Laura's Miscellaneous Musings: Disneyland Paris: The Resorts

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Disneyland Paris: The Resorts

Having wrapped up the London portion of my travelogue, we now return to Disneyland Paris!

We left off with a photo essay on Disneyland Park's amazing castle. Before returning to the park itself, we'll take a time-out to look at the Disneyland Paris resort hotels other than Sequoia Lodge, which was described in detail here.

When going to Disneyland Park, one enters under the sign announcing Parc Disneyland...

...and immediately discovers not the park itself, but the magnificent Disneyland Hotel:

Click any photo to enlarge; I love the Mickey Mouse clock adding a splash of color to the pastel hotel.

The Disneyland Hotel is at the very entrance to Disneyland Park; visitors pass under or around to the side of the hotel to enter the park. I said to my husband "Wow, maybe we should have stayed here!" (I'd ruled it out due to the expense.) He said "Next time." "Next time"?! I like the way he thinks!

A view of part of the hotel from inside the park:

After the Disneyland Hotel, the resort closest to the parks is Hotel New York, which is the first hotel you reach after crossing through Disney Village:

They were in the process of taking down the outdoor ice skating rink which sits in front of Hotel New York in the winter -- a very nice touch!

Hotel New York viewed from the Newport Bay Club:

The Newport Bay Club sits at the opposite end of Lake Disney from Hotel New York:

Sequoia Lodge sits along one side of the lake between Hotel New York and the Newport Bay Club, with Disney Village opposite, on the side of the lake closest to the parks.

The Newport Bay Club has the feel of Disney World's Beach Club or Yacht Club resorts. It is very large, and we heard it can be noisy as it's a favorite for conventioneers.

Decorating details next to a Newport Bay staircase:

We only caught a brief glimpse of Hotel Santa Fe, as we walked to Hotel Cheyenne from Sequoia Lodge. I wish we'd had time to see it up close, as it looks from the website as though the entrance has some interesting Route 66 and neon theming going on.

Hotel Santa Fe and Hotel Cheyenne are both tucked away behind Hotel New York and Sequoia Lodge; they're a longer walk from the parks and are the least expensive of the six hotels. Disneyland Hotel is the most expensive, followed in descending order by Hotel New York, Newport Bay Club, Sequoia Lodge, Hotel Cheyenne, and Hotel Santa Fe.

Hotel Cheyenne's theming is really fun; it has the look of a Western set on a movie backlot.

Hotel Cheyenne's Chuck Wagon Cafe is so popular that you can't eat dinner there without an advance reservation. We asked the concierge at our hotel to make the reservation and received a seating time about a half hour later.

If you eat relatively early (6:00 p.m.) you may find it quite uncrowded, as we did; the parks close at 7:00 in the off season and many Europeans prefer to eat dinner later anyway. When we stopped by to look around the previous night about 8:00 p.m., it was packed.