Disney’s Sequoia Lodge

The last time I stayed in Disney’s Sequoia Lodge was November 2018. Back then it instantly became my favourite hotel stay ever, with its beautiful Christmas decorations, rustic charm and tranquil nature winning me over immediately. So when we booked this trip back to Disneyland Paris for the tail end of the Christmas season, I knew exactly where I wanted to stay.

We arrived in the beautiful – especially if you love bears – reception about half an hour after check-in opened and were greeted with a non-existent check-in queue and a helpful, welcoming cast member. Check-in was more efficient than some of the other experiences I’ve had at Disney hotels (I’m still scarred by an hour wait at Cheyenne), though paper check-in forms are obligatory and a little arduous.

Last time I stayed, we had a pretty much perfect room. Located on the lobby level, just a little into the south wing, we couldn’t have been closer to all the hotel’s conveniences if we tried. This time things were a little bit different, with our room being located in Monterrey Lodge, the furthest from the main building – of course! On checking in I was told that usually there is the option to upgrade to the main building at a cost of 50 euro per night, but that the hotel was fully booked and this was not available and – I quote – ‘it’s stupid anyway, it’s the same room!’

So off we trundled, wheeling our bags through the forest on our way to Monterrey Lodge. Sequoia Lodge is themed to a Californian National Park lodge, specifically one you might find in either Sequoia or Kings Canyon National Park, and it really does feel like you’re out in the wilderness as you wander through the densely tree-lined walkways. At least, it sure does after the comparitive madness of the theme parks!

The lodges have two floors, but no lifts and – of course – our room was upstairs. It’s only one flight of stairs, but be aware that you need to be able to carry whatever you show up with! Living it up, motel style.

The rooms themselves are cute and cosy, if more than a little dated, with the main design inspiration coming from Bambi. Characters from the movie are present across the room’s border, as well as in a central artwork in the sleeping area. There’s nothing truly creative in these rooms that makes me smile in the way that the lamps in the Cars inspired Santa Fe (a traffic cone) and the Woody’s Roundup rooms at Cheyenne (a cowboy boot) do every time. But hey, it’s cosy, the bed is super comfy and the pillows on my bed were mixed, meaning I was able to pick the perfect one so I slept like a log! Sadly, that sleep was not with my phone at my side thanks to, you guessed it, an absolute dearth of plugs. In our room, we managed to find three plugs. One in the TV unit (that I wasn’t actually able to fit my chunky adaptor into) one directly in front of the door and another that housed the room’s main lamp. With this selection of locations to choose from, I opted to unplug the floor lamp and pop my power pack on charge instead. Except, it didn’t charge. I didn’t have the foresight to realise that when I turned all the lights off for the night, that plug would be switched off – and let me tell you, a 14 hour Disney Day with no power pack is stressful! The plug in front of the door was also so close to the door that it was impossible to open the door with anything plugged in, so nothing could be left there charging whilst we were out for the day. In short, plugs are an issue.

What’s not an issue – thankfully – is noise. With a reasonably small number of rooms in each lodge, foot traffic was relatively minimal. In fact, the only time I heard anything from outside our room was shortly before check-out time. Even during the morning rush for Extra Magic Hours, it was quiet! Bliss.

The bathroom was what I’ve come to expect from a Disney hotel, a serviceable family space but nothing too fancy. The sink area was separate from the main bathroom which I always appreciate for speeding up the morning routine, and there was plenty of space in the main bathroom for families.

One thing I certainly did not appreciate however, was the placement of the refillable shower gel dispenser. This is such a small detail and one that I wouldn’t even bother mentioning usually, but I was so irritated by the fact that it was absolutely impossible, whilst showering, to dispense shower gel without the wet shower curtain sticking to you. Why is it here? Just why?!

There are no hot drink facilities available in the rooms, instead all room keys are loaded with four hot drink credits per person, per day. To access these, all you need to do is pop your magic pass into the holder on the vending machine and select from the wide range of hot drinks available. This is great! In theory at least. Vending machines are only available in the main building, so if you’re in the lodges you’ll need to make the short walk over if you want a beverage, and if you arrive at a bad time you may find the machines completely out of cups. Trying to get a drink before bed, we ended up walking around the building, finding three different machines all out of cups before giving up and going back to the room. Still, every other time we tried the machines worked flawlessly and the drinks were really decent.

