Holiday Type:            Hotel in Euro Disney

Where: Paris, France

Tour Operator:           www.disneylandparis.co.uk

Travel:                        By Car

Party Size:                  8 (4 adults, 4 children)

Duration:                    4 days

Overall Rating:          The kids Love Disney, but its not cheap

Total Cost:                 £2500

We decided to take the family to Disney during February Half Term to celebrate the twins 7^th birthdays.  Not only was it a cheaper time to go but we knew we would have spent money on a party and entertainment during half term so it seemed a reasonable thing to do.  In truth, it was my third visit and the older twins had been when they were younger.  It was a first for the grandparents and the baby twins.

The first thing we discovered when trying to book was the lack of accommodation for families with 4 children.  The only Disney hotels which could accommodate us in one room were the Davy Crockett Ranch or the Thomson’s Explorers Hotel.  Fortunately, our options were more flexible due to the fact that we were bringing the grandparents with us which meant we could book two hotel rooms and divide the children between us.

We also decided that struggling with luggage to and from and on and off other means of transport was not for us so we opted for driving via the euro tunnel.  This also kept the cost down.  This turned out to be a good way to travel for us.  The outbound journey was really good, the children slept for most of the journey. It allowed us to pack food and drink for the journey and really take everything we needed for the trip.

We stayed at the Sequoia Lodge Hotel which is within walking distance of both Disney Parks and the Disney Village.  The hotel facilities and accommodation are good and I would be happy to stay there again.  Incidentally, I have also stayed at the Disney New York Hotel which is one of four key rated hotels and also the Cheyenne Hotel which is a two key rated hotel both of which were good hotels.

Not only is the location of the Sequoia Lodge ideal, its facilities are very good also.  It has two restaurants geared for family dining.  It is best to make a reservation as the restaurants do get busy.  They offer waiter service and buffet service and there was plenty of choice.  Apparently, these are reasonably priced restaurants but at £160 for a meal for 4 adults and 2 children (the little ones go free) I beg to differ! Breakfast time was busy with everyone eager to start their day and a queuing system is in place even with reservation times already booked.  Wee found that our party of 8 presented them with seating problems and on one occasion we were given two separate areas due to lack of space.

There is a shop, a games room, a lovely bar, a swimming pool and an area where the Disney Characters visit for photo opportunities.  We purchased one of the photos at £18!  Suffice to say, everything in Disney is expensive.

The Disney Park itself is large and divided into lands.  If you have small children you can’t expect to get anywhere quickly and you will probably find like us that you only achieve one land a day.  As you would expect from any theme park, there are queues for the attractions.  Some of the more popular attractions reach queuing times of 2 hours.  This is very frustrating especially for the younger children.  You do have the option to “Fast Pass” which means booking a time slot in advance and returning to that attraction at that time.  The Fast Pass queue is then only 15 minutes.  Unfortunately, you can only Fast Pass one ride at a time so you can’t book another ride until you have finished the first one.

There are plenty of food places within the Parks but they are very expensive and of a poor standard for the price.  We knew from experience to take our own food and drink into the park with us.  We purchased baguettes and sandwiches from the supermarkets outside of the Parks and carried our own water, juice and snacks in with us.  The alternative is to leave the Park and eat in the Disney Village but because of the walking involved with a trip to Disney you may feel that you don’t want to leave the Park in the middle of the day.

We had booked a birthday tea party with the characters as a special treat for the kids.  This was done at the time of booking the holiday.  It’s worth doing so the children can get close to the characters and collect autographs should they wish.  Plenty of cakes and buns and drinks are provided and a special birthday cake and gift is presented to the birthday child.

To our disappointment, we found the changing facilities within the toilets literally non-existent.  We expected there to be facilities in every toilet for mothers and babies but there weren’t and we often struggled on a ledge by the side of a sink.

The biggest let down from the adults perspective is the lack of “carnival” feel.  There weren’t enough characters parading the streets, not enough “magic” which you expect from Disney.  Whether or not it was due to the colder season but it seemed as if a half hearted effort was in place yet still the visitors were plenty.

All in all, Disney is a fun place and the children enjoy it.  Its hard work with little ones and personally I wouldn’t take anyone younger than 4 as I don’t believe they truly get anything out of it until then.