Friday, 3 March 2017

Disneyland Paris 2016 // Sequoia Lodge Hotel Review


During our last trip to Disneyland Paris, we stayed at Sequoia Lodge Hotel. Sequoia Lodge is a '3 key' hotel situated on the shore of Lake Disney, between Hotel New York and Newport Bay Club with stunning views. The website states that it's a 15-minute walk from the park, which makes me question, 'How freakin' slow are people walking?!'. haha
Lake Disney is at the opposite end of the Disney Village, to the parks. If you walk at a normal pace and don't stop to ogle all the lush stuff in the stores, then I'm sure you'll reach the parks in 10minutes maximum! Not that it matters because I feel that all of the Disney hotels (minus Davy Crockett's Ranch) are within super easy walking distance and most people get to the parks quicker walking than waiting for, piling onto and getting the shuttle buses anyway.


The theming in all of the Disney hotels is of course spot on, but out of them all, I think Sequoia Lodge is my favourite, being inspired by American National Parks and beautiful Bambi decor to the rooms. You have the main building which houses the reception, the Golden Forest Club, the Montana Rooms and Suites, two restaurants, a boutique and the Bar and Lounge.
Our room was a 'standard room' situated outside the main building, in the Yosemite Lodge and was much more than satisfactory. Looking at photos of the Montana rooms and reading their facilities, I can't see much of a difference apart from views of the lake, which aren't even in all Montana rooms. We had two large double beds, a desk which was great for our little webcam chats back home in the evenings, a TV (though, who even has time to watch TV at Disneyland?!), wardrobe section, a lovely little bathroom with bath, shower and toilet and a separate sink/vanity area which was handy for getting ready while the other person was in the bathroom.
As you can see from the few photos that I got it was very clean, cosy and cute! We did have a fab huge window too that looked out onto trees, as well as being a very short walk to the main building and equally close to the swimming pool.  I personally much preferred being in a lodge as opposed to the main building for noise reasons - we were very lucky to have a pleasantly quiet stay!


We kind of got to try both restaurants, though Beaver Creek was our option for breakfast in the mornings and Hunters Grill we tried one night for dinner along with Kerri and Kris. Both had a great range of food on offer, so much so that vegetarians and vegans were able to eat a good fill!
As for other facilities, the bar was obviously never something we were gonna use but on passing it was always extremely loud, busy and I suppose for people who are into that kind of thing 'buzzing' haha.
If you saw my 'What's in My Luggage' post you will have seen I took a bather in the hopes of getting to try out the swimming pool, and we did! It was freezing water...but it was December, after all, haha. There was a considerable-sized jacuzzi that Mam made the most of while I did a few laps and had a handful of shots on the slide..which was probably a bit weird being 26 and the others on it like 10. And, something I always appreciate, was the sauna and steam rooms - which are a great benefit to my skin and my breathing. It was all quite clean, though you know what swimming pools with children around can get by the end of the day. The only real downside was the size of the changing and locker area which was extremely tiny with maybe 30 lockers max and only TWO cubicles to change in, resulting in everyone just changing out in the open. I'm not up for stuff like that and don't think it appropriate around strangers but each to their own.


The last mention goes to the boutique, which is probably my favourite (minus the one in the Disneyland Hotel) of all of the Disney hotels. I love the tree where the soft toys are displayed - it reminds me of the old school soft toy mountains I remember from our Disney Store in the 90s - and it has an overall great amount of merch without feeling overcrowded or hard to manoeuvre around like many of the other hotel Boutiques. That could just be my imagination though lol!

Out of the 4 Disney hotels I've stayed in, (5 if you count one I haven't stayed in but have eaten in and been in to check out a friends room) Sequoia Lodge Hotel is definitely my favourite!! It is just my style and has everything I could need...plus more really. I only have Hotel New York and Davy Crockett Ranch to check out now, however that could be many years away, especially seeing as you need a car to stay at the latter.

Anyway, I hope this was insightful for someone. I'd love to know what you thought of this hotel if you have stayed here or if you'd fancy it? If not which is your favourite of the Disney hotels? To me, they are a huge part of the whole Disney holiday and are a lot more reasonably priced than people make them out to be! As long as you know the who, what, when and hows ;)

See my review of Disney's Hotel Cheyenne here!!


8 comments:

  1. This place looks so awesome Danielle. I love Disney Hotels and feel that no matter which one you go to, it's Disney, so they always do something right! :) My husband and I stayed at Port Orleans, Riverside for our Honeymoon, which was beautiful and The Animal Kingdom Lodge for our one year anniversary which was just amazing. We woke up at 3 am to see Giraffes sat right outside our window. Disney is so awesome!! He got me Disney tickets for my birthday so we are trying to decide whether to stay a night in a hotel for our 4 year wedding anniversary, not sure which one yet though. Maybe Pop Century or the Movie one! :)

    Glad you had a great time! Love the photos!
    Kelly xx
    www.theblossomtwins.com

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    1. Doesn't it?! Exactly. I feel that if you're doing a Disney holiday you may as well stay onsite.
      Oh that's so cool! Nothing better than celebrating special occasions with a Disney trip :P I can't imagine how cool the AKL must be. Really magical.
      OOhhh yes! I can't wait to see where you choose!

      Thank you!

      xo

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  2. I've never stayed at the Sequoia Lodge, but it looks beautiful! Ive stayed at Newport Bay, Cheyenne and Santa Fe and to be fair I think they were all great (though have a particualr soft sot for Cheyenne!)
    Wherever we've stayed we've always walked between park and hotel too, a lotless stressy than piling on the busy buses!

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    1. It is! Yeah I'm the same with Cheyenne!! I dunno why.
      We ate at Newport and was hoping to stay there next time but after going to our friends room I dunno if we will. The rooms were georgous but the rest of it felt too much like a ship with the claustrophobic corridors lol.
      Exactly! It's such a gorgeous walk too!

      xo

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  3. This is definitely the place I would choose if we were to stay at Disneyland Paris! When we went to Disney World we stayed at Fort Wilderness (the campground) and had a blast! Boutiques/gift shops are my favourite!! I could browse in one for hours haha

    Renee | Life After Lux

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    1. Oooh Fort Wilderness?! That sounds my cup of tea too! I know right? haha I wish I had a money tree for those ;)

      xo

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  4. Oh I love these photos Danielle, the decor looks lovely and I really love that Bambi piece on the wall there. I love it when places like these have themed hotels and lodges to stay in, it makes the experience so much more enjoyable and keeps the magic alive! Loved the sneak peek of the boutiques too, I think I'd have a hard time buying just one thing to be honest, haha! Glad you got to try out the pool too, I love it when you can get up on holiday for a morning swim. - Tasha

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    1. Thank you!
      I wanted to take more photos but I just didn't manage it. Wish I'd been able to get some of the reception etc, it's all lovely!

      xo

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