk from the parks so there is no need to use the buses at all.

We normaly have an early breakfast too 7.30-7.45 to avoid the crowds at breakfast and then head to the parks for EMH. It's also nice to book a Fantasyland Breakfast too when staying in the Cheyenne or Santa Fe.

For shorter stays (3-4 days) normaly in winter it's the Sequoia Lodge for us.

We are going to go again in March for about 7 days and it will be either be the Cheyenne or Santa Fe. Most probably the Santa Fe as I would like to say in one of the new Car's themed rooms.

 

[wideeyes]

I am planning on going next year and would like to stay at a better hotel. I have no problems with Cheyenne and enjoyed our stay there but don't feel like it is the right choice for us with a young baby due to the breakfast, separate buildings etc. My 1st choice would be HNY for our requirements.