Our Disneyland Paris Honeymoon - Where We Stayed

This is the first post I've shared about our Honeymoon...We were married on the 31st of October 2019 and finally got to go on our belated Honeymoon on the 8th of October 2023, so it's coming up a year since we took our first-ever holiday abroad together. 
As you can tell, we went to Disneyland Paris and in this post, I'm sharing photos of where we stayed - Compass Club at Disney's Newport Bay Club. 

We had originally wanted to stay a couple nights at the Disneyland Hotel also, however, it was under construction so we spent 4 nights at the Newport Bay Club. This was the only Disney hotel I had never stayed at before* (though I had been in and seen a friend's room as well as eaten in the Cape Cod restaurant) so as Mr H had never been to Disneyland Paris before it was nice that it was new to both of us. We chose to stay at Club Level and it was the best decision! So much so that we have said we'll probably only ever stay at Club Level where it is an option in future. 

There has been a lot of money and work put into DLP in recent years including full hotel renovations with only two hotels yet to be renovated. Despite the Newport Bay Club being one of the two, the hotel was still of a high standard and very clean. I cannot say what the pool area, main reception or restaurants were like as we did not use these but our room, general common areas, Compass Club Lounge and Reception and the Captain's Quarters Bar were all very well kept and I personally enjoy the current decor. 

*(minus Davy Crockett Ranch which you preferably need a car to stay at)

While booking, we did specifically request a room with a view of Lake Disney. I'm not usually the type to ask and prefer to be the 'Shy Bairn' who gets 'Nowt', but as this was our Honeymoon/my Birthday trip and it is an option, the service rep who booked our holiday added it as a note on our account. You never know whether you'll get accommodated but after checking in and getting told where our room was, we had high hopes. Then upon opening our room door and seeing the view we felt very lucky indeed - we could even see Sleeping Beauty Castle! 
The room itself was a fantastic size which would end up being extra important after I ended up needing a wheelchair for the duration of our stay. Everything was clean, comfortable and just charming! 

I'm disappointed I didn't take more photos in the Compass Club Louge because it was such a joy to experience. It made such a huge difference to our trip, which we didn't expect, not to mention the Cast Members were the most wonderful people ever! I also regret not getting their photos as they made my day so many times, I'll never forget their hard work and attentiveness. 
From the moment we checked in the difference with Club Level was evident. There is a separate reception dedicated to just Compass Club and after checking in we were escorted through to the lounge to wait while the Cast Member produced my disability card. Another Cast Member came straight over to ask if we wanted any drinks or snacks and Mr H was brought a coffee in minutes. My disability badge was brought to me and then we headed off to the parks.
A few hours later we got a message saying that our room was ready so we headed back to check it out. Usually, club level also provides a luggage service, where you leave your bags with them at check-in and they bring them up to your room. As I was walking with a stick and couldn't help bring the bags into the hotel we'd decided to leave them in the car and Mr H brought them up himself once we'd got into the room. The same applies at check out - you leave your luggage in your room and they bring it down to the luggage room for you. We'd be leaving later in the evening and I'd been in a wheelchair, so to save time and stress Mr H took the cases out to the car himself in the morning. 
We may not have taken advantage of all of the benefits however those we did made the extra cost more than worth it for us. Having somewhere to escape to in the afternoon with drinks and snacks included was priceless to us due to my disabilities. 

As a quick round-up, Compass Club includes:
- Valet Parking 
- Private Reception 

- Beautiful Rooms on the Upper Floor
- Breakfast Included (no set dining times)
- Afternoon Tea 
- Personal Concierge Services
- Turndown Service

I'm always the hugest advocate for staying at the Disney Hotels when at Disneyland Paris! All, minus Davy Crockett Ranch, are within brilliant walkable distance from the park and help you keep the magic going throughout your stay. 

Our walk to and from the parks each day was lovely. Passing by Lac Buena Vista, under the trees, spotting wildlife and experiencing sunsets provided the relaxing moments that are much needed after days surrounded by people in the parks. 
We also made a point to visit each of the other hotels on an evening to have a drink in their bars and returning to our hotel, all lit up, reflecting across the lake was a beautiful sight. It may not be anymore, but once Newport Bay Club was second only to Disneyland Hotel and at times like those you can see why. 

