For our first venture back into Disney Parks life, our family of 9 stayed at the Newport Bay at Disneyland Paris, just a short 15 minute walk from the main gates, during Halloween season.
The best reasons to stay at Newport Bay.
Newport Bay has a nautical theme related to the lake that it looks out on to. On the opposite end of the lake, the revamped Marvel Hotel New York provide spectacular views from most parts of the hotel. Your walk to the park each day is this view along the lake and hrough Disney Village, a pleasant start to every day!
Newport Bay rooms are spacious, with two double bed and options for cots. Pricing varies, but is an upper scale offering, only beaten by the Disneyland Hotel, which is currently closed. Therefore, it is between this and the new Marvel New York Hotel for the best offerings of on site accommodation.
Shuttle busses provide quick trips to the park entrances and the train station.
Booking direct through Disney allows for Zen bookings, meaning that you can rebook for another date, no questions asked, but you will have to pay the difference. We did avail of this having moved our trip from September to October, but it did cost quite a bit more.
The main Disneyland Paris park is wonderful. It is possibly the prettiest Disney park worldwide. Though I prefer many aspects of the US parks, Paris has its charm and its uniqueness that will make for multiple trips in my lifetime. In my opinion, it’s versions of Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and Phantom Manor (Haunted Mansion) are the best of their type. And the castle is spectacular.
The bad points of our stay at Newport Bay
Our stay did have a lot of issues. Housekeeping staff were striking on property, as Disney had outsourced the housekeeping duties to save money months before, and clearly it backfired. Our experience was greatly affected by this. Travelling with young children, we required daily cleaning but we were never made aware of the strike before our stay or even upon arrival at the hotel.
Furthermore, the rooms themselves had some issues with broken furniture and a broken telephone. We also were in the rafters during a warm October. Hundreds of spiders occupy the rafters which are in reaching distance of the balcony. This created a conundrum of getting a cooler room or allowing spiders easy access.
At the time, we struggled to find someone to take responsibility for the stressed and issues. There was a very severe security issue as well that will not be addressed here, but after contacting their support team, they have sufficiently compensated us with another stay. So we shall try again in 2022.
With regards to the parks, Walt Disney Studios still leaves a lot to be desired, being a half day park at best, even if you wait for some of the long queues for RC Racer or Crushes Coaster.
It’s expensive to eat there as well. We found ways to keep costs down especially on a long 6 day stay, but getting coffees, pastries, and any meals in the park will cost you!
We also found merchandise quite lacking compared to USA or even shopDisney. Sure, this comes down to taste, but it was opinion of a few of us. Of course we still bought things!
Should you stay at Newport Bay Hotel at Disneyland Paris?
There were problems, there is no denying, with the hotel and facilities available. I understand that Disney is cost cutting but affecting customer experiences can cost a lot more in the long run. I will go probably back, but I’m not rushing back, and the 6 others from our party agreed. If the price is right, then sure.
Disney From Ireland 