When it comes to dining, I’m afraid my coverage is going to be extremely brief. The hotel’s main restaurant is Hunter’s Grill, a buffet, with Beaver Creek Tavern table service restaurant also present, but seemingly only open should the stars align in a very specific fashion – both the theme parks and the hotel were fully sold out during our entire stay and those doors didn’t twitch once! I am sad to say I cannot report back about Hunter’s Grill, with a dinner buffet costing 45€, and ostensibly being meat based, I just couldn’t justify the expense as a veggie. It was also a pass on the 24€ breakfast buffet for us. Maybe I’ll visit you one day Hunter’s Grill, but honestly? Probably not.

On the other hand, one place I always adore stopping by however is Redwood Bar. The hotel’s bar is every bit as warm, cosy and inviting as you’d want your lodge’s gathering space to be, with roaring fires and an excess of Christmas trees (seasonally, ofc), I always love spending an hour or so here in the afternoon. Honestly, even if you aren’t a guest of a Disney hotel, I can’t recommend stepping out of the chaos for an hour – if you get a chance – and recharging in the hotels. It’s a blissful experience that always enriches my day. Redwood and Bleecker Street Lounge over in Disney’s Hotel New York: The Art of Marvel are my faves for this!

Just across from Redwood sits Northwest Passage, the obligatory gift shop where you’ll find plushes, pins and snacks galore, as well as a Photopass station. Here you can purchase Disney Photopass, as well as checking your account to ensure your photos have been downloaded correctly! What you will not find however, is a single piece of Disney’s Sequoia Lodge merchandise. Whilst the Disneyland Paris hotels undergo a mass re-working, all hotel merchandise has been suspended with Disney’s Hotel New York: The Art of Marvel being the only hotel with merchandise currently available, though this is due to change this month with a Disney’s Newport Bay Club pin being amongst January’s pin releases! Whilst I understand the reasoning, this is a very premature and misguided move in my opinion with years of guests being unable to pick up a souvenir of their visit. At least the store is cute as heck.

At the front of the hotel, there’s even more space to relax with a sweeping veranda offering views over the front lawns, and just about across to Lake Disney in the distance.

Located outside of the main building in the closest of the lodges, is the hotel’s swimming pool and health centre. I am still yet to – as an adult – swim in a Disney hotel pool, given that when I’m on Disney property I’m pretty much always going to be in a theme park or utterly exhausted, but the pool is nicely themed and has long opening hours, should you wish to enjoy it (07:00-22:00 on my stay I believe).

But the most important of the hotel’s facilities – and certainly the one with the most Disney magic – is the exclusive character meet. Every evening (19:30-22:30 when we were there) a Disney character meets in the main lobby of the hotel. This has been a long-standing tradition, but recently the hotel characters have been overhauled and given their own hotel-specific outfits! Look at Donald in his little plaid shirt, ready to chill in the Californian forests! You can expect much shorter lines for these meets than in the park too, we waited about 30 minutes but I assure you that on this day when the resort was fully sold out, that was a win. Plus, the meet was delightful!

Check-out time is 11 am, but should you wish you enjoy a final day at the theme parks, luggage storage is available, located just outside of the main entrance. We made use of this on our final day and were slightly taken aback by the lengthy queue to use the service, but never fear! The team here were very efficient and helpful, and were storing bags at a rate of knots!

If I had to use one word to describe Sequoia Lodge, it would be tranquil. After a stay at Universal’s Endless Summer that was nothing less than chaotic hell, I really learned the value of a calm, peaceful place to escape the noise at the end of a theme park day and Sequoia offers just that.

However, whilst – in my opinion – the common areas of this hotel are gorgeous and absolutely perfect as they are, the rooms really are in need of refurbishment. But with rumours running rife of Sequoia being the next hotel in line for a major refurb after Disneyland Hotel, hopefully this won’t be too long coming! In the meantime, is it worth the stay? Well, of course that depends on your preferences. Disney hotels are expensive. This stay cost a whisker under £190/night, room only. For comparison, our hotel in Val d’ Europe cost £70, had a kitchen and included breakfast. Of course, that hotel in Val d’ Europe didn’t have any Disney charm, characters or entrance to Extra Magic Hours. I cannot stress how much of a perk those Extra Magic Hours are at Disneyland Paris. Even on a sold out day, walk-on Peter Pan rides are possible during this time! But personally, if I was looking to stay in the Disney bubble, I think Cheyenne would be my hotel of choice for now. Unless of course, you and your family love swimming, in which case Sequoia is the one!

I love you lots Sequoia, but I cannot wait until you get updated!

Speak again soon,

Claire

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