Nice location but less than average room
by A TripAdvisor Member
We stayed at the Newport Bay Club for four days. The hotel is huge in right inside the park. The location is great - we walked to the park everyday and we were only about 5 mins from Cafe Mickey. The construction of the hotel is cheap - it is very obvious that the hotel was built very quickly and not with the best materials. The maintenance and repair of the hotel rooms is poor. Some of the wallpaper was peeling off the wall, electrical sockets were loose, panels in the bathroom was falling off. The included breakfast is also pretty poor - we had to eat in a conference room most mornings.
Overall - the location is great but the room is poor and not worth the money you have to pay for it.
Go with no expectations and have fun!
by A TripAdvisor Member
We were at Disneyland Paris, at the Newport Bay Hotel from February 20th to the 23rd. I am a veteran of Disneyland-Anaheim (as I grew up in S. Calif.) so my review will be from this perspective.
We (4 yr. old daughter, hub. and I) had a great time. Much of the fun was discovering the differences and similarities of the two parks, and just being somewhere so different from everyday Europe.
There weren’t a lot of characters walking around and I would strongly encourage those with small children to book a breakfast or tea with the characters, or else you will spend literally *half the day* waiting for an autograph and a picture for your child.
First off, I didn’t have high expectations. I fully read the reviews online to get an idea of the pitfalls and of the highlights. I expected the park to be small--- it was small. I expected the food to be redundant and amusement park-like --- it was. I expected the weather to be bad--- it was. I expected there to be less charm in the atmosphere and from the workers than at the Anaheim D-Land--- and there was less. So I wasn’t really disappointed.
We arrived at a time when the park was busy (I am assuming it was French school vacation (?))—there were many, many French families who were polite, well behaved and said “Pardon!” when the bumped into us. Anyway, the park was *full*. (Especially odd rides like “Peter Pan” --- don’t get that).
Mainstreet leading up to the castle (although a smaller scale with mostly different shops and a different -- but absolutely beautiful castle at dusk) was so similar to Anaheim, I got homesick. The rest of the park was very different. There are less rides (especially in Discovery land (Tomorrow land)). There are many small walkways and paths and play-type areas for kids. The landscape was pretty and enjoyable.
The bathrooms were not the sweetest smelling, and oddly enough—several times there were dads and teenage boys in the sink area of the woman’s bathroom waiting for the rest of their parties (French custom?).
The workers we met were less than Disney-nice, but I seriously don’t think they *get* the whole idea behind Disney in the first place. Perhaps they need a pre-employment course in *why* Disneyland exists--- a place where both the old and young can step out of daily reality and have fun, be treated well, forget about the meanness of life. But, many of them tried to be cheery and I appreciated their efforts.
The lion king show was nice. But my daughter didn’t appreciate actors with make-up portraying the roles of the animals. She would have rather seen it done with plush characters. It plays in English. Woooo hoooo. But, we loved Mickey’s Winter Wonderland. All the characters were in it. It was lively and fun and paper snow falls on your head at the end. Sit in the front.
We were only at Disney Studios for a morning. (I grew up with Universal Studios and have been spoiled). We went to the animation show there and a kind of crabby employee (Monet’s daughter possibly? LOL) helped us draw a picture of Mickey Mouse in the end, which was a thrill for my daughter.
We ate two meals in Disney Village--- one at Annette’s Diner and one at the Deli. Annette’s had good food (the chinese chicken salad had a weird dressing though) compared to the park food, similar to what you would expect from a mid-priced American restaurant chain like “Chili’s” “TGF-Fridays” “Olive Garden” – these types. It was all really expensive, though and it seemed llike all meals were lacking in vegetables---I don't think my kid saw one vegetable the whole time she was there :-(!!
We stayed at the NewPort Hotel. It was not crowded with D-Land people, but rather by business people who were there for a conference. Even though our travel agent told us that lakeside rooms were all booked out (business people), when we got there the hotel clerk (who happened to be the same nationality as my husband) gave us a nice lake side room (go figure).
The hotel rooms were average size, cheery, but a little beat up. The beds were comfortable (yeee haw—every other hotel bed I have slept in in Europe sags in the middle).
The buffet breakfast was included (well, the hotel was expensive enough, so I wouldn’t really call it a bargain) and (for my German husband) a sad selection: plain and chocolate croissants and white and flaxseed rolls, (these same croissants and rolls were also available to be bought at the park--- ugh!) ham, salami, mystery meat, fruit salad, yogurt, applesauce, jams and chocolate spread, sugary cereal, orange and grapefruit juice, coffee machines (yes--- nestle nestle nestle) and strange cheese cubes. Still, the breakfast room was nice looking out to the lake, albeit loud, and if you don’t expect a four-star restaurant, it’ll be okay for most.
The nice thing about the hotel, was that 2 Disney characters visited the lobby each morning and you could get their autograph and picture with them. There is also a small souvenir shop there, which has many of the same things at DL-Park. We never made it to the pool (BTW--- bring your own towels or ya gotta pay for them), but it looked fun. I seriously think we could have stayed an extra night and day to try out all the different activities, like ice-skating at the New York Hotel.