I've rounded this post out with a couple of photos from Disney Illuminations as seen from our hotel room window. Of course, it goes without saying that I appreciate our time at DLP and know how lucky I am to have gotten to take this trip, but I struggled with my health and there were a few things that put a downer on it. Due to that, we missed out on a few things on our to-do list including seeing Disney Illuminations properly. Seeing it from our room was a great consolation! Thanks to that beautiful room with a view...

Our Mini Moon

 

[Just an FYI, I'm sharing this now, over a year later because a) I wasn't back in the blogosphere last November and b) I am not going anywhere taking new photos just now.]

Back on October 31ast 2019, we got married. At that time we didn't have the funds etc to even think of planning a honeymoon but as our 'wedding' did cost so little, we decided to go away that night to my favourite city (actually one of the only cities I don't mind - I'm a country girl).
Growing up in Berwick, in the middle of both Newcastle and Edinburgh, I spent many days out, cinema trips, shopping trips etc in both of those. Obviously we pretty much live in Newcastle and because Mr H hadn't really been to Edinburgh before that's where we headed. 

The night of the 31st we didn't actually do much. We drove up to Berwick to drop off my parents and Baker who was going to have a sleepover and then up on to Edinburgh. We stayed at The Antler Guest House, ran by two lovely ladies who popped us in the top floor room which benefitted from its own personal separate bathroom and even gave us a bottle of Prosseco! We had never had it before so only had a few sips but the gesture was super sweet.
After a quick freshen up we headed out into the rainy Halloween night with no clue where to eat. We ended up at Hard Rock Cafe, which is a cool place but as vegans not the best choice haha! Still, Mr H ended up with a nice veggie burger and I had fries...the typical go-to for me when eating out. After we bought a pin to commemorate our visit, we walked back along toward the hotel and stopped in at The Conan Doyle pub where the staff couldn't believe had gotten married earlier the day and decided to spend our time in there. I love Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and it was a quiet place on Halloween night, so why not! We had also planned to pop into CC Blooms for some drag fun but again, it was Halloween, meaning events were all different. We ended our time out there, walking back along to the hotel to our books and an early night ready for the next day.

Bright and early we were up, washed, dressed and checked out. The bags back in the car we walked toward Princes Street and stopped for a nice vegan breakfast at The Booking Office before continuing up Cockburn Street and up toward Greyfriars Kirkyard. This is somewhere I have been many times and love to stop by and visit Bobby. If you don't know the story of Greyfriars Bobby, give it some research! We also walked around to see all the other brilliant sites in the grounds, including Tom Riddles grave - the man who inspired Voldemorts name. 

From there we headed to Edinburgh Castle, the place we decided on touring properly as neither of us had actually been inside before. It was a very rainy day, the Castle was very busy, and in some places, photos weren't allowed so that all kept my over the top photo taking to a minimum for a change haha.

There are so many brilliant museums in Edinburgh, especially free ones so choosing where to go to after our time at the Castle was difficult. We ended up at The Writers Museum so that we could document it on our book blog at the time. You can see that post here - The Writers Museum - Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a stunning building, home to a large array of collections relating to famous Scottish writers such as Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott...a great stop for readers and literature fans. 
The day was ticking on at that point, so with wet clothes and tired feet we grabbed some food at Tony Macaroni in the Omni Centre, got back to the car and drove down to pick up our little guy before continuing down the road home. 

And that was our Mini-Moon, or I guess now it was also our actual Honeymoon. I wish I had documented it sooner so that it was fresh in my head but at least Mr was able to remember the details so we can look back at this post in years to come.

To read all about what should have been our honeymoon this October and the hows, whys and what's of it not happening check out the blog posts listed below!

Honeymoon Here We Come...?
Countdown to Disney 2020 // Honeymoon Cancellation Update
All 'Countdown to Disney 2020' Posts