One thing to note: There was a cute mini mouse tram which held outside the hotel every day and once we were going to take it, thinking it was complimentary and it was 6 Euro!!! We quickly discovered the 10 min. walk by the lake to the park was not so bad after all LOL! There is a yellow bus line that picks you up for free from the hotel and delivers you outside the train station situated between Disney Village and Disneyland Park.
About Paris: My daughter cried and pouted when we took a morning off to go see the Eiffel Tower. She couldn’t handle all the smokers, the weather was bad (sideways snow), and did not like the taste of the “fromage”. She exclaimed loudly in a French café full people: “Paris is NOT nice”. Ooooh every English speaker there got a kick out of that!
The VEA bus from our hotel took us right to CG-Airport: Ugh! It was crowded and chaotic. We couldn’t get straight information on our gate and when we finally got there, the French attendant said “Theeeees Flight doese note EEEEXEEESt. (this flight does not exist). We later found out from a lovely Air France employee that the airport was shut down in the morning because of snow, and that is why there was so much confusion and craziness. (don’t they normally have snow in Paris?).
Anyhoo. Be prepared for all kinds of weather. Bring extra shoes and socks--- there are massive puddles all over the park. Massive. Not fun walking around in wet shoes in zero weather.
Bring your own darn tea bags. I repeat. Bring your own darn tea bags. The 8 Euro for 4 tea bags at the hotel will not make your day. (BTW. You have to leave your credit card number to have them turn your refrig. on.) You can get a water cooker from the reservation desk for free. The park sells black tea which is not suitable for small children. The alternative Mint tea was not available everywhere. We ended up buying hot water for our daughter and putting our own tea bag in it for the park.
There is oddly a security check in and out of Disney Village, but not into Disneyland Parc (what is that?). Anyway, they have typical “mall-cop” attitudes there. Stopped my German husband every time and gave him a hard time--- carrying my daughter and hands full of Disneyland bags. If they have any reason to not let you thru, they will make you take a yellow bus back to your hotel, and you are not allowed to walk thru Disney Village. Whatever.
Don’t expect reservations made at restaurants, and also confirmed at hotels, to be done deals. A birthday was almost spoiled because Plaza Gardens booked our reservation at a time when the restaurant would be closed!!! When we became indignant they made compensations for us and the birthday wasn’t completely spoiled. Again, that is not Disneyland’s fault, just the fault of poorly trained workers who don’t *get* American customer service in an American-modelled theme park.
Wait for package deals. We got 3 nights for the price of 2 nights. And kids were free. That the disappointments easier to handle. :-)
I'm biased. I love Disneyland in Anaheim. Save your money and go there where Walt first made his dream come true.
Great Staff, nice hotel
by A TripAdvisor Member
Checking in there was so confusion about the name on the booking, and was accidentally given another persons tickets and information. After we had taken our luggage to our room, we were informed we had to change rooms, and for the trouble we were given a suite. The room was very nice and we were happy to move, it had two bathrooms! My only complaint is the breakfast, it was not bad just different then what we were used to.
Excellent Newport Bay...
by TripAdvisor Member BrandonTraveller
A lovely hotel. Crowded as all Disney Hotels are. Breakfast spread excellent, swimming pool good, sauna and turkish bath good. Lovely atmosphere, although one senses that a refurb is due. Very helpful staff, especially on Admirals Floor. Shuttle bus waiting times seemed longer than Cheyenne or Santa Fe, but they turn up in the end !
Charmless and expensive
by A TripAdvisor Member
Staying here is like staying in a factory. It is a completely charmless experience. You are simply experiencing one part of the huge, commercially driven Disney machine. You arrive, you queue to check in. You eventually get to the front of the queue, you're greeted by the first of many plastic Disney smiles and given directions to your faceless room. We stopped for a drink in a bar where everyone looked hassled and unhappy. We payed a fortune for drinks - more expensive than most bars in Paris, where we had just come from. The difference was that in Paris you can choose which bar to go to and you don't mind paying for a nice location and good service. Here, they've got you. The bar, and the entire hotel, is basically a multi storey warehouse that has been given 'character' by the addition of several pieces of 'nautical' plastic.
Our room, like most described here, had seen better days, although requests for a hairdryer and replacement lightbulbs were met quite quickly.
The restaurant here is TERRIBLE, although breakfast (another queue) isn't bad. We were flabbergasted that despite the restaurant being only about one third full in the evening we were asked to come back in an hour because we didn't have a reservation.
We went to Disney because our kids wanted to go. Many people had said to us that they went to Disney reluctantly but ended up enjoying it. Because my kids enjoyed the park, I enjoyed my holiday. But this hotel is rubbish. However, if you want to stay in the Disney enclosure (which I would still recommend, because the last thing you want to do after trekking around the park with kids is get on a train or a bus to a non-Disney hotel) then you've got to put up with it.
What bugs me most about the whole thing is that this is an expensive place to stay. It, rather hilariously, has illusions of grandeur (the whole 'nautical' thing...) but it is shabby, tawdry, and treats visitors like cattle.
Obviously the kids can't wait to go back.
Photos
Newport Bay Hotel Disney Paris
Hotel Newport Walt Disney Resoirt Paris
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